Membership News

Cincinnati.com April 30, 2012 Milacron LLC, the 128-year-old provider of plastic processing equipment in Batavia, announced on Monday that its acquisition by a private equity firm has closed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Milacron said the purchase will not change the company’s management or operations in Greater Cincinnati. Dennis Smith is Milacron’s chief executive officer.

A local manufacturer is gearing up for a $20 million investment in Huber Heights and looks to create at least 250 jobs during the next three years. Tipp City-based Process Equipment Co. — which currently has three sites in Tipp City and one in Huber Heights — unveiled plans Thursday to consolidate operations to a 28-acre campus and double its facilities to 500,000 square feet.

Morris Technologies Morris Technologies, Inc. (MTI), the global leader in additive metal manufacturing, now offers Aluminum 6061 for use on their EOS direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) machines. Aluminum 6061 is a general-purpose alloy and sees wide application in aerospace, transportation, consumer products, medical, and other industries. It demonstrates properties superior to casting aluminums.

Business Courier The Riverside Co., which owns DuBois Chemicals in Sharonville, acquired Blue Ash-based Galaxy Associates. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both DuBois Chemicals and Galaxy Associates manufacture specialty chemicals and solutions. Galaxy – founded in 2002 by the late Cincinnati philanthropist and entrepreneur, Mel Fisher – provides chemicals such as metalworking fluids, process chemistries, conversion coatings, sealing rinses and cleaners.

Cincinnati.com There’s nothing small about a daily operation that crumbles up to 125 tons of bulk meat into bite-size pieces, cooks it, drains the fat, then transports the product three stories high across the street for a quick-freeze and storage. That’s why JTM Food Group is spending $17 million to expand its Harrison plant, the largest investment in the company’s half century of business.

Business Courier Kenya Airways selected GE Aviation’s GEnx engines to power nine Boeing 787 Dreamliners with an option for four additional aircraft. The firm engine order is valued at $380 million at list price, GE Aviation said in a press release Monday. Kenya Airways is the fastest growing airline in Africa and is pursuing a network expansion strategy to link all African countries with the rest of the world, it said.

CINCINNATI, OH – Michelman continues its strategic commitment to the Asian region with the hiring of Mr. Steven Wong as Managing Director of Asia Pacific. Mr. Wong will be responsible for managing Michelman’s Asian strategy across all of Michelman’s industry segments in accordance with the company’s global strategy.

J.M. Smucker Co. is expanding into China, acquiring a minority interest in a privately owned oats products manufacturer and marketer based in the country’s Guangxi province, the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Orrville-based Smucker (NYSE:SJM) made a $35 million investment in Seamild Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd., which has a portfolio consisting mainly of oatmeal that it distributes throughout China, the newspaper reports.

Procter and Gamble Company will launch Olympic-themed packaging for about 600 products in the U.S. this spring, including a moisturizing shampoo in which the Pantene brand will play up its sponsorship of California swimmer Natalie Coughlin. “She is the perfect fit for our brand, a beautiful woman with healthy hair,” said Pantene Brand Manager Vahe Ayvazian. “We’ve begun to think about this idea of healthy being the new beautiful. She embodies everything that Pantene is about.”

The Cincinnati Logistics Team has been very busy recently. In late Q4 of 2011, we challenged ourselves to make improvements in our inbound layout. The goals of the process were two-fold: remove unsafe conditions and improve throughput.

GE (IW 4/500) Global Research has released a new research report showing promising results for its nanotextured anti-icing surface technology. According to the report, the technology dramatically reduces ice adhesion and delays ice formation on flat surfaces, which could lead to some significant advantages for the airline industry.

Small businesswoman Lisa Pease of Indian Hill has learned the business lesson that Harry Moser is teaching. Moser is founder and chief advocate of the national Reshoring Initiative, a growing non-profit movement aimed at reinvigorating U.S. manufacturing by showing that goods can be competitively produced in this country without sending jobs overseas.

 Ohio’s courtship of new manufacturing jobs may be more of a welcome back than a welcome to the Buckeye State.

Dayton, Ohio Selected as Enshrinement Site to Celebrate Four Pioneering Inductees Into The National Aviation Hall Of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) today announced the date and location for the 50th Anniversary of the National Aviation Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner & Ceremony, which will be held in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday October 6th, 2012. The decision was made after significant deliberations and commitments from Dayton business leaders to ensure the event is a financial success during these difficult economic times.

