Supplier News

JWI Group has announced an expansion of its forming fabric manufacturing facility in Warrendale, Pa. The expansion will involve building extensions, installation of a state-of-the-art loom, enhanced seaming production and an overall increase in manufacturing capabilities.

DuPont has begun a series of technology and facility upgrades at its polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) manufacturing plant in LaPorte, Texas. Changes to the plant are expected to boost output of Elvanol-the trade name for DuPont's PVAs-by almost 20%.

Elf Atochem North America has selected Moore Products Co. to provide batch control system and automation software-the Apacs ProcessSuite-for its new methylins production area in Carrollton, Ky.

PRICING

Vulcan Chemicals, Birmingham, Ala., has announced an off-market price increase for all grades of sodium chlorite by $0.06/lb (80% basis). The company cites substantial new regulatory compliance costs, rising manufacturing costs, and increased demand for sodium chlorite as the reason for the increase. Vulcan Chemicals has also announced a price increase for all grades of hydrochloric acid by $15/ton. The company attributes this increase to a tightening in the supply and demand balance for hydrochloric acid.

Millenium Inorganic Chemicals has announced a price increase in the U.S. of $0.04/lb and in Canada of C$0.06/lb for its rutile and anatase Tiona titanium dioxide products for paper applications.

ACQUISITIONS/MERGERS

The Indus Group Inc., San Francisco, Calif., a provider of enterprise software solutions for energy and process industry customers, and TSW International Inc., Atlanta, Ga., a provider of asset management software solutions, have announced the approval of their merger. As a result of the merger, all of the products, services, and technology research of TSW International and The Indus Group will be combined into a new Delaware corporation called Indus International Inc.

Coltec Industries, the parent company for Garlock Sealing Technologies, has announced that it will acquire the sheet rubber and conveyor belt business of the Dana Corp.'s Boston Weatherhead Div. Coltec will continue to operate the Boston Weatherhead facility in Paragould, Ark., as part of its Garlock Sealing Technologies unit.

BetzDearborn Inc. has announced that it will acquire Argo Scientific Inc., a supplier of specialized chemical treatments, services, and technology for membrane separation systems.

Allied Colloids Group plc of Bradford, England, and the Eka Chemicals business unit of Akzo Nobel in Bohus, Sweden, have acquired the Particol Silica Microgel (PSM) technology from DuPont. Particol is a patented, silica-based microparticle retention, drainage, and strength system used in the production of pulp, paper, paperboard, and laminates and as a flocculant in water treatment systems. The purchase includes patents, license rights, and use of the Particol trademarks. Also, as part of the agreement, the companies have settled all outstanding legal proceedings relating to this technology.

Burlington Air Express (BAX), a transportation and logistics management company, has acquired Cleton & Co., a logistics provider in the Netherlands.

Rockwell Automation, Mequon, Wis., purchased Philips Web Tension Control Systems from Louis P. Batson Inc.

W.R. Grace & Co., a supplier of flexible packaging and specialty chemicals, and Sealed Air Corp., a manufacturer of protective and specialty packaging materials, have announced that they will combine Grace's packaging business with Sealed Air to create a new company to be called Sealed Air. Prior to the merger, Grace's specialty chemicals businesses will become a new publicly traded company that will retain the Grace name.

LITIGATION

Following a three-week trial in Madison, Wis., a Federal Court jury returned a $14.6 million verdict against Valmet Corp. for infringing a patent on an advanced technique for drying paper held by Beloit Corp. In addition, the jury upheld the validity of all 48 claims of another Beloit patent.

REORGANIZATIONS

Beloit Corp. has started the operation of its worldwide MillPro Services network with its first fully functional service region headquartered in Hattiesburg, Miss. With seven districts and 375 MillPro employees, the Southern MillPro region services more than 70 mills.

MillPro facilities for the South are located in Hattiesburg and Columbus, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., and Texarkana, Texas. Some of the facilities have been servicing mills in the region for years and have only recently joined together under the MillPro name. The Hattiesburg headquarters, which are located in a former Georgia-Pacific facility, house field service, repair, fabrication, and engineering operations for the region. The facilities in Texarkana and Pensacola are both alignment services operations.

Beloit plans to open five additional service regions throughout North America, and European expansion of MillPro will also take place over the next two years. The newly formed MillPro network allows MillPro account teams to partner with each mill in a region. Each team is assigned a limited number of mills to maximize the time dedicated to becoming experts in the processes and operations of the mills they serve.

