Happy Birthday to Us (PDF)

							                                                            Happy Birthday
                                                                to Us!

Since 1904 Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd. has strived to provide the highest quality products with
the latest technology available and backed by excellent service. With 100 years of commitment to
achievement, Thomas Skinner is Western Canada’s Largest Distributor of Industrial Metalworking
Products. With four branches located across Western Canada, extensive inventories, and quality
customer service, our knowledgeable sales staff is able to provide business solutions, which help
our customers compete in today’s global economy.                                                              Krainer,
                                                                                                         Paul Krainer, President, and Don
                                                                                                    Babineau, Sales and Operation Manager of
December 2, 2004, marked Thomas Skinner’s Head Office Birthday Celebration. We invited our                       Skinner,
                                                                                                        Thomas Skinner, while customers,
BC, Yukon and Northwest Territories customers to share our 100 Year Birthday with us. We             suppliers and Thomas Skinner staff sang
                                                                                                                  Happy Birthday
would like to thank everyone (all 450 of you) who took time out of your day to come to our
Vancouver Birthday Party/Open House to share this momentous occasion.

Our Birthday ceremony consisted of speeches from Paul Krainer, President and Owner of
Thomas Skinner, and other dignitaries, including Robert Murray, General Manager of Haas
Automation Inc., Dave Palmer, Executive Vice President of Mitutoyo Canada Inc., Dave Purchase,
Vice President and General Manager of Sandvik Canada Inc., Larry Schwartz, Senior Vice
President Sales and Marketing of Okuma America Corp., Michael Colwell, Operations Manager of
Carmanah Design and Manufacturing Inc., Malcom Brodie, Mayor of Richmond, and Linda Reid,
MLA of Richmond, who read a letter on behalf of the Premier of BC, Gordon Campbell. All who         Parm Dhiman, Dhiman Industries Ltd., Al
attended received champagne for toasts, cake and either a commemorative 100 Year Strong                                        erritory
                                                                                                                              Territor
                                                                                                       Brown, Thomas Skinner Territory
                                                                                                    Manager,
                                                                                                    Manager, and Gordon Dhiman, Owner of
Thomas Skinner shirt or baseball cap.                                                                       Dhiman Industries Ltd.

Said Robert Murray of Haas Automation Inc., “This is quite an accomplishment - 100 years in
business - honestly I don’t know of any machine tool distributor that has been in business for
100 years. Congratulations.”

“We’ve always been impressed by the quality and integrity of the people that we dealt with and
we’ve always believed that Thomas Skinner was taking the long view - looking to strengthen our
company by providing good value, not simply to turn a fast buck.” said Michael Colwell of
Carmanah Design and Manufacturing Inc. “As a customer of this fine company that’s what we
see, and what I believe has lead to 100 years of success - really a phenomenal achievement.”

While Gordon Campbell, Premier of BC, was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, Linda
Reid, MLA of Richmond, presented Paul Krainer with a message from the Premier which
included “Congratulations on reaching this significant milestone and I wish you continued
success in the future.”

This event drew the attention of the Vancouver Province, one of Vancouver’s largest local                                Engineer,
                                                                                                        Mark Linn, Sales Engineer, Okuma
newspapers. The interview resulted in a half page story about Thomas Skinner, which ran the           America Corp., Larry Schwartz, Senior
                                                                                                                     Larry
                                                                                                       Vice President Sales and Marketing,
next day.                                                                                            Okuma America Corp., and Paul Krainer
                                                                                                               Vancouver
                                                                                                    talking to Vancouver Province Newspaper
                                                                                                         Reporter & Photographer (centre)
More machines were on display at this Open House than ever before. The Haas EC-400
Horizontal Machining Centre was sold to Straightline Precision, the Haas VF-2 Vertical Machining
Centre was sold to Nicholson Machinery, and the Star SV-32JII CNC Swiss Type Automatic Lathe
was sold to Lick Sing Metals. In addition, our Machine Tool Sales Representatives received
numerous leads.