Those are the first words Lisa Pease uses when asked to describe her product. Her enthusiasm and passion for this high-end kitchen accessory, which is sold in retail stores across the U.S., is infectious. That same attitude grabbed the attention of the Long-Stanton management team when we first met her. When Lisa presented a finished Brisker to us for quoting, she was very detailed in what she wanted. Our team was able to understand her stated goals because of our experience in producing similar products that were sold in retail stores or were visible to the end user.

With a clear understanding of your current energy performance, your organization will be able to develop effective targets, energy performance indicators, and motivation. Development of Targets, Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs), and Motivation Targets Targets are meant to provide a measurable focus and direction to develop an action plan for achieving energy savings.

Standard Register Co. is at a crossroads. The Dayton-based document services provider, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary this spring, is fighting hard to regain the dominance it once enjoyed. (Click here for list of historical milestones for the company.) Last month, the company announced a restructuring effort that includes shedding as much as 15 percent of its workforce, including 75 local jobs, during the next six to nine months. Currently, Standard Register has 2,600 employees, including 614 in the Dayton area.

Hydrosize PA845 from Michelman is a polyamide based fiber sizing formulated for high temperature resin applications where a greater degree of thermal stability is required. It is particularly effective in high performance carbon fiber sizing applications. Formulated with a small particle size, Hydrosize PA845 exhibits excellent film forming properties. It is solvent, VOC and alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) free, and is also fully compliant with the EC Directives on plastics for food applications. This allows its use in far reaching carbon fiber based applications.

General Electric Co. is investing $580 million in Evendale-based GE Aviation, part of a nationwide effort to train high-skilled workers, jumpstart innovation and add 400 jobs over the next three years. The global industrial conglomerate also announced Monday that it plans to hire 5,000 military veterans across all its businesses over the next five years and team up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to offer veterans help in finding jobs in 50 U.S. cities.

The Ohio manufacturing community, both large and small, is seeing signs of growth and opportunity. TechSolve, along with other Edison Technology Centers and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), traveled to Columbus to showcase their work and success that has been achieved to date to the Ohio legislators.

Greater Cincinnati hospitals are pushing themselves to decrease emergency room wait times, and with good reason. Eventually, there’s a good chance the federal government will make its reimbursement payments to hospitals contingent, in part, on ER speed. Low “door-to-doctor” times in the ER are a selling point for hospitals in an increasingly intense battle for Cincinnati market share, as the Business Courier reported Friday.

With manufacturing in America starting to make a comeback, organizations are increasingly focused on finding ways to capitalize on the rebounding economy. Whether it’s increasing their presence in the market or maximizing capacity and revenue, it may seem difficult to focus on anything other than getting product out the door. Often times, people view energy management as something that you do when “times are good” and resources are plentiful. This could not be further from the truth.

GE Aviation was named a recent recipient of the Outstanding Supplier Award from Federal Defense Industries (FDI). The award is given in recognition of excellence in performance and the accomplishment of the suppliers that support a certain area of the defense industry. Winner categories include aircraft components, electronic components and vehicle components. GE Aviation was recognized for its work in aircraft components.

Meyer Tool Inc. received a 45 percent, five-year tax credit from the state of Ohio for its plans to expand operations in Cincinnati. Meyer is a maker of turbine engine components and test stands used by aircraft engine manufacturing firms. According to the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the company will build a 30,000-square-foot facility and make renovations to an existing facility. The project is expected to create 50 new jobs and generate an additional $1.2 million in payroll.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., parent of L-3 Fuzing and Ordnance in Union Township and Cincinnati Electronics in Mason, said Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings rose slightly despite a 6 percent decline in sales. The New York-based defense supplier said net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 was $274 million, or $2.72 a share, up from $267 million, or $2.73 a share, in the year-ago period. The latest quarter included a $43 million write-down for declined value of its marine services business. Sales declined to $4 billion from $4.3 billion a year ago.

In an economic climate that has seen the shuttering of some businesses, one Mason company is bucking the trend. Intelligrated Inc., the fast-growing supplier of material handling systems to retailers and other companies, broke ground Monday on a new facility that is expected to bring 200 new jobs over the next three years. An artist’s rendering of the planned office expansion for Intelligrated Inc. The building is expected to be completed in the fall of 2012.

