Equipment report

Navistar OnCommand Connection telematics is available for purchase

Navistar, headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, has announced that its integrated OnCommand Connection Telematics solution, launched in March 2017, is available for purchase. It offers truck and bus drivers and fleets a comprehensive, one-price solution that can help cut vehicle maintenance costs while handling virtually all federal and state compliance needs, the company says.

Navistar announced the solution’s availability at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree, held in July 2017 in Walcott, Iowa. The annual celebration of truck drivers highlighted the added benefits the solution will provide for individual owner/operators and small fleets, Navistar says.

“Only about 30 percent of small fleets are benefiting from the amazing power of telematics,” says Terry Kline, Navistar senior vice president and chief information officer. “In keeping with our DriverFirst philosophy and Uptime mission, we developed OnCommand Connection Telematics to make this information easily available and useable for the entire industry, from owner/operators to large fleets and on an integrated, predictable and easy-to-understand basis.”

OnCommand Connection Telematics is a combined hardware and software solution that provides a steady stream of real-time vehicle data, linked to GPS and other sources of data, that can help drivers and fleets become safer, more productive and more profitable.

This telematics solution is integrated with a new version of the award-winning OnCommand Connection Advanced Remote Diagnostics system, which currently supports more than 300,000 vehicles of all makes and models. OnCommand Connection Advanced Remote Diagnostics provides comprehensive data on each vehicle’s health as well as fault code action plans, which are served up in a web-based portal in a user-friendly dashboard format.

OnCommand Connection Telematics and Advanced Remote Diagnostics also are integrated with OnCommand Connection Electronic Driver Log (EDL), which automates federal Hours of Service compliance requirements that are mandated for all heavy-duty trucks by Dec. 18, 2017. OnCommand Connection Electronic Driver Log also aides in fuel tax reporting, vehicle inspection reports, vehicle idling reports and vehicle trip mapping history, Navistar says.

More information is available at www.navistar.com.

Eriez P-Rex rare earth scrap drums aid in ferrous recovery

Eriez, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, introduced its P-Rex rare earth scrap drums in 2010, primarily targeting the scrap recycling sector. The company says these units now are operating across North America in a wide variety of recycling sectors in addition to boosting ferrous recovery rates at waste-to-energy and slag recycling facilities as well in scrap recycling.

The company says the P-Rex’s permanent magnetic circuit is up to 40 percent stronger than standard electromagnets and can move large spherical objects at twice the distance. With consistently high magnetic performance from edge to edge, Eriez says it has designed this drum to pull more ferrous objects and facilitate more agitation to remove residual waste, eliminating the need for a cyclone system.

“Whether dealing with diverse materials or a more consistent one, the P-Rex excels,” says Chris Ramsdell, recycling equipment product manager for Eriez. “While each recycling sector uses a unique process designed around its specific feedstocks, the P-Rex can adapt and deliver exceptional ferrous recovery results.”

More information on the Eriez P-Rex Scrap Drums is available at http://erieznews.com/nr425.

Oxford Instruments analyzer division now part of Hitachi Group

Oxford, United Kingdom-based Oxford Instruments’ Industrial Analysis division has been acquired by Tokyo-based Hitachi High-Technologies Group for £80 million ($104.2 million).

The newly combined company, Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science, “brings together Hitachi High-Technologies’ extensive scientific instrumentation portfolio with Oxford Instruments’ rich 40-year heritage of innovative analytical instruments and services developed in close partnership with industry customers,” Oxford states in a press release.

The firms say the collaboration will offer the companies a wider ranging product portfolio, more contact points with customers and more chances to meet customer needs.

“Today, we already help thousands of businesses streamline their costs, minimize risk and increase production efficiency,” says Dawn Brooks, managing director of Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science. “The combined strengths of Hitachi and Oxford Instruments Industrial Analysis greatly increases our capability to offer an ever-wider range of leading-edge analytical solutions to our customers around the world.”

Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science says it will “continue to specialize in delivering high-tech analysis solutions, developed in close collaboration with industry customers and designed to meet the tough challenges of a rapidly evolving industrial sector.”

Motion Industries acquires Numatic Engineering

Birmingham, Alabama-based Motion Industries Inc. has acquired Los Angeles-based Numatic Engineering.

