January 2006 News Archives

For CURRENT News click here.

CIC Pittsburgh Receives Furnace Contracts

(January 31) - CIC Pittsburgh LLC (Pittsburgh, Pa) received four contracts for heat-treating furnace work and completed two projects related to galvanizing. The first contract is for a lift off hood furnace with related base for a roll manufacturer in Western Pennsylvania. The final three heat-treating contracts are for combustion and safety revamps for three car-bottom furnaces at another roll manufacturer in Western Pennsylvania. All four contracts should be completed during the second quarter of 2006. CIC Pittsburgh also received two galvanizing contracts for customers in Santiago, Chile and Eastern Ohio.

Update on the Heat Treat Hounds from MMI

(January 31) - Yvonne from Marathon has posted an update on the Marathon dogs in our forums today. You can see the latest shots here.

Brazil Heat Treat Show

(January 29) - After years of suffering owing to currency exchange rates and iffy government policy, Brazil is once again booming on the industry side of the economy. This year Brazil will host the Temas De Tratamento Termico conference on heat treating. Click here for more information. I can think of a few things worse than Sao Paulo in June...

Ciampini Lands at Bodycote

(January 26) - Today's big news was the appointement of Mario Ciampini to the position of Business Development Director of Bodycote. Ciampini was the longtime CEO for Ipsen's American and Asia business units. The bodycote PR follows but you can read the native version here. Best wishes to Mr. Ciampini and Bodycote.

I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mario Ciampini as Business Development Director of Bodycote, reporting to Mr. Derek Sleight, Corporate Development Director of Bodycote International plc. In this new position, Mr. Ciampini will initially focus on continued organic growth and increased outsourcing opportunities for our North American and Asian operations.

Bodycote has a strategy of continuing to grow by offering manufacturers high quality heat treating and testing services which are of greater value than them doing it themselves. In addition, geographic growth in developing manufacturing economies provides major western manufacturers a viable alternative to the expensive need of doing their own heat treating and testing.

Mr. Ciampini comes to the Bodycote International Group from a successful 15 years tenure at Ipsen International where he was CEO for the Americas and Asian markets in the supply of process heating equipment technology. Mr. Ciampini has also held the Vice President of Finance position with TI Group (London, U.K.) and key financial management positions with General Tire, Akron, OH, and General Electric Corporation in Canada.

Mr. Ciampini has a Business Management Degree, majored in Finance from Ryerson University of Toronto, Canada. He is a Certified Management Accountant in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Please join me in welcoming Mario Ciampini to the Bodycote Group and wishing him well in this new position.

Bodycote International plc, the metallurgical services and testing Group, operates 281 facilities in 26 countries. The Group’s four strategic business units provide heat treatments, materials testing, hot isostatic pressing, and metallurgical coatings to a wide range of industries including automotive, aerospace, power generation, oil and gas, military, petrochemical, agricultural and consumer product.

For more information please contact:
John D. Hubbard – CEO / Metallurgist, P.E.
Bodycote International plc

 

New Heat Treat Conference

(January 24) - You've heard of the ASM Heat Treat show and Furnaces North America, but this May there's a new heat treating conference dedicated to controls and sensors. Furnace Controls and Sensors 2006 will be held May 9 & 10 at the near-Chicago Hyatt Regency Woodfield (actually in Schaumburg, IL).

The program looks like fun since it's all the controls and sensors folks one right after the other. Bring the popcorn and the sales-pitch filter!

Marathon Multinational Industries (MMI) Buys Marathon Companies

(January 24) - Looks like the official PR for the news item we posted on January 3rd is finally out. We'd been told the folks at Marathon were excited about new ownership and the ability to delve into areas that had been off limits under prior ownership. Well today's PR would indicate that they're very interested in SCADA and IR...here's the release:

Cincinnati, OH (05 January 2006) – Marathon Multinational Industries Corporation (MMI-Corp) announces the acquisition of the Marathon group of companies including Marathon Sensors Inc. (MSI) and Marathon Monitors and Control Systems Corporation (Beijing) Ltd. (MMC). MMI-Corp’s majority shareholder is Dr. Eric Boltz, President of Marathon Sensors Inc. The change in ownership marks the forward momentum for Marathon with new products and the re-entry into SCADA and IR systems and its continued position as a leader for heat treatment and combustion trim products.

Boltz, who has managed MSI for six years and brought a new innovative edge to the company, is very positive for the future. “Being part of a big business can have certain advantages,” states Boltz, “but when you are a successful, tight operation it is better to be flexible and less bureaucratic. Today’s Marathon can respond much more quickly to opportunities and customer needs.”

“Without the baggage of a larger corporate owner, there are almost no limits to what Marathon can accomplish now,” stated Dean DiMarco of Industrial Systech in Brampton, Ontario, “I expect great things in 2006.” 

As the ownership shifts from a large conglomerate to private ownership, Marathon anticipates many new products and services that were previously unavailable. “The quality of the products will be upheld throughout any changes,” says Yvonne Spooner, Vice President and co-owner of Marathon, “but the customer will experience better customer and technical service. The big excitement in 2006 is our reentry into systems with open platform, cost-effective SCADA software.”

For questions or additional information, email at yspooner@marathonsensors.com.

