Progressive Distributor - Distribution industry news archives

Distribution Industry News Archives:
News from the week of Sept. 22, 2003

Durable goods orders fall in August
NxTrend introduces CRM symposium
Aperum teams with LiveVault for server backup solutions
New hacksaw design wins award for Bahco
MRC Industrial Group acquires Michigan Rivet Corp.
Factory Supplies Co. under new management
ISMA New Order Index falls in August
Milacron sells Talbot round tool business
Timken lowers guidance, makes automotive group changes
PIP to form safety products company for first responders

Durable goods orders fall in August
Durable goods orders declined in August for the first time since April, according to a Commerce Department report.

New orders for durable goods fell 0.9 percent, or $1.6 billion, to $173.3 billion. This followed a July increase of 1.5 percent. Year-to-date, new orders are 0.4 percent below the same period a year ago.

Durable goods are costly manufactured products expected to last three or more years.

During August, transportation orders had the largest decrease, $1.2 billion or 2.2 percent to $51 billion, led by motor vehicles and parts, which decreased by $2.9 billion.

New orders for machinery fell by 0.7 percent after increasing 3.4 percent during July and 2.7 percent during June.

****************************************************************************

NxTrend introduces CRM symposium
NxTrend Technology Inc. will begin offering classes on its CORrelation CRM software every Wednesday in October beginning Oct. 8 and concluding Oct. 29. Each session will be conducted via WebEx and will last about one hour.

During these brief sessions, NxTrend will demonstrate how its CRM tools will improve customer service and interactions, increase sales, streamline marketing and provide easy access to enterprise information.

The following sessions will be offered:
• Better Customer Interactions, Stronger Customer Loyalty
Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. CST
• Improving Profits by Reducing Customer Service Costs
Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. CST
• Playing to Win: Secrets from the Quoting Wars
Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. CST
• Enterprise Portals: Gateways to Information
Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. CST

To register or for more in-depth information about each class, click here. Participants will receive a reminder prior to the session along with information on how to log in and view the session using WebEx. For any other information, contact Rusty Bond at .

****************************************************************************

Aperum teams with LiveVault for server backup solutions
Distribution software and services provider Aperum will partner with online backup and recovery solutions provider LiveVault Corp. to provide Aperum customers with an affordable data protection and data recovery solution.

"A big benefit of Aperum's partnership with LiveVault is that our customers are now able to shift the responsibility of data protection into the hands of experts and focus on running their day-to-day business," said Aperum president Randy Keith. "We are very pleased to recommend this service to our customers, which will ensure their data will be immediately recovered and restored in case of a catastrophic event."

Aperum customers maintain critical business information within their software systems. Downtime for any reason, even if only for a few hours, can be extremely costly. LiveVault is a fully managed, reliable service that automatically and continuously backs up server data via a secure Internet connection to an off-site facility.

In the event of a system failure, virus attack or wayward keystroke, LiveVault's services assure that data can be quickly and easily restored.

****************************************************************************

New hacksaw design wins award for Bahco
What does the Mercedes SL 500 luxury car and the Bahco 325 hacksaw frame have in common? They both won Silver Awards at the 2003 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), an annual contest from the Industrial Designers Society of America.

Designed by Bahco Tools AB in Sweden and Ergonomi Design AB, the 325 hacksaw frame offers comfortable, ergonomically designed, elastomer grips on both the front and back ends of the frame.

The innovative enhancement of the added front grip on the frame provides convenient two-handed use to increase control and to reduce fatigue. The design earned the Bahco brand product a Silver IDEA, presented to Bahco-Sweden representatives during an award ceremony Aug. 16.

"We develop ergonomic products using a systematic 11-point process," said Bahco North America manager of marketing communications Jared I. Cohen. "By being recognized with a Silver IDEA and the only hand tool to win an award, we are confident that tradesmen and industrial users throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico will be inspired to experience for themselves the convenience that the 325 hacksaw frame provides."

****************************************************************************

MRC Industrial Group acquires Michigan Rivet Corp.
MRC Industrial Group Inc. (MRC) completed the purchase of Michigan Rivet Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, The McLaughlin Company. MRC paid a total of $9.6 million or $15.06 per share for Michigan Rivet’s outstanding common stock in an all cash transaction.

