May 10, 2013 - Victor Technologies—a provider of solutions for cutting, gas control and specialty welding equipment—is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Victor brand of cutting and gas control equipment.

May 8, 2013 - What if you could use a sound camera—which visualizes sound in colour contours similar to the way a thermal camera displays temperature with visual images—to pinpoint the exact location an aberrant noise is being generated? And what if that sound camera were light enough to hold in your hand? Say hello to the SeeSV-S205.

Fuel optimization and maintenance system manufacturer ALGAE-X International has been acquired by AXI International Holdings. As a result of the acquisition, ALGAE-X International will be able to expand its worldwide markets and distribution channels, with a particular focus on central Africa where poor fuel quality has challenged progress and economic development.

Beyond central Africa, AXI International Holdings will expand its present fuel distribution network while developing and enhancing new markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, India, Australia, and Europe.

Beginning with the development of the patented ALGAE-X inline fuel conditioner in 1995, AXI has grown to incorporate fuel conditioning technology in advanced fuel filtration, conditioning and optimization systems. In 2012, AXI doubled the size of its Fort Myers, Fla., headquarters in order to meet the demand of increased sales. AXI’s Green Clean Certified Fuel Maintenance and Optimization Systems restore and optimize fuel quality—wherever fuel is used or stored.
www.AXIFuelConditioning.com

Cloudruge Ltd. has released the alpha version of its free online computerized maintenance management software (CMMS), known as cloudruge, today.

The use of the software is by invitation only, but users can visit cloudruge.com and request to be added to the invite list. cloudruge is a cloud-based (think dropbox) CMMS, so the application runs on cloudruge servers and users need only a browser to access it. The company says this results in important cost savings as there is no need to employ specialized IT staff. Up-time on remote servers is also generally much higher than if the servers are kept in-house (availability is usually in the order of 99.8 per cent, excluding scheduled server maintenance).

The main features of the alpha version are:

• Developed with the most secure, efficient and advanced web application framework.
• Asset organization tree.
• Manual Work Request/ Work Order assigned to asset.
• Multi-user.
• Upload of documents assigned to assets.
• Upload of documents assigned to work orders.
• Use it anywhere with its native mobile version. cloudruge detects the client type and adjusts its display on the fly to suit smaller mobile screens.
• User avatar implemented through the gravatar service.

Other functionality to be available very soon on the alpha version:

• Work-order scheduling.
• Asset list import using an excel file.
• User level implementation.

Cloudruge Ltd. is a software company based in Macau SAR and in Hong Kong founded by a team of professionals with experience in industrial maintenance and web software development. Cloudruge's goal is to become the most popular cloud-based CMMS solution in the market for small to medium-sized companies and will include modules for: inventory control, labour and spare parts costs and advanced maintenance reporting among others.
www.cloudruge.com

Already making a name with its leading-edge structural integrity technology, Ottawa's Giatec Scientific is cementing its future with $150,000 from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) to bring its portable concrete analyzer to market.

The money, which is awarded under OCE's Market Readiness program, will be used to further develop the iCOR hand-held device which can detect areas of deterioration in concrete structures before it happens.

"Giatec is finding solutions to increasingly common and potentially life-threatening problems associated with aging infrastructure," said Tom Corr, president and CEO of OCE. "We are proud to continue supporting this made-in-Ontario innovation."

Based on 10 years of award-winning academic research at Carleton University, the iCOR device provides an unprecedented level of accuracy, reducing maintenance costs and improving safety. Giatec's technology detects problems in existing concrete structures much earlier than other methods and can predict the rate of future deterioration.

"Ontario's colleges and universities are producing some of the most innovative products anywhere in the world and Giatec is proof of that," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Innovation. "With OCE's support, this device will be taken to the next level."

The company also received a $50,000 loan under the Centre for the Commercialization of Research (CCR) Embedded Executive program to help in the commercialization of Giatec products.

"The support from OCE and CCR is about more than just the funding," said Aali Alizadeh, CEO of Giatec Scientific. "The expertise and experience from our business development advisor, Philippa King, and the help to refine our business model, set-up meetings with potential clients, write applications and establish processes have all been invaluable."

In addition to OCE and CCR support, Giatec is working with Invest Ottawa, the local Regional Innovation Center, through its Business Accelerator program. OCE and Invest Ottawa, along with other partners such as the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program are helping Giatec become one of the businesses to watch in Ottawa.

The company's technologies are already being recognized as industry-leading and are being utilized in the forensic examination of the tragic mall roof collapse in Elliot Lake, Ontario.
www.oce-ontario.org

The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) has launched a newly redesigned website at www.ptda.org. The organization says the new website is cleaner and easier to navigate than ever before.

Powerful search tools make it easier for users to find relevant industry information and to locate distributors and manufacturers throughout North America and beyond. A fresh, mobile-friendly design makes the site accessible for those on the go as the new site displays well whether users are on tablets, cell phones or desktops.

In addition, the site offers loads of industry-specific content. While some of it is accessible only to members, much of the information — such as guidelines and formats — is publicly available with just a few additional steps. PTDA members can now quickly access and update their online profiles.

PTDA’s Communications Committee and its Website Redevelopment Task Force provided input during the website redevelopment process. Their time and efforts not only made the new site possible but also helped ensure the new site meets members’ needs.

