AMADA HOLDINGS CO LTD is now the 100% owner of the Finland-based automation systems specialist, LKI Käldman Ltd. The relationship between the two companies began in the mid-1990s and intensified in 2009, when AMADA became a 40% shareholder in LKI Käldman. This latest step confirms AMADA’s commitment to automation as the key to success in today’s competitive sheet metal processing market.
Demand for fiber laser cutting machinery has increased rapidly in recent years due to the emergence of high-power resonators and advances in laser technology. In parallel with this trend, automation has become an important requirement for sheet metal cutting in Europe due to factors such as limited working hours and rising labor costs.
As a result of the acquisition of LKI Käldman, AMADA will be able to accelerate the supply of integrated machines with optimized automation equipment to European customers. Furthermore, decision-making will be much faster thanks to closer working relationships, while another major benefit will be the alignment in the design, development, and manufacturing of new technologies.
LKI Käldman is now the AMADA Group’s largest automation manufacturing facility in Europe, with approximately 180 employees. The company will change its name as of April 1, 2020, becoming AMADA Automation Europe Ltd.
“This acquisition creates exciting opportunities, not only for our employees and the company, but for the entire region,” says Greg Seymour, Managing Director of LKI. “We are proud that AMADA has chosen to concentrate the European manufacturing of its automation systems with us and see this as a clear recognition of many years of hard work. It is important that the core values of both companies are closely aligned, focusing on quality, precision, reliability, and durability.”
In the future, the renowned company, now a wholly owned subsidiary, will supply all AMADA automated equipment to the European market. The strengthening of the manufacturing facility in Bennäs, on the west coast of Finland, is expected to double the production capacity of automation equipment by 2022.
Headquartered in Kanagawa, Japan, the AMADA Group comprises approximately 100 companies and 10,000 employees. Consolidating these foundations with LKI in Europe will help the AMADA Group achieve its goal of becoming a centenary company, a goal it will achieve by 2046.
