Luvata acquires Intermachinery in Brazil

Luvata has acquired Intermachinery, a successful distributor of welding consumables in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Luvata will also begin manufacturing its wide range of resistance welding electrodes in the country. This will be Luvata’s first manufacturing plant in Brazil.

South American automobile production is anticipated to grow 5.6% per year, from 4.6 million vehicles today to almost 6.4 million vehicles in 2018*. A typical automobile requires between 5,000 and 8,000 welds to construct and Luvata manufactures welding consumables for this part of the assembly process. Luvata is already the leading manufacturer and supplier to almost all major car manufacturers in 26 countries.

The announcement is part of the Group’s stated strategic commitment to grow in high growth markets and regions. It is the latest in a string of such expansions. Beginning in 1991 Intermachinery has successfully supported the sales, marketing, and service of Luvata’s welding electrodes in Brazil and currently employs 26 people. Luvata Sao Paulo joins its three sister facilities in Delaware, Ohio USA, Welwyn Garden City, UK and Suzhou, China. Production in the new factory will begin in Q1 2013.

Automotive production began in Brazil in the 1950s and has grown rapidly, attracting leading manufacturers including VW, Ford, Fiat, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Renault, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Daimler, and Peugeot-Citroen. There is also a large and growing support network of Tier 1 suppliers in the country that prefer Luvata’s high quality welding materials.

“Our strategy is to grow in emerging markets with technology-driven, high value-added products and solutions. The combined expertise of Luvata and Intermachinery provides an excellent opportunity to meet the growing demand for automobiles in Brazil and the rest of South America,” says Luvata CEO John Peter Leesi.

Lucio Maradei, President and founder of Intermachinery commented: “With Luvata’s support over the past 20 years, Intermachinery has grown and prospered to become the leading resistance-welding electrode supplier in Brazil. In combining our success with the global reach and manufacturing expertise of Luvata, this offers additional growth opportunities that will benefit our customers in South America.”

Resistance spot welding uses the application of electric current and mechanical pressure to create a weld between two pieces of metal. One of the most common applications of this type of spot welding is in the automobile manufacturing industry, where it is used almost universally to weld sheet metal to form a car. Often completely automated, many of the industrial robots found on automobile assembly lines are spot welders.

High strength alloys, coated metals and varying metal thickness require different types of electrode to ensure an optimal weld. Luvata manufactures internationally recognized electrode brands such as Nitrode®, Z-Trode® and A-Trode®, each specifically designed for predictable weld performance.