SUPPLIER NEWS

Doosan Infracore enters Hyundai fold

The sale and closing of Doosan Infracore to Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) became official on Aug. 19, according to a news release from the Suwanee, Georgia, office of Doosan Infracore.

Doosan Infracore will become a subsidiary of the newly created Hyundai Genuine (HG) group alongside Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) as “two independent construction equipment companies under HHIH,” according to Doosan Infracore.

HG will act as the intermediary company of HHIH group’s construction equipment businesses with the intention of allowing both business units to “combine as a global top player, putting us much closer to achieving the goal of becoming a global top five player.”

The plan is to manage overlapping investments and invest heavily in areas like future technologies and innovation, according to Hyundai. “Doosan Infracore will be working diligently to commercialize Concept-X and develop cutting-edge products such as electric excavators, battery packs, hybrid fuel cells and other next-generation products,” adds the firm.

States Doosan Infracore, “Independently, the two companies will grow together, complement each other, even compete in good faith in all areas, including technology, production, purchasing, sales and quality. This will enable our business to expand and associate with other companies operated by the whole HHIH group.”

Doosan Infracore North America LLC markets the Doosan brand of products that includes crawler excavators, wheeled excavators, mini excavators, wheel loaders, articulated dump trucks, material handlers, log loaders and attachments via more than 160 equipment dealer locations in North America.

HCE, which has a North American office in Norcross, Georgia, makes some of the same products plus has a forklift truck line.

Hendrickson’s president and CEO announces retirement

Gary Gerstenslager

Hendrickson, an equipment manufacturer based in Woodridge, Illinois, has announced the retirement of Gary Gerstenslager, the company’s president and CEO. Gerstenslager, who has been with the company for 32 years, says he will retire at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Matt Joy. 

According to a news release from Hendrickson, Gerstenslager joined the company in 1989 and his passion, technical knowledge and drive for excellence led to a transformation in product design and manufacturing, which permeates all of Hendrickson today.

“Gerstenslager became president in 2006 and, in 2007, became the first CEO, in addition to president, in Hendrickson’s history,” says Matthew Boler, chairman, president and CEO of The Boler Co., the parent company of Hendrickson. “Gary embraced this role, and over his 15 years as president, turned Hendrickson from an important supplier within the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) commercial vehicle [market] into a leading global supplier.” 

Joy, Gerstenslager’s replacement, joined the company in 2006 and has been instrumental in the ongoing transition of the company. He has moved through several roles at Hendrickson, including vice president and general manager of the Specialty Products Group, vice president and general manager of the Truck Division, and COO.

Kadant acquires Balemaster

Kadant Inc., a technology manufacturer based in Westford, Massachusetts, has acquired Balemaster, a Crowne Point, Indiana-based manufacturer of horizontal balers used in the recycling industry. The company acquired Balemaster for $54 million in cash. Balemaster will become part of Kadant’s Material Handling reporting segment.

According to a news release from Kadant, Balemaster’s revenue for the past 12 months ended June 30 was approximately $22 million.  

Kadant hosted a telephone conference Aug. 24 to talk about the acquisition. Kadant Inc. CEO Jeffery Powell said the company was interested in acquiring Balemaster for four years. He said one of the things that attracted the company to Balemaster was its focus on the packaging recycling market.  

Powell said the acquisition also allows Kadant to expand its operations in North America to support its Germany-based businesses that supply large multistream machines to material recovery facilities around the country.

“Our acquisition of Balemaster expands our presence in the secondary material processing sector and creates new opportunities for leveraging our high-performance balers produced in Europe,” Powell adds. “The company is a market leader in North America, and its strong aftermarket business fits well with Kadant. We are excited to welcome the employees of Balemaster to the Kadant family.” 

Powell says that Balemaster will continue to operate as a stand-alone company as part of Kadant’s decentralized business model. 

“We are proud of the strong brand and market presence Balemaster has built over the past 75 years,” says Cornel Raab, president of Balemaster. “Kadant is a world-class company with a similar culture and values as our family-built business, and we believe it is a great home for our company and employees.”

Redwave names operations officer for US subsidiary

Martin Weiss, a longtime employee of Austria-based sorting technology provider Redwave, has been named as the new COO of Atlanta-based Redwave Solutions US LLC. Weiss had been serving as Redwave’s global sales manager and expert for metal recycling before his July 1 appointment to the new position.

Redwave, established in Austria in 2004, says it “quickly became apparent that there was great potential for Redwave sensor-based sorting machines in America.”

Stefan Steiner has managed the operations of Redwave Solutions US on an interim basis “and has since not only strengthened the American location but has also created a reliable and motivated team,” the company states.

After four and a half years in the United States, Steiner will take on new responsibilities at the company’s Austrian headquarters involving expanding international business areas and promoting the firm’s service and support area.

“I am very honored by this vote of confidence from the management, and I will put my full commitment into achieving our goals,” Steiner says of his new role.

“In my past responsibilities at Redwave, I was working in different departments,” says Weiss. “This versatile knowledge gives me confidence for this honorable new position. I am excited and look forward to adding more value to the team and appreciate the trust for this opportunity from the management.”

Weiss says he is ready to take over a team that includes administration, sales and marketing and a factory-trained technical staff responsible for service and maintenance that has more than 80 years of combined experience in the field of electromechanical engineering and installation monitoring.

NGR expands footprint in the US

Austria-based Next Generation Recycling Maschinen GmbH (NGR) says it has relocated its Next Generation Recycling Machines Inc. business unit from its previous spot north of Atlanta to a larger space in south Atlanta close to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“From our new location we are offering a vastly improved portfolio,” says Peter Schneider, president of NGR Inc. “Strategically positioned very close to the international terminal of the well-known Atlanta airport, from here we can showcase our increased service offering, our competence and the largely increased technical center in a very improved fashion.”

NGR, an equipment and technology provider for the plastics recycling industry, says it has some 140 employees in Austria and at three sales and service facilities located in the United States, China and Malaysia. The company generates about 50 million euros ($59 million) in sales annually.

“We are operating recycling machines on production scale for post-industrial and postconsumer applications and markets,” says Schneider of the new Atlanta facility. “Customers can recycle their materials in scheduled test runs on various extruder, filtration and pelletizer configurations. From there, they can reintroduce the recycled pellets into their production processes and evaluate the success. We pick up our customers at the airport and minutes later they can see their materials running on our machines. It does not get any easier than this.”

The new customer center also supports current and future customers via the availability of spare parts on-site and via a service team with increased capacity and capabilities, says NGR.