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Alliance Machine Systems set to acquire Systec Conveyors and Automatan
Strategic alignment will enhance the premier one-stop paperboard packaging automation and material handling solutions for the corrugated and folding carton industries worldwide
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SPOKANE, Wash. — March 19, 2025 — Alliance Machine Systems International, a global leader in the manufacturing of automated paperboard packaging equipment for the production of corrugated boxes, is set to acquire Systec Corporation and Automatan, LLC. This strategic alignment will enhance production efficiency and quality of paperboard packaging automation and material handling solutions for the corrugated and folding carton industries. Alliance is a part of Barry-Wehmiller, the 140-year-old, $3.6 billion global capital equipment and engineering solutions firm led by CEO Bob Chapman and President Kyle Chapman.
“Alliance Machine Systems International is thrilled to acquire both Systec Corporation and Automatan, LLC, marking a significant milestone in our journey,” said Marius Batrin, Alliance President. “After years of successful collaboration, Alliance, Systec and Automatan have decided to become part of the same business structure. This acquisition is a pivotal step in enhancing our position as a comprehensive full-range solution provider for our customers.”
Systec, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been creating conveying equipment since 1992. Automatan, located in Plover, Wisconsin, has been producing laminators and labelers since 1976. Together, they have established themselves as strong, reliable, innovative and dynamic companies for conveying and material handling products in the corrugated and solid board industries.
“Their success is due to their enthusiasm and hard work, as well as their constant focus on innovation and quality,” said Batrin. “Those values align perfectly with Alliance’s mission, enabling us to deliver unparalleled service and optimized one-stop shopping for equipment and services for all paperboard and folding carton automation and material handling solutions alongside our other product lines.”
The entire Systec and Automatan team will remain in place, continuing to grow and develop state-of-the-art equipment, with additional global engineering, sales and customer care support from Alliance Machine Systems alongside current Alliance products.
“This strategic alignment will empower us to deliver even greater value to our customers,” said Christopher Nigon, Systec and Automatan CEO. “By combining our innovative solutions with the resources and expertise of Alliance Machine Systems International, we will be able to accelerate our growth, improve our services and expand our reach. We are delighted that Alliance appreciates the value of our organizations, and we are confident and excited that our combined expertise will have a positive impact on our continued growth and success. We believe that this alignment is an excellent extension of long-term business strategy, and we are thrilled to have a partner that shares our principles and respects the culture that has driven our success.”
This transaction is expected to close by March 31, 2025.
Michele Allamprese (middle) finalizes the acquisition with Jasper Kruizinga (left) and Doeke Holtrop. (right)
Alliance Machine Systems International acquires JD Engineers B.V.
Partnership enhances premier one-stop solution for folding and gluing machines in the global corrugated and folding carton industry
SPOKANE, Wash. — Jan. 17, 2025 — Alliance Machine Systems International, a global leader in the manufacturing of automated paperboard packaging equipment for the production of corrugated boxes, has acquired JD Engineers B.V., a producer of high-quality specialty folder gluers. Through this strategic partnership, the premier all-in-one solution will enhance production efficiency and quality for customers. In 2015, Alliance was acquired by Barry-Wehmiller, the 139-year-old, $3.6 billion global capital equipment and engineering solutions firm led by CEO Bob Chapman and President Kyle Chapman.
“Alliance Machine Systems International is thrilled to partner with JD Engineers, marking a significant milestone in our journey,” said Alliance Machine Systems International President Marius Batrin. “After more than 10 years of successful collaboration in Europe, Alliance and JD Engineers have decided to become part of the same business structure. This acquisition is a pivotal step in enhancing our position as a comprehensive full-range solution provider for our customers. Over the last 25 years, JD Engineers has established itself as a strong, reliable, innovative and dynamic company in the corrugated and folding carton industry. Their success is due to the enthusiasm and hard work of the entire team, as well as the constant focus on innovation and quality. Those values align perfectly with our mission, enabling us to deliver unparalleled service and optimized one-stop equipment and services for all folding and gluing applications alongside our other product lines. The entire JD Engineers team will remain in place, continue to grow and develop state-of-the-art equipment, with additional global engineering, sales and customer care support from Alliance Machine Systems alongside the Alliance J&L product line.”
“Alliance Machine Systems International’s investment in JD Engineers is a testament to our commitment to innovation and the unique technology we have developed,” said Jasper Kruizinga, Founder and Technical Director at JD Engineers. “This partnership represents an exciting opportunity for us to enhance our impact by leveraging our combined expertise and shared culture. Since our founding, JD Engineers has grown and thrived by providing dependable, highly innovative solutions for our customers. We are thrilled to join forces with Alliance, a highly respected company that will position us for future success and continue to build on our reputation as an industry leader.”
“This partnership will empower us to deliver even greater value to our customers,” said Doeke Holtrop, Founder and Commercial Director at JD Engineers. “By combining our innovative solutions with the resources and expertise of Alliance Machine Systems International, we will be able to accelerate our growth, improve our services and expand our reach. We are delighted that Alliance appreciates the value of our organization, and we are confident and excited that our combined expertise will have a positive impact on our continued growth and success. We believe that this partnership is an excellent extension of long-term business strategy, and we are thrilled to have a partner that shares our principles and respects the culture that has driven our success.”