Ford's "Way Forward" Looks Scary to Many

(January 23) - The word came down today that Ford's new restructuring plan includes as many as 30,000 job cuts. To great surprise is the news that Ford's Batavia (Cinci area) facility will be ramped down. This unit had been the target of much investment in new heat treating controls over the last several years including some really eye-popping computerized stuff. Sometimes new equipment and "web controls" just don't work as well as "oldtime" heat treaters and tried and true equipment.

To read more about Ford's plan click here.

Blackberry Fanatics to Lose Their Toys?

(January 19) - Ever see one of those really "connected" (in the email sense) guys who can't wait for the plane to land before he starts pumping his thumb on his email-caculator-phone thing? Well addicts of Canada-based RIM Blackberry devices are on full alert tonight. The US Supreme Court just turned down RIM's request to review a judgement against them and the result could be the sudden death of all those calcuator-phones! Oh the horror!

Seriously though, a lot of folks depend on these things to stay in touch and this could really shut them down or, at least, force RIM to pay billions to the US-based patent holders.

Read the full story here.

Dean Di Marco

(January 19) - A couple months back we started running ads for Industrial Systech of Ontario. We certainly aren't going to take any credit for it, but we've been hearing great things about ISL's own Dean Di Marco. Word is that he's the "new breed" of heat treat rep - the kind of guy who doesn't just peddle his wares but also installs, fixes and fully supports them. Bring on the wrenches and coveralls! On top of that he actually knows a fair bit about heat treating. How's that for a breath of fresh air in the rep business?

Here's a shot of Dean in front of some SCADA work he's been tending to:

Server Problems

(January 18) - We're in the middle of a changeover to a faster server to handle our increased site traffic and we've had some "issues." Please bear with us through the transition and we are sincerely sorry for any problems with the site during the switch. Thanks!

New Customer Service Staff at Marathon Sensors

(January 17) - Looks like Marathon is bolstering its customer service department. The photo below shows the latest additions to the team...on the left we have "Ursa" and on the right we have "Oso." While their phone skills may be lacking we hear they're a big hit with Yvonne, Jackie, Saida and Erika (The two-legged team members, left to right in the photo). Cute huskies! If you have any heat-treat-hound photos please send them in!

Timken to Expand Production at Virginia Bearing Plant

(January 11) - The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) today announced plans to invest approximately $10 million in its bearing plant in Altavista, Va., enabling expanded manufacturing of replacement wheel-hub bearing assemblies for light-duty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Timken plans to add 50 new jobs and increase the manufacturing capacity of the Campbell County plant.

"The Altavista facility has been a strong performer for Timken, and we are adding capacity to capitalize on a significant opportunity for profitable growth in the automotive aftermarket with this expansion," said Jack Cameron, Timken's general manager for the North and South American automotive aftermarket. Timken is a leading supplier of automotive wheel-hub bearing assemblies to both original equipment manufacturers and the automotive aftermarket.

Read the full release here.

Quanex Announces Expansion at MACSTEEL

(January 10) - Quanex Corporation (NYSE:NX), an industry leading manufacturer of value-added engineered materials and components for the Vehicular Products and Building Products markets, announced today that its Board of Directors approved a $6.2 million expansion at the MACSTEEL -- Heat Treat operation in Huntington, Indiana.

Specifically, the approved expansion will add a fourth quench & temper line with induction heating similar to the facility's existing three lines. It will also involve a building expansion and a new high speed, state-of-the-art, precision cutting line for specific product applications.

Mark A. Marcucci, president of MACSTEEL, noted, "MACSTEEL's Heat Treat business has grown significantly in recent years because of its commitment to meeting customer needs. This expansion project, scheduled for completion in early 2007, will add 16,000 tons of additional bar and tube capacity, increase the size range of our products, and expand our value-added services."

Read the full release here.

GM Now #1 in China

(January 9) - Every once in a while you come across a story that turns popular opinion on its head and this is one of those. According to the Detroit News GM now owns 11.2% of the automotive market in China. While GM has lost sales in North America to its Asian and European rivals it grew its Asia Pacific sales some 20% last year. Way to go Chevy! You can read it with your own eyes here.

Chrysler Plans to Spend Billions on Capacity Upgrades

(January 9) - In sharp contrast to the bad news from GM and Ford of late, Chrysler is now saying it plans to invest billions in equipment upgrades and will increase its overall vehicle output capacity by as much as 43%. The plans don't call for more jobs or plants, but Chrysler is definitely optimistic about the future. You can read the whole article here. Another interesting tidbit on that site (down the page a bit) is that Chrysler and VW are working on a new minivan together.

New Owners for Marathon Group of Companies

(January 3) - Breaking news from Cincinnati - Marathon Sensors and its subsidiaries have new owners in the management team: President Eric Boltz and Vice President Yvonne Spooner. Boltz acquired a majority interest in the Marathon Companies just in time for the New Year. The full press announcement is expected this week so stay tuned for all the details. Word is that the team at Marathon is excited about getting back into a number of business areas that their prior parent company was holding them back from.

Rick Jones Moves from VFS to Solar Manufacturing

(January 3) - Rick Jones was the longtime International Sales Manager for VFS Corp and a real mover in Asia. The news came down today that Rick has decided to set a new course and landed at Solar Manufacturing. Solar Manufacturing is, of course, the fast-rising company founded by William R. Jones - vacuum heat treating legend. Good luck Rick!

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