SKF has agreed to acquire U.S.-based lubrication systems provider Lincoln Holdings Enterprises Inc. for US$1 billion on a cash and debt-free basis from Harbour Group, a privately owned operating company. The transaction is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

The acquisition of Lincoln Industrial includes all Lincoln, Alemite and Reelcraft entities and brands Lincoln is a supplier of lubrication systems, tools and equipment, with a consistent record of strong financial performance

Lincoln Industrial has around 2,000 employees, and in 2010, the company is expected to generate sales approaching US$400 million with an operating profit margin of around 24 percent.

According to SKF, Lincoln Industrial is highly complementary to the company's existing lubrication systems business with limited overlap when it comes to geographical sales coverage, technology and manufacturing footprint, in particular in North America and Asia. In addition, Lincoln Industrial provides SKF with improved access to the lubrication tools and equipment aftermarket in North America.

Tom Johnstone, president and CEO of SKF, commented: "Lubrication systems is a very important business for SKF and also one of our technology platforms. Combined with our other platforms it enables us to help our customers reduce friction and energy consumption. SKF has been building its lubrication systems business over a number of years and our team has done a great job in developing this as an important part of the SKF Group.

"The acquisition of Lincoln Industrial combined with our existing business will significantly improve our ability to further support our customers with even better solutions and give us a better geographical coverage. We have been following the development of Lincoln Industrial over a number of years and I am very pleased that the Lincoln team will soon be joining the SKF Group."

Lincoln Industrial’s three main product lines are automated lubrication systems, hose reels, and grease guns, with a focus on grease-based systems. Sales are mainly generated from automated lubrication systems and related products. Major end markets include industrial, energy, off-highway, mining, agriculture, and steel.

Bart Aitken, president and CEO of Lincoln, commented: “We are very pleased that SKF has acquired Lincoln Industrial and look forward to fully supporting the further development of the Group. Lincoln Industrial has developed very well over a number of years with very strong growth and financial performance. The combination of Lincoln Industrial with the current SKF lubrication systems business and customer base will provide significant growth and value creation opportunities.”
www.skf.ca

What separates business leaders from laggards is the ability to generate timely and relevant business insight to support operational decisions, rather than simply relying on “gut-feel,” according to a new Aberdeen Group study.

Companies with top-performing operational business intelligence (BI) are twice as likely to share operational data across functions, and more than three times as likely to use a dedicated operational business intelligence platform, as companies with poorer performance, according to an Aberdeen Group research report. The report, Operational Intelligence: Boosting Performance with 'Right-Time' Insight, announced today by Aberdeen Group, finds that top performers with operational business intelligence have a similar profile from the C-suite to the line of business, focusing on operational review across the entire organization.

The research report delivers hard-hitting facts based on responses from over 230 companies, and investigates the steps top performing companies have taken to use operational business intelligence to improve their business.

"The real value of operational intelligence is the ability to apply BI and analytical techniques to everyday decisions and create insight that is based on fact, rather than gut-feel," says Michael Lock, research analyst and author of the study. "Fast and clean information is a large piece of that puzzle, but several other factors contribute to an employee's ability to make better operational decisions. Successful operational BI delivers analytical insight to more areas of the business and shares information collaboratively across departments and lines of business."
www.aberdeen.com

Petro-Canada Lubricants has once again won an International Stevie Award for Best New Product or Service of the Year in the manufacturing category in the 2010 International Business Awards. The award recognized recent breakthroughs in the Purity FG food lubricant line.

"Petro-Canada Lubricants is honoured to have been recognized by the International Business Awards for Best New Product or Service," said David Clutchey, Petro-Canada Lubricants director of marketing and research and development. "Developing leading-edge, global products that address the most demanding and pressing needs of our customers continues to be at the forefront of our product focused strategy."

"After more than 20 years, Petro-Canada continues to bring innovation to the food processing industry with our unique products," said Colleen Flanagan, category portfolio manager. "Our new and improved Purity FG fluids and our Microl antimicrobial line are the result of breakthrough FG technology that builds on Petro-Canada's ... properties and provides significantly stronger lubricant performance and durability."

Nicknamed the Stevie for the Greek word 'crowned', The International Business Awards are the only global, all-encompassing business awards program honouring great performances in business.

Recipients of International Stevie Award trophies were selected from more than 1,700 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 40 countries.

Petro-Canada is the world's largest producer of pharmaceutical-grade white oil used in a variety of food processing industries, offering a complete line of industrial lubricants suitable for ancillary use in food processing plants.
lubricants.petro-canada.ca

Beginning Aug. 3, 2010, industry guru This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it — author of 21 maintenance and reliability textbooks and frequent guest speaker — will be writing the content for a monthly PEM e-newsletter entitled Wireman's Wire. Click here to subscribe.

For a sneak peek at what's to come, he will begin with an overview of a maintenance strategy, followed by the various components (preventive maintenance, inventory, planning and scheduling, predictive maintenance, etc.) that a maintenance manager would need to consider when developing a strategy for their company.

"For each strategy component, I will discuss what comprises the strategy component and then how the strategy component can solve some of the common problems facing maintenance managers," Wireman explains.
 
He is looking forward to communicating with readers and tailoring the content to their needs. "Any points they would like to see addressed will be topics that will be dealt with in later newsletters," he adds.

