ATHOL, MA-The L.S. Starrett Co., supplier of precision measuring tools and equipment, announces it has acquired the assets of Kinemetric Engineering LLC (Laguna Hills, CA) for $2.3 million.

LEUVEN, BELGIUM-Metris, designer, developer and marketer of 3-D hardware and software inspection systems for the automotive and aerospace sectors, announces a number of acquisitions.

ATHOL, MA-The L.S. Starrett Co. announces it has acquired the assets of Kinemetric Engineering, LLC (Laguna Hills, CA) for $2.3 million. Kinemetric Engineering specializes in precision video-based metrology, specialty motion devices and custom-engineered systems for measurement and inspection.

TOKYO, Japan--Japanese precision equipment maker Mitutoyo Corp. has been banned from exporting various precision measuring tools for periods of up to three years, according to a decision recently handed down by the Japanese government.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA - Ford Motor Co. garnered five top model segment awards-more than any other automobile corporation this year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Initial Quality Study (IQS).

MINNEAPOLIS-Laser Design Inc., a supplier of 3-D laser scanners since 1987, celebrated 20 years in business in the spring of 2007. What started as an idea in founder and President C. Martin Schuster’s mind in 1987 has become a mainstream technology for the aerospace, automotive, electronics and medical device industries.

MCLEAN, VA-April U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $281.54 million, according to AMT, the Association for Manufacturing Technology, and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association.

STATE COLLEGE, PA-Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting company, has named Minitab Inc. the recipient of its 2007 Customer Value Leadership of the Year Award in the quality compliance, manufacturing productivity and statistical process control market.

SAN DIEGO-For the first time, the Hyundai brand has produced the most leaders on Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index (TQI), leading in three segments.

MILWAUKEE-The American Society for Quality (ASQ) has announced its slate of officers for the 2007-08 term. The results were announced at ASQ’s Annual Business Meeting, held in conjunction with the World Conference on Quality and Improvement, April 30 to May 2, 2007, in Orlando, FL. The results are based on a general membership vote that took place beginning Feb. 23, 2007.