Lincoln Electric, the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, has opened its innovative new Automation Center of Excellence, adjacent to its Cleveland world headquarters. The state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility is designed to showcase the company's comprehensive robotic welding solutions and investment in one of the fastest growing areas of welding.

The center was officially opened to Lincoln Electric customers, partners and media on Thursday, October 23, 2008, at a celebration event, which included a presentation by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

"We continue to see tremendous growth of automated welding solutions in the United States, especially as the nation strives to remain competitive globally in an environment where the number of skilled workers continues to decrease," said Richard Seif, Lincoln Electric, senior vice president of global marketing. "Lincoln Electric is committed to creating comprehensive automated welding solutions that increase productivity, improve quality and enhance a safe work environment that make our customers more successful."

The 100,000-square-foot center enhances and expands services and products offered by Lincoln Electric's Automation Division. It includes two fully equipped robotic welding labs, 20,000 square feet of staging and assembly area, an applications and service lab, classroom facilities, and a state-of-the-art auditorium.

Lincoln Electric's Automation Division offers an expanded product portfolio with flexible automation, hard automation and pipe cutting solutions, as well as environmental/fume extraction systems, with expansive growth projected in the upcoming years. The new center will allow the company to provide better training and service to its Automation Division customers.

For many of its automated welding solutions, Lincoln Electric partners with FANUC Ltd., the world's leading supplier of industrial robots. The company expanded its North American partnership with FANUC earlier this year to become the preferred supplier of welding sources to FANUC's Asian customers.

"This facility and our continued partnership with FANUC allow us to provide better technology integration for more cost-effective systems and expands our worldwide marketing of robotic welding solutions," said Chris Bailey, Lincoln Electric, general manager, Automation Division.

The Lincoln Electric Automation Division is located at 2222 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44117.

Lincoln Electric, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic, arc welding systems, fume extraction equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. For more information, visit www.lincolnelectric.com.

Mon Oct 27 08:00:00 CDT 2008