PHELPS, NY – Z-AXIS, an experienced provider of electronic design and manufacturing services, recently celebrated its 35th anniversary amid a major expansion at its Rochester-area facility. Employees, family, and friends enjoyed a lunch from Dinosaur BBQ, Molly V’s Homemade Ice Cream, and live music on a beautiful fall day in Western New York on October 1, 2024.

“Z-AXIS is very proud of the achievement we’re celebrating today,” said Michael Allen, company president and co-owner. “We’d like to thank everyone who helped make this possible. With the investments that we’re making, the best is yet to come.”

Founded on October 1, 1989, Z-AXIS started as a manufacturer of cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, a type of video monitor. As the market for CRTs declined and then largely disappeared, the company re-invented itself as an electronic contract manufacturer. Today, Z-AXIS provides printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), box builds, and cable and wire assembly services.

Michael Allen and co-owner Robin Allen purchased Z-AXIS on January 7, 2014. Michael Allen has held engineering and leadership roles at Z-AXIS since the company’s founding and served as Director of Engineering before becoming company president in 2006. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and is the holder of 26 U.S. patents.

Today, Z-AXIS is growing at approximately 20% a year and in the second phase of a $1.5 million expansion that is increasing capacity with new equipment. From startups to billion-dollar companies, Z-AXIS serves commercial and industrial customers but also has a strong and growing presence in aerospace, which now accounts for 30% of the company’s business.

Bear Power Supplies, a business unit of Z-AXIS, is also enjoying success in the design and manufacturing of power supplies for medical, industrial, and commercial customers. As a drone flew over the anniversary celebration and took pictures of the festivities, the feeling that the sky’s the limit was clear.

MILWAUKEE, WI – Milwaukee Electronics today announced the appointment of Mukesh Dulani as president. He was previously associated with DWFritz Automation, LLC as president. He was earlier associated with Solarworld Americas, Inc., Veeco Instruments and Borg Warner A/FS in a variety of executive, staff and engineering positions.

“Mukesh brings nearly three decades of experience in executive and manufacturing operations leadership. He has a track record of integrating Lean manufacturing philosophy into manufacturing operations to drive improvements in quality and throughput. He is the right person to lead our continuing journey towards operational excellence,” said Jered Stoehr, Milwaukee Electronics’ CEO.

Dulani replaces Rick McClain who has transitioned to the CFO role.

“Rick has been making the transition to CFO over the last 18 months, helping us focus on improving our financial metrics particularly in the area of inventory turns, as material constraints ease. He has a strong financial management background and is well suited for this key leadership role,” added Jered.

Organizationally, manufacturing, operations, associated sales teams and supply chain functions will report to Dulani. All other functions report to Stoehr. Dulani will spend his first month travelling among facilities assessing current capabilities and processes, while meeting team members. He’ll assume his full set of responsibilities in November and begin meeting with customers to more thoroughly understand the ways that Milwaukee Electronics can better serve their needs.

“I believe good leaders take time to observe and listen before making operational decisions. I also believe the voice of the customer needs drive everything we do. I’m excited about Milwaukee Electronics’ capabilities and business model and looking forward to the opportunity to lead its manufacturing divisions into the next phase of its operational excellence journey.

Dulani received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Jiwaji University in Gwalior, India. He received a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana Tech University. He is a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt and holds a certificate in Project Management from Cadence Management. He is a member of the American Society of Quality (ASQ) and Alpha Pi Mu, the industrial engineering honor society.

PENANG, MALAYSIA – Growth-focused, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, ESCATEC, has appointed Christoph Antener as its new Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) with the mandate to enhance its global procurement and supply chain capabilities.

A Swiss national, Antener will assume his role in ESCATEC on 14th October 2024 and will split his time between ESCATEC Switzerland in Heerbrugg and the Group headquarters in Penang.

Antener has held senior management roles in several major European EMS players over the course of his career and has an industry reputation as an expert in demand/supply chain management, procurement, commodity strategy & management, and logistics. Most recently, he was the CPO at EMS provider, KATEK Group.

Antener’s expertise will further strengthen ESCATEC’s capabilities and provide a firm foundation to support the Group’s ambitious plans to expand market share and its production footprint

“We are delighted to have Christoph onboard,” said ESCATEC CEO, Charles-Alexandre Albin. “His experience in developing leading edge procurement systems and his strong industry relationships are invaluable to strengthen commodity and supplier strategies as well as on-time delivery that is absolutely critical for our customers.”

In addition to his experience, Antener holds an Executive MBA in Supply Chain and Logistics Management from Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland and has other academic qualifications relating to these fields.

“I could not be more excited to join a very talented team and to contribute to an innovative and rapidly growing organisation,” said Antener.

ESCATEC has been in rapid expansion mode in recent years, having made substantial investments to acquire industry-leading capabilities and to expand its global production footprint.

Major OEM brands based in Europe and North America make up most of ESCATEC’s customer base. The fully integrated Group currently owns and operates four facilities in Malaysia, two at Chomutov in the Czech Republic, one in Lutterworth in the United Kingdom, one at Plovdiv in Bulgaria, and an advanced production facility in Heerbrugg, Switzerland. ESCATEC also has a Design & Development (D&D) Centre in Switzerland and strategic design-and-production partnerships in Croatia and the United States.

WOOSTER, OH – RBB is pleased to announce that we have entered a strategic partnership with LogiSync, LLC. This will help us to expand our existing in-house design capabilities and further strengthen our position in the field of electronics. This deal increases the services we offer our clients. We will use the latest design tools and technology from LogiSync to produce leading-edge, quality designs.

Since 1973, RBB has established a reputation for quality service in the manufacturing industry. A new partnership empowers our design and engineering capabilities to leverage technology expertise and bring innovative design solutions to our clients. LogiSync, established in 1993, is a company that has experience and uses the finest design tools and technologies to contribute to this partnership. Both companies were established in Northeast Ohio and will continue from RBB’s Wooster, Ohio headquarters to serve the region and beyond.

Through this alliance, we offer in-house design, which carries out the design process to improve efficiency and ensure timely delivery with exceptional client results. This also creates closer collaboration with our clients to understand their needs better and efficiently deliver customized design solutions.

The partnership with LogiSync strongly reflects our expanded design development capability. Embracing 31 years of LogiSync technical experience positions us to provide world-class design solutions that set new industry creativity and innovation benchmarks. That is our commitment to excellence and dedication to giving our clients new and sustained product development engineering support.

The alliance is also a win-win for LogiSync and its clients. With RBB’s production and prototype facilities, LogiSync’s engineering has access to more innovative and efficient manufacturing techniques. This contract stands for excellence, strengthening our well-established leadership in this industry while raising new benchmarks for creativity and innovation.