Mergers, acquisitions, expansions and partnerships
NETZSCH opens Texas service center for municipal customers
NETZSCH Pumps North America LLC opened a 4,900-square-foot Sales & Service Center north of Houston to provide services to its pump customers in Texas. The facility is a base for inventory, technical support and the company’s Applied Water Systems (AWS) certified technicians. The site features a pump stand, which lets customers see hydraulic tests on pumps before taking them out of the facility. The center houses a rental stock for customers to test the T2 Rotary Lobe Pump and includes a one-ton crane, forklift and a truck for field service.
ESC acquires SSI, plans to broaden CEMS and DAS offerings
Environmental Systems Corporation (ESC) acquired Spectrum Systems Inc. (SSI). ESC provides support for industrial and utility facilities with air emissions requirements while SSI is a continuous monitoring service (CEMS) provider that delivers CEMS integration, maintenance and repairs, stack testing, training and data acquisition software (DAS) to its customers. ESC and SSI will provide each other’s services and will continue operation in Austin, Texas and Pensacola, Florida, respectively.
ASTM International, Auburn University, EWI, NASA, MTC create Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence
ASTM International, along with Auburn University, NASA, EWI and Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) launched a research and development (R&D) standardization and innovation organization called the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AMCOE).
"The synergy among EWI, MTC, Auburn, and NASA will help fill the gaps in technical standards that this industry needs to drive innovation," said ASTM International President Katharine Morgan. AMCOE’s advisory board is made up of international private and public sector industrial leaders. Auburn University is renovating its Gavin Engineering Research Laboratory to house additive manufacturing research efforts funded through AMCOE.
SPX FLOW gains Middle East channel partner
SPX FLOW announced that V-Line Middle East, a subsidiary of V-Line Group, is a new channel partner for its Middle East operations. V-Line Group manages cross-border maintenance, repair and operating supply (MRO) complexity in industrial plants. Its sales and technical experts customize procurement models that are developed for customers to meet certain standards of operation.
"Our partnership with V-Line will be a great benefit to our customers in this area. They will have a local contact with fully trained support teams to handle their components and spare parts needs. V-Line will hold extensive stock locally and will be able to respond to enquiries and deliver parts very quickly," said Tom Cork, channel manager for SPX FLOW.
Rawwater opens Houston office
Rawwater, a U.K.-based consulting service provider for facility design in oil field souring and well abandonment, opened an office in Houston, Texas. Don Maynard will lead the office. Rawwater uses Dynamic TVS thermal viability shell predictive souring model to analyze operational and reservoir souring data. The company is also exploring the use of bismuth plugs as an alternative to cement for sealing abandoned oil wells and securing failed abandonments.
ONCAP purchases Precision Global
Harris Williams advised Precision Global, a company of Peak Rock Capital and provider of dispensing solutions, on its sale to ONCAP. Precision Global, founded in 1949, invented the modern aerosol valve and produces more than four billion vales and two billion actuators annually. The company provides for the personal care, food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries. ONCAP is a private equity platform of Onex. It works to build North American mid-sized business potentials.
Maviro completes brand unification
Maviro completed the rebranding of Mattawa Industrial Services, Mattawa Industrial Services (USA) and Envirosystems USA. The company has 15 locations and will deliver a line of services to the North American market. "We’re now able to offer decoking, commissioning, pipeline services, laser cleaning and craneless catalyst loading, in addition to some of the more conventional services like automated high-pressure water blasting, chemical cleaning and line moling,” said President Kent Bartley. The Houston-based company is expanding into Central and Northern Alberta to support SAG D facilities.
Shale Support opens storage facility, logistics hub in Louisiana
Shale Support opened a truck-served terminal in Grand Cane, Louisiana. The facility will operate 24/7 and has more than 10,000 tons of on-site storage. The company mines Delta Pearl from its properties in Picayune, Mississippi, and Kinder and Baywood, Louisiana.
"Acquiring the Grand Cane facility is a direct result of Shale Support’s recent purchase of two natural sand mines in Louisiana," said co-founder and CEO Kevin Bowen. "We now have the ability to truck sand from Kinder and Baywood into Grand Cane, helping to support the growth in the Haynesville Shale Play."
EPIC Systems partners with investors to create new corporation
EPIC Systems announced a partnership with investors to create a new corporation named EPIC Systems Group. Compass Group Equity Partners, a private equity firm in St. Louis, Missouri, led the agreement. John Schott will continue as president and remain the owner of the company and all employees will continue operating as normal. "We look forward to joining Compass Group, which will expand our capabilities and industry footprint," said Schott.
Ram Group launches quantum sensing platform
Ram Group launched its end-to-end platform consisting of R&D labs, sensor technology and global production facilities to modernize quantum sensing. The group, which developing it for eight years, opened its post-silicon era solution to any enterprise. Quantum sensors can analyze deeper than silicon-based sensors. Ram’s platform uses gallium nitride (GaN) and a set of materials that creates a powerful sensor.
Ram Group will open its research labs and production facilities in Germany for manufacturers to have a solution for quantum sensing devices. Production facility expansions are expected in Singapore and Houston, Texas. The facilities can produce 200,000 sensors per day before the anticipated expansions.
