KITO AMERICAS, INC. Acquires PEERLESS INDUSTRIAL GROUP

KITO Americas, Inc. announced today that the company has entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire PEERLESS Industrial Group from WESTVIEW CAPITAL PARTNERS II, L. P. by purchasing all the shares of PEERLESS Industrial Group, INC. The share transfer of PEERLESS shall be executed subject to the terms and conditions in the Stock Purchase Agreement. KITO Americas, Inc. currently operates Harrington Hoists, Inc. and KITO Canada businesses in North America and is the largest subsidiary of the of Japan. KITO is listed on the Tokyo Stock exchange (TSE1) under the stock ticker 6409.

Industry Suppliers Build Safety into Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement

WRE Update: From the May/June 2014 Issue of Wire Rope Exchange
By Jennifer H. McInerney

For travelers and commuters crossing the Hudson River from Tarrytown to South Nyack, New York, the sea of cranes beneath the Tappan Zee Bridge has become a familiar—and ever-expanding—sight.

By the year 2018, the Tappan Zee structure, which opened in 1955, will be replaced by the New NY Bridge, a twin-span bridge that’s projected to last 100 years without major structural maintenance. The design calls for eight traffic lanes, four emergency breakdown lanes, a traffic monitoring system, an additional lane for either a commuter bus or light rail, and a pedestrian/bike path.

The $3.9-billion bridge is being designed and constructed by Tappan Zee Constructors LLC, comprised of four firms: Fluor, American Bridge, Granite, and Traylor Bros. Design firms HDR, Buckland & Taylor, URS, and GZA are also lending expertise to the project, and a team of employees from the New York State Thruway Authority and the State Department of Transportation will be working closely with TZC throughout construction.

The wire rope, lifting, rigging, and crane industry continues to play an integral role in the completion of the new bridge. Numerous companies, including the Bilco Group and Python Rope, among many others, are supplying equipment and support.

STRATOS® Winch Pro with Dyneema® Offers Unique Benefits to the Forestry Industry

Despite continuing mechanization, harvesting timber places high demands on lumberjacks and materials. This also applies to the ropes used in hauling and winching the timber, leading fibre manufacturer Dyneema reports.

In Austria, both the Archbishop office of Vienna and Ernsthof Forstverwaltung are among a growing number of forest owners who rely on fibre as opposed to steel wire ropes for reasons of ergonomics and safety.

Between them, the two harvest around 25.000 m³ of timber annually and both are recipients of the prestigious State Award of Role Model Forest Management, granted by Austria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

St. Pierre Mfg Featured in Telegram & Gazette

By Nick Greenhalgh SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

T&G Staff Photos/TOM RETTIG

Working with family members can often be problematic, frustrating and difficult.

Only 30 percent of family businesses survive to be handed down to a second generation; that number dwindles to 12 percent for the third generation, according to the Family Business Institute.

St. Pierre Manufacturing Corporation in Worcester is bucking this trend. The St. Pierre family is already onto their third generation of employees and are still growing, said Richard P. St. Pierre, manager of the company’s lifting division.

“It can be very difficult, but it’s now smoothing out,” said Mr. St. Pierre, 67. “It can be difficult working with younger people thinking they know more than they do.”

Gaylin Honored with Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award

On July 19th, 2014, Enterprise Asia celebrated 14 of the Most Promising and Outstanding entrepreneurs of Singapore including Gaylin International, a specialist provider of rigging and lifting solutions to the global oil and gas industry.  Desmond Teo, Executive Director and CEO of Gaylin, accepted the “Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award.”  Gaylin was started in 1974 and is headquartered in Singapore, with offices, warehouses and manufacturing facilities in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Korea, together occupying an aggregate of approximately 530,000 square feet.  Gaylin is a global company trusted for providing safe and innovative solutions in lifting & rigging for the offshore and marine industry.

Caldwell Expands into New Manufacturing Plant and Appoints Prokop as Inside Sales Manager

The Caldwell Group has recently moved from their three adjacent manufacturing facilities to the new Caldwell Manufacturing Plant located at: 4080 Logistics Parkway, Rockford, I’ll 61109, just a few miles from their current facility. Caldwell started production in the new building in early June and completed the move by mid-June.

Additionally, The Caldwell Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Prokop as Inside Sales Manager.  Tom has been an integral part of the Caldwell sales team for 3 years, starting out as a customer service representative and then moving into the Univac Application Manager position focusing on vacuum lifter sales and applications.  Tom will be moving into this position, previously held by Darrin Noe, who is transitioning to his new role as Regional Sales Manager.   Tom’s extensive experience in working with various customers over the years, will continue to make Tom a valuable contributor to our customers and to the Caldwell team.

