Namco Europe launches Kiddie Rides Division with Chris Bell as General Manager

Namco Europe has completed a major strategic business development with the formation of a dedicated Kiddie Rides Division. The Division, which will be inaugurated at ATEI, is being headed-up by well known kiddie ride expert Chris Bell who has been appointed to the post of General Manager. Chris, who has 25 years experience in the industry, 20 of which gained in the Kiddie Ride sector, reports directly to Namco Europe Managing Director John McKenzie.

“Our Kiddie Rides division is an important strategic addition to the overall Namco Europe business offering,” stated John McKenzie. “Our aim is to provide operators with the broadest range of high earning fun-based family equipment and Kiddie Rides are an integral part of that philosophy.” He continued: “Chris Bell represents a great appointment with his professionalism, breadth of excellent contacts and encyclopaedic knowledge of the sector. Bringing Chris on board is a clear sign of our intent to take the new division forward.”

Reflecting on his new role, Chris Bell said: “Working for a company of such standing and substance in the product sector that is closest to my heart represents a wonderful opportunity. I spent over two decades working in the Kiddie Rides business and to be involved in the start-up of a new division is fantastic. ATEI can’t come fast enough and I look forward to meeting up with colleagues and clients in London.”

The Kiddie Rides Division of Namco Europe will be showing a range of licensed and non-licensed kiddie rides from stand U2340/34 at ATEI.

Merit Entertainment is proud to announce its new, market-expanding partnership with European distributor Avranches Automatic. The companies have teamed up to serve the French market for years and now seek to extend their reach throughout Europe and into North Africa.

Avranches Automatic’s expert knowledge of the amusement industry, experience with Merit products, and solid export contacts will allow Merit to make its games easily accessible to an expanding global market

“We have been representing Merit in France for many years, and I am very glad to be given a chance to collaborate more closely on such a great product line,” said Murielle Lavole of Avranches. “I’m very enthusiastic about this partnership.”

Merit’s customers will benefit from this new partnership with stronger service and support, as products will ship directly from Europe, allowing operators to get their machines into locations more quickly

“I’m excited about this project,” said Javier Lanfranchi, Merit’s Director of International Sales.  “Merit has been working with Avranches for many years. We both know that we can deliver a great product and give excellent support to many markets, which for logistic or timing reasons, could not access our products directly from the United States.”

For 30 years, Merit has ensured long-term return on investment for operators by providing continually high-earning equipment along with updates and upgrades for its products. With an installed base of over 250,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.6 billion plays per year, Merit Entertainment is the worldwide leader in touch-screen entertainment devices. Merit Entertainment products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content, and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at www.meritgames.com.

Harry Levy Amusements has revealed two of the hottest new machines from its huge range of games ahead of this year’s ATEI.
Dazzler does exactly what its name suggests. It’s one of the most eye-catching 12-player pushers Harry Levy has ever produced. The machine was shown in prototype format at the Preview and the Harry Levy team listened to customers’ feedback in order to fine tune Dazzler in readiness for ATEI. “We listened to you guys and we ended up with a masterpiece. Order early to avoid that early Easter rush,” says Gary Newman. A limited number of Dazzlers are available before Christmas.

The second game that is making waves at Harry Levy is a new video redemption piece, which pays homage to a classic from the past. Sea Wolf from Coastal Amusements in the US is breaking all records. Harry Levy Amusements has full Uk & Ireland distribution rights for the game, which is so engrossing that some jurisdictions that can’t operate redemption are buying significant numbers to operate as a pure amusement/video piece.

“The idea behind the game is to shoot and destroy various sea-faring vessels, all of which have differing point values. The digital LCD monitor in 16x 9 Format Produces realistic animation. The Fire , Explosions and Torpedo action are enhanced with Stereo sound, and a Sub-Woofer located in the seat gives the game a bone rattling realistic feel. Sinking the Super Fast Craft wins the Bonus Ticket Feature.This game can really perform, and was the star of the recent IAAPA show in the US,” says Colin Mallery.
Order Now to make certain of Easter Delivery.

Cashmaster International, the innovative manufacturers and distributors of cash counting machines have embarked on a new growth strategy, signalled by a £300,000 investment in their production facility.

Unlike many British companies, Cashmaster have opted to remain loyal to Scotland and reinvest in their manufacturing site located in Rosyth, Fife, in a bid to increase production capacity and offer its blue chip clients reduced lead-times.

A strong desire to uphold quality and increase efficiency has prompted Cashmaster to change its manufacturing ethos, from batch to flow-line. Investment has been focused on production machinery, including a Speedline MPM Printer, MyData15 Surface Mount machine (robotic pick and place), ERSA Hotflow 7 Oven (forced air convection) and a new component reel storage system.

Specifically designed to facilitate a flow-line process, each of these machines are connected by conveyors, providing a seamless linear line for PCB production. The new flow-line process offers many advantages over the old batch production process and will be soon be accompanied by a MVP GEM Automated Optical Inspection unit and a laser etching machine. The heart of the new line is the MyData Surface Mount machine, which is fitted with both 14k hydra placement and 6kzfi heads, providing a combined placement rating of up to 14400cph (chips per hour). It can place a vast selection of components from 0402 (40thou x 20thou / 1mm x 0.5mm) to large QFP’s and micro BGA style components. 

Engineering Manager, Douglas Reid, said: “Cashmaster have strategic growth ambitions, which meant we had to invest in our production facility to offer customers the benefit of advanced technology, whilst also ensuring that the skills of our employees remain at the highest level. The new production facility will allow us to increase our production capacity, offer shorter lead times and crucially become highly responsive as a manufacturing unit, which will have a massive impact on our production capabilities”.

With a record-breaking international order book for Q1 2008 and a forecast increase in sales of over 35% for 2008, the company has cited the commissioning of their new production facility the first strategic step of many.
 
About Cashmaster
Established in 1977, our organisation has been involved in electronic cash counting systems since 1987.   Cashmaster specialises in providing cash intensive businesses with a means of counting and reconciling more efficiently. Sectors such as banking, retail and leisure each benefit from using Cashmaster products to reduce time spent counting cash, whilst taking advantage of advanced reconciliation, which in turn results in loss prevention. Cashmaster offer a five-product range to suit all levels of users, from single till operations to multinational stores who operate multiple tills per store.

Pinball Games, a 1-in. self vending mix, challenges players to maneuver miniature metallic “pinballs” which are encased in a clear plastic orb, through a series of rings and onto designated targets. A variety of neon-colored playfields are represented in the mix, including one with an alien theme. Fun for everyone, for a suggested .20 -.50 Euro vend.

For further information please call Allstar Vending at + (514) 426-1690 or visit our website at www.allstarvending.com