PM News: Sandvik To Acquire U.S. Producer Of Diamond-Based Materials

Sandvik To Acquire U.S. Producer Of Diamond-Based Materials

Sandvik Tooling (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) has reached an agreement with the American private equity company Littlejohn & Co., LLC to acquire Diamond Innovations Inc. (Worthington, Ohio), formerly the Superabrasives Division of General Electric in the United States.

The acquisition of Diamond Innovations will provide a base for improving Sandvik’s offering of diamond and cubic boron nitride cutting tools for metalworking.

Tanya Fratto, the CEO of Diamond Innovations, will continue to serve as such and will work with the Sandvik team to achieve a smooth transition for the company’s employees, customers and suppliers, the company says. Visit Sandvik's PM Online Showroom.

Methods Machine Tools (Sudbury, Massachusetts) has announced its partnership with Hwacheon Machinery America Inc. (Vernon Hills, Illinois). As a result of the agreement, Methods will now sell Hwacheon CNC machine tools, including vertical machining centers, turning centers and vertical lathes, through its direct sales offices in the United States. Visit Methods PM Online Showroom.

Marubeni Citizen-Cincom Inc. (Allendale, New Jersey) is now offering its customers purchasing and support from one source with its “Single Source Advantage.” According to the company, U.S. manufacturers now have the opportunity to obtain a turning center with all the related accessories, while at the same time providing one source for all of their service and support needs. Visit MCC's PM Online Showroom .

“History of Numerical Control” by Richard Thomas is a new book on the history of machine tool industry automation and the part General Electric Company played. It follows the progress of applying computer-like controls to metalcutting machines from the early tracer controls of the 1940s to direct computer-controlled machines of the 1980s and beyond.

It also features chapters on the Numerical Control Society, the trade association of the era; the development of the Automatically Programmed Tools (APT) computer program; vignettes of the early pioneers; photos of early applications; and a final chapter on “Where are they now?”, a review of the decline of the machine tool industry in the United States. Contact Richard Thomas at richard.thomas@case.edu.

Last year was the most productive year in the history of Haas Automation (Oxnard, California), with CNC machine tool production of more than 12,500 units—an increase of almost 25 percent from 2005—and almost a 30-percent increase in revenues to more than $740 million.

Haas General Manager Bob Murray states, “The HFO concept—providing customers with local access to Haas products, sales, replacement parts and factory-trained service personnel—is one of the driving forces behind Haas’ global success. We have the right company, the right people and the right products. Everyone working together made all of this possible.”
Visit Haas' PM Online Showroom.

CAMPAT Machine Tools Inc. (Plano, Texas) has announced the expansion of its distributorship of the Leadwell machine tool line to include exclusive rights to the Canadian marketplace. Joe Tomalonis, company president, explains, “We have had extraordinary success with Leadwell in the short period of time we have been the importer, and we have been fortunate that the management of Leadwell has seen fit to give us a chance to prove ourselves in Canada as well.” Visit CAMPAT's PM Online Showroom.

The Mitchel Group, Inc. (Indianapolis, Indiana), a privately held holding company, has received approval for the City of Indianapolis to vacate Ludlow Avenue buildings to facilitate the company’s corporate campus development. The Ludlow location houses the Mitchel & Scott Machine Company, the precision contract manufacturing division of The Mitchel Group. The company’s request to the city was based on its vision to maintain its historical inner-city roots, while expanding its manufacturing and warehousing/logistics capabilities. Contact The Mitchel Group at (317) 684-8308.