To contact Terry Wireman, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ABB Reliability Services has teamed up with tracermedia interactive to develop a serious game that will entertain and educate plant professional. The goal of the ABB Reliability Challenge is for players to have fun and experience firsthand how reliability decisions impact overall business performance.

As a member of a failing company, players are taken through a series of dilemmas that require real-life reliability solutions in order to win the ABB Reliability Challenge. (For a PDF guide of how to master the challenge, click here.)

To play the online game, click here.

The virtual manufacturing world in the ABB Reliability Challenge gives a sample of some of the dynamics facilities face in the real world. Whether your facility produces coffee grind bricks, anti-biotics, gasoline, or orange juice, there are several fundamental tenets and universal rules to increase production profitability. We will reveal several of these elements and provide you with real-life examples that confirm our reliability rules.
www.abb.com/reliabilitychallenge

Riding on properly inflated tires should be a priority for every one of the thousands of motorists who will be hitting Canada's highways during this summer's driving season.

Drivers who take the few minutes needed to measure and, if necessary, adjust their tire pressures before heading out can be assured that they will get the exceptionally safe performance tire makers design into their products, and that their tires will deliver the best possible fuel efficiency.

Motorists who ensure their tires are properly inflated can expect to save about two weeks worth of fuel annually. Under-inflated tires cause vehicles to burn more fuel because of increased rolling resistance.

Proper tire inflation may sound like a no-brainer for drivers who want optimum performance and fuel efficiency, but recent research from the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC), which represents tire makers, found that just under half (49%) of all Canadian drivers are riding on at least one tire that is under or over-inflated. More disturbing, the study also found that one in ten Canadian drivers have one or more tires severely under-inflated by 20 percent or more — a potentially hazardous condition.

According to the national study, which was conducted by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, only 30 percent of Canadian drivers make a point to measure their tire pressures each month.

"Properly inflated tires deliver the exceptional performance that tire makers want every consumer to have," says Glenn Maidment, president of RAC. "Drivers need to know that improperly inflated tires increase stopping distance; lessen vehicle stability, particularly when cornering; waste fuel and shorten tire life. All it takes to avoid all this is a reliable tire gauge and five minutes each month to measure and, if necessary, adjust your tire pressures."

Measuring and adjusting tire pressure is an easy, four step process. Here's how:

• Find the right inflation pressure for your tires on the vehicle placard. Check the owner's manual for its exact location.
• Remember to only measure pressure when the tires are cold. If you have been driving, wait three hours before measuring tire pressure.
• Use a reliable tire gauge when measuring pressure. A visual inspection is not an effective way of measuring tire pressure. Remove the cap from the valve stem, press the tire gauge onto the valve and take the pressure reading.
• Add air until the recommended air pressure is achieved. If you overfill the tire, release air by pushing on the metal stem in the centre of the valve, then re-measure the pressure.

Canadians can learn more about the performance and fuel saving benefits of proper tire inflation and maintenance by visiting www.betiresmart.ca.

UE Systems has developed the Ultraprobe 15,000 Touch, which provides plant inspection professionals the ability to use iPhone-like touch-screen technology to analyze conditions with a wide range of on-board features including: a spectral analyzer, the ability to take equipment temperature with an infrared thermometer, photograph test points with an on-board camera, select from multiple data screens including dB, temperature, and spectral analysis, pinpoint locations with a laser pointer, store data, sounds and images, generate reports, review historical record data, plan/review routes, review alarm groups for planning corrective actions, adjust emissivity and much more.

Used for all plant applications, the company says the Touch is something truly special. “We are very proud and privileged to introduce such powerful, intuitive technology to plant maintenance professionals,” said Alan Bandes, vice-president of marketing for UE Systems. “Truly a full-featured inspection system, the (Ultraprobe 15,000) Touch takes the most necessary components of ultrasonic inspection and simplifies the process to intuitively guide inspectors through their routes more quickly and effectively.”

For mechanical and electrical applications, the Ultraprobe 15,000 Touch gives immediate opportunities to analyze on the spot, using an array of features to report and diagnose premature problems before they occur. The system can also serve as an energy conservation tool to not only find leaks and help determine your carbon footprint emissions and overall energy consumption.

Optional accessories Trisonic Scanning Module, Stethoscope Module, Long Range Module and RAS-MT can be added to the basic kit.
www.uesystems.com

SKF Canada Ltd. has introduced a new range of shaft alignment tools that have been designed to be easy to use and harness the power of lasers to achieve pin-point accuracy in the alignment of shafts.

The new TKSA series is the latest development of SKF’s alignment tool range, and consists of two models; the TKSA 20 that suits virtually any budget and the TKSA 40 with built-in tolerance checking and a memory facility that allows results to be stored and shared.

“The old methods, using straight edges and dial gauges, belong to the past,” said Benjamin Provoost, development engineer. “With the new TKSA range, virtually any technician can align shafts accurately, in a fraction of time it took previously.”

Both tools have been designed around the needs of technicians, who have to perform shaft alignment tasks. The TKSA series are simple to use and display real-time alignment values, allowing the results of alignment corrections to be seen as they are done.

“Reducing energy consumption and machine breakdowns is an important goal nowadays,” Provoost said. “The new TKSA series helps achieve these goals, as good alignment helps saves energy and puts less stress on mechanical components, significantly reducing breakdowns.”
www.skf.ca