AE (Hilco) auction near Atlanta, GA .... prices high !

Was surprised that most items sold about as high as they would have two years ago. Ironically the most screamin deal went for $120,000 plus 13.5 percent.... the EMAG twin vertical turning center. Pretty much brand new but cost over $800,000 new. ABB robots went reasonable ($10-15K +16.5 percent...16.5 online bidders pay) but hours were up there considering age (12,000 hours each)

Two Sheffield CMM's new and almost new, but went for $35,000 + 13.5% each...seemed maxed out to me. The new one was missing the skirts that go around the base...I called Sheffield and replacments are $5,000 !!

Brother Drill/Tap VMC's went for $26,000 + 16.5% each...all three to one online bidder....seemed a bit high considering 10 to 20,000 hours and they looked a little rough inside. And rigging cost will be very high on those things as they were so interconnected to the cells they were part of....will be a nightmare to seperate out and load.

Most ridiculous were the Chinese mill and engine lathe...each went for $5,500 +13.5% or so...pretty sure the lathe didn't cost that much new.

One of the nicest buildings I've even been in. Found out the city of LaGrange, GA owned it...cost 6 million. The company they built it for only paid two months rent before declaring bankruptcy. Ran into an electrical contractor whe said they owned him $120,000 for work he did there....said he might get 30 cents on the dollar eventually. Every machine in the place nearly new....what a flash in the pan that place was.

http://www.hilcoind.com/uploads/auctions/sales/brochures/AEBrochure.pdf

Interesting, Kamtec in Mebane went to auction a month or 2 ago. Stuff seamed fairly cheap. Will have to dig through my notes for specifics. Great part was the auctioneer (asset sales) stiffed me on the commision.

What did they make at the plant you are talking about?

Hoff Hilk just finished one up here. Sharp brand mill with Servo power feed on the X and Anilam DRO brought $1,500. One of the Fadal 4020s only brought $14-15K. The 6030 Fadal only brough $30K. We got people out looking at new CMMs. I asked "why new" and got a dirty look.
JR

Mebfab said:

What did they make at the plant you are talking about?

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Parts for GM of course ! (Axle housings I think among other things)

Would have been neat to see the machining cells in full operation.... Makino HMC's, conveyors, robot in each cell to load, unload, place on leak test machine, move to part/serial number marking machines, back to exit conveyor... all in the same cell, fully automated....no human needed for any of it as long as everything went as programmed.

JRIowa said:

. One of the Fadal 4020s only brought $14-15K. The 6030 Fadal only brough $30K. .
JR

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Without knowing year and condition those figures are meaningless. On some items, I didn't put that info in my post either but did indicate everything was almost new and provided link to brochure for that info in detail.

JRIowa said:

Hoff Hilk just finished one up here. Sharp brand mill with Servo power feed on the X and Anilam DRO brought $1,500. One of the Fadal 4020s only brought $14-15K. The 6030 Fadal only brough $30K. We got people out looking at new CMMs. I asked "why new" and got a dirty look.
JR

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I thought everything that Hoff-Hilk sold yesterday at the Phoenix Engineering auction was average to high priced when you factor in the condition. One of my customers is across the road from the auction site, so I went to both previews, and will be at the pickup tomorrow. There was very little there that I would describe as "like new". Many items were well abused, and some even had "Does not work" or "leaks", or whatever written on them. The best deals there may have been on the new raw materials on the racks. Just my opinion, but I don't think you would've been impressed with the place, JR.

Sorry Don! All of the Fadals were new in 1998. I just went by the pictures as far as condition. I wasn't that long ago that I paid $40K + for a 10 year old 4020 Fadal. Our tool room wanted a 6030 but could not justify spending over $50K.

I've always thought that Hoff-Hilk got more money for their stuff than anybody else in the area. I've told SWMBO that if I kick the chip pan, to call them up and sell everything. I've only bought a couple of things from them over the years.

If machines are bringing good money in the southeast, I'm happy for them. The machine tool dealers that we deal with are all hurting. One of them in California told me his business was off 68% from last year. One of the dealers that I work with in Chicago told me the other afternoon when I called him that I was the first call of the day. We sent out some RFQs (request for quote) to several rebuilders and one of them wanted to come the next day to inspect the machines. It's slow here!

Acciona, the Spanish wind generator maker laid off 1/3 (about 60) of it's workers in West Branch. They just opened that facility in 2007. I thought that's were the new jobs were going to be was in alternative energy????
JR

Milacron said:

One of the nicest buildings I've even been in. Found out the city of LaGrange, GA owned it...cost 6 million. The company they built it for only paid two months rent before declaring bankruptcy. Ran into an electrical contractor whe said they owned him $120,000 for work he did there....said he might get 30 cents on the dollar eventually. Every machine in the place nearly new....what a flash in the pan that place was.

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Sorry for responding so long after the fact. It never occurred to me anyone on this list would come to LaGrange.

I was involved with the AE Group operations from the beginning. Their failure was a testament to the unbelievable arrogance of this corporation's leadership.

I was a training consultant, paid by Georgia Quickstart. In the first year I watched the AE go thru two each, plant manager, HR manager, and machining manager. I'm told the replacement rate continued at that rate until they closed.

AE Group's insistence that they could hire good employees at third-world wages was their downfall.

LaGrange has been in hard times for about eight years. Official unemployment is around 17%, which puts the real figure around 25%.

We do, however, have a very highly skilled technical workforce. AE saw many of these people out of work and expected to pick them up at half price. Those with skills eventually left for real paychecks or simply gave up and went to work at Walmart. AE plant management was stuck with less than stellar people.

The management team I worked with at AE was competent and can in no way be blamed for the failure. The available labor pool was abundant and qualified. AE Group shot themselves in the foot.

It is interesting to note that Kia and its subsidiaries are making the same mistakes.