News and views about companies on the move, new staff, product line changes, and more

The Montreal-based Industrial Research Team (IRT) reports that testing is under way on air cylinders, plug-in relays, bearings, V-belts and air valves. The results will be published in upcoming issues of Industrial Reports. IRT is an independent company with no links to suppliers, industry groups or trade associations. The publication is available in single issues for US$25.95 each, or by yearly subscription (four issues for US$89.95). Contact IRT at (514) 620-9244; fax (514) 620-0465.

The SKF Demonstration Vehicle paid a visit to over 1,000 locations across Canada throughout 1999, presenting the latest innovations in maintenance products and bearings. This vehicle gives customers the opportunity for hands-on exposure to developments in condition monitoring, lubricators, heaters, shaft alignment tools, spherical roller bearings and various other products from the company. The vehicle also serves as a training station where thousands of personnel all over Canada have been trained by SKF staff. For 2000, SKF is refurbishing the vehicle to continue to meet the needs of its customers. It is due to recommence its tour of Canada within the next few weeks. On-site demonstrations can be booked with Mark Webb, maintenance product specialist, at (416) 299-2894.

Arrow Precision, located in Peterborough, Ont., provides specialized geometrical alignment services for production machinery and machine tools. Using laser technology and other precision measuring tools, production machinery is verified for alignment and then corrected. A report on the condition of the machinery is provided to the customer along with recommendations. For CNC machining centres, the company provides measurement accuracy greater than 0.002 mm (2 microns) and can re-program CNC equipment to correct errors. Contracts in hand include the following applications: straightness of linear rails on a robotic welder; flatness and levelling of machine beds; straightness of XYZ axis in horizontal boring mills and other machining centres; laser centre-lines of extruder borers; parallelism of paper rollers; and travel of drawing machines for a steel bar producer. For information, contact Allan Rienstra at Arrow Precision, tel. (905) 349-2020.

Colson Europe, headquarterd in The Netherlands, announced recently that it has acquired Castors International, which consists of three companies: British Castors, Revvo Castors and Global Castors. Based in Birmingham, England, Castors International operates four plants in the United Kingdom which manufacture a wide variety of casters and wheels.

Colson Casters of Cambridge, Ont., has announced the opening of a distribution warehouse in St. Laurent, Que. This facility will service the company’s distribution network in Quebec and Eastern Canada, and also will carry inventory for its affiliated companies. In Canada, the company distributes products for Albion Industries, Shepherd Casters, Colson Europe and newly acquired Revvo and British Castors.

Pacline Overhead Conveyor Corporation, with offices in Mississauga, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y., has announced the appointment of Karl Scholz as general manager. Scholz brings to the company many years of system sales and project management.

KBC Tools and Machinery, of Mississauga, Ont., has announced its registration to the ISO 9002 standard at its head office and machinery division. The company plans to begin implementing ISO 9002 standards at all its branches.

In order to enhance its broad range of industrial maintenance services, Siemens Westinghouse Technical Services, located in Alpharetta, Ga., has selected Computational Systems Inc. (CSI) of Knoxville, Tenn., as a global alliance partner for Reliability-Based Maintenance (RBM). The alliance promises to provide customers with increased productivity and operational efficiency through higher levels of availability and reliability of plant electrical and mechanical equipment, decreased power consumption and improved safety–all from a single source. CSI’s RBM process, which extends traditional predictive maintenance, includes hardware and software for portable and on-line equipment condition monitoring, plus training and services. The company can deliver a complete condition monitoring package integrated into a single database.

In addition, Siemens Energy & Automation has acquired the electronic controls business of Vickers Electronic Systems (VES) Division of Eaton Corporation. VES develops and manufactures computer numeric controls (CNC) for the machine tool market, as well as electronic controls for the plastic processing equipment market. The business also develops software and manufacturing-related control hardware, provides retrofit, rebuild and repair services, and operates an extensive parts business.