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JD ENGINEERS B.V.
JD Engineers B.V. is a specialist and innovative company that focuses on the production of high-quality specialty folder gluers for the corrugated board and folding carton industry. Our machines offer the possibility of automated folding and gluing of boxes in large volumes, e-commerce solutions, inline (barcode) labeling and inkjet or laser printing. With more than 40 employees, JD Engineers has become a leading player in the market. For more, go to jdengineers.com.
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Marius Batrin
President
Alliance Machine Systems International, LLC
2022
Annual Report to the Industry
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Alliance Helps Improve Productivity for Box Plants
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Happy New Year from the team at Alliance. We thank all of our customers for placing their trust in Alliance products and systems. After a couple of very robust and hectic years, we believe the machinery segment will cool as customers digest the capacity purchased in 2021 and 2022. We see GDP cooling and interest rates rising to 10-year highs. GDP is important to the integrateds who fund the projects from cash flow, and interest rates are important to the independents who usually finance their projects.
Alliance Application Engineers have been helping box makers advance finishing equipment speeds and productivity, contributing to the growth of the corrugated industry. Our team of Development Engineers has created innovative and productive solutions to handle a wide variety of box production needs, from small e-commerce containers to jumbo-sized specialty boxes. Our customers look to us to help them maximize profits, and we take that responsibility seriously.
Alliance offers high-speed upstream feeding and downstream handling systems that range from semi-automatic, operator-assisted machines to fully automatic equipment that frees operators for other duties. Whether making 800 boxes per minute on high-speed flexo folder gluer or maximizing the die cut area of a rotary die cutter, our products include fully automated robotic load formers, palletizers, stackers, prefeeders, pallet handlers, specialty folder gluers, and more.
After a very strong showing in 2022 for sales on back-end automation that trend seems to be continuing in that direction. Automation not only improves productivity, but it can also save labor. Many of our customers are replacing two older, low-productivity lines with one automated high-productivity line. The new line can be run with two operators whereas the older lines required three operators each. The result is for a three-shift operation, 12 operators can achieve what took 18 operators to run two lines previously. At $75K per operator per year, here’s another $450,000 in savings.
What was unique about 2022 vs previous years was that, instead of focusing on one, our focus shifted towards all segments of palettizing. Alliance sold all 4 models: The high-performing Raptor 4x2, the Raptor RDC for die-cut palletizing, UltraPAL, and the cross-functional RaptorPAL.
Recently, Alliance released the latest solution for digital printer prefeeding. Based on our reliable and proven FeedMAX platform, the digital print prefeeder feeds the board into the digital printer on the long dimension and is capable of either inverting or not inverting the board. Additionally, two lanes of board can be fed simultaneously into the digital printer, effectively doubling its throughput.
In the early fall of this year, we will be launching our New Electric Prefeeder.
We continue to maintain our focus on productivity-enhancing technical innovations, such as bottom sheet systems that use vision technology to scan random-size dunnage and automatically compute the number of sheets required to ensure exact placement of each sheet and obtain the coverage needed.
With more than 16,000 installations around the world, our team of engineers offers technical expertise across the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and beyond backed by a robust customer care staff who provide dedicated installation, training, service, parts, and other support.
Alliance’s mission is to build trust and create value for our customers, seek new ways to innovate, employ positive communication, and operate with integrity. In today’s world of labor shortages and pressure to do more with less, Alliance Machine Systems International, LLC continues to provide world class solutions to all our corrugated customers.
Ron Spice named Inductee to AICC Mexico Hall of Fame
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Monterrey, N.L., Mexico (July 7, 2017) - Yair Caballero, Director of AICC Mexico announced that Ronald S. Spice of Alliance Machine Systems International, LLC has been inducted into the AICC Mexico Hall of Fame.
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AICC Mexico is proud to welcome Ronald S. Spice as a honored member. Each year AICC Mexico acknowledges a member for their leadership, service and contribution to the industry.
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Ron Spice is a graduate of Indiana University with a BA in Spanish; M.A. in Latin American Studies and a M.A. in History of Business and Economics. He studied also at Complutense University of Madrid. He has served the industry for 39 years with responsibilities in the area of sales for several American manufacturers and for the past 18 years has served as Latin American Director of Sales and Marketing for Alliance Machine Systems International, in Spokane Washington.
Ron has lectured for AICC, ANFEC, ACCCSA, IACOR and ATCP, teaching Pit Stop and Corrugator IDK. He has contributed more than 65 columns for magazines such as Corrugando, El Mundo del Corrugado, Mari, Converting Packaging Latin America, Pacific Paperboard and Corrugated Packaging and Score Today. Congratulations to Ron in this honor for his remarkable achievements.
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"VALUE TO OUR CUSTOMERS"
ABC Affilate KXLY TV Broadcast -
Nadine Woodward and Derik Deis report Alliance Machine Systems plays an essential role in the paperboard packaging industry.
