Employees at Onex Inc., an industrial furnace manufacturer in Erie, Pa., always looked forward to hearing about the company’s latest developments, both immediate and long-term, at weekly meetings.

Ipsen, to ensure it properly addresses the market needs of current and future customers, is establishing Technology Excellence Centers in Germany and the United States while further strengthening its offerings. The company’s equipment manufacturing business will be driven by an Atmosphere Technology Excellence Center in Kleve, Germany, and a Vacuum Technology Excellence Center near Rockford, Ill. This focus into one field of technology will enable faster-paced innovation and quicker response times.

AFC-Holcroft will move its European satellite office, which is currently located in Delémont, Switzerland, to Swiebodzin, Poland. The move was necessitated by the pending retirement of Marc Ruetsch, the current director of European operations, who announced he is stepping down in mid-2020. The new director of European operations, Marek Kedzierzynski, will be based out of Poland, and all activity related to AFC-Holcroft’s business in Europe will continue seamlessly from this new location.

Nitrex, a global provider of fully integrated heat-treating solutions and technologies, acquired G-M Enterprises, a manufacturer of vacuum furnaces. The acquisition is in line with Nitrex’s strategy to further expand its heat-treatment solutions while strengthening its products portfolio. For the past 30 years, Corona, Calif.-based G-M Enterprises has earned a reputation as a leading technological supplier of vacuum furnaces for customers in the aerospace, power-generation, energy, MIM and commercial heat-treating industries. According to Montreal-based Nitrex, the acquisition represents a great fit because both companies share the same goal of providing technologies that improve customer workflow and efficiency while maximizing the life span and quality of engineered parts and components.

Gasbarre Products Inc. (Gasbarre) announced that all manufacturing for its Thermal Processing Systems business unit will take place in its 50,000-square-foot facility in St. Marys, Pa., at the end of 2019. In 2011, Gasbarre acquired the J.L. Becker brand of industrial furnace equipment. Over the last eight years, Gasbarre has run parallel manufacturing facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania for its furnace equipment. Consolidating the manufacturing of its common product lines allows for the most efficient use of its floor space, equipment and manufacturing processes. The company plans to invest in an additional 12,000 square feet of manufacturing space with additional office and conference-room capacity in St. Marys.

Solar Manufacturing Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $8 million manufacturing facility at the Sellersville Business Campus in Sellersville, Pa. Due to substantial growth in recent years, the furnace manufacturer expanded into two separate manufacturing facilities located a few miles apart. The new property will allow Solar to combine its nearly 50 employees under one roof for more efficient production and triple its current space. Construction is expected to be complete in early 2019.