For many years, Aikawa Iron Works worked quietly to build its foundation as a premier supplier of stock preparation technologies in Japan. Its acquisitions of specialist companies such as AFT Screen Plates of Canada, Finebar of the USA, and POM Technology of Finland were conducted with little fanfare. “Perhaps we have operated under-the-radar,” admits Masaki Aikawa, Chairman of the Aikawa Group. “But that has been our style. We put performance ahead of self-promotion.” In pursuit of higher performance and recognition, the Aikawa Group is announcing a name change and a new, consolidated global organization. The new organization is being consolidated outside of Japan under the umbrella of Aikawa Fiber Technologies (AFT), which is headed by Michael Stephens.The fiber processing and stock preparation solutions are a combination of Aikawa technologies and the technologies of the former POM Technology Oy. POM has a patented compact wet end technology for paper machines. Timo Koivisto, formerly the head of POM Technology, is responsible for AFT’s Process/Equipment Solutions team.The transition from separate companies to a unified AFT organization is currently underway and will be completed by year’s end.