Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
RACINE - Claiming it can compete globally from its manufacturing base in southeastern Wisconsin, where it invented the first garbage disposal 90 years ago, InSinkErator on Thursday announced a $63 million raft of new investments that include new headquarters and research labs.
"We can be competitive here. We do it every day," said InSinkErator President Chad Severson. China, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are among the growth markets that InSinkErator expects to drive demand for made-in-Wisconsin disposals.
InSinkErator, owned by St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co., will build a new $34 million headquarters and lab facility in Mount Pleasant, which is 5 miles from the flagship manufacturing plant, where officials unveiled the final design plans for the new prairie-style environmentally efficient building. Another $29 million is earmarked to expand the Racine manufacturing facility "and make room for future growth."
Company officials portrayed InSinkErator as a champion of made-in-America manufacturing, emphasizing that 90% of its suppliers are based in the United States, and all final assembly is done in American factories.
The company's basic food-waste pulverizing product is a staple in American homes, hidden under the kitchen sink. With new research and development labs, however, InSinkErator is broadening its aims into alternative energies, another global growth sector. Under a process it dubs Grind2Energy, InSinkErator will work with large-scale producers of leftovers such as stadiums or supermarkets and convert the leftovers into a slurry, which can be turned into fertilizers or biogas, Severson said.
The latest leg of expansion is part of a total $150 million in investments that Emerson is making in southeastern Wisconsin over the 2015-2019 timeframe. Those investments also include: $24.9 million to build a Kenosha facility, which opened in 2015, and $60 million in sustaining investment funding for various other needs.
InSinkErator employs 1,200 people in Racine, Kenosha and Sturtevant, making it a major employer in the region. InSinkErator is in the throes of restructuring its American operations but plans to leave its overall headcount in the region stable, officials said.
The new investments come as welcome news in Racine, where the unemployment rate is estimated at 5.3%, the second-highest of the state's 30 largest cities. Beloit has the highest, at 5.7%.
The new 85,000-square-foot headquarters, to be located in Mount Pleasant, also in Racine County, will be ready to open its doors next year near I-94, giving its executives access to the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor. It will house 175 engineers and professional staff.
"The I-94 corridor is going to be a very good jobs hub," said U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, who joined the announcement in his home district. “Manufacturers like InSinkErator are the backbone of our economy.”
Ryan used the occasion to reiterate his support for a proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax code this year, meant to lower tax rates for American companies to become more competitive, and for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
“I truly believe there is no better place to do business in America than the Badger State," Ryan said.
Emerson has closed on the purchase of 11.5 acres at the southwest corner of Highway 20 and Industrial Drive in Mount Pleasant and has received local approvals to build on the site. Construction of the new headquarters and lab building, which has been designed to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, is scheduled to begin in June.
InSinkErator will receive financial incentives from the Racine County Board of Supervisors, which approved Emerson’s $4.65 million loan request, and the Village of Mount Pleasant Board of Trustees, which approved $600,000 in tax increment financing assistance.
“Southeast Wisconsin continues to be an important area of operations for Emerson’s InSinkErator business,” said Bob Sharp, executive president at Emerson's Commercial & Residential Solutions division.
Emerson expects to have its new InSinkErator headquarters open in July 2018 and reconfiguration of the Racine plant completed by fall 2019.
| A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel release || May 12, 2017
The car industry, the computer industry and even the machine industry present every few years new and modern designed models.
Why? To be able to attack new markets and new customers. However, it is hard to see something new in the conveyor industry. Most of the unit conveyor systems were developed 15, 20 or even 50 years ago and are still sold today in a construction, which remembers on the patents of the British toy manufacturer Frank Hornby, who has already registered his patent of a “Meccano” kit in 1901.
Now, the two young founders of the start-up Avancon SA are ready to revolutionize the conveyor industry with this new and streamlined concept. It’s full of innovative and functional ideas and has been patented worldwide.
Originally, Dieter Specht had developed this system for Interroll. But it didn’t fit to their philosophy. So he found two enthusiastic entrepreneurs, Denis Ratz, he has a bachelor of science in business informatics and Dr. Daniele Gambetta, who has a PhD in electric machines. They established in Ticino/Switzerland a new start-up under the name Avancon SA (from Avant-garde and Conveyor).
