Lincoln Electric Buys Baker Industries

Deal will complement Lincoln’s automation portfolio and its metal additive manufacturing service business that is scheduled to open mid-year.

Lincoln Electric's new metal additive manufacturing service will launch in mid-2019 and provide large scale metal printing of industrial parts, tooling and prototypes for customers. (Courtesy of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.)

Lincoln Electric’s new metal additive manufacturing service will launch in mid-2019 and provide large scale metal printing of industrial parts, tooling and prototypes for customers. (Courtesy of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.)

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.’s latest acquisition will complement its automation portfolio and its metal additive manufacturing service arm slated to start up in mid-2019.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based welding products manufacturer announced recently a deal to buy Baker Industries, Inc., a Detroit, Michigan-based custom tooling, parts and fixtures provider. The parties did not disclose financial terms of the transaction.

Baker comes with in-house design and manufacturing capabilities that include machining, fabricating, assembly and additive manufacturing. Its operations are, among other things, AS9100D certified and Nadcap accredited.

“We are pleased to welcome Baker Industries to Lincoln Electric and to our automation portfolio’s new additive manufacturing platform,” said Christopher L. Mapes, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lincoln in a statement. “Additive manufacturing is a key strategic growth area in automation, and Baker’s expertise and capabilities will assist in scaling our additive manufacturing services and expand our presence in attractive aerospace and automotive end markets.”

The new metal additive unit will — by leveraging Lincoln’s core competencies in automation, software development and metallurgy — create large-scale printed metal parts, prototypes and tooling for customers in the industrial and aerospace sectors. Baking Baker into its strategy, Lincoln will use the new additive manufacturing development center in Cleveland to help clients improve their lead times, designs and operations quality.

With the addition of Baker, Lincoln’s automation revenue is at around $500 million in annualized sales.

Do you want to read up on another acquisition that was announced recently? Check out a story about Siemens AG’s move to buy the Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH) end-of-line quality testing business of Saab Medav Technologies GmbH.