We were especially pleased to be able to display two vintage machines. The Okuma Vintage
Simple Lathe was made in 1904, built for the Japanese Army for Russo-Japanese War in 1904.
                                                                                                             Dennis Paulson, DJ Paulson, Mike
The Haas VF-1 Vertical Machining Centre was introduced in 1988 at IMTS in Chicago, IL. This               Paulson and Scott Rose from Straightline
machine was kept by Haas Automation and was used in production until about 1996. A few years               Precision, standing in front of the Haas
                                                                                                           EC400 Horizontal Machining Centre that
ago, the employees of Haas Automation Inc. refurbished this machine and gave it as a gift to                                      purchased
                                                                                                           Straightline Precision purchased at the
                                                                                                                         Open House
Gene Haas, Owner of Haas Automation.

We also had a long list of suppliers who helped us to celebrate our 100th birthday, including
Okuma America Corp., Haas Automation Inc., Hyd-Mech Group Ltd., Star CNC Machine Tool
Corp., Mitutoyo Canada Inc., American Saw & Manufacturing Co., Sandvik Canada Inc., L.S.
Starrett Co. Ltd., Renishaw Ltd., Dormer Tool Inc., Lyndex-Nikken Inc., SOWA Tool & Machine
Co. Ltd., SMW Autoblok, Stor-Loc, Valenite Ltd., AJ Hanson & Co., Fluid Stream Management
Inc., Mastercam/In-House Solution Inc., AIRMAX Air Purification Systems, International Minicut
Inc., MK Morse/Spartan West, and System 3R. A number of suppliers donated door prizes, which
ranged from a Mitutoyo 70th Anniversary Tool Kit to an Okuma Putter to a Double Wide Stor-Loc
                                                                                                           Larry Schwartz, Senior Vice President
                                                                                                            Larry
Tool Cabinet Roger Penski designed SW900 with a retainer top and mobile base worth $2,500USD.               Sales and Marketing, Okuma America
                                                                                                          Corp., Vincent Khoo, Vice President, Paul
The staff of Thomas Skinner would like to thank all of those involved with helping to make our             Krainer,
                                                                                                           Krainer, President, and Don Babineau,
                                                                                                          Sales and Operations Manager of Thomas
100 Year Birthday Celebration a success. We look forward to serving the industrial metalworking           Skinner in front of Okuma MacTurn350W
                                                                                                                                    MacTurn350W
industry for the next 100 years.                                                                                          Turning
                                                                                                                     CNC Turning Centre

For a complete list of machines on display at our Vancouver Open House/Birthday Party, contact
Bruce Foskett at (604) 276-2131 or 1-800-567-2131.




                                                                                                                               Vertical
                                                                                                            Haas Vintage VF-1 Vertical Machining
                                                                                                              Centre made in 1988 and part of a
                                                                                                                           History
                                                                                                          Thomas Skinner History Board created by
       Krainer,
 Paul Krainer, President, Vincent Khoo,                   Kaltenegger,
                                                   Seppi Kaltenegger, Owner of Kaltech                     Sylvia Krainer and Thomas Skinner staff
Vice President, and Don Babineau, Sales             Manufacturing Ltd., Dale Laycock,
   and Operations Manager of Thomas               Materials Manager of Sicom Industries
                             Jr.,
Skinner with Gerhard Sowa Jr., President,                    Krainer,
                                                  Ltd., Paul Krainer, President of Thomas
                  erritory
                 Territor Manager,
  Peter Seessle, Territor y Manager, and           Skinner,      Gary Maier,
                                                   Skinner, and Gary Maier, Manager of
Barry                               SOWA
Barry Schwartz, Sales Manager of SOWA                 Operations Integrated Supply of
         Tool & Machine Co. Ltd.                            Honeywell ASCa Inc.



Karen Wagner
Marketing Coordinator
Thomas Skinner & Son Ltd.
13880 Vulcan Way
Richmond, BC V6V 1K6                                                                                               Purchase,
                                                                                                             Dave Purchase, Vice President and
                                                                                                                  Manager,
                                                                                                          General Manager, Dave Coyle, Productiv-
Phone (604) 207-3122
                                                                                                            ity Specialist of Sandvik Canada Inc.
Fax (604) 276-8545
E-mail kwagner@tskinner.com                                                                               Technical
                                                                                            Andy Caswell, Technical Sales Representative for
www.thomasskinner.com                                                                       American Saw & Manufacturing (Lenox)