ixmation COX systems (Roselle, IL) will leverage its 45 years of automation experience to help take this customer from pilot production into full-scale, high-volume manufacturing. In particular, ixmation will design and build equipment to precisely assemble fuel cell stack modules and provide various inspection technologies to ensure the customer’s quality control while scaling to higher production levels.

ixmation’s applications engineering and process development team worked closely with the customer over a long period of time to finalize a design concept that perfectly fit their requirements. R. Michael Farrell, VP of Sales and Marketing for ixmation COX systems, states, “We target customers who are ready to take the production of their new technology products into an automated high-volume mode. These technologies and products provide a perfect fit for ixmation as we maintain our corporate direction and strategy for growth in the renewable and alternative energy industries.”

ixmation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Conzzeta Holdings (Swiss Stock Exchange) and supports customers  worldwide with facilities in the USA (Illinois), Malaysia, China and Switzerland.

We present the ixmation Corporate Brochure giving an overview to ixmation worldwide production sites experiences and capabilities in Assembly and Testing Automation.

New as a first edition you find the ixmation “HLDS testero helium” brochure which informs you about the technical competence of ixmation Helium Leak Detecting Systems, either as Full integrated HLDS into production lines or custom tailored HLDS for manually, semi- and full automated tests and last but not least as a stand alone version for batch testing.

Also as a first edition the “Fuel Cell” brochure is available. For the manufacturing and assembly of cylindrical and prismatic cells ixmation has developed, supported and handled several projects successfully. The new brochure gives you an introduction of ixmation engineering and production solutions.

The brochure regarding the “Alternative Energies” became a fresh up and is also worth a download.

Feel free to contact your ixmation site close to you to have a print version send to your hands – or make a meeting appointment with one of our sales representatives.

If there is anything of your interest or questions to the ixmation assembly and testing experience which may be valuable for your production fell free to contact us. (link contact form). This link takes you conveniently right to the download section of the new brochures.

The video invites you to tour through the complex assembly and manufacturing experiences of ixmation. If there is anything of your interest or questions to the ixmation assembly and testing experience which may be valuable for your production fell free to contact us.

No matter where you are, we can be contacted in all industrialized regions, either through a representative office or any of our ixmation facilities, we are here to support your global assembly projects through the entire production process with our high quality automation systems.

Global Project Management: “Kick-Off” meeting at TRW, Aschau, Germany, for the new project “Seat Belt Power Unit”.
by Jacky NG

Customer relationship in the global market asks for special actions. For ixmation, it is a very common procedure that the project teams involved get to meet each other, as well as the project discussed.
Arriving from ixmation Suzhou for a kick-off meeting: René Scheurer, Business Develop Manager ixsz, Jack NG, Project Manager, ixsz, and Ricky Huang, Design Engineer, ixsz for a first stop in Switzerland. At the offices in Burgdorf they prepared themselves for the “Kick-Off” meeting at TRW, Aschau, Germany.

Together with Thomas Bleicher, Mechanical Engineering TRW Airbag Systems GmbH, Gunter Lang, Head of Manufacturing Engineering and the ixmation crew took a one weeks start up workshop to align technical issues, design engineering and organizational tasks for the new project “Seat Belt Power Unit”.

Visiting TRW, the ixmation Suzhou China members understood more about the product criteria, customer requirement and the processes to build the safety seat belt assembly line. From the in direct communication with TRW experts, regarding technical concerns and useful advice, we will benefit before starting the design and brings us to the same mission and the same goal.

Our discussion created a harmonious environment, we felt like a family during the meeting. The customer has been shown the efficiency and fast responds to us. This trip makes us feel close. Mr Thomas Bleicher and Gunter Lang took us on a tour through the production floors, purposely to help us more understand the product and processes. This visit was very impressive and we felt highly respected to what we saw. We took great benefit out of this trip and also enjoyed the meeting. This trip made us feel close to, not only TRW Germany but also ixmation Switzerland.

After one of those hard working and successful days Mr. Bleicher and Gunter Lang took the ixmation crew on a round trip to explore the town of Aschau and the beautiful landscape of “Bavaria Chiemgau”.

We visited the historical village ”Mühldorf” to see the famous, traditional beer brewery restaurant “Geigerhaus” of the “Spaten Brauerei”. This brewery restaurant is not only well known for the excellent beer, but for their traditional Bavarian dish: “Weisswurst, Brezen and Beer.”

I want to take this opportunity to say, that ixmation Suzhou (China) was very appreciative of the support from corporate TRW Germany and ixmation Switzerland.
"Cheers to you my friends...!” 
Jacky

Jacky NG
Project Manager
ixmation China Suzhou

As you can see all the foundation and pillars are set and the beams for the first floor are installed. Now one can better imagine how big the building and the surrounding work areas will be – a good concept to providing all the space for future development and production projects, but also convenience for employees and visitors. There will be covered parking lots for cars and even motor cycles to protecting vehicles before the tropical climate.

