Stiles Machinery Inc. is pleased to report on the 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Combois. Hosted by its United States member Stiles Machinery, the international member countries of Combois e.V. met in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Sept. 20-21, 2010.

Combois was founded in 1967 with the mission to facilitate the exchange of woodworking technology and know-how between leading machinery suppliers from different countries and to raise the standards of customer service through the development of innovative approaches to customer care.

Although most member countries suffered from the worldwide economic downturn delegates reported that stabilization had occurred in almost all markets and that encouraging trends towards new technology investments were developing in many areas. During the AGM, Fritz Peine (KUPER Germany) as well at Jesper Nicholaisen (Denmark) and Peter Kleinschmidt (Stiles, United States) were re-elected as President and Vice Presidents respectively.

Currently, Combois members represent the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Chile, China, Denmark, Dubai and the Middle East, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, South Africa and USA. New members from other regions of the world are expected to join in the near future. The current members jointly employ a workforce of over 1,100 highly specialized individuals and achieve a combined sales volume of over EUR 500 million.

Stiles as host and exclusive member for the United States arranged for tours of two high-end office furniture factories as well as of the Stiles service center and automated spare parts facility while the Combois members were in the West Michigan area.