Metalworking Holds Steady by Creating New Opportunities

The manufacturing sector is off to a great start in 2024, where January’s economic confidence registered a 49.1% Manufacturing PMI, beating expectations, with an increase of 2 percentage points over December. New Orders came in at 52.5%, 5.5% percentage points higher than December’s number. Issued by the Institute for Supply Management, the PMI demonstrated the manufacturing sector is holding steady.

Those numbers complement private investment and job growth underway in the metalworking sector, which is positioning the sector for a robust future. For example, this month, ABB will unveil its renovated North American robot facility in Auburn Hills, Mich. The upgrades encompass the entire facility, highlighted by an expanded and updated manufacturing plant, and a new Customer Experience Center.  The $20 million investment will create 72 highly skilled new jobs.

“Our expanded facility will help us to better serve customers in the U.S. and across the Americas, giving them access to innovative automated solutions,” said Sami Atiya, president of ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation. ABB predicts close to 90% of robots delivered to customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America will be made in Auburn Hills.

In another announcement, when GROB Systems, Inc. broke ground in December 2023 to expand its U.S. manufacturing facility in Bluffton, Ohio, the company announced 200 new jobs and a $24 million investment. GROB is a global developer of manufacturing systems and machine tools. “Demonstrating our strong, unwavering commitment to U.S. manufacturing, GROB has been investing in and expanding the Bluffton location since the first building was constructed in 1991,” said Michael Hutecker, CEO, GROB Systems. “Our new, large east building expansion represents the success of our manufacturing systems and automation solutions being produced in the U.S. and providing timely, locally based service and support to our customers. With the expanded facility, we will increase our production of manufacturing systems for new technologies in the U.S. — most importantly, systems for the production of batteries.” The expansion is slated for completion next March.

In yet another expansion project, REGO-FIX announced in October 2023 that it plans to build a technical hub for the machining industry at its North American headquarters in Whitestown, Ind. REGO-FIX is a world leader in the manufacture of Swiss precision tooling. The new Center for Machining Excellence (CME) will be a 12,000-square-foot expansion. Part of its services will be to provide local universities and technical schools with an opportunity to engage with REGO-FIX for hands-on learning experiences. CME partners will have access to the company’s facilities and technical expertise and can establish a satellite location for a higher U.S. market presence.

Expanding its services in the U.S. marketplace was behind Klöckner & Co.’s acquisition of Industrial Manufacturing Services (IMS) of Lancaster, S.C., which took place in fall of 2023. IMS was immediately integrated into Klöckner’s fabrication business unit. Klöckner is one of the largest producer-independent distributors of steel and metal products and one of the leading steel service companies worldwide.

Klöckner’s U.S. subsidiary, Klockner Metals Corp., will expand its fabrication portfolio by adding IMS’ expertise in welding and finished parts manufacturing. “IMS provides fabrication services including welding and painting, as well as just-in-time warehousing of light- to medium-size sub-assemblies to OEMs of the heavy machinery industry,” said John Ganem, CEO, Kloeckner Metals Corp. “We intend to add IMS’ highly specialized and industry leading fabrication expertise to other Kloeckner facilities across the wider network in North America. We feel our ability to offer a fully integrated supply chain solution for fabricated parts and components creates value by simultaneously increasing efficiency and reducing complexity for our OEM customers.”

Editor’s Note: In a safety feature on PPE in January’s issue, the location for Airgas was listed incorrectly. Airgas is located in Radnor, PA.