GR'S Dematic Announces Acquisition, Growth Plans
GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) -- The German factory and warehouse automation provider Dematic's U.S. headquarters in Grand Rapids announced the purchase of Upturn Solutions, a Bigfork, Mont.-based developer of computerized maintenance management systems for distribution, warehouse and manufacturing centers.
Terms were not disclosed.
Dematic president and CEO Ulf Henriksson said in a statement: "The integration of CMMS into our software offering will further enhance our ability to deliver robust order fulfillment solutions that provide competitive advantage for the diversified markets we serve, including e-commerce, retail, apparel, healthcare, 3PL, food, beverage, parcel and manufacturing."
The Dematic CMMS offering is a low cost, subscription-based service that offers the customer the ability to "pay as you go" rather than requiring a large upfront investment as with traditional CMMS.
"In listening to our customers, we know they struggle with the upfront investment and usability of today's CMMS offerings," said Dematic North America president and CEO John Baysore. "Our acquisition of Upturn will allow Dematic to closely integrate and leverage the benefits of a streamlined maintenance management tool with our material handling knowledge at a very affordable price."
Dematic said the Montana location will continue operations including research and development, sales and service.
Upturn was founded in 2003 and designs technologies to streamline and automate maintenance processes in material handling, manufacturing and distribution centers to improve workflow and minimize time and cost required to perform tasks. Its technologies have been implemented at more than 500 locations with more than 10,000 users.
Dematic also said it's planning on strong growth in 2014 after a healthy 2013.
The company says it hired 398 new employees in 2013 -- 251 of them at its North American headquarters, manufacturing plant and technology center in Grand Rapids. (The rest were at locations in Milwaukee and Salt Lake City.)
And more hiring is ahead, Baysore said, although he didn't provide a specific number.
Dematic employs just under 2,300 people in North America among 4,000 employees worldwide. It has annual revenue of about $1.3 billion.
More information about jobs at Dematic at http://www.dematic.com/na/careers.
