Pre-qualification for pipes, pumps and valves kicked off with 60 bids

Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc. has announced that West Coast Machinery, based in Abbotsford, B.C., will serve IMT customers throughout British Columbia.

West Coast Machinery, a supplier of work truck bodies and equipment, has extended its product offering by becoming the distributor of IMT products in British Columbia. In addition to now offering an extensive line of IMT telescopic cranes, mechanics trucks, lube trucks, compressors and articulating cranes less than 16 tm, West Coast Machinery will also provide parts and service operations.

“We’re happy to have West Coast Machinery join the IMT dealer network,” said Jim Hasty, vice president of sales for IMT. “IMT’s continued commitment to our customers will only be strengthened by this new partnership with West Coast Machinery. Our customers in British Columbia will now realize the full benefit of working with the IMT dealer network.”

West Coast Machinery has supplied contractors, mechanics, landscapers, auto service providers, utility companies and municipalities in British Columbia with high quality products and workmanship for more than 35 years. 

“We have always strived to provide top of the line service bodies to our customers, and we’re excited to offer the innovative product lines that IMT manufactures,” said Brad Dewit, president of West Coast Machinery. “We’re really looking forward to this partnership and we feel that it will enable us to better meet the needs of customers in Western Canada.”
www.wcmachinery.net
www.imt.com

Vacon, a global manufacturer of AC drives, will kick off its inaugural North American mobile product showroom and training center tour from its headquarters in Mequon, Wisc., on May 12.

“This national tour represents an exciting approach for us to display our products and solutions and is testament to the steady sales growth of our company,” says president Tom Doring. “It’s an innovative and memorable means to serve and educate our customers and distributors across the United States and Canada.”

The 53-foot double expandable trailer showcases one PC software tool and ten different product lines — including the Vacon NXS Standalone, Vacon NXP, Vacon NXC, Vacon Liquid Cooled, Vacon NX Common DC Bus, and the Vacon SE2 – in 1,000 sq. ft. of space. Company Sales Representatives will assist customers in experiencing hands-on demonstrations of the features and benefits of four products: the Vacon 10, Vacon 100 HVAC, Vacon NXS and the Vacon X-Series. Two HDTV’s will air interactive presentations during scheduled training sessions; the comfortable indoor environment and exterior tented venue — complete with hospitality — promises an inviting and relaxing learning atmosphere, the company says.

“The Vacon Drive Ahead Road Show Tour is a revolutionary marketing approach that demonstrates our extensive product line in a manner that is timely, convenient, and instructional for our customers and distributors,” says Nicki Bowling, marketing communications manager for Vacon North America. “This personal, hands-on approach is a powerful technique to welcome consumers into our brand.”
www.DriveAheadTour.com

SKF Lubrication Solutions division has relocated to a 22,000-sq.ft. facility in Mississauga, Ont. The lubrication division will have the team of sales, customer service, engineering and service operations together to better serve Canadian customer needs.  (This facility will also be home to the SKF Economos Sealing and Engineered Plastics team.)

In 2004, SKF acquired the VOGEL Company, which further enhanced its leadership position for automatic lubrication solutions for fleet, construction and industrial equipment.

SKF has been a technological leader for more than 100 years and continues to invest in this leadership. It has grown into a knowledge engineering company with a unique profile. The three pillars of the current successful model are its global presence, the experience from working in more then 40 industry segments and the five technology platforms of bearings and units, seals, lubrication systems, mechatronics and services. The acquisition of Willy Vogel AG was strategically important to SKF’s objective of having a leading role in all its technology platforms.

To learn more about SKF Lubrication Solutions, please visit www.skf.ca or for contact SKF Lubrication Solutions at 1-800-207-5823 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In addition to their Mississauga facility, SKF Canada has sales, engineering and service operations in Montreal, Scarborough, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Who doesn't prefer to have the best of everything in one place? That's the case with the launch of Snap-on Distribution in Canada, according to the company, a single-source industrial supplier for high-quality torque equipment, hand tools, power tools and accessories. It also has information online about its maintenance capabilities.

