From left to right, Courtney Ortner, Gertrude Whitaker, Steve Ortner, Ray Liang and Donald Prince mark the opening of Absolute’s new Mason, Ohio technical center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Sausages, sauerkraut, potato pancakes, beer the color of pitch, Bavarian costumes—visitors to the opening ceremony for Absolute Machine Tools’ new Mason, Ohio technical center this past Tuesday enjoyed all the trappings of a traditional Oktoberfest, along with a plentiful helping of technology demonstrations.
Prior to the German-themed festivities, Steve Ortner, company president, kicked off the event with a few words and a ribbon-cutting ceremony before an audience of customers, prospects and well-wishers. As seen above, Mr. Ortner was joined by his wife, Courtney; Ray Liang, president of AccuteX EDM; Donald Prince, mayor of Mason; and Gertrude Whitaker, a representative of Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. The company also received a congratulatory statement from Ohio Governor John Kasich and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor.
Note that Mr. Liang wielded his own pair of scissors, and for good reason. Absolute Machine Tools acquired exclusive rights to distribute AccuteX wire, sinker and hole-drilling EDMs in North America in 2009, and the 40,000-foot-technical center enables the company to present that brand under the same roof as its other lines for the first time. “The extra inventory space in the new location allows us to stock more EDM spare parts and consumables and ship them out the same day a customer places an order,” says Pete Intihar, AccuteX’s general manager.
In addition to inventory space, the new facility houses business offices and engineering departments, assembly areas, two large show rooms, a quality control laboratory and a training center. Visitors toured the whole facility at their leisure and perused the company’s myriad technology offerings, including You Ji vertical turning centers; Johnford and Tongtai CNC machining and turning centers; and Quicktech turn-mill machines.
