Spotlight: robots 'get smart' in Farmington Hills: the Detroit Regional Partnership is helping companies from around the world discover that investing in the Detroit Region is good business.SmartTCP, an Israeli company that develops robotic technology for the welding industry, chose Southeast Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called Southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries, and is home to slightly over half the state's population. as the site for its first U.S. showroom because of its central location and easy access to the Midwest's welding and manufacturing companies. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 5,000-square-foot SmartTCP Technology Showroom that opened this fall in Farmington Hills Far·ming·ton Hills A city of southeast Michigan, an industrial suburb of Detroit. Population: 81,400. features a state-of-the-art robotic welding system for one-off and small batch production Batch production is a manufacturing process used to produce or process any product in batches, as opposed to a continuous production process, or a one-off production. The primary characeristic of batch production is that all components are completed at a workstation before they with automatic programming. Visitors to the Farmington Hills showroom learn how SmartTCP technology can transform their welding operation from a cost center into a profit center, says Efi Lebel, the company's CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , who predicts a $7 billion market by 2010. Tel Aviv-based SmartTCP's software turns welding robots into next generation smart machines and cuts programming time from weeks to a matter of hours. "We provide a number of benefits to tomorrow's welding and manufacturing industry, says Lebel. "These include increased productivity and consistent high-quality output. What results is an improved time to market and the optimization of technology which will vastly increase a company's profits." The Detroit Regional Economic Partnership, the economic-development arm of the Detroit Regional Chamber, helped make the showroom possible by linking SmartTCP with partners for leasing real estate. Since its formation in 1998, the Partnership has helped more than 300 companies either locate or expand in Southeast Michigan, resulting in nearly 8,000 new jobs and a total investment of $1.4 billion. The SmartTCP Technology Showroom is located at 26606 Haggerty Road in Farmington Hills. For more information on the Detroit Regional Partnership and its role in helping companies locate or expand in Southeast Michigan, visit www.detroitchamber.com/drep. RELATED ARTICLE: The Partnership gets results With the help of its investors, we assisted 73 companies in either locating or expanding in the Detroit Region during the 2005-2006 program year. These projects represent a total of $450 million in new business and 2,775 new jobs for the region. These new jobs, along with the spin-off jobs created, will bring $378 million of purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. annually into the region's economy. RELATED ARTICLE: Partnership Highlights Faurecia, a French automotive interior supplier, opens a 170,000-square-foot manufacturing plan in Fraser and a just-in-time final sequencing center in Sterling Heights Sterling Heights, city (1990 pop. 117,810), Macomb co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; platted 1835 as Jefferson Township, renamed 1838, inc. 1968. Largely rural until the mid-20th cent., the city grew as a suburb of Detroit, 19 mi (31 km) to the northeast. . Result: 350 new jobs; $52.5 million investment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tempo Group, a Chinese company that is making a major push into the U.S. auto market, buys a 477,000-square-foot facility in Canton. Result: 200 new jobs, $27 million investment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Behr GmbH & Co. KG, a German auto supplier, expands its automotive testing facility and technical center in Troy. Result: 270 new jobs; $8.5 million investment. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RELATED ARTICLE: Other Developments German-owned chemical giant BASF BASF Bar Association of San Francisco (since 1872; San Francisco, California) BASF Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (German chemical products company) BASF Builders Association of South Florida plans a $100 million expansion at its plant in Wyandotte to accommodate the emulsion and resin production activities BASF acquired with its purchase of Wisconsin-based Johnson Polymers. AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) See mobile positioning. Powertrain Engineering Inc., an Austrian firm that designs, develops and provides engineering services for the development and testing of vehicle powertrain systems, plans to invest $2.9 million in a new engineering technical center in Plymouth Township. Valentine Robotics purchased a 16,000-square-foot facility in Sterling Heights to house the expanded Valentine Robotics School for Continuing Education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). . The new building will also feature an R & D facility for Krypton krypton (krĭp`tŏn) [Gr.,=hidden], gaseous chemical element; symbol Kr; at. no. 36; at. wt. 83.80; m.p. −156.6°C;; b.p. −152.3°C;; density 3.73 grams per liter at STP; valence usually 0. Robot Metrology, Scorpion robot vision guidance software and automated, online vision systems for the inspection of objects. Martinrea Industries is investing $8.3 million to expand its Michigan operations by opening a new facility in Manchester, creating 197 jobs. Martinrea develops and manufactures state-of-the-art metal forming and fluid management systems for the automotive and industrial sectors. Delphi Technologies, a subsidiary of Delphi Corp., launched a new welding company called SpaceForm Inc. to commercialize Delphi's Deformation Resistance Welding (DRW DRW Drawing(s) DRW Dual Rear Wheels (pickup truck) DRW Detroit Red Wings DRW Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (Airport Code) DRW Dr Who ) technology. SpaceForm will be headquartered in TechTown, Detroit's research and technology park near Wayne State University Wayne State University, at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). . |
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