Supplier News

Millennium Inorganic Chemicals has announced plans to purchase Rhone-Poulenc Chimie SA's TiO2 and specialty and intermediate chemicals subsidiary, Rhone-Poulenc Thann et Mulhouse SA. This subsidiary produces TiO2 in rutile and anatase forms at its Le Havre, France, facility. With the acquisition, Millennium Chemicals hopes to increase its global presence in the TiO2 business.

Motion Industries Inc., a distributor of bearings, hose products, and electrical, fluid, and mechanical power transmission equipment, has acquired Utah Bearing and Colorado Bearing. Both of these companies are independent distributors of power transmission products in the Rocky Mountain region. Motion Industries will acquire 15 branch offices in Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The acquisition will provide an expanded line of products and services to those areas.

Yokogawa Electric Corp. has agreed to purchase Marex Technology Ltd., a British company specializing in plant information management systems (PIMS) software. The acquisition will provide Yokogawa with the latest in PIMS software and key necessities such as advanced control, training simulators, and scheduling and safe instrumentation.

Yokogawa has also recently taken over GTI-Industrial Automation, a Dutch company specializing in industrial safeguard systems for refineries and chemical or petrochemical plants. The new company will be known as Yokogawa Industrial Safety Systems BV.

Milltronics Delaware Inc., a subsidiary of Milltronics Ltd., has announced plans to acquire a 100% interest in CST/AutoWeigh Inc., a supplier of weighfeeders and process control weighing systems. The product lines resulting from the acquisition will allow Milltronics to offer total system solution capabilities.

PRICING

Albright & Wilson Americas announced plans to increase the price of two products used to control the growth of microorganisms in industrial processes. Tolcide MBT (methylenebis (thiocynate)) will increase by $0.46/lb, and Tolcide MW10-a 10% aqueous emulsion of MBT-will increase by $0.12/lb. Albright & Wilson cites the rising costs of raw materials, production, and maintaining worldwide registrations as reasons for the increase.

NEW FACILITIES

A new building and extensions to the existing Voith Sulzer Finishing Ltd. plant in Manchester, U.K., are nearing completion. This expansion will allow the Manchester plant to increase its production capacity and to better adapt to its new responsibilities within Voith Sulzer's Finishing Div. In the future, the Manchester plant will be in charge of producing all Ecosoft calenders. With the new building, the plant will also be able to produce all Nipco rolls for Voith Sulzer Finishing. Nipco technology, engineering, and manufacturing are being transferred from Schio, Italy, to Manchester.

To meet increased needs for testing, development, and service operations, Alfa Laval Pumps has built a new R&D center in Eastbourne, U.K. The new
center expands the facilities for R&D by 100% and pump service by 50%. A new 500 m3 water tank enables high-capacity testing and an 11-m deep well provides maximum suction lift evaluation. Overall, the new equipment and systems will increase the sophistication of pump
testing, including computer control, simulation of customer's processes, high-speed data acquisition, and statistical analysis.

Fairview Machine has opened its
precision calendering system laboratory in Chicopee, Mass., to assist customers in the development of web composition and finishing or converting options, as well as predetermining optimum operating parameters for production equipment. The lab calendering system can perform hand samples or sheet goods. Roll-to-roll goods can be run up to 24 in. wide with precise tension control for thermal bonding, laminating, embossing, finishing, caliper control, or gloss and brightness control.

REORGANIZATIONS

Voith Sulzer has announced that it will reorganize operations in Dueren and Ravensburg, Germany, and in Sankt Poelten, Austria, to achieve greater specialization in paper machines for board and packaging papers and in small-width, high-efficiency paper machines for graphic papers. As part of the reorganization, future activities in the board and packaging papers business segment will be handled by J.M. Voith AG in Sankt Poelten rather than Voith Sulzer Papiermaschinen GmbH in Ravensburg, which will instead become responsible for small-width, high-efficiency paper machines for graphic papers.

In addition, the current reorganization plans include a significant reduction in Dueren's manufacturing capacity. It is further contemplated that the Dueren operations will be merged into Voith Sulzer Papiermaschinen GmbH, Ravensburg. Dueren will continue as a branch of the Ravensburg operations and will, under Ravensburg's direction, pursue activities in the fields of marketing, order processing, and execution. The changes in Dueren will affect approximately 120 employees. However, Voith Sulzer will attempt to offer employment opportunities within the Voith group to these employees.

Voith Sulzer has also announced that Voith Sulzer Finishing GmbH in Krefeld, Germany, has taken over responsibility for winders within the Voith Sulzer Papiertechnik GmbH group of Heidenheim, Germany.

Environmental Resources Management (ERM), an environmental consulting firm, has formed Enventures LLC to specialize in environmental remediation and redevelopment. Enventures will combine ERM's environmental remediation expertise with real estate and business management capabilities to manage environmentally distressed properties.

