This year, Dayton Progress will move all production from two Lane plants to Dayton Progress factories in Ohio, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere, the company said.
The company also said it expects to add 50 machine operators at local facilities and is taking applications at 500 Progress Road, the company’s local offices.
“The purchase of Lane Punch greatly enhances Dayton’s position as the industry leader in the metal stamping and forming tooling industry,” Alan Shaffer, president and chief executive of Dayton Progress, said in the company’s announcement.
“We’re already the largest punch manufacturer in the industry,” said Bob Hedrick, Dayton Progress marketing director. “We are and have been for a number of years.”
“It will substantially grow our customer base,” he said of the acquisition of Lane Punch.
The firm has more than 800 employees total and 10 factories worldwide.
In West Carrollton, the company has more than 500 employees today.
In April 2008, former Dayton Progress owner Federal Signal Corp. agreed to sell the company to family-owned Connell Limited Partnership. With some 600 local workers at the time of the sale, the company still makes punches, punch blanks and metal-stamping tools.
Hedrick said there may be some Lane employees who come to West Carrollton, but he added that there’s probably not much chance that the positions the company needs to fill locally will “entice anyone to move from North Carolina.”
The company will take applications for 50 machining positions in next few months, Hedrick said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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