Check in next month and see how the ixmation building in Malaysia is proceeding.

If one looks at the pictures one can easily imagine the hard work conditions on the building grounds.

The rainy season usually ends in February, but not this year.

The weather was hot and very muggy; humidity often more than 80% and the temperatures around 31°C. Three to four times a day heavy rain showers stop the works at the grounds. Considering the weather conditions the progress of the building is remarkable.

We keep you up dated! Come and see the next progresses in May!

The new facility will have 4000 square meters over three levels for offices and production floors.

On the top of the roof a solar system will provide the entire electricity needed for the air conditioning of the rooms and work floors.

Frequently we will inform you about the construction progress of the building.

Take a minute to check once and a while our news section to see the building “growing” and participate in the count down to the big opening ceremony on September 17^th 2010.

Signs are set to give a brief overview of building and constructors.

The ixmation Malaysia Team in front of the actual building.

Out side front from right: Martin Pfister CEO ixmation Group, KC Loh CEO ixmation Asia and JK Lim LDS Section Head and their teams.

The building at 31 Presidential Drive in Roselle, Illinois, boasts 80,000 square feet (7432 square meters) of combined warehouse and office space, all freshly scrubbed and painted. The machine shop and assembly floor are spacious and well organized, as are the offices.  All 130+ ixmation COX employees are very pleased with their new workplace.

The move was complete by March 1, 2010, and the grand opening celebration was held on March 12th.  In addition to the U.S. staff, ixmation CEO Martin Pfister and CFO Edi Joho were in attendance, as was KC Loh, ixmation Business Development Manager and CEO of ixmation Asia. Mike Macsek, CEO/President of ixmation COX systems, was very pleased to welcome his colleagues to the new facility and have them participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The new 80,000 square foot facility will afford ixmation COX systems the ability to provide a greater degree of service to our current and prospective customers.   In order to provide a seamless transition for our customers, ixmation COX systems has made the decision to retain their current phone and fax numbers.

About ixmation COX systems
From humble beginnings in 1965, COX systems has worked deliberately to achieve a premier status as a world-class automation supplier.  The early years were comprised of ventures in part feeding.  This led to mechanisms, which eventually led to stations, and then stations blended into assembly lines.  Today our turnkey solutions include a broad range of equipment installations around the world.
By aggressively embracing the future, COX systems has been shaped into what it is today, an organization full of bright and talented people motivated by unique challenges in the automation industry.

Our existing production floor space is around 4500 sq ft. Considering the new incoming order, we need additional 8000 sq ft! We have two options, first are to rent from other factory or second to expand our existing production floor.

After considered few factors like logistic, security, costing and facilities readiness, we have decided to expand our existing production floor space inside our premises.

We have a small piece of land behind our factory which used to be our “football field” after working hours. Due to time pressure, we quickly arrange civil contractor to clear the area, start to lay the concrete floor and erect the steel structure for temporary production floor. Even with the bad weather condition we manage to complete the construction within 3 weeks time!

We used white canvas externally and white plywood internally as temporary wall, thus we name it our “white house”. The temporary production floor is paint with epoxy paint, fully air conditioning, equip with fire extinguisher, compresses air and all the necessary power supply for project usage.

With the erection of the “white house” we manage to complete the first order and delivered to our customer on time. Currently we are in progress for second order inside the same “white house”, we even have our year 2009 annual dinner inside the “white house”!

ixmation COX systems, a part of the global network of automation solution providers known as ixmation, announces the relocation of their USA / Chicago based operations from its current location in Bloomingdale, IL into a new larger facility located within the Roselle Commerce Center in Roselle, IL. Operations will begin in the new facility March 1, 2010.

The new 80,000 square foot facility will afford ixmation COX systems the ability to provide a greater degree of service to our current and prospective customers.

“The moving to this new facility, coupled with the 2010 opening of a newly constructed 40,000 square foot facility located in Penang, Malaysia, is another example of ixmation’s commitment to being one of the leading providers worldwide of automated assembly and production solutions,” said Mike Macsek, President of ixmation COX systems.

The 2010 MDM / ATX West show was very well attended and seemed much busier than last year.  Our overall perspective, compared to last year, was that most companies who exhibited booths seemed to have been operating on limited budgets as both booth size and content were reduced. 

However when it came to the show attendees, in stark contrast to last year’s show, we saw badges from as far away as NC, NY, and NJ and many others including Guadalajara, Mexico.  Their presence leads us to believe that at least those companies with project budgets provided for the opportunity to attend the show.  

