Modern Engineering, Inc. is expanding into the European marketplace and strengthening its competitive position in the U.S. with the acquisition of CBT Companies, Inc., headquartered in Peoria, IL.

CBT Companies, a 35-year-old design and engineering business, was sold to Virtual Supply Chain Engineering (Modern Engineering’s parent company) on May 14. The acquisition was formally announced today.

“Many of our clients inquire about our offshore capabilities and the addition of the Romania office opens up a new frontier for Modern and boundless opportunities to expand our position in the European marketplace,” said Modern Engineering President & CEO Ronald Wood. “Modern already has a presence in India and Israel. With the addition of Romania, we are fulfilling our plans to become a leading, global engineering provider.”

In 2004, CBT earned partner-level supplier status with John Deere. The Six Sigma company was named “2003 Indirect Material and Services Supplier” by John Deere for scoring top marks in quality, cost management, delivery, technical support and responsiveness. Another leading manufacturer of heavy machinery and equipment ranked CBT as their No. 1 international supplier and No. 2 U.S. based supplier.

“We are extremely pleased to have a company as highly regarded as CBT become part of the Virtual family,” Wood said. “The caliber of their work and their commitment to customer service is exceptional.”

Prior to the sale, CBT Companies separated its Engineering Support Services (ESS) group from its other two main divisions – Digital Printing Centers (DPC) and CAD Products & Supplies (CPS). Modern Engineering acquired the ESS Group under the name CBT Companies, Inc. The DPC and CPS groups are now operating under CBT Companies’ former business name – CityBlue Technologies.

“This division will allow CityBlue Technologies to continue focusing on its core services, while providing CBT with greater resources, capacity, and the freedom to meet our growth needs,” said CBT Companies’ CEO Michael McConnell. “The sale is consistent with our strategy to concentrate on client-base diversification, international growth and presence, and new value-added services for our clients. This transition will position us for new levels of performance and ensure our continued position as a true global engineering leader.”

McConnell has joined Modern Engineering and will continue to manage the CBT operations. He will also oversee all of Modern Engineering’s global initiatives.

CBT Companies has been in operation since 1968. The ESS group specializes in: Product development and design; routed systems design and implementation; tool and mold design; finite element and CFD analysis; reverse engineering; modeling; detailing & documentation; virtual manufacturing; animation; manufacturing design; document conversion; prototyping; and, data and project management.

Modern Engineering, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Virtual Supply Chain Engineering, Inc., has been a leading provider of staffing, engineering and design services to the worldwide manufacturing industry since 1946. Modern’s expertise includes program management, product design & engineering, tool and rack design, manufacturing engineering, supply chain engineering, data management, software development, contract staffing, and IT services. Modern offers services in all major CAD systems and operates a Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence in partnership with UGS / Tecnomatix. Modern recently introduced a new supply-chain engineering technology – “The Virtual Engineer.” For more information, visit the company’s website at www.modernengineering.com.