Michigan Rivet approved the transaction at a special meeting of shareholders held July 25.

MRC, a newly-formed corporation, is owned and managed by an investor group led by Steven E. Engelman, a former senior executive of SPS Technologies Inc. Engelman, who has more than 29 years of automotive and fastener industry experience, will immediately assume the role of MRC president and CEO. Until earlier this year, he was president of the engineered products group of SPS Technologies.

Michigan Rivet was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Warren, Mich. The company manufactures specialty steel fasteners, principally rivets and hinge pins, which are sold primarily to the North American automotive industry. The McLaughlin Co. manufactures nuts, nut assemblies and other tubular products for the North American automotive industry. These products are used in a wide variety of applications including hinge assemblies, door latch assemblies, parking brakes, seating systems and suspension systems.

For the 12 months ended Oct. 31, 2002, Michigan Rivet recorded net sales of $32.1 million. The company employs approximately 160 people at its two manufacturing plants located in Warren and Petoskey, Mich. Both plants are QS9000 and ISO9000 certified and encompass more than 225,000 square feet of total floor space.

****************************************************************************

Factory Supplies Co. under new management
Effective Aug. 22, James Ahern and Douglas Johnson purchased the net assets and the name of Factory Supplies Company.

Both Ahern and Douglas have extensive backgrounds with manufacturing companies in a variety of industries and market segments. They recently owned and managed Precision Carbide Tool (PCT), a manufacturer of rotary carbide cutting tools for the electronics, medical and aerospace industries.

Factory Supplies president Jim Ahern received his degree in engineering from Marquette University. His work experience includes more than 25 years of technical sales, sales management, inventory management and general management experience with manufacturing-based companies such as Kyocera-Tycom, Precision Carbide Tool and Hitachi Metals America.

Factory Supplies CEO Doug Johnson received his business degree from Miami University and has more than 25 years of financial and general management experience with manufacturing-based companies at the corporate, operations and entrepreneurial levels. Positions held during the past 15 years include president and/or CEO of Micro Med Machining, Precision Carbide Tool and Barrett Industrial Trucks.

In the near term, Factory Supplies will address issues such as more technical support and supplier training, development of a Web site and related services to include online ordering, and expanded deliveries to assure its customers get what they need, when they need it.

****************************************************************************

ISMA New Order Index falls in August
The Industrial Supply Manufacturers Association's (ISMA) New Order Index slipped to 144.1 in August, down from 145.3 in July, according to an ISMA report. The index was also down from 152.4 during August 2002.

The Federal Reserve Board's Durable Manufacturers Index also declined, to 121.6 in August from 121.8 in July and 122.7 in August 2002. Still, the index was down just 0.3 points from its highest mark in 2003, set in January.

Durable goods are items with a normal life expectancy of three years or more, such as autos, furniture, appliances and mobile homes.

The Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators increased in August to 113.3 from 112.8 in July. It was also up from 110.9, the mark set during August a year ago.

The 10 Leading Indicators are: building permits, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted), interest rate spread, real money supply, index of consumer expectations, vendor performance, stock prices, manufacturers' new orders for nondefense capital goods, manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials, and average weekly manufacturing hours.

****************************************************************************

Milacron sells Talbot round tool business
Milacron Inc. sold its Talbot round tool business to Harpoint Holdings Inc., a private investment group in Newtown, Pa.

"We are committed to Talbot's continued success in the marketplace. We are excited to begin working with Talbot's dedicated employees, outstanding brands and valued customers," said Bill Coyle, one of Harpoint's principals.

Sale price and other specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is not expected to have a material effect on Milacron's sales, earnings or cash flow in 2003.

The Talbot tool brands (Data Flute CNC, Weldon Tool, Brubaker Tool, Fastcut, New England Tap and Micro Carbide Tool) serve the automotive, aerospace and other metalworking industries with high-performance solid carbide and high-speed steel/cobalt end mills, drills, taps, reamers, countersinks and counterbores.

