CHICAGO — HPM Corp. has beefed up its management staff in the year since it was acquired by Stadco Inc.
Several of the new HPM managers came from rival plastics machinery makers, such as Cincinnati Milacron Inc., Van Dorn Demag Corp., Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., the Epco Division of John Brown Plastics Machinery and Autojectors Inc.
Old and new employees make up the management team, reporting to William Flickinger, HPM president. They include:
John Lauchnor, vice president of operations. Lauchnor has a background in robots and metalworking at Cincinnati Milacron and ABB Robotics Inc. He joined HPM last fall. He has three patents, two in software design and one in technology for the interface between an operator and the machine.
Stephen Byrnes, hired in May as vice president of HPM's injection molding division. Most recently, Byrnes was general manager of Husky's Boston sales office. He also was a product manager at Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc.
Brian Bishop, employed at HPM since 1984, is general manager of the injection molding division. His responsibilities include key accounts and overseeing some regional operations.
John Beary, vice president of manufacturing. He came to HPM in November after four years at Cincinnati Milacron, most recently as operations manager for industrial blow molding.
Ferdinand Pranckh, general manager of the extrusion division. Before joining HPM in late 1996, he was manager of corporate process technology at Avery Dennison Corp., where he implemented advanced systems for making Avery's pressure-sensitive labels in plants around the world.
Paul Smith, who joined HPM in January as marketing director. He has held sales and marketing positions at Van Dorn Demag and Autojectors.
Tim Erwin, named director of quality assurance in January. From 1972-92, he was Milacron's quality engineering manager for plastics machinery. After that, he was director of operations at press remanufacturer Epco and quality assurance manager for Vickers Inc., which makes hydraulic valves and pumps.
Harry Wowchuck, named recently as general manager for East Coast operations. He was a Husky general manager.
