ACT, IIRSACERO, S.A. Form Strategic Partnership; Alliance Will Help Facilitate New Business Development for Both Companies in Mexico.

Business Editors

LA MIRADA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2003

Amada Cutting Technologies Inc. (ACT; www.amadabandsaw.com) and IIRSACERO, S.A., have formed a strategic partnership.

Mac Tadokoro, president of ACT, and Alberto Rodriguez, president of IIRSACERO, made the announcement.

IIRSACERO is located in Monterrey, Mexico and was established in 1956. The company, with 58 employees, is a distributor and producer of specialty steels. In addition to its Monterrey warehouse, IIRSACERO has six regional sales offices located throughout Mexico.

IIRSACERO has been an Amada customer since 1996. According to Rodriguez, the company has been selling and using a number of Amada bandsaws. These include the VM-3800 plate saw, TVM-1560 and the H-250SAII.

Rodriguez said the VM-3800 is ideal for customers working patterns such as block cutting of large-sized materials, and splitting and grooving of miscellaneous materials. IIRSACERO uses the VM-3800 to cut alloy steel like 4140 and 8620, tool steels like D-2 and 0-1, and stainless steel.

"We use the VM-3800 to transform big plates into flat bars," Rodriguez said. "The rigid bed and accurate ACT servo motor feeding function also ensures that we always get precision cuts of hard materials. Our operators like the centralized control panel -- the operator can control the machine easily while staying clear of the blade."

Rodriguez added that the crooked cut detector helps IIRSACERO minimize material loss.

"When we set the crooked cutting range, the machine stops automatically if the value is exceeded due to blade wear or if someone incorrectly sets the cutting parameters," he said.

IIRSACERO uses the H-250SAII for cutting a wide variety of materials, especially carbon, alloy, tool and stainless steels. One of the key features used regularly is the specially designed feed clamp that positions large or odd-shaped materials. When the feed clamp retracts, both sides of the feed clamp open without disturbing the material. The back-gauge counter is also useful for continuous automatic cutting.

The TVM-1560 is used frequently to cut big plates into small flat bars. Rodriguez added that the machines have increased the company's productivity, reducing cutting time and scrap steel.

"And because we're both a distributor and a steel producer, we can show clients throughout Mexico the benefits of using Amada's bandsaws," he said.

ACT, established in 1987, is located in La Mirada, Calif., about 25 miles south of Los Angeles. ACT is part of the Amada Group, the world's largest manufacturer/distributor of sheet metal fabrication machinery, founded in 1946. ACT sells and distributes bandsaw machines, bi-metal bandsaw blades and parts to manufacturing facilities, steel service centers, forges and foundries, machine shops and other metal-related industries throughout North America.