Peachtree Fab & Machine Inc., (PF&M), Newnan, Ga., has announced the formation of a new division- Peachtree Environmental. Offering full consulting, design, and engineering capabilities, Peachtree Environmental will design, build, and install air pollution control equipment for a range of industrial applications.

NEW COMPANIES

To bring the advantages of object-oriented technologies to the industrial automation market, Zone Automation, a startup company, has been created. Zone's new open platform control system addresses many of the current obstacles facing today's computer-based soft logic users, including inefficient I/O communication throughput, low-level control redundancy, and real-time processing capabilities.

RELOCATIONS

Heavy Machines Inc., a machinery distributor in forest products and other industries, has moved to a new corporate office in Memphis, Tenn. Still in Airport Industrial Park, the new office/warehouse facility is at 3926 E. Raines Rd. The new phone number is (901) 260-2200.

NAME CHANGES

Recombinant Biocatalysis (RBI), a manufacturer of enzymes, has changed its name to Diversa Corp. The name was changed to better represent the breadth of the company's activities, including its entry into pharmaceutical drug research.

Philips Environmental has changed its name to Philips Services Corp. This change signifies the company's strategic focus on the industrial services market. In recent years, Philips Services has pursued a strategy of building its business toward providing on-site services to the North American industry and acquiring assets in the metals processing industry, as well as services companies such as Allwaste Environmental and Serv-Tech Inc.

AWARDS

Nooter Corp., St. Louis, Mo., a manufacturer of pressure vessels and related equipment, is the first manufacturer to have received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Section VII, Div. 3 stamp accreditation, which was introduced in May of 1997. This accreditation was designed by the ASME for vessels with pressures of more than 10,000 psi. The code uses a lower safety factor on the allowable stress used to design vessels than is used for other ASME pressure vessel codes, but uses additional nondestructive testing, inspection, and design requirements.

NEW FACILITIES

The Materials Research Society has relocated to a newly constructed headquarters facility in Warrendale, Pa.'s Thorn Hill Industrial Park. In addition to housing all 44 staff personnel, the 16,000 ft2 facility will provide work areas and meeting space for society volunteers.

MARKETING/LICENSING

Moyno Industrial Products, a technology-based fluids handling manufacturer and unit of Robbins & Myers Inc., has appointed Pfaudler Equipmamentos Industriais Ltd., as sales representative for Moyno products in Brazil. Pfaudler Eqipmamentos, headquartered in Taubate, Sao Paulo, Brazil, is part of Pfaudler Inc., which is also a unit of Robbins & Myers.

AGA AB, a producer of industrial and medical gases, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Praxair Inc., a producer and distributor of atmospheric, process, and specialty gases. Under this agreement, Praxair will market AGA's patented brown stock washing technology in Canada, Portugal, and Japan.

MPI, a bulk material handling systems group, has announced the addition of Merit Associates as authorized agents handling sales of MPI equipment and systems for the New England area.

Cahaba Equipment Corp. as authorized agents for the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Northern Florida. Sales will be coordinated from Cahaba's Birmingham, Ala., offices.

JOINT VENTURES

Thermo Electric Co. Inc. has been selected by Dow Chemical Co. as a global partner for the development and supply of temperature sensor products. Under the terms of the three year agreement, Thermo Electric will provide Dow with a range of temperature sensors and services, including design, engineering, manufacturing, and onsite technical sales support and service. Dow has also entered into an alliance with Diversa Corp. to develop an enzyme as a biocatalyst for a Dow industrial process.

ISO

Environmental Resources Management (ERM), an environmental, health, and safety consulting firm, has received ISO 9000 certification at 11 of its offices. These offices are in Exton and Pittsburgh, Pa., Ann Arbor, Mich., Annapolis and Baltimore, Md., Columbus, Ohio, Hurricane, W. Va., Indianapolis, Ind., Princeton, N.J., and Richmond and Roanoke, Va.

Ashland Chemical Co.'s Drew Industrial Div. has recently announced that its U.S. water treatment and
specialty chemical sales and service
functions have received ISO 9001
certification.

FiberMark Inc., a producer of specialty fiber-based materials, has announced that its Durable Specialties Div., Quakertown, Pa., has been recertified under ISO 9001.