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Ghafari + Fischer, LLC: Engineering Joint Venture To Serve Global Industry

21 December 1998

Ghafari + Fischer, LLC: Automotive Engineering Joint Venture To Serve Global Industry

    DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 18 -- An international joint venture
company has been formed to better serve the global automotive industry and its
key manufacturing suppliers with cutting edge Advanced Manufacturing
Engineering services, it was announced Friday.
   The company, Ghafari + Fischer, LLC is a joint-venture of Dearborn-based
Ghafari Associates, Inc. and Frankfurt, Germany-based IndustriePlanung
Fischer, Gmbh (IPF).  The formation of the U.S.-based company is the result of
more than a year of negotiations between Ghafari President & CEO Yousif B.
Ghafari, P.E. and President Gert A. Fischer of IPF.  The two companies have
worked together on several automotive projects through the years and decided
to formalize the business relationship.
    Ghafari + Fischer will utilize the existing licensed Ghafari professional
staff for the design and engineering of new or renovated facilities.  Ghafari
Associates, Inc. brings architectural, civil, structural, mechanical,
electrical and interior design and engineering services to the joint venture.
IndustriePlanung Fischer technical staff shall contribute advanced concepts
for the design and layout of facilities for the manufacturing process and
material flow requirements of the facility.
    The combined Ghafari + Fischer allows a completely integrated approach
from site selection to final start up of an automotive facility.  This
provides the owner of the facility to concentrate on their core business and
eliminates the need to serve as a coordinator between the building and
manufacturing groups usually involved in a facility program.
    The execution of advanced concepts in manufacturing engineering will be
carried out by licensed professionals in the state or country in which Ghafari
+ Fischer is conducting a project for a client.  In the simplest terms,
manufacturing engineering is the analysis and layout of the assembly or
manufacturing process to maximize efficiencies in work processes and material
flow throughout a production facility.
    "There exists a strong demand by the automotive industry and its supplier
base to utilize the latest techniques to speed production, reduce costs,
improve quality and enhance the flexibility of the manufacturing process,"
said Mr. Ghafari in announcing the venture.  "Ghafari + Fischer is uniquely
qualified to meet that growing demand."
    Ghafari veteran engineer and project manager, Jeffrey B. Schulman, has
been named a vice president of the company and will head up the operation on
loan from Ghafari Associates, Inc.  Heading up the German-based enterprise is
Ludwig Von Mueller, a registered engineer in Germany, who will also serve as
vice president, on loan from IndustriePlanung Fischer.
    "Manufacturing has become a global commodity and it takes a firm with
worldwide capabilities to meet our client needs," said Jeffrey Schulman.
"We're excited to have bridged the Atlantic Ocean so our clients don't have
to.  We are now able to offer competitive, comprehensive services globally
with quick response."
    "We are excited to bring some of the advanced manufacturing concepts
utilized by automakers in Europe to America's automotive capital in Detroit,"
said Von Mueller.  "These cutting-edge manufacturing processes are in demand
as a global standard.  We stand ready to serve the automotive industry as it
sheds national allegiances and becomes truly globalized."
    IndustriePlanung Fischer has designated other key technical staff from
Germany who will work out of the Ghafari + Fischer designated workspace within
Ghafari's Dearborn headquarters building.  In turn, Ghafari will designate key
staff to work with the German team to develop project procedures and
efficiencies that go hand-in-hand with a dedicated project team for
manufacturing and process engineering.
    Ghafari Associates, Inc. shall continue to run its full-service
architectural and engineering offices in Dearborn, Detroit, Sterling Heights
and Indianapolis independent of the Ghafari + Fischer joint venture.
    IndustriePlanung Fischer AG shall also operate independently in Frankfurt,
Germany.  The Ghafari + Fischer company shall jointly pursue projects that
best utilize the expertise of the firms.
    Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, the privately held Ghafari
Associates, Inc. is one of the fastest growing architectural and engineering
firms in the Midwest.  In 1998 the firm was ranked 156 among the top 500
design firms in the nation by Engineering News-Record magazine.  Ghafari, a Q1
company, is a full-service, multi-disciplinary firm providing innovative
architectural, engineering, management and consulting services to clients in
the industrial, commercial and government sectors.  Ghafari has satellite
offices in Sterling Heights, Detroit and Indianapolis, Indiana.
    IndustriePlanung Fischer Gmbh has been in business in Germany for more
than 27 years.  The firm's headquarters is located in Friedrichsdorf, Germany.
The company specializes in advanced manufacturing and process engineering for
the automotive industry.  Its clients include Mercedes-Benz, GM Adam Opel,
Volkswagen and many other automotive manufacturers and suppliers.