NCCCO Launches Boom Truck Operator Certification Program

The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) today made available the first phase of a new CCO certification program specifically designed for boom truck operators.

The new CCO Boom Truck—Fixed Cab (BTF) operator certification is a subcategory of the CCO Telescopic Boom—Fixed Cab (TSS) certification and was developed specifically for the industries that use these machines such as building supplies, HVAC, sign installation, and tree maintenance.

AEM Elects Three New Directors

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has elected three new directors, to fill unexpired terms.

Joining the AEM Board of Directors is Jerry Johnson, President Farm, Ranch & Agriculture Division of Blount International, Oregon, Illinois.

Joining the AEM AG Sector Board are Brian McKown, Chief Operating Officer of Kinze Manufacturing, Williamsburg, Iowa, and Gene Fraser, Vice President Global Sales & Marketing of MacDon Industries, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

 AEM is the North American-based international trade group providing innovative business-development resources to advance the off-road equipment manufacturing industry in the global marketplace. AEM membership comprises more than 850 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors worldwide.

NCSG CRANE & HEAVY HAUL ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTOR GROUP

NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Corporation (“NCSG”), Northwest Capital Appreciation (“NCA”) and TriWest Capital Partners (“TriWest”) announced today that they have signed an Agreement pursuant to which TriWest and Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (“ATRF”, and together with TriWest, the “Investor Group”) shall acquire a majority interest in NCSG from its existing shareholders. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and is expected to close before year-end 2014.

Checkmate’s feature-packed fall protection range lifts the LEEA Innovation Award for 2014

Checkmate has emerged as the winner of the LEEA Innovation Award for Best Product at LiftEx 2014, the annual trade exhibition for the overhead lifting industry that was co-located at the Safety and Health Expo, ExCel London, June 17^th-19^th. The company’s Vantage VI harness and Checkfall Lanyard ranges, which incorporate a host of novel features that improve fall protection and product durability, secured the top prize for UK-based Checkmate, which specializes in height safety and textile lifting.

New features of the Checkmate products that impressed the judges include ‘wear indicating’ webbing, reflective yarns that are woven into the fibre of the material, fall indicator deployment systems, retractable flexible label covers, Teflon-coated webbing and trapezoidal links.

Crane Rental Corporation Lifts Hub of Orlando Eye

Last month Crane Rental Corporation lifted the 83,000-pound hub of the new Orlando Eye observation wheel into place. The hub was installed approximately 200 feet above the ground, the center of what will be a 400-foot-tall attraction on Orlando’s popular International Drive. The wheel is being constructed by Adena Corporation.

SOUTHERN WEAVING LAUNCHES NEW BURSTGARD™ SLEEVING PRODUCT

CEO Ron Mohling announced today that Greenville-based Southern Weaving Company, manufacturer of narrow webbing, woven rope, belting, sleeving, and coated products has expanded its tubular webbing offering through the launch of BurstGard™ sleeving.   BurstGard sleeves are densely woven, double-layered sleeves, that are applied over hydraulic hoses or other high pressure hoses to control and diffuse any bursts that may occur, protecting both people and equipment in the work environment.  The BurstGard sleeve can minimize the effects of a burst hose, withstanding high pressure hydraulic fluids up to 13,000 PSI.

CCO Certified: 100,000 and Counting

CCO certification reached a historic milestone last month when the 100,000th person to be certified through the nationally accredited program since its launch in April 1996 received his certification card.

Because operators often hold certifications for various types of cranes, as well as related programs such as rigger, signal person, and crane inspector, the actual number of certifications issued is much higher. In fact, the 75,000 individuals who are currently certified hold more than 240,000 certifications between them. And this equates to more than 850,000 written and practical exams administered over the 18 years NCCCO has been offering its CCO certifications.

Chant Welcomes Matthew Conway to Their Expanding Technical Sales Department

Chant Engineering Co. Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Matthew Conway to the Chant team.  Matthew comes to Chant with over 20 years of experience.

Patrick Shire, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Chant Engineering, said “As Chant continues to grow, Matthew will be relied upon to foster new relationships as well as calling on our existing customer base. His diverse capital equipment experience will be an invaluable asset to our technical sales team. I look forward to seeing him grow into his new role.”

Prior to joining Chant, Matthew worked  in many facets of capital equipment providers including; field service, technical support, customer and service personnel training, applications, product management, and direct sales.

Surprise Visitor to the Bridon Stand at OTC 2014

This year’s 46th Offshore Technology Conference held at the Reliance Centre in Houston attracted record numbers with 108,300 visitors arriving through the doors.

Bridon retained their prime position in the main hall on one of the main routes through the show attracting a high number of visitors to the stand. This exhibition is key to Bridon’s Oil & Gas strategy as the show brings together a wealth of industry leaders and key decision makers.