On October 7th, 2022, DMG MORI Manufacturing USA Inc. (DMM) celebrated the 10-year anniversary since its grand opening in Davis, California. This location is home to some of the latest automation technology, as well as Horizontal Machining Center (HMC) excellence.
DMG MORI Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary
Since 2012, over 3,100 machines have been manufactured and sent to customers all over the United States, Canada, and South America; this includes NHX series, the ALX series, and the CMX V series.
While the amount of growth in technology present at the factory has been significant, there has also been development with building the skillset of the local workforce in the community. In fact, the amount of expatriates working at DMM decreased by 70% from 2012 to 2022. Anthony Serra, Executive Vice President of DMM, stated, “When the factory opened in 2012, a great deal of employee’s were expatriates from Japan with specific skillsets. However, we have since expanded and trained the workforce here at DMM. We now have a large amount of local skilled employees from our own community.”
In addition, DMM has become one of the most automated facilities in America that manufacture machine tools and has been monumental in educating U.S. customers about the benefits of investing in automation. Automation solutions has been an imperative focus of the factory and has helped customers save time and become more competitive. Customers can experience the Linear Pallet Pool systems (LPP) and Round Pallet system (RPS) which are both produced and manufactured in Davis, CA. Executive Vice President of DMM John McDonald stated that, “Automation has been a key element of digital production at the Davis Factory. The Linear Pallet Pool system that is manufactured here in Davis can be equipped with multi-level pallet racks to accommodate a higher level of automation. A substantial amount of customers are astonished by the level of convenience this technology can provide while they are engaging in other tasks.”
Though advanced technology has been a major factor in the evolution of the factory, President Marlow Knabach attributes much success to employees that have contributed their knowledge and hard work to further progress DMM. He stated, “It is only with the effort of our employees at DMG MORI Manufacturing, USA Inc. that we have made pivotal strides to become an industry leader with a strong presence in the local communities.”
It is important for DMM to contribute to organizations and initiatives in the local community. To cultivate and encourage Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, DMM hosted various events for local organizations such as Boy Scouts, Citrus Circuits Robot Team, Explorit Science Center and several other organizations. In fact, the 10-year anniversary was attended by several important figures in the community such as the Mayor of the city of Davis Lucas Frerichs, Councilmember Gloria Partida, Councilmember Dan Carson, City Manager Mike Webb, Senior Planner Eric Lee, Police Chief Darren Pytel, Director of Community Engagement Jenny Ten, and Communication Manager Barbara Archer. Mayor Frierichs, the keynote speaker of the ceremony, acknowledged the strong presence that DMG MORI holds in the city and spoke about how proud he was to have been present at the grand opening back in 2012.
DMM has also made it a top priority to deliver sustainability in efforts to contribute to a healthier environment. This includes approaching 100% carbon neutral production and the installation of a 2,000-kilowatt solar panel system on the roof of the factory currently in progress to significantly reduce energy consumption.
For more information, visit www.dmgmori.com.
Evident Montreal Office Dedicated to NDT Software Solutions Development
To advance its nondestructive testing (NDT) software innovation, Evident Corporation announced the opening of an office in Montreal, Canada that will house a new team of software design experts.
Evident Corporation is a new wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, comprised of its former Scientific Solutions business. A global company with 25 sales and service offices, Evident has over 4500 employees worldwide. In the provincial capital of Quebec City, Evident already maintains a busy site with more than 400 employees, who develop and manufacture its leading-edge NDT technology. Opening a location in Montreal enables Evident to leverage the large pool of burgeoning software and web development talent in the city.
“The main mission of the Montreal team is to engineer several modules to accelerate the development of our new unified and open software platform for nondestructive testing applications, working in close collaboration with our teams in Quebec City and Boston, MA. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking project that will strengthen our position as a technological leader in the NDT industry,” says project leader Patrick Huot, Evident’s Executive Director of R&D for NDT products.
Located in the Nordelec building at 1751 Richardson Street, Evident’s Montreal employees enjoy a 223 square-meter (2400 square-foot) office space near the vibrant Griffintown district at the edge of the Pointe-Saint-Charles neighborhood, two blocks from the Lachine Canal bike trail. The office is currently staffed with ten software and web developers.
“We are absolutely thrilled with our success in attracting talented people to our Montreal team and have already exceeded our initial recruitment goal. We can see that designers in Montreal are interested in our advanced technologies, the many technical challenges we face and our mission to make global infrastructure safer. We have opened several more positions, and I expect our great team in Montreal to grow rapidly and contribute significantly to the development of our products and solutions,” says Huot.
For more information, visit www.EvidentScientific.com.
Langlois Joins Phillips Precision
Daniel Langlois has joined Phillips Precision’s team in an all-new position of General Manager. Dan will manage and enhance day-to-day company operations of machine shop services and collaborate with owners on the increased worldwide exposure of product lines… Inspection Arsenal® and Laser Arsenal® the quick-swap, modular fixture systems. Phillips Precision, Inc. is a full-service manufacturing facility that not only provides machining services for any number of industries, it also serves as a manufacturing laboratory for the products division through which it sells unique and affordable work holding products and designs and builds complex custom fixtures.