A record amount of new orders for GE Aviation will bolster the company’s Dayton-area operations, the aerospace company reported Monday. The company recently announced that commitments for some of its engines will lead to long-term stability for a GE facility in Beavercreek that employs more than 300 workers and makes tubes, ducts and manifolds.

Lion, a provider of firefighters’ protective apparel to fire departments, said Wednesday it has bought two companies that furnish fire and safety training systems and training centers. Lion said the companies, BullEx Digital Safety, of Albany, N.Y., and HAAGEN Fire Training Products, based in the Netherlands, will operate as a new division to be known as Lion Training Resources Group.

Cincinnati Sub-Zero has a line of standard temperature-control chambers it sells to industrial customers, as the Business Courier reported in this week’s newspaper, but most of its orders are custom made for specific applications. Its largest ever chamber was sold to the U.S. Army to test mobile radar installations. It measured 55 feet by 25 feet by 20 feet – big enough to drive mobile radar units into.

Erlanger-based machine tool manufacturer MAG IAS LLC has received a Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Defense for its role in a project that’s expected to cut $100 million in costs on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

L-3 Cincinnati Electronics, supplier of infrared thermal imaging and space and military systems in Mason, has named Russ Walker as president. Walker joins Cincinnati Electronics, a unit of L-3 Communications Corp., from AAI Textron Systems in Hunt Valley, Md., where he most recently served as vice president of engineering. Walker has more than 30 years experience in the defense industry. Before joining AAI Textron in 2005, he worked for both Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Blue Ash-based Wornick Co. is one of three suppliers of military food rations receiving a five-year contract with a maximum value of more than $2 billion from the Department of Defense logistics agency. Wornick's contract has a maximum value of $2.3 billion. The largest contract was with Ameriqual Group of Evansville, Ind., with a maxmium value of $2.45 billion and the third contract was was Sopakco Inc. of Mullins, S.C., with a maximum value of $2.28 billion. 

Henny Penny Corp. has undergone a major reorganization. The Eaton-based food service equipment manufacturer announced this week it has created two new executive roles and promoted several others to executive and management positions. Jeff Kincer is being promoted to the new role of vice president of engineering and operations and Tim Crammer is being promoted to the new role of vice president of marketing and services.

A Tipp City-based manufacturer is expanding operations and relocating to a new facility. Creative Extruded Products Inc., an automotive parts manufacturer, is consolidating two sites in Vandalia to one larger site in Harrison Township in order to handle increased demand from existing customers.

When the Cincinnati Reds unveiled a bronze statue of Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench last month, the team honored a great player — and showcased the work of a small Dayton manufacturer. Global Foam Co. makes shapes out of polystyrene and expanded polystyrene — a synthetic resin that provides the shapes for signs and murals, architectural flourishes, wedding cake forms, crown molding and almost anything an engineer can imagine.

L-3 Fuzing and Ordnance Systems in Union Township was awarded a $35.9 million military contract to supply electronic bomb fuzes to the Navy and U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, the Pentagon announced. Friday. The work, including 20,000 electronic bomb fuzes, 200 dummy fuzes, 100 cutaway fuzes and 3,000 accessory kits, was split between Union Township and Orlando, Fla., and should be completed by September 2014.

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. in Blue Ash said Wednesday it plans to expand in the medical device remanufacturing market with the acquisition of SterilMed Inc. in Maple Grove, Minn. Ethicon said it reached a definitive agreement to acquire SterilMed but financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The Flottman Company, one of the Region’s largest full-service graphic communications firms, has selected Ed McMasters as their new Director of Marketing and Communications.

Deceuninck North America, the Monroe-based supplier of vinyl window and door components, is introducing a new rigid thermal reinforcement system called Innergy. The product is the result of a collaboration with polyurethane resin manufacturer Bayer Material Science LLC as part of an exclusive agreement between the two companies.

At supply chain service provider Crescent, a "Lean Sigma" culture shapes everything from client engagement to employee growth. "At the end of the day we want to grow and be profitable," CEO Chris Taylor said. "To do it you need to get and retain clients. You have to show cost savings, innovations and ways to improve their supply chain."

Company executives, elected officials and community leaders promote local economic development; encourage volunteerism by donating time and food to help needy families.