News and views about companies, staff, products and more. (June 01, 2002)

The pump manufacturer American Machine and Tool of Royersford, Pa., has been acquired by the Gorman-Rupp Company, based in Mansfield, Ohio. Gorman-Rupp manufactures pumps and accessories for a wide variety of applications.

Tsubaki of Canada Ltd. has appointed a new president, Masaya Ushida. A 25-year veteran of the parent firm, Tsubakimoto Chain Company, he has held various positions within the organization, including postings with U.S. Tsubaki and Tsubaki Taiwan. He comes to Canada from his most recent assignment as global sales and marketing manager in Osaka, Japan.

Acrolab, headquartered in Windsor, Ont., has been named the official North American distributor of Incos HRS hot runner systems. These systems, supplied with dual heaters as well as dual thermocouples, are suitable for application in a wide range of industries. Incos HRS is an Italian company. For more information, contact Acrolab at 519-944-5900 or visit the company’s web site at www.acrolab.com.

Snap-on Industrial has added two industrial sales representatives to its southwestern Ontario team. Tara Clark is responsible for accounts in southwestern Ontario, and Lee Shea will be responsible for end-user accounts in the eastern region of southwestern Ontario.

The Bloomfield, Conn., company Kaman Industrial Technologies has acquired a majority interest in the Mexican distributor Delamac, which supplies power transmission and fluid power products to Mexican industry.

A.J. Forsyth of Delta, B.C., has been amalgamated with, and is now a division of, Russel Metals, which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ont. Both Forsyth’s and Russel’s steel distribution in British Columbia and the Yukon will be carried out as A.J. Forsyth, a Division of Russel Metals Inc. For more information, visit www.russelmetals.com.

An agreement has been reached for Newell Rubbermaid, Freeport, Ill, to acquire American Tool Companies, located in Hoffman Estates, Ill., for the purchase price of US$419 million. The company will become part of Newell Rubbermaid’s Levolor/Hardware Group. American Tool was launched in 1985 to purchase Petersen Manufacturing, founded in 1924 by William Petersen, the inventor of the Vise-Grip locking plier.

The electric motor and generator manufacturer ABB of Boston, Mass., has become a sponsor of the Motor Decisions Matter campaign, bringing the total number of sponsors to 30. Campaign sponsors include motor manufacturers and service centres, trade associations, electric utilities and government agencies, who work together to promote the benefits of motor planning and provide tools that enable customers to develop a motor plan, with the assistance of their local distributor/repair centre or utility representative. Visit www.motorsmatter.org for more information.

Oetiker Limited of Alliston, Ont., has named Kevin Jenkins as chief executive officer for North America. Jenkins’ previous experience was with General Motors of Canada and Magna International, where he spent three years at three different divisions as general manager. His objectives are to exploit the growth opportunities for the clamp and couplings company.

FAG Automotive, a division of the FAG Bearing Company, Mississauga, Ont., has become a sponsor for a third season of CASCAR, this year with Dave Jacombs and the Jacombs Racing #88 Team. This is FAG’s first year to sponsor the Ford Taurus team of Jacombs. FAG Automotive joins several other associates, some of which also are part of the machinery and equipment MRO market, including Gates, Lincoln Electric and Castrol.

The assets of the Canadian Timken, Limited Regional Distribution Centre have been sold to CoLinx Canada ULC, effective May 1, 2002. The Canadian CoLinx operation is part of a joint venture involving INA Holding Schaeffler KG, Rockwell Automation, The SKF Group and Timken. The sale is intended to allow Timken to increase its level of service while benefiting from CoLinx’ warehousing and logistical capabilities. As a result of the transition, the Regional Distribution Centre moved in mid-April to a new Colinx site at 296 Walker Dr., Bramalea, ON L6T 4B3. The Canadian sales office is relocating to 6537A Mississauga Rd., Mississauga, ON L5N 1A6 (telephone and fax numbers stay the same).

