AMT Elects New Board

AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA) has elected its
2015-2016 officers and directors. The 2015-2016 board year begins April 1, 2015.

Chairman
The AMT Board of Directors, which represent the American manufacturing technology industry, named Jerry Rex, the executive vice president of Concept Machine Tool, (Plymouth, MN), to serve as chairman. He follows chairman Kevin J. Kilgallen, the president of Mid-Atlantic Machinery (Harrisburg, PA).

Concept Machine Tool has been providing world-class products and solutions to the manufacturing industry since 1974. Concept is a full service distributor of Methods, Kitamura, Minster, Zeiss, Mitsubishi EDM/Laser and other fine metal cutting, forming and metrology products. Previously, Rex served for 12 years as a president of major distributor companies, the last assignment involving a move to Minnesota where he integrated a recently acquired distributorship into the corporate company and culture. He has served in leadership roles for key builders, manufacturers and distributors in his 38-plus years in the industry, beginning his career as a Machinist Apprentice at GE in his home town of Erie, PA. At AMT, he has chaired the CMTSE Committee and been actively involved on the Board of Directors.

“I am both honored and excited to serve our industry as chairman for the upcoming year,” said Rex. “In my 23 years of activity with AMT, and previously with the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, I have been blessed to meet and learn from some of the best minds and leaders in our industry. I believe you can and should be a leader, no matter the title or position you hold. In my 38-plus years in manufacturing, I have seen incredible advances in the technology we deploy, sell, service and support, as well as how it is used. I look forward to being a strong advocate for members as the industry continues to evolve in the coming year.”

First Vice Chairman
The board elected Richard (Rick) L. Simons, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hardinge Inc. (Elmira, NY), to serve as first vice chairman. Simons has served as the president and chief executive officer of Hardinge Inc., since May 2008 and became chairman of the board in February 2012. Prior to rejoining Hardinge in 2008, he was the vice president and corporate controller at Carpenter Technology, a publicly-traded specialty steel manufacturer (2005-2008). Simons originally joined Hardinge in 1983 and held various management roles before being named the executive vice president/chief financial officer (1999-2005).

Simons has a B.S. from Bloomsburg University and an M.B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is also a director of Sunnen Products Company, a global manufacturer and distributor of honing and bore sizing equipment and related accessories.

Second Vice Chairman/Treasurer
Ronald S. Karaisz, the president and chief executive officer of Kar Enterprises, Inc./Novi Precision Products, Inc. (Brighton, MI), will serve as second vice chairman/treasurer. He joined the machine tool industry in 1981, created Kar Enterprises in 1987 and became the president at Novi Precision Products in 1999. Kar Enterprises is a machine tool distributor/representative of world class machine tools from around the globe. Their premier lines over the years have been Hegenscheidt, Hydromat, Novi Precision Products, Supfina and Witzig & Frank.

Novi Precision Products is a custom machine tool builder and integrator, whose products include: automation, assembly lines, presses, pierce & notch, leak and functional test, single-station and multi-station metal removal machines. Most of their projects are complete turnkeys, which include automation and robotics.

Secretary
Brian J. Papke, the president of Mazak Corporation (Florence, KY), was elected secretary. He was named president of Mazak in 1989. Mazak Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing unit of Yamazaki Mazak, headquartered in Oguchi, Japan. Since joining Mazak in 1987, Mazak has completed 14 expansions, including the establishment of a National Technology Center and Customer Service and Support Center and a network of technology centers throughout North America.

Recently, expansions have included $15 million on the Kentucky manufacturing plant and new Versatech bridge-style machining centers. Further expansion of Technology Centers is in progress, with a new building in Houston and an expansion in Schaumburg, IL. Papke is a graduate of the University of Illinois.

Directors
Newly elected to a three-year term as a member of the association’s Board of Directors are: Christopher A. Bailey, the vice president of Global Automation Solutions (Cleveland, OH); Dr. John B. Cheung, the chief executive officer and co-founder of OMAX Corporation (Kent, WA); and Paul Ricard, the president of DP Technology Corp – ESPRIT (Camarillo, CA).

Board members that were re-elected for a three-year term include Jerry Rex; David J. Burns, the global head of sales for The Ex One Company (Irwin, PA), and Lee Morris, the chief executive officer and chairman of The Morris Group (Windsor, CT).

Other directors include:

• Thomas R. Dillon, the vice chairman, DMG Mori USA, Inc., (Hoffman Estates, IL)
•  Richard Gilchrist, chairman, Felsomat USA, Inc., (Schaumburg, IL)
•  Steven R. Stokey, the executive vice president/owner, Allied Machine & Engineering Corp., (Dover, OH)

Ex-Officio

• R. Stephen Flynn, the president of Optical Gaging Products, A Division of Quality Vision International, Inc., (Rochester, NY)
• Kevin J. Kilgallen, president, Mid Atlantic Machinery, Inc., (Harrisburg, PA)

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