According to the company, Dan is an innovative problem-solver who seeks reduction at source solutions, as an alternative to end-of-pipe remediation. He is an insightful, “out-of-the-box” thinker able to effectively meld environmental responsibility with bottom line cost savings. His superior time management skills and proven ability to execute successful initiatives and direct multiple projects simultaneously demonstrates his commitment to manufacturing excellence.
Dan has more than three decades of experience working in all aspects of manufacturing. Dan’s core competencies include manufacturing operations, engineering, supply chain management, all aspects of quality assurance, working with Department of Defense contractors, aerospace, medical and power generation markets. Dan is extremely well versed in a wide range of manufacturing methods and best practices where he is able to identify and assist in determining the best solution for their specific applications.
For more information, visit www.phillips-precision.com.
Williams Starts New Chapter at Exact Metrology
Exact Metrology has hired Bruce Williams at its Brookfield, WI, location to help customers with their metrology applications.
His educational background includes attending Milwaukee Area Technical College and Phoenix University (Brookfield, Wisconsin). Williams’ first job was in 1974 at J.P. Pattern Inc. (Butler, Wisconsin). For eleven years, he had several roles in the company including patternmaking journeyman, sales and supervisor. In 1985, Williams started working at Premold Corporation (Oconomowoc, Wisconsin), working sales and as a general manager. From 1985 to 2021, he was the founder/president of Accurate Pattern Inc. (Butler, Wisconsin). They specialize in wood, metal and plastic patterns. Although Williams decided to retire in 2021, he works as a manufacturing adjunct instructor at Waukesha County Technical College (Pewaukee, Wisconsin).
Once he decided to “retire,” Williams reached out to Greg Groth, Exact Metrology applications engineer and Dean Solberg, vice president of metrology, both of whom he has had long business relationships with. He commented that “I have always admired Dean and Greg in their technical expertise and the culture they promote.” He is excited to work as an Exact Metrology trainer, specializing in 3D Systems Design X reverse engineering software.
Exact Metrology offers training options on all hardware and software options related to digitizing, reverse engineering, measurement and metrology. In his role, Williams will lead the recently implemented educational initiative for the company. This will involve working with schools of all types as well as multiple trade associations to help educate the current and future workforces on the application of advanced metrology, especially robots and cobots, CT technology and advanced laser scanning in the quality area at all types of companies across America. The educational initiative means that, “The training is specific to each customer with small in-person classes. The instructors are experts in the field and use practical examples including the customer’s own parts and data.”
Describing the experience, Williams commented, “This is a great place to share my years of pattern/tooling experience in combination with the latest technologies in metrology and modeling. It is satisfying to see customers and colleagues succeed as we help each other.”
In the future, he plans to keep learning and growing with others through his teaching, work at Exact Metrology and industry involvement.
For more information, visit www.exactmetrology.com.
SVT Robotics Welcomes Boroditsky to Board of Directors
SVT Robotics announced the addition of technology executive Marc Boroditsky as the latest member of the company's board of directors.
Marc joins the SVT Robotics board having most recently served as Chief Revenue Officer at Twilio Inc., a customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalized experiences for today’s leading brands, where he played a leading role in bringing the company to its successful IPO and $3B in annual revenue. Prior to Twilio, Marc held the title of vice president, Identity Management at Oracle following its acquisition of his startup, Passlogix, in 2011.
“I have had the pleasure and privilege to work with some truly talented colleagues at great companies throughout my career, and I am very pleased to join the SVT Robotics board,” said Marc Boroditsky. “SVT is solving a problem that has been an obstacle for many organizations seeking to rapidly integrate automation in their supply chains, and it’s similar to telecom integration we drove at Twilio. I am pleased to become part of the SVT team and offer guidance to further accelerate the growth of their technology.”
“Marc is a heavy hitter in the technology industry, having experienced the full breadth of entrepreneurship from founding to acquisition,” said A.K. Schultz, founder and CEO of SVT Robotics. “We're incredibly excited to welcome him to the board, as we see many strategic parallels between his prior roles and the robotics integration space. The demand for seamless warehouse automation is increasing every day, and SVT will benefit from Marc's counsel as we continue to advance our SOFTBOT® Platform.”
For more information, visit www.svtrobotics.com.
Starrett Appoints Director of Operations and Continuous Improvement
The L.S. Starrett Company has recently appointed Matthew Wells as Director of Operations and Continuous Improvement. In this new position based at Starrett headquarters in Athol, MA, Wells is responsible for Production, Planning, Production Control and Purchasing, Inventory Management, Warehouse and Shipping, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, Facility, EHS, Maintenance and Continuous Improvement. Wells reports directly to Emerson Leme, vice president, Starrett Industrial Products, North America.
“We are very pleased to have Matt join the Starrett team,” said Leme. “He brings to Starrett a broad range of manufacturing and production expertise that will be vital for the company’s operations.”
Wells, a Western Massachusetts native, has over 25 years of manufacturing experience in the U.S. and Canada, including extensive experience with Toyota Production Systems, Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma during his tenure at a Toyota motor manufacturing company and The Schaeffler Bearing Group, among other manufacturing enterprises. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration, both obtained at Western New England University. He currently resides with his family in Central Massachusetts.
For more information, visit https://www.starrett.com/.
December 2022 | Volume 61 | Number 12