The recent successful launch and subsequent solar array deployment of the Envisat satellite depended on a four inch diameter gearbox, created by David Brown Engineering. The gearbox controlled the deployment of the satellite’s crucial power-generating solar array. Phil Dalton, technical sales manager, said: “The small gearbox only had to operate once but it had to work with absolute certainty in a harsh environment and following the stresses imposed by a rocket launch. In space, on a satellite orbiting at this distance above the earth, there are, of course, no opportunities for repair and servicing!”

David Brown of Lockwood, Huddersfield, UK, is a unit of Textron Power Transmission, which also encompasses Benzlers of Scandinavia and Cone Drive of North America.

The SKF Group is celebrating 85 years of operation in Canada in 2002. In 1917, the 10-year-old company opened a Canadian office that led to the formation of the Canadian SKF Company Limited. Within 10 years, SKF Canada Limited, as the company came to be known, constructed its own warehouse and office building on Bay St. in Toronto. In 1982, SKF Canada opened its present head office and distribution centre in Scarborough, Ont.

Schneider Electric has appointed Chris Curtis as president of the company in Canada. A Canadian, he formerly was vice-president of marketing for Schneider Electric in the U.S. Curtis replaces Albert Renaud, who has left the company.

The Timken Company and NSK Ltd. have agreed to form a joint venture that will build a plant near Shanghai, China, that will specialize in the production of single-row tapered bearings that are used in medium- to high-volume applications, frequently in automotive and also in certain industrial applications. Production is scheduled to start early in 2004. Equipment for the plant will come from a Timken plant in the United Kingdom that is closing, as well as from NSK operations in Japan.

The Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA) of St. Louis, Mo., has announce the addition of Thomas H. Bishop, P.E., to its staff of technical support specialists. Bishop brings more than 32 years of industry experience, and has been chairman of EASA’s Technical Services Committee for five years. He will be available to assist members with engineering questions and research. Further information is available at www.easa.com.

The Timken Company has opened a bearing reconditioning facility within a customer’s operations in Brazil. It is located at MRS Logistica S.R., one of Brazil’s largest railroad companies, in Belo Horizonte. The new bearing service unit, an extension of Timken do Brasil, will recondition railroad bearings used in various types of freight wagons for MRS and other Brazilian rail lines. This is the first time a Timken reconditioning facility has been located at a customer facility.

Labcor’s calibration laboratory is now accredited to CAN-P-4D (ISO/IEC 17025), for specific temperature calibrations, by the Standards Council of Canada and the National Research Council’s Calibration Laboratory Assessment Service. The company is said to be the first Canadian private laboratory to receive this accreditation. The certification is a formal recognition of the company’s technical competency to perform specific test and calibrations in the field of temperature measurement. For more information, contact the company at 514-355-6100 or visit www.labcor.com.

Continuing implementation of its growth strategy in Western Canada and
rapid growth of its seal repair business has prompted the Burlington, Ont.-based TG-Burgmann to relocate its mechanical seal repair facility to a new location in Edmonton, Alta. The expanded facility is located at 3456 – 78 Ave., 34th Street Business Centre, Edmonton, AB T6B 2X9, tel. 780-434-4928.

Rockwell Automation has been be licensed to use the DuPont Network Security Analysis Methodology (DNSAM), a standardized computer network analysis process that strengthens security policies and procedures between business and manufacturing process control systems. It will also provide installation and configuration services for specified third-party security hardware and software. For more information, contact Rockwell at 440-646-3105 or DuPont at 302-774-2529.

SKF’s acquisition of 75 per cent of the shares in NSK Aerospace Europe Ltd. at Stonehouse in UK has been finalized. The company, whose name will now be changed to Aeroengine Bearings UK, designs, manufactures and sells bearings for main shafts and gearboxes for jet engines. The main customer is Rolls Royce.

Pneuveyor Systems International Ltd. of Woodstock, Ont., which specializes in pneumatic conveying systems, has been acquired by Luxme Group of Industries of Brossard, Que.

Intellimeter Canada has received Measurement Canada’s national meter testing facility certification. This is big news for the firm because of deregulation of the electrical industry in Ontario, which began May 1, 2002. Intellimeter can now seal meters on-site without the supervision of a Measurement Canada representative. Mac-G Canada of Waterloo, Ont., represents the company in central and northern Ontario and in Quebec.