LMT News

News of people and events important to the Lubrication Management community

LEBLANC ANNOUNCED AS NEW CEO OF GENERAC 
Waukesha, WI-based Generac Power Systems has announced the appointment of Edward A. LeBlanc as CEO of the company. He takes on this new position in light of former CEO William Treffert’s recent decision to retire from Generac after 31 years of service.

LeBlanc, who has more than 20 years of executive management experience in the industrial and consumer products sectors, has been serving as non-executive chairman of Generac’s board of directors for the past year. Immediately prior to joining Generac, he had been serving as president and CEO of the Residential and Commercial Division of Kidde, plc, a supplier of fi re protection equipment.

NYQUIST APPOINTED PRESIDENT EMERSON PROCESS GLOBAL SALES
Emerson Process Management has announced the appointment of Jim Nyquist as president of Global Sales. He will be directing sales operations for all company divisions (systems, software, instruments valves and services). In his 30-year career with Emerson, Nyquist has served in a number of world area roles in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including, most recently, as president of Emerson Process Management Europe.

BHATTACHARYA IS NEW PRESIDENT AT WONDERWARE 
Invensys plc has announced that Sudipta Bhattacharya is taking on a new role within the organization as president of the Wonderware business unit. Bhattacharya will report to Ulf Henriksson, CEO of Invensys. He replaces Mike Bradley, who had served as Wonderware president since November 2002. Bradley was instrumental in driving the company’s HMI and SCADA businesses, and then taking the company deeper into other manufacturing and infrastructure spaces.

JOHNSON CONTROLS BUYS CANADA’S THE CAPITAL GROUP 
Johnson Controls has announced its acquisition of The Capital Group, a mechanical services company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Specifi c terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Founded in 1974, The Capital Group provides mechanical services for commercial and industrial customers throughout greater Ottawa. The company has approximately 82 employees.

FLIR ENTERS AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE EXTECH INSTRUMENTS 
Extech Instruments has announced that the company’s president and owner, Jerry Blakeley, has entered into an agreement in which the stock of Extech will be acquired by FLIR Systems Inc. The transaction, which is subject to standard closing conditions, is expected to be completed within the fourth quarter.

According to Blakeley, the acquisition of his company creates new opportunities in distribution, product development and branding that will extend and strengthen Extech’s position in competitive markets. Known for its approach to product development, Extech has made extensive use of IR technology for both measurement and communication. The company holds fi ve patents incorporating IR into measurement instruments, and was the fi rst company to introduce a portable printer with IrDA wireless communication.

KAYDON CORPORATION ACQUIRES AVON BEARINGS 
Kaydon Corporation has announced that it has acquired Avon Bearings Corporation (“Avon”) in a cash transaction valued at $55 million. Avon is expected to add approximately $30 million to Kaydon’s fi scal 2008 sales. Headquartered in Ohio, Avon is a custom designer and manufacturer of high-precision large diameter turntable bearings. It also remanufactures bearings and sells replacement bearings. According to James O’Leary, president and CEO of Kaydon, this strategic acquisition is expected to help his organization accelerate growth in the wind energy arena, one of Kaydon’s major markets, while both strengthening existing customer relationships and adding others. In particular, he notes, the Avon addition will broaden Kaydon’s presence in important offshore crane, construction and steel markets for very large diameter bearings, while also providing access to the refurbishment market where Avon has built a leadership position over many years.

BENTLY CERTIFIED TO TEST FOR ULTRA LOW SULFUR DIESEL 
Bently Tribology Services (BTS) has announced that both of its labs (Peabody, MA and Minden, NV) are now EPAcertifi ed to test for ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel).The EPA requires fuel marketers and all those in the supply chain to demonstrate an effective monitoring program to ensure compliance with new sulfur limits for both highway diesel, NRLM (Non-road, locomotive and marine) diesel and heating oil. BTS also offers full diesel and biodiesel fuel testing capabilities.

ATLAS COPCO LAUNCHES ITS FIRST SERVICE DIVISION Atlas Copco Compressor Technique is merging its customer service and spare parts operations into a dedicated service division. “By combining our service operations we will strengthen the cost competitiveness of the business and improve the service we give our customers,” says Ronnie Leten, president of Atlas Copco Compressor Technique. “This will serve to grow our aftermarket business and gives an increased focus also within the equipment divisions.”

The mission of the new Compressor Technique Service division is to be the global leader in customer service, providing all service of compressors needed by Atlas Copco customers, with an extended range of offerings. The gains from creating a single division include focused purchasing and the coordination of overlapping functions. The other operational divisions of Atlas Copco Compressor Technique are Industrial Air, Oil-free Air, Gas and Process, Portable Air and Specialty Rental.

According to the company, Atlas Copco has experienced increasing demand from customers to provide full packages of equipment, as well as service, training and spare parts. Atlas Copco’s business areas, Construction and Mining Technique and Industrial Technique, also have organizations in place for focusing on the service offering.

