Haimer becomes OMIC R&D manufacturing member-partner

William Gerry, Program Manager Global Technology for Boeing Research and Technology (left) and Andreas Haimer, President Haimer Group.

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) has added German tooling company Haimer as a manufacturing member-partner. With 17 manufacturing industry partners and three Oregon public universities, the Scappoose, Oregon-based facility continues to develop advanced metals manufacturing technologies through its collaborative research and development activities.

Through this partnership, Boeing – with its center of excellence and main production plant for heavy metal machining in Portland, Oregon – is intensifying its strategic partnership with Haimer by sponsoring a joint membership at OMIC R&D. The partnership between Boeing and Haimer reaches back more than 10 years when Boeing adopted Haimer’s Safe-Lock pull out protection system. With one of the largest titanium machining shops in the world, Boeing Portland has set the standard for cutting tools and tool holder applications for difficult-to-machine materials. The partnership will be strategically strengthened by Haimer’s investment and support as a new member at OMIC R&D.

William Gerry, Global Technology program manager for Boeing Research and Technology said, “We are delighted about the new membership of Haimer, who we know as a high-quality tool holding, shrinking, balancing, and presetting technologies company that Boeing has relied on heavily and exclusively for this service. Haimer can support OMIC R&D and its members with state-of-the-art technology and Industry 4.0 connectivity solutions.”

OMIC R&D is the fifteenth research center established with Boeing leadership worldwide, and the first Boeing has sponsored in the United States. Its mission is to bring together manufacturing companies and higher education in an innovation environment where applied research with faculty and university students solves real problems for advanced manufacturers while training the next generation of engineers and technologists. Member companies share machinery, tools, and expertise to create a dynamic and innovative R&D function for members.

Andreas Haimer, president of the Haimer Group, explained during the official handshake at becoming an OMIC R&D member, “We are proud and happy to be closely associated with Boeing as a leading aircraft manufacturer and one of our biggest global customers. The investment and membership at OMIC R&D is a clear commitment to the community, our customers, and the entire manufacturing industry in Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and American manufacturing. OMIC R&D is an ideal platform to share these kinds of best practices, making American and Oregon manufacturers more competitive. Apart from Boeing Portland we also heavily support the leading U.S. Boeing facilities with our system technologies in Auburn, Seattle, Everett, Helena, St. Louis, and Fredrickson.”

Brendt Holden, President of Haimer USA and North America said, “We have been delighted to support various production facilities in the Northwest over the past 15 years with state-of-the-art shrinking and balancing machines which have helped reduce operating costs and increase productivity. We are happy to share our equipment and knowledge in the OMIC in an effort to help the setups of the R&D projects be as efficient as possible.”

Craig Campbell, executive director of OMIC R&D said: “Outside-in advance manufacturing research activities from Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland State University, and Oregon State University are solving manufacturing problems sets at OMIC R&D to support our members. Due to the strong investments from state, federal and local government, OMIC R&D has become a draw for global manufacturing companies and is realizing its promise as an economic driver for the state and region.”

The OMIC R&D model focuses research on helping indigenous industries increase competitiveness while creating a partnership with and integration into the local economy. As research activities expand with high-cost, high-value machinery added on to the production floor, OMIC R&D will increase state and regional commercial productivity in manufacturing and stimulate economic growth and development.

Coordinated with OMIC R&D’s applied research projects will be hands-on “earn and learn” apprenticeship programs at the PCC OMIC Training Center, led by Portland Community College, and located in a nearby facility that PCC is building. While the Training Center construction is underway, PCC has a temporary delivery site at Scappoose High School.

OMIC R&D is modeled after the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) in partnership with Boeing in Sheffield, England.