Founded in 1960, the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) is the leading association for the industrial power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) distribution channel.
www.ptda.org

Bentley Systems Inc. has acquired Ontario-based Ivara Corp., a provider of asset performance management (APM) software solutions for organizations in asset-intensive industries, including mining and metals, power generation and utilities, oil & gas and petrochemical.

The Ivara EXP solution — a core system mission critical to operations and maintenance, combined with a proven implementation methodology and the Aladon Network’s seasoned reliability practitioners — helps owner-operators to obtain the best performance, reliability, and safety from their assets. APM software supplements and leverages value in transaction-oriented enterprise asset management systems such as IBM Maximo and SAP EAM by helping to build and implement asset-specific reliability strategies.

Business benefits of Ivara EXP include maximized availability and utilization; reduced operational costs; extended asset life; structured compliance with safety, environmental, and other regulations; and the systematic capture and application of asset performance knowledge and industry best practices. Ivara EXP also provides dashboards for asset health monitoring, allows organizations to understand and manage the risks associated with equipment failures, and turns the volumes of operational data into actionable information, enabling timely and accurate maintenance decisions.

With this acquisition, Bentley says it extends its AssetWise asset lifecycle information management software and services to improve asset performance, providing new value-adding opportunities not only for owner-operators, but also for the engineering/procurement/construction firms who design, build, and commission their infrastructure.

This marks Bentley’s second acquisition in the operations arena this year, the first being InspectTech for transportation asset management. InspectTech software-as-a-service, the market leader in inspection and bridge safety, helps owner-operators to plan, collect, and manage inspection results, and to meet asset management mandates.

Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said, “The Ivara acquisition may be our most significant in years, because it creates an unprecedented opportunity for us to leverage information mobility — not only within but between CAPEX and OPEX, by way of our ProjectWise and now-expanded AssetWise platforms, with shared services for asset lifecycle information management. Although increasing proportions of owners’ expenditures have been applied towards respectively accumulating engineering, and operations, information, to date this investment has yielded limited returns due to what we might call ‘information mortality’: data stranded in place until it becomes useless. But with Ivara and our resulting APM focus we are today accelerating information mobility – in terms of the amounts and types of information productively reused – by software innovations ranging from interactive inspections to health modeling, which apply consumer-driven technology advances to ‘industrialized’ projects and environments.

“The asset performance management opportunities created by information mobility pertain equally to integrated-project engineers whose information modeling deliverables and expertise can contribute in new and innovative ways to operating reliability and safety – as also to teams in operations and maintenance, where lifecycle reliability experience data, such as failure modes and effects analysis, can be structured to drive better designs. Working smarter, together, we can now make the world more productive and safer by ensuring with integrity that the right information is securely accessible at the right time, for the right purpose, throughout the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of intelligent infrastructure.”

Paul Marshall, formerly CEO of Ivara and now Bentley vice-president of asset performance, said, “All of us at Ivara look forward to working with our new colleagues at Bentley to redefine the scope of asset performance management. Through Ivara EXP, AssetWise will now be able to uniquely link as-designed, as-built, and as-operated information models. Advantages to owners will include new capabilities to transform engineering data into actionable reliability strategies that better control and operate equipment as intended and as learned, and to take full advantage of information mobility through immersive and interactive 3D models in safer training, inspections, and maintenance. EPCs will benefit by virtue of more valuably leveraged ‘hands-on’ commissioning deliverables, and ultimately through the feedback of APM operations intelligence, in turn.

“Ivara users and prospects will benefit in particular because Bentley’s unmatched global coverage and resources include access to in-country experts to facilitate worldwide implementation of our unique APM solutions. Finally, Bentley’s broad reach to owners across all domains of infrastructure can now bring the best practices of APM from owner-operators of the largest and most mission-critical plants to all types of infrastructure assets of every scale, for new levels of operational excellence.”

Andy Chatha, president and CEO, ARC Advisory Group, said, “In today’s increasingly competitive landscape, owner-operators are faced with a number of complex challenges. Chief among them are improving performance and reducing costs while preserving the environment and plant safety under constrained financial and human resources. Bentley’s acquisition of Ivara is a very positive step towards enhancing owner-operators’ returns on their investments and further incentivizing them to make additional investments in infrastructure to help sustain long-term economic growth around the world.”
www.bentley.com/ivara

Acklands-Grainger Inc., a Canadian distributor of industrial, safety and fastener products, has launched new and improved features to its website designed to help customers navigate to products and solutions more quickly and efficiently.
 
"Customers tell us they need a partner to help them increase productivity and profitability," said Mike Duggan, eCommerce director at Acklands-Grainger. "These enhancements make it easy for customers to find the products they need and consolidate their purchases on acklandsgrainger.com, increasing efficiency and helping to improve their bottom line.”

Specific features include:

• Improved ordering functionality: A customer utility toolbar was added to streamline how customers order through the website. This feature provides access to order history, personalizes order lists, details for products selected for purchase, and the ability to view locations for pick up convenience.
• Enhanced search: With product search generating 75 percent of website traffic, the goal was to make the search experience as seamless as possible. The product tab now includes 200+ subcategories to help customers narrow their search faster right from the home page. In addition, the company added a new product detail page that includes enhanced images and product specific information to help customers make more informed buying decisions.

“We continue to benchmark ourselves against world class industries to make sure we are delivering the best possible online experience,” Duggan said. “These enhancements are a foundational step in our ongoing commitment to evolve as the needs of our customers change.”
www.acklandsgrainger.com