Automated employs about 100 in Council Bluffs.
Daily Nonpareil wrote: Merger, growth fuel new facility for Bluffs business
Two titans in the integrated automation systems business have come together.
Automated Concepts Inc., 3215 Nebraska Ave., has merged its operation with Meritage Manufacturing Solutions of Warrenville, Ill.
Sierra Concepts Corp., located in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., became the majority stake holder in ACI through the recent purchase, for an undisclosed price, of ACI shares from Marlo Burg, co-founder and CEO of Automated Concepts.
The new ACI/MMS entity will operate under the name Automated Concepts Inc. and will be a subsidiary of Sierra Concepts.
"We realized the need to offer integrated automation systems to our customers. Through the acquisition of ACI and the merger of ACI and MMS, we can ensure that our customers will have this vital resource at their disposal," said Jim Ellison, CEO of Sierra Concepts.
Automated Concepts is experiencing a 60 percent growth in new orders in fiscal 2004 over 2003 from a wide variety of industries.
To serve this increased demand, ACI is building a new 65,000-square-foot facility in Council Bluffs and will break ground for the project this month.
Brian Turner, general man-ager of ACI, said that the new facility is projected to be completed by April of 2005 and will have added space for training, demonstrations, lab areas and expanded floor space for systems assembly and integration.
Turner said that the merger would not affect positions at the Council Bluffs facility. In fact, he said, the company would probably end up adding positions.
"We are looking for our business production to increase by 20 to 30 percent for 2005, so we may need to add to our employment numbers," he said.
Founded in 1983, ACI has become an industry leader in robotics system integration with more than 1,800 systems installed in applications ranging from machine loading and unloading to material removal, welding, material handling, assembly and palletizing/packaging.
With expertise in automation integration, ACI has provided custom turnkey solutions for many large and small companies in the construction equipment, agricultural, medical, automotive, military and consumer industries.
"With the merger, we will be able to distribute our products nationwide, and Sierra Concepts' distribution capabilities even reach overseas," Turner said.
"It's an exciting time here at ACI, with the new building and the added horsepower of our new parent company."
The Illinois employees of ACI will continue to work out of the existing Ellison facility in Warrenville, Ill., which will enable them to maintain their close working relationship with Ellison Machine Tools & Robotics.
"The people at MMS and ACI are excited about our organizations combining and are aware that the joining of these two long-standing business partners will bring our customers expanded capabilities as well as enhanced operational efficiencies," said John Burg, the new CEO of the ACI conglomerate, in a release.