Conversations with other attendees during the show seemed optimistic, most commented that their organizations seemed to be turning the corner, and were looking forward to launching projects in 2010 and 2011. This was encouraging!  We are pleased to say that this appeared to be the trend across all disciplines including Medical, Consumer Goods, and the Green Technologies industry.

Our booth was in an excellent location this year; we were strategically placed right in the middle/front of all the automation and robot suppliers.  Visitors would come into our hall, proceed straight down the aisle, and walk into our booth. The increased traffic flow, not only improved our lead count from last year, but enhanced the momentum that was started with our increased west coast presence and our successes from last year’s show.

“Being placed in the German Pavilion at hall 15c was the perfect location for the ixmation booth”.
Especially the demonstration of the ixmation Leak Detecting System raised the interest of visitors and exhibitors.

Leak detecting with Helium in vacuum chambers, provides not only the consumer protection thru quality assurance, but these tests also ensure the safe long-term use of refrigerator aggregates, air conditioning in cars, fuel injection pumps etc. due to the tightness of the absolute material.
ixmation experiences are ranging from Air conditioning, Aeronautical and Automotive applications.

The machines are available as standard machine, as a stand alone version or as custom tailored turnkey solution interlinked to existing production lines or an ixmation automation system.

The show gathered manufacturers, suppliers, equipments builders, vehicle makers under a same events managed to benefit the supply chain even within the exhibitors themselves. As announced by the trade show organization the show attracted more than 1.5 million visitors from 5th – 11th Jan 2010 with the highest attendant recorded in a single day of 250,000 visitors.

First picture:
ixmation booth at hall 15c the "German Pavilion"
Picture left:
JK Lim (Head of LDS), Conducting the demo on the hard vacuum typ helium leak check machine to the visitors
Picture right:
JK Lim, HC Ng, BK Ooi, Kelvin Ong, KC Loh, Mark (Alcatel), Rajat (Alcatel), KK Lai

Kim Jong is originally from East Timor but received his education in the U.S., with a master’s degree in Manufacturing Systems from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering Technology – Electronics from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston.

Kim has spent most of his 32-year career with the multi-nationals Honeywell and Eaton. For the last 8 years he has been with Eaton Electrical (Suzhou), completing a wide range of leadership assignments, including 3 years as General Manager. Kim’s vast working experience includes exposure to a variety of responsibilities, starting with Process Engineer, then on to Project Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, and Product Development Manager. Then his professional experiences were enriched further as a Marketing and Sales Director.

As of November, the ixmation group has had a new site in Burgdorf which is now managed by Daniel Gilgen. The new location is responsible for the sales and after sales in Europe.

Since mid 2009 the order entry in Malaysia and USA has been improving, and I’m optimistic to start with a good work load in the next year. We just received large orders from the Solar and Electronic Industry and we are expecting several additional orders out of the medical industry by the end of this year. With our global setup and our ability to handle multinational projects, we have the opportunity to differentiate ourselves further from our competitors – to satisfy our customers worldwide.  

In March, 2010 ixmation COX systems will move into a new building which is more than double the size of their current one, in preparation for future challenges.

ixmation EXCEL systems will move in July 2010 to a new building to handle the growth which we are expecting there, and to present a side of ixmation which represents the high-tech approach of the ixmation group. Next year will be in deed fascinating and interesting.

Next year will once again be another challenge. The economical crisis is not over, but we see some signals that the trend could change. I’m optimistic and full of enthusiasm to once again have the success which we want and our shareholders are expecting from us.

Martin Pfister
CEO ixmation Group

Not only that, as the economy in general and manufacturing in particular pick up again, assemblers will have to work smarter and better than ever before if they are to survive. The new economy promises to be an increasingly global one, and that means increased competition. Along these same lines, the technologies driving the new economy – things like solar cells, personal electronics, medical devices and fuel-efficient vehicles – are going to demand higher quality processes than ever.

Both of these trends will require the best in capital equipment, including everything from fully automated systems to precision tools, conveyors and process monitoring software. And it’s all going to be on display at this year’s Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo), set to take place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, adjacent to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Sept. 22-24.

The co-located Intersolar North America and SEMICON West events, which took place last week in San Francisco, presented more than 560 solar exhibitors to approximately 17,000 trade visitors, exceeding organizers expectations for the second straight year. Intersolar North America alone featured 444 exhibitors, up from 210 exhibitors a year before – a 111 percent increase.

Further reinforcing the importance of Intersolar North America’s international platform for exchange, trade visitors came from circa 90 countries with companies exhibiting from 23 countries, reflecting the incredible internationality of the solar market.

“We are extremely excited about the growth of Intersolar North America,” said Markus Elsaesser, CEO of Solar Promotion International GmbH, exhibition and conference organizer. “The US solar market has incredible potential, and with the support of industry associations, including the SEMI PV Group, ASES and CALSEIA, we are creating an opportunity for solar professionals to come together and discuss continued development for the US market.”