"This gathering of great tool brands from around the world under one roof is a response to customer needs," said Bob Neely, national sales manager with Snap-on Distribution. "We're here to serve our industrial distribution customers with a product grouping that covers every aspect of tool and torque. We believe we've done that in the most efficient way by creating this business unit as a distinctive, standalone offering."

Snap-on Distribution is a business unit of Snap-on Inc. The unit's brands include tools and equipment from global makers with a heritage of manufacturing excellence.  That lineup includes: 

J.H. Williams: This full-line, high-quality hand-tool brand dates from the 19th century and boasts development of drop-forged tools and the 15-degree angle wrench as part of its legacy.

Bahco: A brand that represents the best in ergonomic design extending from adjustable wrenches and hand tools to the world's safest, highest-quality saws and blades.

CDI: A global brand for a complete line of torque products, including testers, wrenches, multipliers and accessories.

ATI: Specialty tools for aviation and aerospace applications, including the 180-degree adjustment Hi-Lok® ratchet. 

Sioux Tools: Maker of heavy-duty, industrial-grade electric and rechargeable power tools, and air power tools.

Lindstrom Precision Tools: The world's oldest producer for cutting tools makes high-quality cutters, pliers, tweezers and other precision hand tools.

Snap-on Distribution brands are sold through industrial distributors in Canada. The offering is designed to serve a range of

Schneider Electric's new Maintenance and Modernization Consultancy (M2C) evaluates existing automation equipment, processes and support to recommend and prioritize actions for optimizing productivity, reducing future costs, minimizing unscheduled downtime, improving technical personnel skills, identifying potentional automation and control component support issues and reducing non-production inventory without risking machine uptime.

Suited for mining, petrochemical, water treatment, pulp and paper, and other industrial facilities with mission-critical systems, the M2C program follows a rigorous methodology:

1 - Project definition -- preparation and understanding of facility process/operations

2 - Data collection without disrupting production - hardware, software, spare parts inventory, process maps, risk areas, equipment performance/age, plant performance, and skills analysis

3 - Data analysis - root cause of downtime, process/systemic issue identification, resource risk, inventory and skill gap evaluation; optimization of tools to support the facility's automation investment

4 - Action plan - presentation of costs, timelines, and prioritization of actions given the facility's priorities and budget.

For more information on the M2C solution, call 1-800-387-8247 option 2, 1, 4 or visit: www.schneider-electric.ca/services.

Blackmer, a global leader in sliding vane, centrifugal and peristaltic (hose) pump and reciprocating gas compressor technologies, will provide its customers with access to information about the energy-saving benefits of its pumps with its newly launched Smart Energy website at www.BlackmerSmartEnergy.com.

This site is a key component in Blackmer’s new Smart Energy Flow Solutions initiative, which has been created as a way to illustrate how manufacturing operations around the globe can benefit by incorporating Blackmer pumping equipment and technologies into their energy-management processes and procedures.

One of the most unique areas of the new site is the Energy Calculator. This allows users to calculate just how much energy they would save if they were to introduce Blackmer pumping equipment into their operations. The Energy Calculator is simple and easy to use. After the user enters the current energy costs in cents per kilowatt hour and the existing (Pump A) Brake Horsepower being used, a comparative Brake Horsepower from a Blackmer pump is entered with the expected annual savings in energy costs automatically calculated.

Other features of the new Web site include information and links to Blackmer’s Smart Energy products; access to a 20-page “Smart Energy Flow Solutions Pump Guide, which has been designed to show how Blackmer pump technology can deliver superior energy-saving advantages in process applications; links to U.S. federal legislation that affects energy usage; comparative data of which to be aware when selecting a pump; and Smart Energy tips and FAQs.

