November 2009 Vol. 64 No. 11
Business
November Business News: Ritchie Bros., John Deere, Gormann-Rupp and more
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
John Deere
Gorman-Rupp
Bobcat
Somat Engineering
Multiquip
Severn Trent Services
Volvo Construction
Doosan Infracore
Topcon, Geospatial Holdings
PipeSak USA
GEI Consultants
ESCO
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has moved its international head office from Richmond to Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The company said it moved to the new, larger location to accommodate its growing team. The new address is: 9500 Glenlyon Parkway, Burnaby, B.C. V6X 0C6, Canada; Phone: 778-331-5500, Fax: 778-331-5501, Web: www.rbauction.com
John Deere
The board of directors for Deere & Co. approved an investment plan to establish a manufacturing and parts center in Russia. The project will be located near Moscow, near the Domodedovo International Airport.
The new site will be used to manufacture a range of John Deere products, including construction and forestry products, as well as tractors and harvesting equipment. At the same time, Deere will consolidate several depots into one site to improve parts and after-sales service to customers.
Samuel Allen, Deere’s president and CEO, said this is the first step to achieve the vision for Russia that Deere announced in July 2009 at the U.S.-Russia Business Summit and indicated the company’s intention to significantly expand its presence in the country, which Deere views as an important growth market for agriculture, forestry and construction equipment.
John Deere has been doing business in Russia for more than 100 years and recently has invested to expand operations, employment and sales in the Russian Federation. 800.503.3373, www.deere.com
Gorman-Rupp
The Gorman-Rupp Co., Mansfield, OH, was recognized as Exporter of the Year by the Ohio Department of Development.
Gov. Ted Strickland presented this award to the company at a ceremony in Columbus, OH, on Aug. 26, recognizing 27 Ohio companies receiving the “2009 Governor’s Excellence in Exporting Awards.”
Accepting the award on behalf of all Gorman-Rupp employees, Jeffrey Gorman, Gorman-Rupp’s president and CEO, acknowledged the strong volume of export business of many Ohio companies and was pleased to have Gorman-Rupp specifically recognized for its strong efforts in expanding international sales and the related jobs created in Ohio. 419.755.1011, www.gormanrupp.com
Bobcat
Bobcat Co., West Fargo, ND, announced that it is transferring all North American machinery production to its original manufacturing facility in Gwinner, ND. This will result in discontinuing production at Bobcat’s Bismarck, ND, plant by the end of 2009.
Currently, Bobcat mini excavators, the Toolcat utility work machine, the S70 skid-steer loader and mini track loaders are made in Bismarck, while all other Bobcat skid-steer loaders, compact track loaders and all-wheel steer loaders are manufactured in Gwinner.
With the consolidation, all machines — including the only mini excavators made in North America — will move to Gwinner, home of the first production of the three-wheeled loader — the precursor to the skid-steer loader — in 1958.
“This was a difficult decision because Bismarck has been a vital part of the Bobcat story for more than 30 years,” said Rich Goldsbury, president of Bobcat Americas. “But good companies adapt to change and this is a realignment that will best enable us to serve our dealers and customers moving forward.”
Over the next three months, 475 production positions will be phased out of Bismarck, but as many as 390 positions will be added in Gwinner to accommodate the consolidation. Bismarck will retain 150 positions across product engineering, finance, accounts payable and aftermarket parts — areas unaffected by the move. The Bobcat Manufacturing Support Center also will remain in Bismarck. 866.823.7898, www.bobcat.com
Somat Engineering
Somat Engineering, a regional consulting engineering firm headquartered in Detroit, MI, announces that Jane Abadir, P.E., civil/construction engineer, has achieved LEED accreditation from the United States Green Building Council. This certification recognizes Abadir as an accredited professional with a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and the LEED Rating System.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System encourages the global adoption of sustainable green building and practices.
Abadir is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan with six years of engineering experience. She has a Masters of Science in Construction Material Engineering from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
In other company news, Jagdish Patel has been hired as a senior project coordinator. Patel worked for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for 21 years and has eight years in the consulting engineering industry. He also has a wide range of experience in regulatory compliance and enforcement related activities for municipal and industrial facilities. Patel has assisted clients in obtaining financial assistance through State Revolving Loan funds for drinking water and wastewater related project.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. 313.963.2723, www.somateng.com
Multiquip
In order to flexibly respond to market changes and better serve the needs of its customers, Multiquip is creating initiatives to streamline the company and boost the efficiency of its business processes.
Under the new initiatives, Multiquip has consolidated and fully integrated its General Construction Equipment (GCE) and Power divisions into what the company calls a “single, right-sized, function-based organization.” Multiquip said this will eliminate redundancies and promote efficiency. A single Multiquip brand will be part of an intensified market focus and efforts have been made to ensure that the reorganization will be seamless to customers and will result in improved support levels and response timeliness.
In conjunction with these initiatives, Multiquip announced that Gary Moskovitz, who previously served as the company’s executive vice president, has been named president and chief operating officer. Mike Howlett, former GCE division president, will take over the new position of senior vice president of operations; Bob Graydon, former Power Division president, will take over the new position of senior vice president of sales, marketing and planning; Phillip D’Amato also has been promoted to vice president, human resources and corporate services. Also, Torsten Erbel has been promoted to vice president of product management, engineering and customer support.
Michael Hanken continues as vice president of information technology and Jim Henehan continues as senior vice president of finance/administration and CFO.