YOKOGAWA HELPS FOUND ISA SECURITY COMPLIANCE INSTITUTE Yokogawa has become a founding member the ISA Security Compliance Institute, an organization of industrial technology vendors and end users dedicated to establishing specifi cations and processes for testing and certifying control systems products.

The new organization will work to establish a set of wellengineered specifi cations and processes for the testing and certifi cation of security characteristics for critical control systems products.

Conformant products will carry the ISASecure designation, enabling suppliers to substantiate claims of compliance and provide asset owners with an independently validated identifi cation of compliant products when making procurement decisions.

Members, working with technical staff retained by the Institute, will develop a set of compliance requirements based on ISA99 security standards and other relevant standards, such as IEC or DHS recommendations. The program will be designed to cover everything from the device-level products up to gateway interfaces, to business planning and logistics systems.

FLUKE OFFERS INDUSTRIAL TEST TOOL EDUCATION GRANT 
Fluke Corporation will donate two of its high-performance Fluke 289 True-rms Industrial Logging Multimeters with TrendCapture to 10 qualifying educational institutions through a new education grant program. Designed to help ensure that educators, students and entry-level professionals have access to state-of-the-art technology, the program lets instructors in accredited programs apply for grants of the Fluke 289 for use in training students to diagnose problems in electronics, plant automation, power distribution and electromechanical equipment.

Members of the Fluke Education Partnership can apply for the grant by completing the application form available on the Partnership’s Website. The Partnership is a Webbased program offering educators in technical, university and apprenticeship programs free curriculum materials and a discount on all Fluke handheld test tools. Membership is free. Applications will be reviewed by a committee from Fluke for program elements, including breadth of course offering, degree/certifi cation qualifi cations and statistics, and plans for using the test tools within curriculum. The winners will be announced in February 2008.

FSA/HI MECHANICAL SEAL COURSE SET FOR 2008 MARTS 
The Fluid Sealing Association (FSA) (www.fl uidsealing. com) in conjunction with the Hydraulic Institute (HI) (www.pumps.org ), will conduct a pre-conference workshop entitled “Fundamentals of Mechanical Seals,” at the 2008 Maintenance & Reliability Technology Summit (MARTS), on Monday, April 14, in Rosemont, IL. Presented by instructors from FSA member companies, this comprehensive overview is crucial for those involved with the selection procurement, operation and/or maintenance of any equipment that utilizes mechanical seals—from new engineers to operators to maintenance personnel. Topics will include mechanical seal designs and arrangements; operating principles and application limits; seal chamber design and pressures; installation; environmental controls and piping plans; life cycle costing of mechanical seals and sealing systems; and troubleshooting. Attendees will receive a free copy of the authoritative HI/FSA book Mechanical Seals for Pumps: Application Guidelines (a $195 retail value) with their paid registration. For details, refer to the full MARTS brochure in this magazine or on www.MARTSconference.com. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Applied Technology Publications, parent of Maintenance Technology and Lubrication Management & Technology magazines and organizer of MARTS, is an affi liate member of the FSA.)

ASSOCIATION NEWS

SMRP CONFERENCE RECAP 
This year’s SMRP Fall Classic Conference, held October 7-10, 2007 in Louisville, KY, brought together record numbers of maintenance and reliability professionals and suppliers to the industry. According to conference organizers, more than 1000 attendees and 69 exhibitors took advantage of this year’s annual event and the professional development and networking opportunities it offered.

The Louisville gathering featured 50 technical presentations centered on the fi ve SMRP core bodies of knowledge, including business and management, manufacturing process reliability, equipment reliability, people skills and work management. A sixth track, SMRP initiatives and values, comprising an additional 12 presentations also was featured.

At the Annual Business Meeting, former vice chairman Tim Goshert was chosen to take Tom Byerley’s place as the chairman of SMRP in 2008. The SMRP Certifying Organization’s (SMRPCO) vice chair in 2007, Rich Overman, will serve as SMRPCO chairman for the 2008 term.

News that SMRPCO was approved as an ISO Accredited Certifying Organization by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on September 9, 2007 also was confi rmed. Since its fi rst exams in 2001, almost 2000 practitioners have obtained their CMRP certifi cation, including 281 in this year alone. Beginning January 1, 2008, the accredited exam also will be available as a computer-based test at more than 500 sites in the United States and Canada.

The SMRP Fall Classic was highlighted by another very special announcement regarding the establishment of a scholarship in honor of long-time, key SMRP and SMRPCO contributors Jack and Dorothy Nicholas. Known as the “Jack and Dorothy SMRPCO Scholarship,” it will be an annual award and offered to deserving students beginning in 2008.

For those planning early, next year’s SMRP conference is set for Oct. 20-23, 2008 in Cleveland, OH. For more information, visit www.smrp.org

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