Business Briefs

• Jay Armstrong has been appointed sales manager at Machinery & Equipment MRO, Toronto. He has a degree in Commerce and over 40 years experience in product management and market research, in ad agencies and in sales management. Most recently, he was sales manager in the automotive group at Business Information Group (MRO Magazine’s parent company), where he worked with multiple clients, helping them market their products/services both in print and online. Jay is known to be extremely service-oriented, with a customer-first/make-it-happen attitude.

• Motion Industries (Canada) Inc., Burnaby, BC, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Commercial Solutions Inc., Edmonton, AB. Established in 1911, Commercial Solutions is an independent industrial distributor, with 22 services centres and about 275 employees located across Canada. The distributor offers more than 160,000 items for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. It represents 450 manufacturers and serves over 11,000 customer accounts in a broad cross-section of industries, including oil and gas, forestry, food processing, chemical processing, mining and aggregates, utilities, agriculture and construction. The acquired business is expected to add $100 million in annual revenues, according to Bill Stevens, chairman and chief executive officer of parent firm Motion Industries, Birmingham, AL.

• Wolseley Canada, Burlington, ON, has named Richard Ayuen to the position of vice-president of the company’s Waterworks division, where he is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the business across Canada. With over 20 years of experience in leadership, operations and business development, Ayuen joins Wolseley from Guillevin International Co., one of Canada’s largest electrical distributors, where he was general manager of the company’s Commercial Sector in the Greater Toronto Area. Prior to Guillevin, Ayuen was the central region vice-president at Kinecor LP, one of Canada’s largest industrial distributors (now the Industrial Components arm of Wajax Corp.). Wolseley Canada is a wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, engineered pipe, waterworks, fire protection, pipes, valves and fittings, and industrial supplies products. It has about 220 branches across Canada. Its parent company is Wolseley plc, Jersey, UK.

• The German Water Partnership (GWP), a consortium of government agencies, scientific institutes, NGOs and commercial enterprises active in water-related services and industries, has established a regional section for North America. It is being headed by KSB Canada executive Dirk Ruppert, who has already helped to launch GWP initiatives in other parts of the world. The objective of the GWP is to make German engineering, know-how and experience in the water sector easily available to partners and clients globally. Formed in 2008, the GWP has over 350 members. Germany is currently the world’s leading exporter of water treatment technologies with about 20% market share. 

• As part of its commitment to further increase its investment in research and development, SKF Group has announced plans to build two new Global Technical Centres – one in Gothenburg, Sweden, and one in Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. Together these will form a Global Technical Centre Europe (GTCE) structure and will enable SKF to fully use its global footprint and resources to develop innovations across its five technology platforms – bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems and services. “GTCE will leverage synergies with the other global technical centres and focus on areas such as advanced product development, technical data management, and testing,” Alan Begg, senior vice-president for SKF Group Technology and Development, explains. “At full capacity, it is estimated that we will need to employ over 100 new engineers in Nieuwegein and around 50 in Gothenburg. They will work in the areas of product engineering and development, as well as testing metallurgy, chemistry and bearing performance analysis.”

• Machinery & Equipment MRO Magazine is launching a new tabletop industrial trade show. MRO Expo will take place at the Mississauga Convention Centre on April 23, 2014. For details, visit mroplantexpo.com.

• SM Cyclo of Canada Ltd. (SMC), Oakville, ON, has assumed sales responsibilities of Hansen Industrial Transmissions Inc. (Canadian Operations), a provider of large-size industrial gear drives. The arrangement became effective following the merger of Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America (SMA) with Hansen Industrial Transmissions Inc. on August 1, 2013. Greg J. Banero, president and CEO of SM Cyclo, has been managing the Canadian integration of both Sumitomo and Hansen product lines. Prior to the merger, SM Cyclo relocated and expanded its head office and assembly facility. The Oakville facility is now about 75,000 sq. ft. and equipped with 3-, 5-, and 25-ton cranes, new paint booths and advanced assembly equipment. 

• The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA), an association for the industrial power transmission/motion control distribution channel, welcomed 10 new members in the third and fourth quarters of 2013, including one in Canada. Carleton Industrial Supply Ltd., Somerville, NB, is a distributor of mechanical PT products, bearings, material handling components, hydraulic and pneumatic products and PT accessories. “We joined PTDA less than a year ago but should have done it years ago,” president Dalton Ellis said. “I believe that working with an organization such as this can only be a plus to both members and the organization.” For more information about the association, call 312-516-2100 or visit www.ptda.org.

• Henkel AG & Co., Düsseldorf, Germany, which produces Loctite brand industrial adhesives, sealants and coatings, has opened the world’s largest adhesives factory. The facility, in Shanghai, China, which is also known as the Dragon Plant, comprises 150,000 square metres of space and is now the central production site for industrial adhesives in China and the Asia-Pacific region. Henkel is generating 45% of its total sales in emerging markets and 55% of its employees are based in these countries.

• Paul Meo has succeeded Hiro Tachibana as president of NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada, Mississauga, ON, for both its sales and manufacturing divisions. He was formerly the company’s vice-president, sales and marketing. Meo will continue with his responsibilities as a member of the NTN Canada board of directors, reporting directly to Paul Johnson, vice-president of sales and marketing, Americas Region, NTN USA Corp., Mt. Prospect, IL. Meo is a graduate of York University’s Schulich Executive Program and the CMOE (Centre for Management & Organization Effectiveness) program.