Cognex Corp., a supplier of machine vision systems, formed the Cognex Surface Inspection Systems Div., headquartered in Alameda, Calif. This
division will focus exclusively on the development and sales of high-speed, camera-based inspection systems which are used by manufacturers and converters of metal, paper, plastic, and nonwoven materials.

EXPANSIONS/MODERNIZATIONS

Thiele Kaolin Co. has announced a $40 million expansion of its kaolin pigments operations. The expansion will include the construction of a calciner complex in Sandersville, Ga., a pigment slurrying facility in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and infrastructure enhancement projects for the Georgia kaolin operations. These expansion projects support Thiele's expanded sales to the coated paper and paperboard markets. Construction of the Wisconsin facility should be completed in April 1998. Construction of the new calciner complex will begin before the end of 1997, with completion scheduled for the end of 1998. This project will more than double Thiele's capacity to produce its Kaocal products.

Motion Industries Inc., a worldwide distributor of bearings, hose products, and electrical, fluid, and mechanical power transmission equipment, has opened a new office in Medford, Ore. The branch will serve major local customers in the wood products and timber industries. If necessary, the branch will be able to fill customer orders 24 hrs a day.

Automation Applications Inc., a provider of process controls engineering services with headquarters in Exton, Pa., has opened a regional sales office in Moncton, New Brunswick.

API Heat Transfer Inc., a subsidiary of American Precision Industries Inc., has established manufacturing and
testing facilities in the U.S. for its API Schmidt-Bretten line of plate heat exchangers. The capabilities have been established within the company's
facilities in Arcade, N.Y. The Arcade
facility will design, assemble, and test plate heat exchangers in keeping with U.S. requirements and applications.

JOINT VENTURES

Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Allentown, Pa., and Wacker-Chemie GmbH, Munich, Germany, have begun discussions toward combining their emulsions and redispersable powder activities. By combining these operations, the two companies expect to strengthen their positions in the global market.

Osmonics Inc., a manufacturer of water purification, fluid filtration, fluid separation, and fluid transfer equipment, has announced a partnership with Fuji Electric. Osmonics will manufacture high-concentration ozone generators using proprietary Fuji Electric technology and components.

BOC Gases has agreed to package its solvent recovery systems and technology together with CM Magnetics' coating equipment. By teaming together, both companies can provide complete turnkey packages for new coating installations.

Intermec Technologies Corp., a supplier of automated data collection and mobile computing equipment, and Lucent Technologies, a supplier of communications systems and software, have announced that Lucent will install its new wireless network with Intermec's customized mobile computers. Intermec's products are used in process control and inventory applications.

MARKETING/LICENSING

Yokogawa Electric Corp. has reached an agreement with Aspen Technology Inc., a supplier of engineering/software for advanced process control, to sell Aspen Tech's software packages. As part of this nonexclusive global marketing agreement, the companies have agreed to combine Aspen Tech's proprietary multi-variable predictive control and process database software packages with Centum CS, Yokogawa's distributed control system (DCS).

Yokogawa has also entered into an agreement with Moore Products Co. that gives Yokogawa the worldwide sales and marketing rights for the Moore
safety Quadlog programmable logic controller (PLC). As part of this agreement, the Quadlog will carry the Yokogawa brand label and will be known as the ProSafe PLC. The agreement also calls for Moore to develop new products for Yokogawa in the future.

In addition, Yokogawa has entered into another strategic alliance with Measurementation Inc., Chino, Calif. This alliance provides Measurementation Inc. with the exclusive rights to distribute Yokogawa's new GC1000 process gas chromatograph system and the NR near infrared analyzer in North and South America and Southeast Asia.

Effective Management Systems Inc. (EMS), a developer of preintegrated manufacturing software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES), has announced that it will participate in IBM's ServerProven Solutions program. IBM's program establishes a marketing and technical relationship between independent software developers and IBM. The program aims to develop total business solutions for customers-from
specific software applications to the actual hardware used. By participating in the ServerProven Solutions program, EMS can offer customers tested configurations on IBM Netinfinity and IBM PC server systems.

Selcom Inc., Southfield, Mich., and Dynamic Control Systems Inc. (DynaVision) of Delta, B.C., have announced a joint marketing agreement for respective marketing of each other's lines of noncontact laser-based measurement sensors to industries worldwide. Selcom Inc. will market DynaVision's line of 2D and 3D noncontact laser measurement sensors to all North American industries except wood. DynaVision will concentrate on the wood industry, marketing Selcom's line of noncontact laser-based industrial dimensional gauging sensors to that industry for integration on on- or offline applications.

ISO

HBD Industries Inc., a supplier of industrial hose, ducting, v-belts, rubber rolls, and conveyor belting, announced that four of its manufacturing location have received ISO 9000 certification. The newly certified facilities are located in Bellefontaine, Ohio; Oneida, Tenn.; Salisbury, N.C.; and Greenville, S.C.