Frederick (Fritz) Kucklick

Frederick (Fritz) Kucklick is a mechanical engineer with significant business and technical acumen.

Exemplar litigations: Breach of Contract, Patent, Trade Secrets, Tax Matters pertaining to R&D Tax Credits for Tooling, and Personal Injury. Issues generally involve Industrial Manufacturing, Machinery, Manufacturing Processes, Tools and Dies, Products, Safety, and/or Machine Guarding. Experienced with international litigants.

Over 25 years' key management and technical positions with Automotive Tier 1 and industrial machinery / machine tool manufacturing companies in the USA and Europe.

Co-founded a Michigan-based international group of manufacturing machinery and machine tool companies serving automotive and primary metals manufacturers, among others. During company growth from 2 co-founders to 500 employees worldwide, responsibilities included design engineering, machine installations, field service, project management, international sales, and corporate governance. Founded and operated a European sales, service and manufacturing subsidiary.

Services

Mr. Kucklick offers engineering, management and litigation support for industrial machinery and complex manufacturing issues.

Fields of expertise include business practices, machinery, tools & dies, the automotive industry, failure analysis, industrial manufacturing machinery, intellectual property, forging, lathes, CNC lathes and other machine tools, safety guards, robots, manufacturing processes, metal forming, presses, robotics, and aluminum and steel wheels and rims.

Litigation Support Services

Mr. Kucklick provides unbiased and impartial expert testimony and litigation support services for plaintiff and defense counsel.

Areas of Expertise

Additional Expertise:

CNC Machines, R&D, Industrial Machinery & Tooling, Automotive Components Manufacturing, Production Tools Claimed for R&D Tax Credit.

Profile

Frederick C. (Fritz) Kucklick is founder and president of IMT Consulting, Inc., providing engineering, management and litigation support for CEOs, managers, and attorneys.

Clients include Unverferth Manufacturing Co., GKN, Daewoo, Asia Motor Works, Mazak, Eaton Corporation, and AM General.

Kucklick's expertise is based on a mechanical engineering degree and skills developed during over 25 years' ownership, top management, international sales, design engineering, field startup / troubleshooting / installation, and project management positions with automotive Tier One and heavy machinery manufacturing companies in the U.S. and Europe.

Noteworthy among Kucklick's experience was 1977-1998 as co-founder, owner, employee, officer, and director of Hess Industries, Inc. (industrial mass production machinery designer/manufacturer, headquartered in Michigan), a company that grew from its two founders to 500 employees in six locations in the U.S. and Europe. Hess Industries' major customers are automotive OEM and Tier 1 manufacturers; the company's products include proprietary lines of metalworking machinery including presses, resistance and arc welders, roll formers, shrinkers, expanders, straighteners, CNC metal spinning machines, CNC lathes, cold rolling mills, mill instrumentation, automations, robotics, special machines, assembly machines, food processing machines, and production lines combining many different manufacturing technologies.

Kucklick was involved with many key elements of the company's growth, including top management, machinery and tooling design engineering, intellectual property protection, international sales and marketing, equipment installation and startup, establishment of overseas licensees and licensors, forging strategic international alliances, asset acquisitions and startups of U.S. and European companies, due diligence, board of directors, community and government relations, and P&L responsibilities.

Frederick C. (Fritz) Kucklick holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern University, with additional business and management studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Areas Served

All States. Experienced with international clients.

Frederick (Fritz) Kucklick in the Social Networks

LinkedIn

Professional Experience

President, IMT Consulting, Inc., Cassopolis, MI
Founder, Director, Officer; Hess Industries, Inc., Niles, MI
President, VP, International Sales and Marketing, Hess Engineering, Inc.
Founder and President, Hess Engineering ag, Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Applications Engineer, Manufacturing Technology, Inc., Mishawaka, IN
Sr. Design Engineer, Field Installation Engineer, Grotnes Machine Works, Chicago, IL
R&D, Project Manager, Firestone Steel Products Co., div. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, OH

Affiliations

Trustee, Ohio Northern University
Society of Automotive Engineers
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
College of Engineering Dean's Advisory Board, Ohio Northern University

Qualifications

Significant career management and engineering experience, including co-founding, ownership and management of a company that grew from its two founders to 500 employees in the USA and Europe. Responsibilities have included top management, machinery and tooling engineering, intellectual property protection, international sales and marketing, equipment installation and startup, establishment of overseas licensees and licensors, forging strategic international alliances, asset acquisitions and startups of U.S. and European companies, due diligence, boards of directors, community and government relations, and P&L responsibilities.

Mechanical engineering degree from Ohio Northern University, plus additional business and management studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Awards & Honors

Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society

Professional References

C. Bryan Wilson
Williams & Connolly LLP
Washington, DC
(202) 434-5428
bwilson@wc.com

Scott M. Oldham, Patent Attorney
Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP
Akron, OH
(330) 237-4533
smoldham@hahnlaw.com

Jean-Paul Layrisson
Scandurro & Layrisson, LLC
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 522-7100
Jean-Paul@scanlayr.com

Education

Ohio Northern University, BS Mechanical Engineering
Notre Dame, Creative Management (certificate program)