2019cnc4-5

62 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST April/May 2019 Jergens inc. Appoints Matt Schron as New Gen- eral Manager Jergens announces that Matt Schron will succeed Bob Rubenstahl as the next general manager. As the new GM, Mr. Schron will have re- sponsibility for Jergens – Workhold- ing Solutions, Lifting Solutions and Specialty Fasteners businesses. Since 2007, Matt has been the general manager for Jergens Industrial Supply (JIS), the company’s dedicated, large-scale technical distributor of metalworking products that represents more than 300 top manufacturers in the United States. In his 18-year career at Jergens, Matt has also worked in three of the four division for Jergens, includ- ing numerous positions in marketing, product management and sales. “We are all very enthusiastic about Matt taking on this lead position”, says Bob Rubenstahl, the company’s previous general manager (upon an- nouncing his retirement after nearly seven years in the position). “Matt is very well-qualified and experienced and will no doubt continue the spirit of innovation in product development as well as providing solutions for our customers”, Rubenstahl continued. Platinum Tooling: A New Beginning for Preben Hansen When asked what motivated him to start the company, Hansen said that it was a natural progression and that “As we added additional machine tool accessory lines to our offering, it made sense to have a name that en- compassed more than just Heimatec.” He added “In our industry, it is com- mon to have one importer representing multiple product lines.” Hansen was very pleased with the transition from Heimatec Inc., to Platinum Tooling. “As always, our main concern is the customer; their understanding of our continued presence and new image in the marketplace was essential to our success.” Furthermore, he was grateful for the acceptance of their customers during this transition period. Regarding future changes at Plati- num Tooling, Hansen isn’t going to change his main goal: making sure customer needs are met. He explained “As always, I will continue to look for new products to complement our current product offering in an effort to satisfy the growing needs of our customers. Since the transition to Platinum Tooling, we have done our best to assure our customers that we will continue to promote and support the Heimatec tooling lines as we did in the past.” Hansen clarified by saying “Heimatec tooling will always be our core business. We have several other complimentary lines including Tecni- crafts collets & guide bushings for the Swiss market, Henninger spindle speed increasers for machining centers,AMF marking tools, cleaners, and radio sen- sors plus Suzuki IB spindle speeders for Swiss machines.” As for custom tooling, Hansen as- sures customers that Platinum Tooling will continue offering this service. “Our current manufacturers are all excellent at engineering solutions for special applications.” Absolute Machine Tools Announces 100% Sale of Company to Employee Stock Ownership Plan Absolute Machine Tools announces that the company has been sold and is now owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Trust (ESOP), effective im- mediately. In the transaction owners Steve &Courtney Ortner sold 100% of their ownership interest to a newly cre- ated ESOP, allowing current and future employees to gain a beneficial owner- ship interest in the company without any personal monetary investment. The ESOP was developed to give back to Absolute Machine Tools’ employees and recognize that they are the drivers of the company’s suc- cess. Steve Ortner commented, “All of Absolute’s employees are valued. Courtney and I could not have done it without their hard work and dedication, and as part of my legacy, I wanted to ensure their personal success.” Steve Ortner will continue to be the compa- ny’s president and chief executive offi- cer, managing sales and the company’s day to day operations. The formation of Absolute’s ESOP is intended to preserve outstanding customer service through increased productivity and Industry News