Tuesday, April 12th, 2016
It is my pleasure to introduce Bob Beasock as General Manager of our Value Added facility. Bob and his wife, Cynthia, currently reside in Lake Wales, Florida. They relocated from Upstate New York (near Canada) to Florida in 2007 when Bob was offered a position as Vice President/GM for a local grapple truck manufacturing company. Having spent most of his career in manufacturing, as a mechanical engineer, engineering manager and general manager for both specialized and high volume manufacturing companies, Bob brings a wealth of both learned and practical knowledge to the Wesgarde family. Bob is a graduate of the University of New York at Morrisville and holds a degree in mechanical engineering. In addition to his educational and work experience, Bob is named as inventor or co-inventor on several US Patents.
Besides enjoying his work, Bob enjoys sailing & travel with his family and an occasional (but to infrequent) round of golf. He admits he’s not very good at either sailing or golf but really enjoys both. Bob’s family includes his wife, daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren, all residing in Florida. We look forward to Bob bringing his years of experience to grow our Lakeland Value Added facility.
We are also excited to announce the addition of Mark Smith to our Canadian Branch as Inside Sales. Mark brings with him many years of sales experience and comes with a familiarity of our products. We look forward to working with Mark and watching the Canadian branch grow.
Friday, April 8th, 2016
ZF Friedrichshafen AG is re-branding CHERRY switch and sensor products sold via ZF’s Industrial Solutions product line. All products, as of January 1st 2017, will be sold under the ZF brand name.
By utilizing the ZF brand – with its strong presence in the automotive and industrial markets – the intention is to strengthen our efforts to develop new potential markets, with a focus on Industry and Building Automation. With a comprehensive switch product portfolio, sensors, and the recent introduction of innovative switch products incorporating Energy Harvesting technology, these new markets offer excellent growth potential.
2016 will be a year of transition, as the market is informed and made aware of future plans. From 1st January 2017, all products sold via the Industrial Solutions product line will be branded ZF.
Important for you: Aside from the brand name, nothing will change. All company information, contacts, product names and part numbers, will all remain unchanged.
Regarding the CHERRY brand marking on products, this will remain until new production tools are introduced. Replacing all existing tools by 1st January would not be economical, so customers may occasionally receive CHERRY branded products, even following the official brand transition.
Friday, April 8th, 2016
Carling Technologies’ Contura VI sealed rocker switches offer the perfect complement to the already popular Contura line of sealed V-Series rocker switches. Used in a row, they create an uniquely appealing design on your panel. The Contura product offers endless possibilities for your product development, always offering creative, dynamic, yet economical, alternatives in dash panel design. V-Series switches offer countless unique options including choices for ratings, circuitry, colors, illumination and legends. All switches feature removable actuators in a choice of actuator styles and colors, are available in single or double pole configurations, and can be illuminated with various shaped lenses.
Whatever your application, our Contura switches deliver the performance you demand – and the flexibility you need. With the Contura line of switches, panel design can be altered simply by snapping on a new style actuator with no need to retest or inventory new switches. There’s no challenge these sealed switches can’t help you address.
Contura switches, with sealed front panel components, are certified to IP66, signifying complete protection against dust and prolonged spray and submersion under pressure, and are recognized to UL1500 – Ignition Protection for Marine Products. These switches are vibration, shock, thermoshock, moisture and salt spray resistant. Temperature ratings range from -40°C to 85°C.
Friday, April 8th, 2016
2016-04-05 – April 5, 2016, Chennai: ABB signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) to enter a technical cooperation to build microgrids as well as joint R&D in the field of rural electrification, utilization of natural non-fossil resources, battery energy storage and their connection to loads and main grid. The agreement also includes internship opportunities to post graduate students of IITM for the next three years.
Indian scenario related to microgrids is expected to evolve rapidly in the coming years. With thousands of Indian villages still un-electrified, the decentralized microgrids are a viable solution to power these villages. A low-maintenance microgrid has the potential to eliminate dependence on expensive diesel fuel and the grid. IITM has been doing pioneering work over the last few years developing and demonstrating solar based energy-efficient DC homes. ABB, a global power and automation major has a strong portfolio of products for the renewable energy integration, distribution and automation of interconnected renewable energy sources that form local microgrids.
ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer opens ABB exhibition at IIT Madras University with Director Ramamurthi to mark an agreement on research collaborationIITM and ABB will jointly work to design, build and supply equipment for up to two such microgrids in rural areas.Along with ABB equipment, the microgrid will enable homes to be fitted with energy efficient DC devices like LED bulbs, TV, Cell phone charges, Brushless DC motor based fans, specially designed by IITM.The project shall be managed by IITM till the transfer of the installations to the local distribution utility (DISCOM).
ABB CEO and IIT Madras University with Director Ramamurthi sign MoU, boosting R&D partnership for micogrids and offering internships to students.“This is a great opportunity to combine our expertise with bright young minds from this renowned institute to devise and deploy solutions tailored for India,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “Microgrids technology is an important part of our Next Level strategy and well poised to make the Indian government’s vision of power to all a reality by providing access to energy and ensuing economic empowerment to the people.” At the end of last year, ABB set up India’s first multi-source urban microgrid in the heart of Delhi to power its flagship event, Automation and Power World.
“IIT is committed to implementing an affordable solution for supplying electric power to Indian homes, whether they are off-grid, or homes with several hours of power cuts. At the same time our solution helps reducing the home’s monthly power bills even when there are no power-cuts, a must for most middle and lower-income homes. Simultaneously IITM is committed to a vision of India moving completely to Electric Vehicles by 2030. Towards this it is ready to commit the best-in class technology. The R&D cooperation with ABB will help them get to these goals faster,” said Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.
ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer and ABB India MD Sanjeev Sharma meet with students from IIT Madras University, which has just been named India’s no. 1 research institute for engineeringAs a precursor to this agreement, an interface between industry-academia and regulatory bodies was organized jointly by IITM and ABB last month to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by microgrids in India. Around 100 participants from utilities, industry and academia had engaged in deliberations.
ABB’s Access to electricity initiative in India has already demonstrated significant impact in the country. Ithas brought solar power to 1,200 households in the Rajasthandesert and to over 100 villages in the world’s largest delta region of Sunderbans. The program has led to increased productivity of weavers and tailors by 50 percent and 40 percent respectively, improved healthcare, education and reduced strife with wildlife in the villagers’ search for firewood.
IITM has used its solar-DC technology to power 4000 off-grid homes in Rajasthan during the last few months. These homes are located at places where vehicles cannot travel and material including solar-panels and batteries are transported on camels or tractors.Today these homes have lights and fans and cell-phone chargers.
ABB will also support research at IITM’s Battery Engineering Center to improve the life and discharge cycles of Lead-Acid to Lithium-Ion batteries for the next five years. Immediate applications range from telecomtower backups to grid ancillaryservices and renewable integration.In addition, the research has the scope of including storage solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), importantinlight of the recent push for EVs to act as virtual power plants to store surplus energy and support the grid in times of deficit. The government outlined this in the recently launched National Mission on Electric Mobility program which targets six million electric vehicles (4mn two-wheelers and 2mn four-wheelers) by 2020.
About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport & infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people. Join ABB India facebook page: ABB India
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