What's Happening in Metal Finishing

J a y K u n i e k has joined BYK- G a r d n e r U S A as regional sales man- ager, serving the Michigan and Nor thern Indiana territories.

www.bykgardner .com

C o l u m b i a Chemica l ' s new technical service representat ive, Rob Lothes , is responsi- ble for analyzing ba th samples from dis t r ibutors and local customers,

t roubleshoot ing potent ial prob- lems, and compiling da ta into analytical reports. w w w . c o l u m b i a c h e m i e a l . c o m

Metal C o a t i n g s I n t e r n a t i o n a l Inc . has p romoted B r i a n G l o w a e k i (left) to the posit ion of cus tomer service manager . Repor t ing to Glowacki will be Scot t McEuen , in the new posi- tion of technical service supervi- sor. Glowacki has been with MCI for over four year. McEuen has been a senior technical service specialist for over seven years. www.meta l - coa t ings . com

Universal Chemical Technologies Inc. (UCT) a n n o u n c e d t h a t Y a n c y W. R i d d l e , P h . D . has j o i n e d t he c o m p a n y as v ice p r e s i d e n t of t echno logy . Riddle will be r e s p o n s i b l e for fo rming , d i r e c t i n g , and m a n - a g i n g m a n y of the s c i en t i f i c

and t e c h n i c a l i n i t i a t i v e s a t UCT. w w w . u n i v e r s a l c h e m i c a l . c o m

V u l c a n i u m Corp. announced the addit ion of J o h n D e l w a r e to its Anodizing sales staff. With 21 years experience in heavy indust r ia l machine sales, equipment

design, cus tomer service, and manufacturing, Delware comes to Vulcanium Anodizing Systems with an extensive understanding of the anodizing industry and its history. w w w . v u l e a n i u m . e o m

FMT Inc. recently announced the appointment of Allan Kotnik to the position of senior sales engi- neer. Kotnik will head up the sales of FMT's custom-engineered products division, as well as the tool and die and in-plant services divisions. www.fmt ine . com

MacDermid Inc. recently had Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) come to its Ferndale, MI, facility to give a talk on unfair trade practices, specifically currency manipulation, by China and the possible ways to pursue remedies to this. Along with employees of MacDermid, represen- tatives from A Brite, PPI, Univar, McGean, KC Jones, Lacks, MPC, and Ajax Metal Processing were present. Everyone spoke of the pres- sures of off-shore competition, with the most pressure coming from China. Other concerns mentioned were that companies have seen business going overseas. Univar has seen imports of raw materials increase in the last five years. Ajax, a Tier II supplier, has seen pressure coming from the automo-

rive industry, with China delivering a finished bolt at 30% less than what the steel would cost, and South Korea exporting nuts and bolts to the U.S., with delivery with- in 15 days. McGean sees current investment going off shore and MPC has lost large amounts of work for faucets to Far East compe- tition. After everyone expressed their concerns, Levin urged indus- try members to use trade associa- tions to bring their concerns to the table. www.macdermid .com

FANUC Robotics America Inc. has launched a collaborative ini- tiative called "Save Your Factory" to maximize North American man- ufacturing competi t iveness and halt the continued erosion of man- ufacturing jobs to low-wage coun- tries. Save Your Factory urges North American manufactur ing companies to recognize automa- tion and robotics as a more cost- effective and profitable alternative to moving manufacturing facilities off-shore. For more information on the initiative, as well as resources that can help companies remain competitive, visit www.saveyour- factory.com. www.fanucrobot ics . com

Nordson Corp. 's new powder sys- tems Web site details complete information on powder coating, from basic introduction for novices new to powder coating, to more technical information focusing on new application technologies and how they meet the changing pro- duction requirements for experi- enced powder coaters across a vari- ety of markets. The Web site is both informative and user friendly, and focused on the customer and how to finish product better, faster, more cost effectively. w w w . n o r d s o n . c o m ] p o w d e r

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