Conair and Sepro to Form Joint Venture

	Pictured on the occasion of the joint venture announcement are, left to right are: Marcus Klaputec,VP Sales & Service for Sepro America, Chris Keller, President & COO of Conair, Jean-Michel Renaudeau, Director General of Sepro Robotique and CEO of Sepro America, and Jim Healy, VP Sales & Marketing for Sepro America.

Building on a successful 18-year relationship, Sepro Robotique and Conair have formed Sepro America, a joint-venture company to market robots and automation solutions in the U.S. and Canada. Each of the parents owns 50% of the new company, which is based in the Conair headquarters building in Pittsburgh, PA. Jean Michel Renaudeau, Managing Director of Sepro is CEO of Sepro America.

“Conair has been distributing Sepro products in North America for nearly two decades,” observed Renaudeau. “Together we have grown Sepro’s North American market share to a point where more than 2500 Sepro robots are currently in operation here. We have positioned our products as number one in the automotive market and number one in robots for larger injection-molding machines (over 1000 tons). North America continues to be a priority market for us and there are many opportunities for further growth. That’s why Sepro has decided to commit additional resources and form this joint venture with our long-time partner.”

The joint venture becomes official on August 6, 2007, although the transition process has already begun. All existing contracts with Conair are being transferred to and fulfilled by Sepro America. All sales, engineering and service employees currently working at Conair continue with the new company, and are being reinforced by additional specialists from Sepro. Conair sales representatives will continue selling the Sepro line, which will continue to be supported by round-the-clock availability of regional service technicians.

Both parent companies remain actively involved. While Sepro America will concentrate its activities on automation, its close ties to Conair will allow it to respond to customer requests for integrated plant systems that include Conair auxiliary equipment.

“Sepro already has a solid customer base in the North American market,” says Jim Healy, Conair Vice President – Automation, who becomes Vice President – Sales & Marketing with Sepro America. “This new organization allows us to aggressively pursue additional market share in all segments, including some we have not penetrated yet. Sepro is continuously adapting its product offering to meet the changing requirements of the American plastics industry. For example, they recently in introduced the Axess range of servo pick-and-place robots, designed for economy and user-friendliness. The new Sepro 4050 robot platform, built to serve injection-molding machines as large as 2500 tons, is modular so it can be specified with longer stroke lengths and heavier payload capacity. This option allows the 4050 to perform in applications that previously might have required an even bigger and more costly robot.

Sepro Robotique, La Roche sur Yon, France, was one of the first companies in the world to develop Cartesian beam robots for injection-molding machines, introducing its first CNC controlled “manipulator” in 1981. Today, the US$60-million company exports 80% of its sales. Sepro enjoys a market share of more than 25% in Europe and their substantial presence in North America, thanks to their long-term relationship with Conair, dates back to 1989. Sepro truly is a global player, with operations not only in Europe, but also in South America and China. Conair is well-known as a leading global supplier of auxiliary equipment for plastics processors, manufacturing heat-transfer systems and temperature-control equipment, resin-drying and material-handling equipment, size-reduction and scrap-reclaim machinery, and downstream extrusion systems for profiles and tubing.

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