Plastic welding systems maker Dukane Corp. is expanding its equipment portfolio with the acquisition of Blackhawk Technology Group LLC, a contract manufacturer of laser plastic welding services and equipment based in Aumsville, Ore.
Dukane announced the acquisition June 11. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Blackhawk has an on-site machine shop, state-of-the-art lab and 3D printing capabilities at its Aumsville facility, where the company offers basic material tests and full process development in addition to contract manufacturing. The company primarily serves the electronics, automotive and medical industries.
Dukane will use Blackhawk's Aumsville facility to offer additional products, including its servo-controlled ultrasonic welding system with patented Melt-Match technology. Blackhawk's name will change to Dukane and all employees will be retained, according to Dukane spokesman Jake Kowalewski. He declined to provide a total employee count for either company.
"We are excited about the future," Dax Hamilton, founder and managing partner at Blackhawk, said in a statement. "This acquisition will give flexibility to the Blackhawk team to focus on doing what we do best: being experts at laser plastic welding."
Going forward, Hamilton will join Dukane as director and global product manager for laser plastic welding. Josh Brown, Blackhawk's director of sales, will join Dukane as global sales manager for laser plastic welding.
"Joining the Dukane team benefits Blackhawk by being able to tap into a much larger sales network and instantly scale our business," Hamilton said. "In addition, Dukane has a strong global service and support team helping us not only in North America, but in Asia and Europe as well. We are confident that with this additional support, it will fuel significant growth."
As part of Dukane, Hamilton said the goal over the next few years is to become "the No. 1 laser plastic welding company in the world."
For Dukane, headquartered in St. Charles, Ill., the acquisition of Blackhawk strengthens its expertise of complex laser welding and adds additional capacity for laser plastic welding products. The company, in a news release, also cited increased demand for its laser technology, specifically its ability to weld clear-to-clear 2-micron components without additives.
"In addition, because of our global support and advanced LaserLinQ technology, customers are requesting laser technology for 1-micron opaque-to-colored weld applications," Dukane President and CEO Mike Johnston said in a statement. "This increasing demand makes acquiring Blackhawk a perfect fit for Dukane."
He added: "I'm very excited about the Blackhawk team joining Dukane. Their impressive enthusiasm and years of experience in the 2-micron laser applications allow us to broaden our product offering to meet whatever laser welding application you might have."
Dukane operates in a wide range of markets, including automotive, medical, electronics and packaging, among others. It has manufacturing facilities and additional offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
In May 2018, Dukane expanded its footprint into Germany with its acquisition of KVT Bielefeld GmbH, a manufacturer of proprietary hot gas welding technology. The deal was finalized in November 2017 but first publicly announced at NPE2018.