Toronto-based Brook Hansen is now part of Invensys. With its head office in London, England, Invensys operates in all regions of the world through four divisions–intelligent automation, industrial drive systems, power systems and controls. The company has over 100,000 employees and its products range from advanced control systems for automating industrial plants and controlling the environments of buildings to electronics devices and controls found in light commercial applications.

Tom Hudak has joined The Stanley Works as vice-president of MRO sales, marketing specification-grade tools for professional users in industrial maintenance, repair and operations. Hudak will be responsible for promoting growth in the company’s mechanic’s and hand tools businesses, which include products sold under the Proto, Stanley Hand Tools, Stanley Mechanic’s Tools and Goldblatt names. He will oversee sales operations to a network of industrial distributors throughout North America, and will supervise the division’s national and regional sales managers in Canada and the United States.

GE Industrial Systems, located in Salem, Va., is providing a complete electrical system for downcoilers and multiple drives for reheat furnaces at Lake Erie Steel’s hot strip mill in Nanticoke, Ont. The 2,050-mm (80-in.) hot strip mill, which supplies hot rolled sheet products to the automotive and appliance industries, is being upgraded to enhance productivity and increase output. GE equipment being supplied includes Innovation Series AC drives, variable speed motors and controllers, transformers and Cimplicity HMIs.

TCB Manufacturing, located in Regina, Sask., has appointed Fastener & Fittings as a master distributor for RED TEK Ultra-Tacky grease. Fastener & Fittings, a distributor of industrial fasteners, will market the line through its distributors in Eastern Canada.

Fluke Electronics Canada, based in Mississauga, Ont., has announced that Testforce Systems of Montreal has expanded its sales and customer support services to include all of Ontario. The distributor recently had been appointed as Fluke’s Eastern Canadian distributor (Ottawa, Montreal and the Atlantic provinces) for its calibration, data acquisition and bench test instruments.

In addition, Fluke Electronics Canada has announced the signing of an agreement allowing Fluke to sell specified Hewlett-Packard multimeters through its calibration sales channels worldwide. Fluke customers now can buy HP 3458A and 34420A digital multimeters directly from Fluke Electronics Canada across the country, and from Testforce Systems.

Davis Controls has announced that Neil Montgomery has been appointed president of the company. Montgomery, who has been with Davis since 1977, was named vice-president and general manager in 1990. Since then, he has led the transformation of the company from a traditional distributor of industrial control hardware to an automation solution provider.

Last fall, Canadian-owned CBS Equipment of London, Ont., celebrated its 40th anniversary as a leading independent distributor. President Jay Shore also was named president of IDI Independent Distributors, a national organization of Cana
dian distributors specializing in industrial supplies and power transmission and bearing products. Shore will head IDI for two years. CBS was selected by Machinery and Equipment MRO magazine as the Power Transmission Distributor of the Year in 1997.

IDI Independent Distributors Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., plans to form a fluid power distributors co-operative marketing/buying group in addition to its current bearing, PT and industrial supplies divisions, reports executive vice-president Donald Knowles. A inaugural meeting is planned for April 17, 2000, at the Delta Meadowvale Inn in Mississauga. For details, contact IDI at (905) 858-0988 or by e-mail at idi@istar.ca.

Snap-on Tools of Canada has announced that the Snap-on/Sun Equipment division has made some organizational changes to its sales management team. Cliff Young, previously national sales manager, has moved to the position of director of training for Snap-on Tools of Canada, with responsibility for all technical and business management customer training. Young is based in Mississauga, Ont. The company also has expanded its Inside Sales unit, outside sales force and product lines to offer industrial customers one-stop shopping for all commodity tool needs.

Dave Sebastian is now district sales manager responsible for pump sales in southern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia for Grundfos Canada Inc. of Oakville, Ont. He is based in a new office in Lethbridge, Alta.

