Friday, August 25, 2000
Industry notes: Manufacturing
Magnet business to be sold
By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Milacron Inc. has agreed to sell its German-based industrial magnets business to Magnequench Inc. of Anderson, Ind., for an undisclosed price.
The Essen, Germany-based business, acquired in Milacron's 1995 acquisition of Widia GmbH, employs 280 and had sales last year of $30 million.
Widia Magnet Engineering makes soft and permanent magnets for automotive and other applications. Milacron said earlier the sale was not expected to have a significant impact on sales or earnings.
Ellison a finalist in Quality Cup
Ellison Surface Technologies, a thermal spray application company based in Hebron, was recently named one of 16 finalists in the Quality Cup competition sponsored by Rochester Institute of Technology and USA Today.
Ellison, one of 166 entrants, was picked for the teamwork that went into development of its Rutland, Vt., plant, which provides protective coatings for GE Aircraft Engine blades and vanes.
The Rutland plant absorbed work done by seven other plants. The GE contract, awarded in 1996, required Ellison to reduce turnaround time on the coating from 7-10 days to 24-48 hours.
“Ellison's project exhibited a tremendous sense of teamwork that resulted in continuous improvement in both process and quality,” said Mark Gavor, one of the judges.
Consulting firm works with local companies
Edwin H. Colby Associates, a Fort Mitchell process improvement consulting firm, recently completed projects with two local companies.
The firm provided the Verdin Co. with an on-site construction safety training course to improve worker safety and obtain an
OSHA training certificate. Colby also said Liebel-Flarsheim Co. has experienced an 18 percent reduction in inventories and 28 percent reduction in floor space after completing streamlining events.
GE program has its first customer
Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand Engineering Services has become the first customer of GE Aircraft Engines' new Inventory Management program, managing all GE and CFM International engine parts used during overhauls.
Terms of the five-year agreement were not disclosed, but GE said its Inventory Management program assumes responsibility for parts inventory at all levels including supplying new parts, part overhaul, paperwork, storage, transportation and packaging.
The program, an outgrowth of GE's Asset Management program, is designed to save airlines the expense of maintaining inventory and cut the time for engine overhauls.
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Industry notes: Manufacturing
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