Yizumi-HPM’s Bill Flickinger to Retire; Company Plans Tech Center Expansion

William (Bill) Flickinger joined the former HPM in 1968 as a project engineer. In the succeeding half-century, he has been a leading technical expert in injection molding and die casting. He held wide-ranging responsibilities at HPM in engineering, operations, technology and product development, application development, and senior management. Flickinger was promoted to v.p. of engineering in 1974, v.p. of operations in 1986, and to president, CEO and chairman in 1993. He left HPM in 2001 to be president of Bivouac Engineering and Service Co., a firm he co-founded that provided engineering, parts and services for HPM machines. He came back as president of the new HPM North America in 2011 after Yizumi Precision Machinery Co. of China purchased HPM’s intellectual property. Bivoac was merged into Yizumi-HPM. Flickinger retired as president of Yizumi-HPM in 2016 and remained as vice chairman and treasurer until this past March 31.

Flickinger will continue to assist Yizumi-HPM on a part-time basis as vice president until Oct. 30. “This allows me to attend one more NPE exhibition and NADCA Die Casting Shown,” he says.

Flickinger, a native of Marion, Ohio, grew up 15 miles from the original HPM plant. By a coincidence, Robert Lindsey, HPM v.p. of engineering, bought Flickinger’s parents’ home in 1968. That connection led to a job offer months later.

He has high praise for many of his HPM colleagues over the years, including Tom Bishop (former v.p. of sales), Richard Studer (former CEO), and Ron Akialis (former v.p. of extrusion).

Meanwhile, Yizumi-HPM is already planning to expand its 22,000-ft² North American Technical Center in Iberia, which opened only last October. The company hopes to start construction early next year on 15,000 ft² of additional manufacturing space to accommodate growing business in large-tonnage injection molding and die-casting machines, says John Beary, president of Yizumi-HPM. Interest in the company’s DP-N two-platen, servo-hydraulic injection presses (550 to 3500 U.S. tons) has been extremely strong, according to Bill Duff, general manager of sales and marketing. These machines are based on HPM designs. “In the past, HPM was a top supplier of large-tonnage machines, so it’s logical that we’re recapturing a growing position in that space,” Duff says. The expanded facility will include a 75-ton crane to support customer trials and mold demonstrations on larger machines.