Canadian Bearings holds open house in automotive country, plus other news and views about companies, staff, product lines and more

Hundreds of vehicles jammed the parking lot on a rain-saturated Thursday in early October for the open house and grand opening at Canadian Bearings’ Windsor, Ont., branch. The location had been the Jopar Fluid Power Inc. facility until it was acquired by CB in 1999. The branch specializes in hydraulic and pneumatic components, serving a broad range of customers, including several automotive industry plants. For example, the branch has a contract to maintain the fluid power cribs at eight Ford Motor Company facilities.

CB had acquired Jopar for its strong technical capabilities and intimate knowledge of customers’ processes to generate cost savings. The expansion has improved CB’s service in the Windsor-and-area market, says branch manager Jim Miernicke. A new, well-lit, 3,800 ft showroom/store displays a variety of fluid power and power transmission components and features a unique cafeteria-style sales counter, complete with swivel seats.

The original owners, Al Pare and John Ellenberger, and nine other fluid power specialists are located in the Windsor facility. Their services include the repair of pumps, valves and cylinders, and equipment maintenance.

CB is the largest supplier of bearing and power transmission products to the Canadian automotive industry. Canadian owned and operated, the industrial distribution company has 32 branches in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It employs about 325 people.

NSK-RHP Canada Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., will change its name to NSK Canada Inc. on Jan. 1, 2001. “This change will enable us to create a stronger identity with our customers on a global level without sacrificing regional initiatives,” says Terry Quinn, president and COO.

Steelcase Canada in Toronto is the site of a plant tour set for Nov. 28 for members and guests of the Toronto chapter of the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada (PEMAC). A buffet dinner will be served. A small charge will apply for the meeting. For location and other details, contact PEMAC at (905) 874-1154 or chapter president Simon Fridlayand of SAFE Engineering Inc. at (416) 447-9757. This is a good opportunity for potential members to meet other chapter members and learn about the group’s activities and membership benefits.

Technicor Inc. of Orangeville, Ont., recently became the Canadian master distributor/agent for KMS Bearings Inc. KMS manufactures thermoplastic and SS316 ball bearings and assemblies. Technicor’s other product offerings include CNC engineered plastic components, wear products, conveyor components and Snap-Idle chain tensioners. For details, call (800) 858-1707.

US Bearings and Drives, the Portland, Oregon-based division of The BC Bearing Group of Burnaby, B.C., has acquired the assets of Besco Inc. (Bearing Engineering Supply Company) of Seattle. The 56-year old Besco operates a branch in Seattle, Wash., and two in Alaska. US Bearings and Drives has 13 branches in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana and Arizona, reports president Scott A. MacPherson.

Canadian Pacific Railway, Calgary, plans to outsource more of the supervision of its locomotive repair and maintenance, leaving less than one quarter of its 1,600 locomotives being maintained directly under the railway’s supervision. Existing arrangements are being expanded with General Electric Transportation Systems and the diesel division of General Motors of Canada. It also is adding a field maintenance and repair arrangement with OmniTrax Locomotive Canada, an engine leasing and repair company. Ed Dodge, executive vice-president of operations, says that since CPR began outsourcing its repair supervision, locomotive uptime has increased 30 per cent. Most of the existing maintenance staff will remain CPR employees, with work continuing to be done at the railway’s own facilities.

A Newfoundland supplier of industrial and safety products is expanding. Murray Industrial of St. John’s has announced it is acquiring a 50 per cent equity interest in W&A Moir, a Dartmouth, N.S.-based industrial supplier with additional offices in Halifax, N.S., and Saint John, N.B. The acquisition provides an opportunity for Murray to build on its business in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Emerson Power Transmission of Ithaca, N.Y., has announced that it has completed the consolidation of Emerson’s gearing brands under the EPT organization. EPT adds the US Gearmotor brand of gearing products to its gearing portfolio, which includes Browning brand helical and bevel speed reducers and gearmotors, and planetary speed reducers, as well as Morse brand worm gear reducers and mitre boxes. For additional details, request a copy of Form 8712, EPT Gearing Products, from Emerson Power Transmission, 620 S. Aurora Street, Ithaca, NY 14850; tel. (606) 564-2084; fax (606) 564-2239; or visit the company’s web site at www.emerson-ept.com and click on Products.

Software Integration Services, an application service provider based in Edmonton, Alta., has introduced HoundWare Online, an Internet-accessible version of HoundWare software, for asset management in the industrial sector. Features of this system include data stored and backed up on a secure server, software that is accessible from anywhere in the world where Internet access is available, ongoing technical support and a user-friendly interface. For more information, contact Software Integration Services, 17707 – 105 Ave., Edmonton, AB T5S 1T1; tel. (780) 454-3001; fax (780) 454-3096; toll-free (800) 387-8665; e-mail: info@sisltd.com; web site: www.sisltd.com

The Falk Corporation has announced the introduction of Falk Powered, a program in which customers request that Falk components be used in the equipment that they are purchasing. Distributor and Falk personnel are available to help customers design their Falk Powered systems to ensure that the most appropriate Falk products are specified for the application at hand. For more information, visit the web site at www.falkcorp.com/services/index.html or contact Falk Canada, 45 Disco Rd., Etobicoke, ON M9W 1M2; tel. (416) 675-6071, fax (416) 213-1020.

Toronto-based Alpha Controls and Instrumentation has been named the Eastern Canada distributor of the Omnex Control Systems line of wireless transmitters/receivers.

Volker Hohensee has been named business unit director for Anchor Lamina in Mississauga, Ont. Hohensee will lead all business activities for the eastern area of the company’s Die Set Product Group, and his responsibilities will include the facility in Montreal, Quebec, and in Ontario, the Mississauga and Cambridge facilities.

Advantage Sales Network Corp., Mississauga, Ont., now represents AMI Bearings Inc. in Canada. AMI Bearings Inc. is the North American manufacturers representative for Asahi Seiko Co. Asahi Seiko manufactures single deep groove mounted ball bearings. The line includes standard bearings (set screw, eccentric locking collar and tapered bore with adapter sleeve), high temperature bearings, Accu-Loc bearings (concentric locking collar, ideal for the pulp and paper industry) and miniature bearings, as well as stainless steel bearings suitable for caustic washdown applications. Coinciding with this appointment is the establishment of a new location for AMI’s Canadian factory inventory. AMI product will be stocked at the warehouse facility of Advantage in Mississauga.

Karel Bass, chairman and founder of KBC Tools and Machinery, passed away recently at the age of 84. A businessman of considerable energy, dynamism, versatility and scholarship, Bass remained active late in life. At the age of 82, he moved from Michigan to California and opened a branch of KBC near his new home so that he could still go to the office.

Orphaned by war, Bass fled his childhood home
of Prague, Czechoslovakia, as a young man. He established businesses in Israel and England in the field of industrial equipment, before settling in Detroit, Mich., in the late sixties. There, he founded a storefront operation, called Kabaco, which grew under his leadership into KBC Tools and Machinery, an international distributor of tools and machinery to the metalworking industry with branches throughout Canada and the United States.

Bass balanced his dedication to his work with a love of study–world affairs, history and literature. Throughout his lifetime, he was an avid student, although he received his first formal degree at the age of 61. He was particularly interested in languages, and learned a total of seven in all. As a young man, he was quite comfortable chatting in Latin. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Sheila, son Ariel, president of Bass Tools in Houston, Tex., daughter Danielle, a gallery owner in Detroit, Mich., and daughter Paula, president of KBC Tools and Machinery, Mississauga, Ont.