Multiquip is a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York-based Itochu International and its parent company, Tokyo-based Itochu Corp. 800.421.1244, www.multiquip.com
Severn Trent Services
Severn Trent Services has acquired P.S. Apliclor S.A., a leading supplier of water and wastewater solutions based in Barcelona, Spain. The acquisition is part of Severn Trent Services’ plan to significantly grow its business in Europe. Concurrently, the company announced the appointments of a general manager for the P.S. Apliclor Division as well as a sales manager and financial controller for Spain.
“Apliclor has worked with Severn Trent successfully on some of the region’s largest water and wastewater projects, and our combined experience and resources have enabled us to win several new projects over the past 12 to 18 months,” said Alex Lloyd, managing director, Severn Trent Services Operations. 866.646.9201, www.severntrentservices.com
Volvo Construction
In late 2008, Volvo Construction Equipment entered into a strategic partnership with HUSS LLC, to provide retrofit systems for Volvo construction equipment that will significantly reduce exhaust emissions. The HUSS MK system now has final approval from California for Volvo Tier 3 IEGR-equipped machines in that state.
The HUSS MK system, approved for use on Volvo engines utilizing V-ACT technology with internal exhaust gas recirculation (IEGR), meets California’s CARB Level 3+ requirements. Volvo equipment owners can utilize the system to help comply with the “In-Use Off-Road Diesel Vehicle Regulation” or to provide the best available control technology (BACT) for the newest machines in owners’ fleets. Previously, engines using any type of EGR had been excluded from applying exhaust retrofit technology in California. This has now changed with the recent system verification by the state.
The retrofit system is equipped with a HUSS Control Unit that constantly monitors filter function to precisely control diesel PM loading and regeneration. This is an active filter regeneration system, accomplished through an integrated fuel burner system.
The HUSS technology is adaptable to low and high-horsepower equipment (up to 700 horsepower) providing reliable installations for both rubber tired and tracked machines. With the active system, there is no need to be concerned with exhaust temperature profiles, changing duty cycles, ULSD fuel, stocking extra filters or incur undue downtime swapping filters due to the clogging and cleaning cycle of misapplied passive systems. 828.650.2309, www.volvo.com
Doosan Infracore
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Doosan Infracore has received the Best of the Best Award at the 2009 Reddot Design Award Show for the futuristic concept excavator.
This Reddot Design Award was first started in 1955, and is managed by Design Zentrum Nordheim Westfalen in Germany. This award is given after the world’s biggest design competition, and is one of the world’s top three industrial design competitions along with the iF Design Award and the IDEA design award.
More than 2,733 designs were entered, from 61 countries and 206 were honored at the Reddot Design Award, which awards products that are creative, innovative, and superior in quality. Out of these awarded designs, only 15, including Doosan Infracore’s futuristic concept excavator, were presented with the Best of the Best Award.
Out of the 15 Best of the Best Awarded designs, only one will be presented with the honorary Luminary Award on November 24, 2009 in Singapore.
Doosan Infracore’s futuristic concept excavator was well received by the judges for its Eco-Transformer concept, which reflects four core benefits: ecology, safety, usability and efficiency. The excavator is designed to function at the highest level at various working sites, to be environmentally friendly with energy-efficiency, and to exhibit high performance even in severe conditions. Development of this futuristic excavator is targeted to finish by 2018. 770.831.2200, usa.doosaninfracore.co.kr
Topcon, Geospatial Holdings
Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) has entered into a strategic alliance with Geospatial Holdings Inc.
The purpose of the alliance is to jointly market Geospatial’s Smart Probe Pipeline Mapping Technologies with Topcon’s IP-S2, 3D aboveground mobile mapping system. With the combined technologies, municipalities, engineers, pipeline operators and utilities are capable of gathering and managing 3D geo-referenced surface features along with 3D underground pipeline data.
Geospatial utilizes proprietary technologies to economically locate and create accurate 3D maps of underground pipelines and conduits.
Topcon’s IP-S2 3D mobile mapping system travels the pipeline or utility corridor aboveground at speeds up to 65 miles per hour. The cost savings over traditional ground-based data collection methodologies is exponential. Safety is greatly improved by removing personnel from vehicular traffic areas.
The IP-S2’s three laser scanners and a digital video camera system capture high-accuracy x,y,z point clouds and 360 degree spherical imagery. Topcon’s advanced software enables the simultaneous viewing of images and point clouds, enabling the system operator to accurately visualize and assess all terrestrial features along the corridor.
Existing GIS feature and attribute sets can be imported, used to position collected features, and then exported back to the system’s geo database. 925.245.8300, www.topconpositioning.com
PipeSak USA
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PipeSak USA recently named Robin (Rocky) Seils as director of Sales. In his new role, Seils will coordinate PipeSak’s sales and marketing efforts worldwide with a focus on the U.S. and Canadian markets. He brings more than 23 years experience in the manufacture and marketing of the Tuff‐N‐Nuff Pipeline Rockshield. 314.308.0011, rseils@pipesak.com, www.pipesak.com
GEI Consultants
GEI Consultants Inc., a leading geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, announced that it has been chosen to perform consulting services for site investigation and remediation activities for South Jersey Gas and South Jersey Industries in New Jersey.
GEI will perform remedial investigation, remedial design, permitting, construction management, quality assurance, industrial hygiene and hydrogeology services at 12 sites over the course of three years. Each site is the location of a former manufactured gas plant (MGP). 888.434.9679, www.geiconsultants.com.
ESCO
Cal Collins has been promoted to president of ESCO’s Engineered Products Group. ESCO Corp. is a leading manufacturer of technically-rich metal wearparts and components for construction, mining, power generation and aerospace applications.
In his new position, Collins will be responsible for all global sales, marketing, engineering and operation groups. Collins most recently served as the company’s Group Vice President, Engineered Products, North American Operations. 800-523-3795, www.escocorp.com
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