Manufacturing industry mergers, acquisitions, collaborations

The Chiron Group, Tuttlingen, Germany, has acquired Mecatis SA with headquarters in Isérables, Switzerland. Mecatis specializes in small, high-precision, high-speed 4- and 5-axis machining centers and complementary automation, used mainly in the watch and jewelry industry.

Mecatis, founded in 2007, designs, builds and maintains machining centers for the high-speed cutting of microtechnical components. The highlight of the product range is the Micro5, launched in 2017, a compact machining center with 4 or 5 axes, which customers use for the rapid, high precision production of components for the Swiss watch and jewelry industry. The Micro5 offers very high static stiffness 2x10^6 N/m, repeatability of 0.5μm and target accuracy of 2μm. With excellent thermal stability, very high dynamic rigidity, and acceleration of 2g, the compact machine is made for HSM.

Mecatis machining centers will be sold worldwide by the Chiron Group. The entire service network of the corporate group will also be available to Mecatis customers. The Chiron Group is expanding its technology base with the acquisition. 

IMCO Carbide Tool Inc. now operates as part of the IMC Group, an international family of metalworking companies and part of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the company announced. While details of the August agreement were not disclosed, company leadership said most aspects of IMCO’s operations and product portfolio will remain unchanged.

IMCO will continue operating from its Perrysburg site, producing end mills and other machining products under the IMCO brand, Perry Osburn, president, says. The staff and management team, skilled tool grinders, sales and customer support teams will remain the same. Any differences will occur in the product development assets now available to IMCO, he says.

“IMC Group is the second-largest metalworking business in the world,” Osburn says. “Like us, they’re known for innovation and product excellence. And they have technologies and other resources that can help us bring new products to market faster.

“As part of Berkshire Hathaway, we’ll be able to draw on their financial resources to maintain continuous improvement in manufacturing and pursue new challenges and opportunities.” Those opportunities include plans for plant expansion, he says, to be announced soon. 

Freudenberg Medical has acquired the dedicated manufacturing equipment and associated assets utilized by Merit Medical Systems Inc. in its hypotube manufacturing business. The acquired assets will be absorbed by Cambus Medical located in Galway, Ireland. Cambus Medical, a Freudenberg Medical company, is a market leading hypotube manufacturer in the minimally invasive industry. Established in 2006, Cambus Medical develops and manufactures hypotubes, specialty needles, and metal micro-components for catheters and minimally invasive devices used in diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

The acquisition includes manufacturing equipment for laser-cut hypotubes and access to additional technology. Merit Medical will supply Cambus Medical with PTFE coated tubing and wire to ensure uninterrupted product supply for all existing customers.

Freudenberg Medical’s comprehensive catheter development capabilities include advanced extrusion, handle and shaft development, balloon development and manufacturing, hypotubes, and metal micro-components, assembly, and coatings. 

Sintavia LLC has entered into an agreement to collaborate with Siemens Digital Industries Software on the development of an end-to-end additive manufacturing (AM) software solution as a part of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio. Sintavia will provide testing and technical feedback on pre-released software that will be part of future AM solutions. In exchange, Sintavia becomes a preferred AM partner of Siemens and gains access to the software in advance of the market, along with technical support for its implementation.

As part of the three-year agreement, the two companies will collaborate on joint sales and marketing activities and plan to organize events at Sintavia’s world-class facility that will showcase Siemens’ AM solution in an industrialized additive production environment.

The companies have agreed that sustainability will be a focus area for their marketing collaboration. In November 2019, Sintavia co-founded the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), a global, non-commercial, unaffiliated nonprofit organization open to any additive manufacturer or industry stakeholder that meets certain criteria relating to sustainability of production, and Siemens joined AMGTA in 2020.