Amera Seiki Corporation (www.ameraseiki.com) said the winner of the $35,000, custom chopper that it gave away at IMTS 2006 was Allen Aldrich, tool room manager for PTA Corporation in Connecticut.
Hyd-Mech Group Limited (www.hydmech.com), the largest manufacturer of metal cutting band saws in North America, has been given exclusive distribution rights in North America for industrial saws produced by Italy's Soitaab Impianti.
BIG Daishowa Seiki and BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc. (www.bigkaiser.com) announced the completion of two new manufacturing plants on the island of Awaji, Japan. The company said additional manufacturing capacity at the plants — 154,000 sq. ft. of production space — will allow it to handle the current and future demands for its products. The company said it now has manufacturing capacity to produce 50,000 collets per month and more than 500,000 tool holders per year.
Apprentice Jesse Bradburn of Micrometric Limited of Toronto, Ontario, won the grand prize in the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association 13h Annual Apprenticeship Competition. Bradburn received his award Sept. 16. Agie Charmilles sponsored the competition.