March 2008 Edition
INDUSTRY NEWS
Industry News
Nearly one-third of the small manufacturing businesses
participating in the latest Small Business Research Board — SBRB — study will
request credit level increases during 2008, according to the results of a poll.
The study of owners and managers of small manufacturing
businesses also indicated that while relationships with lenders are mostly good
or excellent, challenges to businesses are greater pressure for personal
guarantees, higher loan rates, and stricter covenants.
Of those responding,
- 32.6 percent will request an increase in their lines of credit this year;
- 53.5 percent said they will maintain their current loan levels through 2008; and
- 14 percent will seek to reduce their credit needs.
This is a departure from 2007 when
- 21.1 percent of respondents held the line on credit changes from the prior year;
- 14.3 percent decreased their credit needs; and
- 27.1 percent increased their loan levels.
More than 37 percent of the respondents indicated they do not
have loans nor a line of credit.
During 2007, 42 percent of the participants felt that access
to credit was unchanged from
the previous 12 months while 36.8 percent said it was easier. Of the remaining
respondents, 5.3 percent described access to credit as more difficult and 15.83
percent indicated that access to credit was impossible.
DE-STA-CO, Auburn Hills, MI, acquired Industrial Motion
Control, LLC, which has annual revenues of approximately $50 million. Terms of
the transaction were not disclosed. DE-STA-CO manufactures work-holding and
flexible industrial automation solutions and robotic tooling. It is an operating
company within the Material Handling platform of Dover Corp.
Industrial Motion Control — IMC — manufacturers mechanical
motion control products, including cam-actuated index drives, parts handlers,
and precision link conveyors. Its products are integrated into factory
automation systems used in industries such as paper conversion, consumer
products, packaging, semiconductor, automotive, medical, and pharmaceuticals
under the brand names of CAMCO and Ferguson. IMC is headquartered in Wheeling,
IL.
Motoman Inc., West Carrollton, OH, was
named Manufacturing Business of the Year for 2007 in the
sixth annual Business of the Year program sponsored by the
Dayton Business Journal and Soin International.
Entries were judged on written responses
concerning
- sales and earnings from local
business units for the past five years;
- why 2007 was a noteworthy year for
the business;
- the company's strategic plan for the
business for the next five years;
- community service projects or
charitable contributions the company made;
- how the company measured customer
satisfaction and loyalty;
- management's relationship with
employees; and
- examples of leadership.
Customer satisfaction was another
criteria for the award. In FY2006, Motoman received its
highest Customer Satisfaction score, receiving a 4.55 rating
out of a possible 5.0.
Chuck Boelkins, son of current owner of
lubrication system manufacturer, UNIST, Inc., Grand Rapids,
MI, assumed ownership of the lubrication maker on January 1.
He purchased the company from Wally Boelkins.
Formed in 1957 as Uni-Mist, Wally
Boelkins has been the sole owner since he purchased the
company in 1968 from its founders.
Chuck Boelkins is the only son of Wally and his wife
Marge, the fifth of their six children. He graduated in 1987
from Calvin College in Grand Rapids with a BSME degree, and
has been an engineer as well as a business manager. Chuck
has never been formally employed by his father's company.
Through his own company, Positech, Inc., Chuck designed the
patented Uni-Roller metal forming lubrication systems, and
in 1993 entered into an exclusive marketing agreement with
UNIST. Wally Boelkins will remain actively involved with the
company in marketing and product development.
According to a survey of manufacturers of laser-sintering
systems, e-Manufacturing is on the brink of revolutionizing parts manufacturing.
Conducted by EOS of North America, Inc., Novi, MI, at the K 2007 trade show in
Düsseldorf and Euromold 2007 in Frankfurt, 70 percent of respondents said
e-Manufacturing was ready for the mass market, with laser-sintering as a key
technology that will compete in the future with conventional technologies, such
as casting.
About 33 percent said they believed
individualized production with laser-sintering is already
market-ready, while 37 percent predicted the establishment
of the technology in the market within the next three years.
The rest anticipate establishment of e-Manufacturing within
five years, with only four percent seeing a lag of ten
years.
Other survey results include
- About 28 percent of those interviewed
said that the trend towards individualized series
production is the most important factor for the success
of the technology.
- Almost 25 percent of the interviewees
saw greater cost savings compared to conventional
technologies.
- Approximately 22 percent judged
e-Manufacturing will overtake traditional technologies
due to shorter product life cycles.
Interviewees also were asked to predict
production methods in the next 20 years:
- A majority — 63 percent — forecast the establishment
of individualized mass production in
the Western world.
- Fewer — 21 percent — said they
believed that end customers will have their own
mini-factories and produce their own products with Rapid
Manufacturing.
About nine percent of those asked went so far as to remark that in 20 years
time manual manufacturing will only take place on the PC.
Innova Robotics & Automation, Fort Myers, FL, announced its CEO, Eugene Gartlan, died January 25, following a brief illness. Innova's board of directors authorized Lloyd Spencer, president and CEO of Innova subsidiary, CoroWare, to act as interim CEO until the board determines Gartlan's successor.