U.S., July 7 -- SMC, founded in Japan as Sintered Metal Corporation in 1959, is one of the world's foremost pneumatic technology developers and manufacturers with operations in 81 countries. In 1972, the SMC Corporation of America subsidiary was founded on the basis of providing local delivery and strategy for the American market, with that expertise yielding a considerable degree of autonomy as the business grew over the following decades. In recent years and owing to shifts in customers' technological capabilities and expectations, that localised strategy has changed.
"Every subsidiary was focused almost solely on the customer base within their country," says Michael Loggins, Global Vice President of IT at SMC USA. "Over the last severa...