Tooling equipment supplier Makino Inc. is shifting its die and mold group from the company's U.S. headquarters near Cincinnati to a new facility in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The move, expected to be complete in late June, will help the company showcase products and provide support closer to its automotive mold-making customers, said Makino marketing manager Mark Rentschler.
Makino, which is based in Mason, Ohio, will move the die and mold group to a new, 40,000-square-foot building in Auburn Hills, with about half that space devoted to an equipment showroom.
The die and mold group includes sales, technical support, training and customer service for Makino's North American customers, said Rentschler, interviewed April 24 during the Moldmaking 2002 exhibition in Rosemont.
The company will keep its U.S. headquarters in Mason for its production machinery and aerospace groups, Rentchler said.
An unspecified number of employees in the die and mold organization will relocate to Auburn Hills, while others will move to an expanded sales office in Chicago.
Makino's U.S. operation, owned by Tokyo-based Makino Milling Machine Co. Ltd., made the switch to solidify its position in response to current market conditions, President Don Lane said in a news release.
The company said it plans to introduce new machining-center products at the facility in Auburn Hills.
At a grand opening scheduled for late June, the company also will showcase a new wire electric-discharge-machining unit.
