News & views about companies, staff, product lines and more

SKF Canada, has been selected as one of the recipients of a Certificate of Merit in the 2000 Canada Awards for Excellence. The award recognizes Canadian organizations that achieve excellence through a strategic approach and application of quality principles and practices. The company’s Scarborough, Ont., distribution centre ships ball and roller bearings to distributors and OEMs across the country. According to John Kupka, SKF marketing manager, the criteria for the National Quality Institute award that were met by the company include a solid framework covering the drivers of continuous improvement, leadership, planning, customer focus, people focus, process management, supplier focus, and organizational performance.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Greg Robinson’s successful career at RotoPrecision Inc. of Mississauga, Ont. RotoPrecison supplies precision products to industry, including bearings, linear motion bearings, guides and shafting, specialty fasteners and springs, and has subsidiary manufacturing operations in the U.K. Robinson began his career with the company working during summer holidays in the Vancouver branch. After spending time on the Vancouver order desk, he moved to Toronto as an outside sales representative to Ontario distributor customers. He was later promoted to branch manager of the Vancouver facility. Greg returned to Ontario two years ago as General Manager of the OEM division of RotoPrecision, the position he currently holds. Keith Mayo, managing director of the company, says that he and all the RotoPrecision staff across the country offer their congratulations in recognition of Robinson’s many years service and dedication to the company’s objectives.

A new company, Global Bear Inc. of Dorval, Que., has been established to supply bearing and power transmission distributors with brand-name miniature and instrument bearings, machine tool bearings, and metric and inch rod end bearings from stock. The company has a 2400-sq-ft office and warehouse facility. It is operated by Harold Benz and Jeff Ford, who between them have over 50 years of experience in the Canadian bearing and PT industry. “We can help distributors in understanding what each letter or number in the 25-digit part numbers mean, and assist them in recommending the right part for a customer’s application,” says Benz. The company can be contacted at (514) 631-1110 or toll-free at (866) 631-1110.

Toronto-based MROmetals is a sourcing solution between companies that use metals and the service centres or other suppliers that provide the metals. Its partnership deals with 16 metals service centres which supply the raw product, helping companies to find metals for operations that use tube, plate or bar in their maintenance and repair work. Although most of its current work is done by phone and fax, the company is aimed at e-commerce. It deals in both hot- and cold-rolled steel products, in iron, aluminum and alloyed metals, and in tooled metals, with the ability to provide service to customers from welding shops, tool and die makers, industrial plants, in fact, any company with an assembly-production line. MROmetals is positioned as a possible outsource marketing arm for service centre partners, allowing them to extend their sales range geographically. A sister company, MetalStream, is an application service provider that uses core software packages to help suppliers and their customers integrate systems via the Internet. MROmetals can be reached by calling (416) 628-6720, ext. 101, toll-free (877) 676-6382.

MEP Drives is now a master stocking distributor for Ontario for Dart Controls Inc., a manufacturer of AC and DC controls rated from sub-fractional up to 3 hp.

NSK-RHP Canada, of Mississauga, Ont., has promoted Steven Yeung, P.Eng., to Director of Engineering. In his new role, Yeung will oversee all engineering activities in the Industrial OEM and Aftermarket divisions and will have a contributing role in the company’s Motion & Control Institute, its customer training facility. He has more than 13 years of bearings experience, and has been involved in the heavy industries of steel and pulp and paper. NSK-RHP can be reached by telephone at (905) 890-0740 or by e-mail at info@nsk-rhp.ca.MRO

Eaton has announced a new structure for its Cutler-Hammer electrical and electronic products business. This re-organization, a market segment structure for its Cutler-Hammer product operations, sales and support organizations, will enable the company to respond faster to customer requirements, effective Jan. 1, 2001. Three components were announced: Engineering Services and Systems (CHESS) will be consolidated with the Global Sales and Customer Service organizations; the North America Field Sales organization will be structured into nine regional territories, each with a targeted focus on industrial and electrical construction market segments; and product operations will be organized into six segment-focused business divisions.

Robert Bosch has announced the planned integration of Mannesmann Rexroth and its companies into the Bosch Group. Once the necessary antitrust approvals have been granted, Bosch Rexroth, a wholly-owned Bosch subsidiary, will enter into a company lease agreement with Rexroth which will transfer the business activities of Mannesmann Rexroth including all of its affiliates to the new company. Once the agreement is signed, the workforce at Mannesmann Rexroth will become employees of the new company, where a supervisory board will include worker participation. Bosch Rexroth will be active world wide in the fields of industrial hydraulics, pneumatics, linear and assembly technology, drive systems and control technology, service automation and mobile hydraulics. Robert Bosch intends to merge its automation technology division with Rexroth. However, the assembly installations and special-purpose machines product area is not included.