Heidenhain Announces “CONNECT” Manufacturing Innovation Hub in Silicon Valley

Heidenhain Corporation announces acquisition of a new Silicon Valley headquarters located in Fremont, California. The 12,000 square foot Manufacturing Innovation Hub will house office space for Heidenhain Corporation’s regional sales and support staff as well as a 6,000 square foot equipment demonstration lab.

Heidenhain will promote use of the facility with OEI/OEM partners seeking demonstration space in the Bay Area and will encourage collaborative projects across key market segments including Machine Tool, Semiconductor and Automation equipment applications.

David Doyle, president and CEO of Heidenhain Corporation, said; “As a foundation company, we promote the development of innovative applications within our core markets, and we apply our motion control technologies to emerging high-growth application segments. We represent ten brands of products from within the Heidenhain Corporate Group and each brand offers unique strengths. Our broad technology and product portfolio enables us to provide best-fit solutions to our customers for their application specific needs.”

“We have systematically restructured our N.A. operations to redistribute our sales and support staff to improve proximity to our customer base.  This is the third expansion step in Silicon Valley over five years and the new facility will enable hands-on demonstration and training capabilities, similar to those at our Heidenhain Technical Academies (HTA) located in Traunreut, Germany and Schaumburg, IL.”

Doyle added; “We work closely with industry associations like SEMI, AMT, and A3, and welcome their participation in this initiative, including invitations to their member companies. Ultimately, in collaboration with industry partners, we seek an opportunity to expand our involvement in workforce development across the various industries which we serve.”

“Expanding involvement with technical schools, development centers and universities is central to that objective. We hope to educate and train the future industry workforce in the use of linear, rotary and angle encoder technology, control electronics technology and related system integration.”

“Our CNC programming software and integrated digital manufacturing technology, sold in conjunction with our OEM partner systems to the machine tool industry, is critical for expanding 5 Axis machining applications and supporting a growing user-base at Silicon Valley companies, where precision and accuracy are in high demand.”

Doug Woods, president of AMT stated: “Silicon Valley, as a nexus of technological innovation, provides an unparalleled environment to foster integrative advancements. For AMT in particular, our commitment is to drive innovation, productivity, and growth in manufacturing. The proposed center offers a unique opportunity to showcase the capabilities of modern manufacturing to a diverse audience, from potential clients and partners to policymakers and the next generation of engineers and innovators. This aligns with AMT's mission to promote manufacturing technology.”

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Ajit Manocha, president of SEMI commented; “Heidenhain is a key supplier to front and back end of line semiconductor capital equipment companies, working to ensure next generation semiconductors technology nodes and new advanced packing strategies are possible. The global investment in semiconductor technology and production capacity will leverage Heidenhain’s technologies throughout the industry. Their proposed Manufacturing Innovation Hub “CONNECT” will create collaboration opportunities with SEMI and across the supply chain, and their commitment to education and training will provide partnership opportunities with the SEMI Foundation and support its goal to ensure the success of semiconductor workforce development initiatives.”

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Jeff Burnstein, president, the Association of Advanced Automation (A3) stated; “We welcome the opportunity to participate in collaborative initiatives like this, which enable our members to advance automation applications across different industry sectors. Advancements in automation and robotics are essential to the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing. Ultimately, optimizing system performance and automation together improves the return on capital investment for manufacturing technology end-users.”

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In 1965, the North American subsidiary of Heidenhain opened in Niles, IL. Today, Heidenhain Corporation represents all of Heidenhain’s core brands, providing invaluable service and actionable know-how for each to the North American market base in Schaumburg, IL. This location includes a large inventory of replacement parts and all types of technical training, including the Heidenhain Technical Academy (HTA). It is also home to Acu-Rite production and the Acu-Rite Technology Education Center (ATEC).  

Heidenhain Corporation will open the new Fremont facility in March 2024 and will begin installation of equipment with its OEI/OEM partners. A ribbon cutting event will be held this spring, with a Grand Opening celebration to follow later in 2024.