Amada America Inc., a supplier of precision sheet metal production equipment and related systems, has expanded its customer coverage in the US with the opening of a 17 652m² manufacturing facility near High Point, North Carolina. A 5 760m² technical centre is also under construction on the campus and should be completed in the US spring of 2020.
Amada America’s Chief Operating Officer, Mike Guerin, summarised Amada’s goals and strategy for the US investment, which will be in excess of US$80 million and will add 200 jobs when the campus is complete.
“This is our third manufacturing location in the US and our first in the Southeast,” Guerin said. “It is part of our overall strategy to be closer to customers as our business with them grows.”
Guerin cited the unwavering support of Yukihiro Fukui, CEO of Amada America, for the expansion of Amada’s manufacturing capabilities into the Southeast, which constitutes about one-third of Amada’s press brake business in the US.
“Amada is one of only two press brake suppliers to manufacture its products in the US. The company’s other locations are on the West Coast, where the Japanese-based parent company, Amada Co., Ltd., first ‘landed’ in 1971 while establishing its presence in North America. Amada has grown from a manufacturer of bandsaw blades 73 years ago to a global supplier of punch presses, press brakes, laser cutting systems, software, and tooling. The company now operates in 70 countries.”
“This is a cutting-edge facility in terms of its capitalising on IIoT tools to monitor productivity and performance. The completion of the High Point facility brings our total manufacturing capabilities under roof in the US to about 55 742 m²,” said Patrick Medlin, Amada America’s Chief Manufacturing Officer.
The High Point plant will manufacture a new product line of high-precision press brakes as well as automation for laser systems for the US market.
“The industry’s quick acceptance of our fiber laser systems for enhanced throughput has also increased the need to remove downstream bottlenecks in materials handling and bending. That is why we developed our new line of press brakes to help customers increase total throughput.”
The Hybrid Retrofittable Bending (HRB) series of press brakes manufactured at High Point feature automated tool change (ATC) capabilities and integrated bend sensors. They are designed for variable lot sizes and complex tool layouts. Quick tool setups achieved by ATC can triple or quadruple the number of setups performed each day and allow an operator to seamlessly introduce rush jobs when required.
For further details contact Amada JHB South Africa on TEL: 011 453 5459 or www.amada.com