Paul Baldett is been appointed president of ITT Industries’ Industrial Pump Group. He is based in Seneca Falls, N.Y.

Westburne, headquartered in Montreal, has announced a series of acquisitions designed to promote the company’s growth. Chairman of the Board and CEO Robert Chevrier stated that, “Westburne’s strategic acquisitions completed in 1999 will generate over $365 million of sales an on annualized base. All these acquisitions are in line with our strategy of becoming a major regional player for each of our product groups. We believe that our rate of growth through acquisitions will continue at a minimum of 10% per year.” He went on to add, “We will also continue various other internal growth initiatives. Considering the current pace of acquisitions and expected internal growth, sales will be on track to exceed $3 billion in 2000.”

Westburne’s Electrical Group completed the purchase of three branches in Ohio that were owned by All-Phase Electric Supply, an electrical supply distributor based in Michigan. These branches are expected to generate sales in excess of $65 million in fiscal 2000. In addition, the Industrial Products Group of Westburne has executed a letter of intent for a strategic alliance to acquire 50% of Distribution J.R.V., an industrial supply distributor based in Sept-Iles, Que., with five branches in that area of the province.

Chicago Rawhide, an SKF company, will undergo structural changes to its Americas operation, headquartered in Elgin, Ill. These changes are described as customer-focused enhancements to the customer segment business unit orientation started in 1996. As a result, all customer critical operations now are incorporated under the direct responsibility of the respective business unit heads. These critical areas include the manufacturing facilities, logistics, purchasing, technical support and the information technology group. With this structure, all major factors that directly impact the service and responsiveness to the customer will be under one customer-focused segment organization, charged with delivering the highest levels of responsiveness and service reliability. There are four business units: the aftermarket business unit, the original equipment market business unit, the aerospace business unit and the newly formed international market business unit.

The aftermarket business unit, which will continue under the direction of Bill Diggory, vice-president and general manager, is responsible for North American customers of replacement and service seals, bearings and related parts for industrial equipment, trucks and cars. When asked about the recent incorporation of Chicago Rawhide and the Seal Division under the SKF Automotive Group, Diggory commented, “This move takes Chicago Rawhide and SKF a step further in its efforts to bring our aftermarket customers a global solution for seal and bearing supply. It will also bring our aftermarket group closer to the bearing manufacturing operations of SKF.”

The Swiss company LinMot has partnered with Ideal Motion Controls, an Ontario distributor of factory and machine automation equipment, to distribute its line of linear motors throughout Ontario. Designed for modern mechatronic engineering, the linear motors are intrinsically free from mechanical play, gearing or belt wear, and offer digital control and regulation, programmable path curves, decentralized intelligence and fieldbus coupling. Also, LinMot has added Le Groupe Rotalec of Montreal to its lineup of North American distributors. Rotalec is a distributor of factory and machine automation equipment throughout the eastern Canadian provinces.

Harold S. Lenfesty has joined Anchor Lamina as its chief executive officer and director. Anchor Lamina is a global supplier of die sets, mould bases and related accessories, with 14 manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States and Europe. Prior to joining Anchor Lamina, Lenfesty was group managing director of Harley-Davidson Europe in London, England, and vice-president, Harley-Davidson Motor Co. of Milwaukee, Wisc., and president and COO of Fred Deeley Imports/Harley-Davidson Canada of Toronto.

Rebis has stated that its AutoPlant plant design software and its AutoPipe pipe stress analysis application have provided a comprehensive design and engineering solution for members of the Millennium Alliance–Bantrel, Delta Hudson and SNC-Lavalin–on the Millennium Project. This project incorporates the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup of the $2 billion expansion of a major oil sands plant in Fort McMurray, Alta. For the project, the three companies jointly are using 221 Rebis software modules on Microsoft Windows-equipped PCs installed with AutoCAD R14. A major supplier of PC plant design solutions, Rebis has an installed base of over 50,000 products.

