Robotics company battling lawsuits

An attorney for an industrial robotics firm that is moving out of Adrian filed a motion Thursday in Lenawee County Circuit Court, asking to withdraw from two lawsuits involving AIDCO International Inc.

Thomas Walters of Bloomfield Hills claimed a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship in his motion. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 29 for Judge Timothy P. Pickard to decide whether to allow Walters to withdraw. Trial dates now set for February and May would likely have to be adjourned.

The two lawsuits involving AIDCO were in court on Monday where orders were finalized on pending issues.

In one lawsuit, Graham Packaging Co. of York, Pa., is claiming a robotic packaging machine it bought from AIDCO in 2005 is unusable because of frequent breakdowns and malfunctions. It is asking the court to order AIDCO to take the machinery back and refund the $253,188 price.

AIDCO denies an alleged breach of contract. In a case summary filed March 3, attorney Walters stated Graham Packaging was using the equipment.

“AIDCO has made warranty calls to plaintiff’s plant and has resolved all issues with the machinery,” he stated.

A second lawsuit involves claims and counterclaims by AIDCO and parts supplier Nu-Con Automation of Kalamazoo.

Nu-Con claims AIDCO has not paid for $70,703.79 in goods and services delivered to the Adrian-based robotics business.

AIDCO counters that it has suffered financial losses due to faulty equipment supplied by Nu-Con.
“As a direct and proximate result of Nu-Con’s inability to recommend and provide cylinders that work properly and do not fail in the applications and environments in which they were known by Nu-Con to be intended for use, AIDCO has incurred damages which currently exceed the sum of $100,000 and continue to mount,” Walters stated in a March 5 complaint.

AIDCO announced a relocation to Cincinnati, Ohio, last year. The first phase of its move from a plant on Center Street in Adrian was to have been completed in February.