110 Years—what a milestone! Here’s to the next 110!
There are few companies that can say that theyve been in business for 110 years, even fewer that can say theyve had the success that Thomas Skinner & Sons has had. Earlier this month, the company celebrated this milestone in conjunction with their annual Open House at their Vancouver Branch themed ‘Technology: Past, Present and Future’.
On December 4th, 2014, Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd. hosted one of the most exciting events in the manufacturing industry this year, opening their doors to over 270 people. The 110 Year Anniversary Celebration and Annual Open House at their Vancouver Branch featured educational seminars and displays of some of the newest technologies by suppliers. Students, customers, suppliers and industry leaders alike honoured the celebration with their presence and enthusiasm.
“Open House events are part of a customer culture that we have created over the many years of hosting them. We provide a platform for top industry specialists to come together with our customers to share what is leading the industry forward. Our goal was to host the ‘best show in the history of Thomas Skinner’ and I am proud to say that we achieved that goal” states Don Babineau, VP Operations, Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd.
Paul Krainer (President of Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd.) speaking on stage. From left to right: Trevor Williams P.Eng, Dean of the School of Energy at BCIT; Danie Steenkamp, General Manager of Atlas Copco; Richard Estes, General Manager of Mexico and Central America of Okuma; Paul Krainer, President of Thomas Skinner; Ross Carpino, General Manager of Sandvik Coromant Canada; Ted Karp, HFO Business Manager of Haas Automation Inc.; Don Babineau, Vice President of Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd.
The celebration commenced at 1:10 pm and began with a well crafted ‘history of Thomas Skinner’ video a modern look at the last 110 years. The company is grateful for the attendance of Ted Karp, HFO Business Manager of Haas Automation
Inc.; Ross Carpino, General Manager of Sandvik Coromant Canada; Richard Estes, General Manager of Mexico and Central America of Okuma; Danie Steenkamp, General Manager of Atlas Copco; and Trevor Williams P.Eng, Dean of the School of Energy at BCIT; who gave speeches and glowing compliments. The celebrations wrapped with an exciting Edge Factor video personalized for the event by Jeremy Bout, Executive Producer/ Producer Edge Factor.
“Thomas Skinner, 110 years in business, is a manufacturing industry icon in Western Canada; today was a great way to mark their accomplishment” states Ted Karp.
Ross Carpino attributes the company’s success to “its culture and legacy that cares for people and customers. When you couple entrepreneurship with a business driven attitude you have a recipe for success.”
Calling the event a “breath of fresh air” and “well executed”, Richard Estes remarked that “people that came to celebrate also came away with a wealth of knowledge from the preparation done by Thomas Skinner and their partners. It was great day to be able to honour a man, Paul Krainer [President of Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd.], who has done so much for the industry, his customers, his partners and his employees”. He also admires the help that “[Paul Krainer] provides in Canada to prepare students to be operators and to help them develop a passion for the machine tool industry is remarkable” and that “[his] faith in the future of manufacturing and in the industry as a whole was strengthened by this event”.
A full house attendance in the showroom at the first educational seminar of the day.
The show featured several live demonstrations on both Haas and Okuma CNC machine tools including:
Haas ST-20 Turning Centre
Haas ST-45 Big Bore Turning Centre
Haas VF-3 Vertical Machining Centre
Haas UMC-750 5-axis Vertical Machining Centre Haas EC-16000YZT Horizontal Machining Centre
Okuma Genos L400Ex1000 Turning Centre
Okuma Genos M560-V Vertical Machining Centre
Okuma Multus B300II-W Multi-Function Turning Centre Okuma LU3000EX-1000 4-axis Turning Centre
“Western Canada is the home of Thomas Skinner. We have built this company by supporting our customers with industry leading brand name products backed by skilled sales, service and applications specialists. Our customers deserve world class products and support so they can manufacture their parts competitively and profitably. We humbly accept the challenge to fulfil their needs” proudly states Paul Krainer.
Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd. is Western Canada’s largest supplier of industrial metalworking equipment and supplies.
For more information, visit www.thomasskinner.com.
