Bond Technologies: Who We Are

It is remarkable to look back and realize that the team at Bond Technologies has been working together for almost as long as the technology of Friction Stir Welding has existed. In fact, the shared history among the team members at Bond Technologies is a big part of what makes the company and the working atmosphere so successful.

“While the company itself wasn’t officially launched until 2014, most of us have been together for 15 years or so,” explained Dave Hofferbert, President of Bond Technologies. “Friction Stir Welding technology began just a little over 20 years ago. And if you look at the origin of Bond Technologies, you can see that we have been a driving force in this technology since the start – just under different names.”

Bond’s team of engineering experts originally met under the forerunner company, Transformation Technologies, Inc. (TTI) – founded by current Bond Technologies CEO Tim Haynie.

Haynie initially started TTI in 1999 as an engineering service company.  With an extensive background in aerospace tooling, one of the first projects taken on by TTI was the design of work-holding fixtures for the Eclipse 500 airplane, the first aircraft built with Friction Stir Welding. From 2003 through 2008, TTI grew and developed a full line of FSW machines. By the end of 2008, TTI was one of the leading suppliers of FSW equipment with customers on four continents.

In 2008, TTI’s Friction Stir Welding business became part of an established rotary friction welding company based in Northern Indiana. With this acquisition, the entire TTI crew joined the new company. The engineering team continued developing FSW technology while benefiting from expanded manufacturing resources, worldwide sales and service capabilities, and additional experience in solid-state joining technologies.

In 2014, the Friction Stir Welding division of the acquiring company was divested as the company refocused on its core business. This created the opportunity for the original TTI engineering team to establish Bond Technologies, combining the robust, cost-effective design philosophies developed through years of machine building with continued advancements in controls and process technology. Bond Technologies assumed support for previous TTI Friction Stir Welding systems and continues to innovate and expand its product line with the latest advances in controls and process technology.

“We get asked by clients every once in awhile – ‘How do we know Bond will still be vibrant in three to five years? How do we know you will be here to service or support us?’” Hofferbert explained. “The truth is that Bond has been around for a lot longer than our name makes obvious.”

“When you look at the successes our team has achieved throughout our long history together, we can lay claim to those successes at each stage —because we were the team doing it,” he continued. “We have a tremendously strong presence in the FSW community and are focused on providing products and services specific to FSW. We’ve had an excellent track record of success over the last two decades, and Bond Technologies continues to build on that foundation.”

For more than a decade, the Bond Technologies team has been supplying FSW systems and serving customers throughout the world.  Bond Technologies employs a full engineering staff handling both mechanical design and controls. With over 60 years of combined experience, its professionals can design and supply machines and fixtures for small production parts to large systems used in the aerospace, ship building and railcar industries. Bond Technologies’ FSW machines, like the GG7 (link) and RM10 (link), are used for research and development purposes by The Welding Institute, Brigham Young University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Spirit Aerosystems.

Driven by the motto, “Give the clients more than what they asked for,” this talented, innovative team of engineers produces extraordinary results that have created a following of loyal customers.