Tallmadge, Ohio – At the end of August, WARDJet celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a day-long open house, and a special events for employees and their guests in the evening. Visitors from all across the U.S. descended on Tallmadge, Ohio, to learn more about waterjet, network with other businesses, and share stories from the past 20 years.
The open house was a huge success with more than 90 individuals registered to attend the third annual event. Team members stayed busy all day talking to visitors about everything that was new at WARDJet. Partners helping make the event a success were open house participants Hypertherm, Hexagon, and Yaskawa Motoman.
The 2015 open house featured the WARDKit On The Go, which is a 24-foot truck outfitted with a WARDKit 5x5 waterjet and equipped to tour across America. The design of the truck, which offers an experience similar to a trade show, has a curtain-style sides pulled back and modular platforms mounted to the side. Visitors were able to walk onto the truck and watch WARDKit demonstrations while TV screens, brochures, banners, and lighting complete the overall impression.
Open house guests also were able to see the new G&L horizontal boring mill with 36ft of X-axis travel, 6ft 7” of Y-axis travel, and a 5-axis spindle. Tours were also available of WARDJet’s printed circuit boardroom, which was recently relocated and given a facelift. Hexagon was on hand with a Leica T-Mac control sensor mounted to a standard E-1515 system, and Yaskawa Motoman demonstrated cutting automotive components for weld inspection with an abrasive waterjet robot. Abrasive recycling, custom waterjet design, and 5-axis cutting demonstrations rounded out the open house event.
Lunch was sponsored by Yaskawa Motoman, accented by a delicious cake from Hypertherm for the 20th anniversary. WARDJet also raffled off an iPad Air 2 during the event, and Sherry of Meadors Machine Shop in Camden, Ohio, was the lucky winner.
After the daytime festivities wrapped up, it was time for the evening 20-year celebration at a local banquet hall. The WARDJet family, as well as a number of special guests, made the event memorable. Owner Richard Ward shared a few stories from the early days of WARDJet, and was treated to a surprise video message from the current WARDJet staff. In recognition of the role that the employees played in achieving 20 years of business, a drawing was held for an all-expense paid vacation with the winner being Duane Snider, a sales engineer at WARDJet since 2014.
Source: WARDJet