For more on Blackmer’s Smart Energy initiative, visit www.BlackmerSmartEnergy.com.
www.pumpsg.com

FLIR Systems Inc., manufacturer of infrared cameras, has released its new A615, an infrared camera that provides both high frame rates and full 640-x-480 high-resolution imagery.

Affordable, compact, and powerful, the A615 provides over 300,000 pixels of accurate temperature measurement data.

The world's first 640-x-480 uncooled infrared camera to be fully-compliant with both GenICam and GigE Vision protocols, the A615 is ready for installation into cutting-edge networks right out of the box, and plug-and-play with software from machine vision providers National Instruments, Cognex, Matrox, MVTec, Stemmer Imaging, and many more.

This combination makes the A615 the most effective tool available for infrared machine vision, closed-loop process control, and quality assurance imaging, helping you to validate and increase product quality and throughput, improving your processes and products while giving you a competitive edge and increased profitability.

FLIR's infrared automation cameras give you the latest imaging and communication features you need to keep your facility running safely and efficiently. For intelligent, flexible cameras designed for continuous monitoring and automation applications in the most challenging industrial environments, choose FLIR's A-Series infrared cameras.
www.flir.com

Praxair Canada Inc. in Mississauga, Ont., has signed a long-term supply agreement to design and build a cryogenic air-separation plant to supply 900 tons per day of gaseous oxygen to Essar Steel Algoma Inc.’s steel mill located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The new plant is scheduled to start up by early 2011 and will be fully integrated with Praxair’s existing air separation facilities at Essar in Sault St. Marie.

“Essar has a program underway to expand its operation,” said Rob Hossack, Praxair Canada’s managing director. “Our new facility will provide them with the product they need along with a high degree of production flexibility and reliability to achieve this goal. Essar and Praxair have had a long-term relationship in Sault Ste Marie, and this project positions us to continue to grow together in the future,” he added.

Essar Steel Algoma’s CEO, Armando Plastino, commented, “Praxair has been a reliable supplier to Essar Steel Algoma for over 50 years. Praxair’s ability to match product supply to our production requirements helps us to be more responsive to our customers and also more competitive in the marketplace.”

A member of the Essar Group, Essar Steel Algoma Inc. is a fully integrated steel producer, deriving its revenues primarily from the manufacture and sale of hot and cold rolled steel products including sheet and plate.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2009 sales of $9 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings.
www.praxair.com
www.algoma.com/index.cfm

Almost two-thirds of industry professionals in Quebec anticipate business activity increasing in the next 12 months, according to a recent survey by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).

The survey was designed to gather information about the economic outlook of manufacturers in Quebec, their spending plans for the future and their views on the recovery of the industry. The survey was conducted to current pre-registrants of the Montreal Manufacturing Technology Show (MMTS), past attendees and manufacturing professionals from the SME's Quebec database.

The study revealed that, while the recent economic turndown had a significant negative impact on their operations, 64.4 percent of respondents anticipated business activity increasing in the next 12 months.

"It is clear from the survey data that optimism in the economic recovery continues to strengthen in key regional manufacturing sectors including aerospace, energy, mining, agri-food and transportation. We are seeing hard evidence of this upward trend, particularly in the aerospace sector with the recent string of major deals announced from market leaders including Bombardier, GE, CAE, Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter," said Nick Samain of the SME.

The top industry survey respondents represented aerospace, transportation, medical manufacturing, wind energy, mining, electronics/high tech, energy and consumer products. Additional highlights of the survey were encouraging:

• Significant equipment budgets — 37.4 percent have an excess of $100,000 to spend on manufacturing equipment over the next 12 months, 22 percent are over $250,000, and 7.5 percent are over $1 million.

• Expenditures increasing — 48.9 percent see their manufacturing equipment expenditures increasing in the near future.

• Stable spending — 39.2 percent see their expenditures remaining the same.

• Top technologies in demand — automation, assembly, cleaning, coolants, cutting tools, lasers, machining centres, material handling, measurement, metal forming,