Seco Tools Canada, a subsidiary of Seco Tools in Sweden, has moved its headquarters to Milton, Ont. The new facility will accommodate a larger staff, enhancing customer service and support capabilities for all of Canada. Seco Tools Canada will be managed by another Seco Tools company, Carboloy, in the United States. The company is a supplier of carbide tooling and related products, systems and services.

Ontor, an industrial systems supplier, has been appointed as a distributor for Think & Do Software, a supplier of PC-based control software for Microsoft Windows NT and CE devices. The software includes powerful debugging capabilities. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontor has branches in Montreal; in Sudbury, Windsor and Waterloo in Ontario; and in Calgary. In addition, the company has been appointed a distributor for Sick Products in the Greater Toronto and Central Ontario areas. Sick is a manufacturer of sensors, photo electrics, proximity sensors, light curtains, bar code readers and environmental monitors.

Specializing in infra-red optical instrumentation, ABB Bomem has marked its first export into space, supplying the calibration source for the Canadian Space Agency’s MOPITT instrument, which was launched recently on the Terra satellite by NASA as part of its Earth Observation System. The device, developed by ABB Bomem, will serve as a reference source, enabling the constant calibration of the unit. Based in Quebec City, Que., the company is a producer of infra-red spectrometers.

Thermo Black Clawson, of Middletown, Ohio, has appointed Peacock Mechanical Services Division, of Mississauga, Ont., as an authorized service centre for the r
epair, refurbishment and maintenance of Thermo Black Clawson equipment, including its Fiberprep and Black Clawson brands. Peacock, part of The Weir Group, operates a national network of service centres for the repair and refurbishment of mechanical and rotating equipment, consisting of six service centres, in Dartmouth, N.S., Montreal, Que., Mississauga, Ont., Edmonton and Calgary, Alta., and Fort St. John, B.C. As part of the agreement, Peacock has implemented a Thermo Black Clawson factory-supervised training program and 24-hour-a-day support for its equipment.

The 1999 NASCAR season was another great success for number 99. Jeff Burton has six wins, a career high. SKF/CR is a proud supporter of this successful team, providing it with SKF bearings and CR seals. The victories for the team also include two million dollar bonuses. Team number 99 recorded 18 top-five and 23 top-ten finishes and clinched fifth place in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship. During 2000, SKF/CR will focus on seven racing events throughout the United States. NASCAR is one of the only sports that totally sells out its program on a weekly basis.

AC Technology of Uxbridge, Mass., has been acquired by Lenze of Hameln, Germany. AC Tech is a U.S. manufacturer of industrial and commercial electronic motor control products. Lenze, a privately held German manufacturer of high-performance AC drives and power transmission equipment, has enjoyed a close partnership with AC Tech since 1991, when a private label relationship was established with Lenze’s U.S. subsidiary. There will be no changes in the AC Tech organization and all functions will continue to be handled out of the company’s headquarters in Uxbridge. The AC Tech name will continue to be used on products that are designed and built at this facility.

Wieland Electric, based in Oakville, Ont., has announced that Hi-Tech Sales will represent its product line in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A charter member of The Canadian Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association, Hi-Tech will be the sales agent for Wieland’s complete product line, including terminal blocks, connectors, wire management products and other electronic components.

Eagle Technology has acquired additional office space to accommodate a new training centre. The Mequon, Wis.-based company teaches computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) classes for users of its ProTeus CMMS software. The new training centre has 10 workstations set up, and has the room to expand to 20.

The Valve Manufacturers Association of America (VMA) has announced its first associate members. Approved this year, VMA Associate Membership is available to suppliers in the United States and Canada that manufacture raw material, components, and/or process equipment used by valve/actuator manufacturers. According to VMA president, Bill Sandler, this new category of membership is intended to “promote open discussion among manufacturers, repair shops and suppliers relating to industry concerns.” The first two associate members are TopWorx of Louisville, Ky., and EGC Corp of Houston, Tex.