Founded in 1955, Numatic Engineering has more than 60 years of experience selling and supporting automation components. Its product line includes pneumatic automation and electrical motion controls, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), variable-frequency-drives (VFDs), sensors and a machine vision and industrial communication devices. For more than a decade, Numatic Engineering has been selling multiple lines of robotics, including end-of-arm tooling and “collaborative robot technology.”

“After meeting with several potential buyers, we found a cultural fit with Motion Industries and are very pleased to become part of their team,” says Steve Leach, Numatic Engineering president. “Becoming part of Motion assures that our employees will be well-cared for in the future and that we will have the ability to continue to service our customers and represent our supplier partners in the way which they are accustomed. At the same time, we’ll now have access to even greater capabilities and resources, enabling us to accelerate the growth of our already successful business.”

Tim Breen, president and CEO of Motion Industries, comments, “The acquisition of Numatic Engineering continues to build upon and complement our growth strategy in the area of industrial plant floor automation. Numatic |Engineering will be operated as part of Motion’s Automation Solutions group, which includes Braas Co., [a Minnesota-based firm] acquired in October 2016.”

With annual sales of $4.6 billion, Motion Industries is an industrial parts distributor of bearings, mechanical power transmissions, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hoses, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial products, safety products and material handling devices. The company has more than 530 locations, including 13 distribution centers in North America that serve more than 300,000 customers in the pulp and paper, iron and steel, chemical, mining and aggregate, petrochemical, automotive, wood and lumber, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries. Motion Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., which is based in Atlanta.

Visit www.motionindustries.com for more information.

Wendt Corp. celebrates 40 years in business

Wendt Corp., headquartered in Buffalo, New York, is celebrating 40 years in business in 2017.

Thomas A. Wendt founded the company in the garage and basement of his home July 15, 1977. In the four decades since, the company has grown to employ more than 100 people in two locations (its Buffalo headquarters and a technology center in Tonawanda, New York). Wendt Corp. says it owes this milestone and its success to its customers, employees, business partners and suppliers.

Wendt, who serves as chairman of Wendt Corp., says, “This milestone is a testament to Wendt’s commitment to continued product and process innovation, responsive customer service, manufacturing efficiencies and creative, ahead-of-the-curve thinking in a fast-paced industry. The hard work and dedication of the people throughout our entire organization have grown Wendt into the brand name it has become. We look forward to continuing our tradition of quality equipment and service for the next 40 years.”

Wendt Corp. was formed initially to provide parts and service as well as engineering and consulting services to the scrap metal recycling industry. Today, the company, which is still family owned and operated, has grown into a manufacturer and systems integrator of automobile shredding and nonferrous separation equipment.

In a news release announcing its anniversary, Wendt Corp. states, “Throughout our 40 years, we’ve had the opportunity of working on many important projects and have manufactured and installed equipment all over the world. However, it’s the unique and creative solutions that have exceeded customers’ expectations along with the relationships we’ve made and maintained over the years that truly provides the most satisfaction.”

To commemorate the occasion, the company hosted a dinner party for employees and business partners July 15, 40 years to the date of its formation. A 200-page Wendt history book was presented to the attendees and includes more than 600 photographs.

Bigbelly files patent infringement complaints against ECube and EconX

Needham, Massachusetts-based Bigbelly Inc., a manufacturer of waste and recycling systems that feature compacting stations with sensors that offer real-time reporting via its software, says it has filed a complaint with the U.S. Central District Court in California and the German Court alleging that Ecube Labs Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Ecube Labs Co. (U.S.) and EconX Waste Solutions B.V. (Netherlands) infringe on two Bigbelly patents covering energy management technologies for solar-powered compactors.

These patented Bigbelly technologies enable its smart waste and recycling system to acutely manage an energy budget based on the solar energy harvested and the energy needs of the station, the company says. It is imperative that solar-powered compactors function in locations with limited or no direct sunlight because most waste bins are in proximity of buildings, trees and other infrastructure. When deploying a solar-powered, compacting waste solution, Bigbelly’s patented energy management is critical to its success, according to Bigbelly.

The company says it requests that the U.S. and German courts issue rulings confirming that certain Ecube and EconX products infringe Bigbelly’s patents.

“Bigbelly is proud of the technology we have developed,” says Brian Phillips, CEO of Bigbelly. “We have leveraged critical customer installations in regions around the globe to enable us to develop the world’s leading smart waste and recycling system. The patents we are asserting represent important technologies in our IP portfolio and are vital to the basic function of a solar-powered compactor. ... These lawsuits seek to stop infringement of our patented technologies.”