WCA May 2018

Industry news

Helukabel breaks ground on new headquarters

HELUKABEL, a manufacturer and supplier of cables, wires and accessories, held a ground breaking ceremony for its new USA headquarters. The eight-acre property is located in the Oakview Corporate Park, 1201 Wesemann Drive, in the Chicago suburb of West Dundee. The initial build will be for a 75,000ft 2 facility – 7,000ft 2 allotted for office space and the remaining to be used for warehousing the company’s in-stock cabling products and accessories. The site allows for further expansion just beyond 200,000ft 2 as the company continues to grow. Helukabel USA has been rapidly growing since it was originally founded at the end of 2007. “This is the second physical expansion over the past ten years. The company initially started out in a 13,000ft 2 facility and we expanded into a 43,000ft 2 facility just five years ago,” said president Markus Dannheim. “It was important to find a property in close geographic proximity to our current location to maintain our existing employee base.

❍ An artist’s impression of the new headquarters of Helukabel USA Inc

Yungerman; West Dundee village manager Joe Cavallaro; West Dundee mayor Chris Nelson; West Dundee community development director Tim Scott; German Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Mark Tomkins; and attorney James Cooke of the law offices of James F Cooke Ltd. The acquisition of this property and construction of its own building is an important strategic milestone for Helukabel USA, creating additional office space for a growing employee base as well as an increased operational and warehousing footprint to facilitate future growth. Helukabel USA Inc – USA Website : www.helukabel.com

“Our employees and the relationships they have created with customers around the world are a fundamental key factor for the continued success our company has experienced over the past years. “It was furthermore important for us to have immediate Interstate access to minimise lead-times for our customers. West Dundee and their pragmatic and progress-oriented city officials made it an easy decision for us to invest within their city limits,” he continued. Participants in the ground breaking included Mr Dannheim; CBRE senior vice president Mike Sedjo; vice president/general manager of Opus Development Company Mike

Axjo and Windak sign joint ownership agreement

Axjo Plastic, like Windak, is a privately owned Swedish company that started in 1945. It manufactures, markets and sells cable drums and other round packaging for cable, fibre and other string products. The company has its headquarters in Gislaved, but the group consists of almost 110 employees and has sales of almost 340 MSEK. “After working with Windak since 2003, it is extra fun to integrate our business more. There will be great advantages for our customers that the machines, already at the design table, are adapted to the correct cable drums,” said Jacob Nilsson, CEO and owner of Axjo Plastic. “We will also come up with new concepts where customers can pay ‘pay by unit’ and thus rent the machines instead of buying them.” Axjo Plastic AB – Sweden

Axjo Plastic AB and Windak AB have signed an agreement in which Axjo Plastic acquires 24 per cent of Windak. The acquisition is in Windak Holding AB and sister companies Windak AB, Windak Inc, Windak Australia and Windak OU in Estonia. Axjo and Windak both focus on the cable industry and have cooperated for a long time. Now they are taking another step – which means greater benefits for customers. Windak is a privately owned Swedish company that started in 1994 and manufactures cable industry machines. “For Windak and for our customers, there are great benefits of closer cooperation. For example, we can construct concepts that reduce shipping costs for the coils properly by mounting the coils directly in the Windak machine,” said Urban Bollö, CEO and partner of Windak AB. “Axjo also has a good sales staff who can reach out, be more present with the customers and inform about all the new technical possibilities Windak has to offer.” Windak has its headquarters in Järfälla, outside Stockholm, and has approximately 67 employees distributed in Sweden, Estonia and the United States. The company has an approximate turnover of 97 MSEK.

Website : www.axjo.com Windak AB – Sweden Website : www.windakgroup.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2018