Sumitomo Machinery Corp. of America announces an expansion in production operations at their facility in Corona, CA, to include the Hyponic product line. Until now, the Corona facility has assembled a limited range of products, but continued, growing demand for the Hyponic within the western region led the company to begin expansion plans late in 2006. According to a company press release, SMA expects to finish the project by the end of March 2007 and hold an open house for customers in late April. This expansion includes additional production equipment, inventory and personnel that will increase the facility’s per unit output by 35%. One of Sumitomo’s premium gearing solutions, the Hyponic features a compact, modular housing, maintenance-free grease lubrication and patented, all-steel hypoidal gear technology. "There are more than two million Hyponics currently in service and this is not the first Hyponic production expansion for SMA," notes Ron Smith, president and CEO of SMA. "In 2005, we completed an expansion at our Chesapeake manufacturing headquarters that doubled our Hyponic production capacity. Our western facility expansion significantly increases our capacity in the region and enables us to keep pace with customers’ growing demand for this product."