February 2006

Volume 7 Issue 2 February 2006

What’sNews

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Intra Product Development
and Bystronic Join Forces

Through its recent acquisition of Intra Product Development, the Bystronic Glass Group is now in position to offer its customers a complete manufacturing solution, from glass cutting through to finished end products, according to the company. Renamed the Bystronic Solution Centre, the company, based in Ottawa, Canada, will continue its development of technologies that enhance the cost-effective manufacture of PVC and composite windows for the residential and commercial fenestration markets.

Claus Rieger, executive vice president of Bystronic Inc. and manager of the USA/NAFTA market region, was appointed to the position of president of the Bystronic Solution Centre. Stephen Field and Michael Glover, both former owners of Intra Product Development, will continue as members of the management team.

“We are convinced that our internally developed production processes will have ... worldwide ... a permanent and highly beneficial effect on the production of PVC and composite windows for the residential and commercial markets. This will enable our customers to use new materials while achieving significantly higher levels of productivity using less material, fewer machines and a higher degree of automation,” says Rieger.

The company is now working together with partners in the glass and window industry to create new production methods for PVC windows. The newly-developed Fusion Assembly™ and Friction Corner Welding™ manufacturing techniques are being readied for launch in the U.S. market in 2006.

Taylor Acquires Premium Glass Inc.

Taylor Building Products Inc. has acquired Premium Glass Inc., a Lancaster, Ohio-based producer of clear and decorative doorlites. In announcing the merger, Ignacio (Nick) Cangialosi, owner and chairperson of Taylor Building Products, said the two companies have had a synergistic working relationship since 2001, when Premium Glass became the prime supplier of lites for Taylor Door.

“The merger will strengthen our working relationship with dealers and distributors, and enable us to speed the development of new products to the market,” said Cangialosi. “Our focus will continue to be the manufacturing and marketing of high-quality, well-engineered building products, reliably delivered and competitively priced.”

According to Cangialosi, manufacturing and distribution of products will continue in both West Branch, Mich., and Lancaster, Ohio.

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COMPANY NEWS

Bavarian Polymers Enters the U.S. Market

German manufacturer Bavarian Polymers has announced the opening of its new U.S. manufacturing plant near Nashville.

The company purchased 22 acres of land including a 55,000-square-foot building, which houses offices, a warehouse and a production area.

“This infrastructure in combination with the close proximity to major fenestration markets and existing U.S. partners allows us to serve customers more quickly,” said Ralph Weiss, president and co-owner. He added, “Freight costs will play a more vital role in the future and we are preparing for this today.”

In the first stage the plant has a capacity of approximately 15 million pounds per year. Eighty percent of sales are in the United States and the remaining 20 percent are sold mainly into South and Central America. Currently Bavarian Polymers has customers in six different countries.

The company intends to extrude shapes for the door and window industry only. Bavarian Polymers is investing $5.5 million for building, infrastructure and operating equipment in the initial stage.

Technoform to Open First North American Production Facility

Technoform has announced that it has finalized a lease agreement for its first North American production facility. The company will manufacture and distribute its high-performance I-Spacer™ and I-Strut™ in 54,000 square feet of existing space located in Twinsburg, Ohio. Technoform will begin to install manufacturing equipment early this year and plans to initiate production for North American orders in May.

According to Mark Silverberg, president of Technoform’s North American division, the Twinsburg site satisfied all of the company’s selection criteria.

“Ideally, we wanted our first production facility to be located near the large concentration of window manufacturers in this region and accessible to major highways for ease of distribution,” Silverberg said. “We also sought close proximity to major polymer and engineering universities in Cleveland and Akron for assistance in developing new technologies. High demand for our products requires production in North America, and we needed to initiate that production as soon as possible, so we focused on identifying newer buildings that could be occupied fairly quickly.”

Initially, both I-Spacer and I-Strut will be produced at the Twinsburg facility; however, the company plans to add facilities in Tennessee in the near future dedicated to producing I-Strut.

Technoform entered the North American market in 2004 and, until now, shipped products to North American customers from plants in Europe and Asia.

“We are an established company with eight plants that is new to North America,” added Silverberg. “We believe that manufacturing I-Spacer and I-Strut here will enable us to offer current and future North American customers greater value and better service than ever before.”

AquaSurTech Appoints Sales Representative

AquaSurTech OEM of Laval, Quebec, a manufacturer of architectural waterborne coating solutions, has appointed Industrial Sales Corp. as its representative for the Northeastern and Central U.S. territories. Industrial Sales’ 13 salespeople, supported by its six inside customer service representatives, aim to offer customers and suppliers unsurpassed service.

“We are very excited about working with Aquasurtech, the leading coating supplier to the fenestration industry,” said Jim Hornung, president of Industrial Sales. “Many of our customers are looking for opportunities to bring value-added products and differentiation to the market place and the AquaSurTech coating system is a tested and proven product that fills this niche.”