Graphic courtesy of Nidec Motor Corporation
Appointments
Nidec Motor Corporation names CEO
Nidec Motor Corporation (NMC) named Henk van Duijnhoven as its CEO and Appliances, Commercial and Industrial Motors (ACIM) global business leader. NMC, located in St. Louis, Missouri, has $4 billion in annual sales and 25,000 employees across 72 manufacturing sites across the Americas, Asia and Europe. Duijnhoven was most recently a partner and managing director of The Boston Consulting Group. He has a Bachelor of Science from the College of Automotive Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Fairbanks Morse names new president
Fairbanks Morse promoted Deepak Navnith to the top executive position in the company. Navnith replaced Marvin Riley as the leader for the power solutions company. Navnith served as Fairbanks Morse’s vice president of operations since 2016 and oversaw operations for engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and quality. Before working at Fairbanks, he was associate principal at McKinsey & Company. There he led manufacturing and operations strategy. Navnith also spent more than 10 years with Toyota. He has a Bachelor of Engineering from R.V. College of Engineering in India and a Master of Science in manufacturing engineering from Stanford University.
Graphic courtesy of Weil-McLain
Weil-McLain hires director of sales
Weil-McLain, a manufacturer of hydronic comfort heating, named Michael Langen as director of sales. He will be based in the headquarters in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Langen will be responsible for the company’s growth strategy, channel management and contractor engagement initiatives. He has more than 20 years of experience in sales strategy. Langen most recently worked as the sales director for the electrical and hydronic business at Honeywell International. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.
SPX FLOW names district sales manager for Eastern Canada
SPX FLOW appointed Jeffrey Pato as district sales manager for Eastern Canada. Pato graduated from Humber Polytechnic Institute in Toronto in electromechanical engineering with a Robotics and Automation Technology Advanced Diploma. In his new position, Pato will support the company’s partners and customers in Quebec, Newfoundland, Ontario, New Brunswick, St. John’s and Nova Scotia.
Lone Star Analysis appoints deputy chief technology officer
Dallas-based Lone Star Analysis promoted Eric Haney, Ph.D., from analyst to deputy chief technology officer. Haney joined Lone Star in June 2014 and developed a modeling efficiency tool that reduces construction time of large analytic models from months to days. He has bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Arlington, respectively.
Awards, milestones and achievements
ABI Research awards PTC with top scores in AR/MR, innovation
ABI Research awarded PTC ThingWorx with top scores in augmented reality (AR)/mixed reality (MR) and innovation. SAP, PTC, Siemens and Schneider Electric tied for the highest score in digital twins. PTC Telit and GE tied for highest in protocol adaptability and connectivity.
ABI’s Smart Manufacturing Platform Ranking assessment ranked 11 major vendors: ABB Ability, Bosch IoT Suite, Emerson Plantweb, Fujitsu Colmina, GE Predix, Hitachi Lumada, PTC ThingWorx, SAP Leonardo, Schneider Electric EcoStruxure, Siemens Mindsphere and Telit deviceWISE. The platforms were judged based on innovation, thinking, deployment and their ability to support technologies like AR and MR, digital twins, protocol adaptability and connectivity, robotics integration and intelligence. ABI also assessed the platforms on their progress in establishing partnership, connecting assets and integrating with cloud systems as well as costs and coverage.
Fairbanks Morse celebrates 125 years; introduces digitally enabled devices
Fairbanks Morse announced that it will shift strategies in the delivery of its power solutions portfolio in time for its 125-year anniversary. It plans to shift to digitally to enable its customers’ systems with a retrofittable version of the PoweReliability-as-a-Service platform. Real-time data will be collected from power systems to optimize power parts and services. It also announced an update to the corporate website and a company rebranding.
ASTM International committee presents John Haas Memorial Award
ASTM International’s committee on ships and marine technology (F25) gave the John Haas Memorial Award to Sean Andersen of Dixon Valve US. Andersen received the award for his expertise for the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio standards. He has been a member of ASTM since 2014 and has held his position as product manager at Dixon Valve US since 2012. Andersen has a bachelor’s degree in business from Washington College. He is also a member of the U.S. Transportation Advisory Committee and the Association of American Railroads for LNGs.
ASTM International awards graduate students with $10,000 scholarships
ASTM International President Katharine Morgan announced four graduate students won $10,000 scholarships for their graduate studies in fields where technical standards play a crucial role. This year’s winners were chosen from 25 applications.
"These students will use standards to expand scientific knowledge in a wide range of fields: additive manufacturing, occupational safety, aerospace, and nuclear technology," Morgan said.
The following Ph.D. candidates will receive the 2018 ASTM International graduate scholarships:
- Kathryn Anderson, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama who contributes to ASTM International’s fatigue and fracture committee (E08). She plans to expand her involvement in E08 as well as the additive manufacturing technology committee (F42).
- Materials engineering student Tuhin Das of McGill University is active in the ASTM committee on aerospace and aircraft (F07) and fasteners (F16).
- Occupational health and safety expert student Anthony Marletta of Indiana University of Pennsylvania plans to help develop standards through the pedestrian/walkway safety and footwear committee (F13).
- Andrew Tonigan of Vanderbilt University studies materials science. He is a member of the committee on nuclear technology and applications (E10) and is involved in an interlaboratory for a new test method for that group.
NAI plant achieves zero defects for one year
NAI, a manufacturer of connectivity solutions for industrial, telecom, data and medical systems, achieved a zero-defect manufacturing in its Hermosillo, Mexico, plant for one year. The plant produced 25,000 fiber optic riser cable assemblies, 200,000 fiber optic jumpers and more than 3 million cable terminations during this period.