With about 220 employees, the Talbot business manufactures its metalcutting round tools in Pittsfield, Mass., and Millersburg, Pa. It had 2002 sales of approximately $30 million. Milacron purchased the four original Talbot brands in 1995 and added Data Flute in 1997 and Micro Carbide in 1999.

"Talbot's reputation for leading-edge round tool technology is second to none, and we are happy to sell the business to a buyer who intends to grow it," said Milacron chairman and CEO Ronald D. Brown. "We thank everyone at Talbot for their hard work and dedication over the years. We extend our very best to them as they move forward with Harpoint Holdings as the supplier of quality products for metalworking."

Last month Milacron completed the sale of its other round tool business, Minnesota Twist Drill, to MTD Acquisition Inc.

"For Milacron, divesting the remainder of these cutting tool businesses enables us to further focus our resources on our core businesses -- plastics technologies and industrial fluids -- and continue to find better ways to serve our customers around the world," Brown said.

****************************************************************************

Timken lowers guidance, makes automotive group changes
The Timken Co. is lowering its earnings guidance for the third quarter and the year as a result of a decline in North American automotive demand, continuation of manufacturing inefficiencies in the company's automotive group and higher-than-expected raw materials costs affecting its steel group.

"Our automotive performance is disappointing, and we are taking additional actions to address it," said Timken president and CEO James W. Griffith. "As the Big Three automakers have moved to cut production levels, we have experienced steeper volume declines in our automotive group than we had anticipated. North American passenger car production has been particularly hard hit. This has exacerbated the performance challenges which our automotive plants have experienced in recent months and will further delay the benefits of our restructuring efforts."

The company is continuing to reduce employment globally to achieve the benefits of its rationalization programs and to adjust to falling demand. It also continues to focus on cost reduction, and additional spending cuts are being made. More than 900 positions are expected to be eliminated during the second half of the year, with about 700 of these in the automotive business.

The company also announced plans to reorganize the automotive business to better leverage the combination of Timken and Torrington and drive improvements in its manufacturing operations. As a result of these changes, Timken automotive president Karl Kimmerling has left the company.

Griffith has assumed direct operational control of the automotive group during the transition period. He led the company's automotive organization from 1996-1999.

"Karl has made many important contributions to both our automotive and steel groups during his 24-year career with the company, and we wish him well in future endeavors," Griffith said.

The company's steel group also has been hurt by the decline in passenger car production rates as well as higher raw material costs. It has raised prices on certain products and reduced spending to mitigate the impact of these negative factors.

The company's outlook for the industrial group has remained unchanged, with industrial markets expected to remain flat through the end of the year.

The $840 million Torrington acquisition in February 2003 created opportunities to strengthen the company and position Timken for long-term global competitiveness. The company still expects to achieve $20 million in annualized pretax savings this year from the integration. Despite the shortfall in earnings in both the Torrington and Timken businesses, the acquisition is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to earnings per share for 2003.

"U.S. manufacturing continues to lag the rest of the economy, with this recovery the slowest on record," Griffith said. "While economists recently have noted some improvement in the manufacturing sector, we have seen very little evidence of a turnaround in the markets we serve."

The company is revising its earnings estimates for the third quarter to be in the range of zero cents to 5 cents per share, excluding special items. For the year, it anticipates earnings to be in the range of 45 cents to 60 cents per share, excluding special items. The company previously provided guidance of 10 cents to 15 cents per share for the third quarter and 80 cents to 95 cents per share for the full year, excluding special items.

****************************************************************************

PIP to form safety products company for first responders
Protective Industrial Products Inc. (PIP) announced the formation of Alliance Fire and Rescue Inc. (AFR), an organization created to sell personal protective products that meet the needs of fire fighters and first responders.

AFR is now the exclusive distributor of Pacific Helmets of New Zealand, PIP Fire Gloves and Protective Apparel, and other related products in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

AFR is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PIP-USA and will operate out of its facility in Guilderland Center, N.Y. Mike Carducci will join the organization as general manager. He previously worked for Perfect Fit Glove Company, most recently in a sales management position.

****************************************************************************

Industry news archives
Industry news from this week