The CEO, Denis Ratz showed the new conveyor system to some large and important manufacturers of conveyor- and logistics-systems and got a very positive response.
| An Avancon SA release || <ay 03, 2017 |||
For more detailed information on the Avancon SA products and who to contact email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The engineering.com office is swarmed daily with new product news, gee-whiz technology, and each and every “paradigm shift.” In the midst of it all, I was surprised to get an invitation to the launch of AutoCAD 2018.
“AutoCAD—is that still around?” asked one of our editors.
It seems as though it never went away. Rumors of AutoCAD’s demise, helped by the rise of Inventor or Fusion 360 on the mechanical side and Revit on the BIM side, were ... well, just rumors.
“We still have millions of users,” assured Rob Maguire, director of Autodesk’s AutoCAD product line.
Maguire has gathered a handful of “influencers,” aka social media wonks, power users and select old media, to Autodesk’s San Francisco office to see that the patient is not only alive and well, but is being improved. (Read more about the product improvements in our previous report.)
The dozen or so of us gathered in Autodesk’s office. We wondered when we had last seen each other. It was definitely before we started being called “influencers.” We recount the days when an AutoCAD release was Autodesk’s biggest news—highly anticipated, occurring 18 months or 2 years, max. A major release was trumpeted months in advance by a PR staff, with a wave of information going out to the press and bloggers. The CAD world would wait with bated breath for our reports. That is what we liked to think. In the last couple of years, major releases of Autodesk software have not even warranted a press release. If we were lucky, we heard about it, someone at Autodesk wrote about it on a blog post.
Continue to the full article here | An engineering.com release || May 02, 2017 |||
Elaflex HIBY Tanktechnik, a specialist company in safe connections for the transfer of dangerous goods and sensitive fluids, have acquired a major stake in Oasis Engineering Ltd of Tauranga (New Zealand). Oasis, a member of NGV Global, is an internationally operating specialist for valves and couplings used in the compressed natural gas (CNG) industry.
The company established a strong reputation as supplier of CNG components and systems for filling stations and gas delivery networks. An example: Worldwide CNG trailer companies are rapidly adopting the new Oasis high flow breakaway and coupling systems that have positively changed the whole economics of road transport for gas.
“This exciting partnership brings together two highly innovative companies both well respected in the fuel handling world,” says Andy Cameron, Managing Director of Oasis Engineering.
Stefan Kunter, Managing Director of Elaflex: ”The complementary product ranges mutually allow us to further expand our expertise with fluid energy transfer.”
Existing distribution structures will remain untouched. Oasis will continue to independently operate, with unchanged staff and with Andy Cameron, as Oasis’s managing director.
| An Elaflex release || April 23, 2017 |||
Mountains of slag all over the world are a Kiwi company's idea of great riches.
The waste from mines is dumped into mounds so big that they can generate their own weather patterns -- but New Zealand company Avertana says they can each be worth half a billion dollars.
Avertana is a start-up company that has received a kickstart from a new fund set up by The Icehouse innovation hub and its investors ICE Angels.
The "Tuhua" fund has raised $10 million dollars to target 25 Kiwi start-up companies.
ICE Angels CEO Robbie Paul says the idea is to be a game changer.
Continue to read the full article on Newshub || April 18, 2017 |||
New Zealand contract manufacturer Alaron has undertaken a multi-million-dollar expansion and renovation project at its Nelson site, with the firm hopeful of growth for its customers in South East Asia after China sales began to go “off the boil” due to regulatory uncertainty.
Continue here to read full article | April 11, 2017 |||
Babcock International’s Australasian CEO for engineering, infrastructure and aviation believes local operations will grow by more than 25 per cent annually, it has been reported in todays Manufacturers' Monthly
David Ruff spoke with the AFR about the potential for the business, which has been awarded contract “to provide offshore helicopter support services” in the Timor Sea for the United States oil and gas company Conoco Philips.
Babcock International has annual global revenues over $9 billion and opened a new regional headquarters in Adelaide on Wednesday.
In Australia and New Zealand, the company was generating revenues of $15 million from four years ago and has seen that rise to $250 million annually.
Last September, Babcock secured a five-year contract to help manage Qantas airline’s aviation fleet in 60 locations across Australia.
There are also further opportunities in engineering, defence, and transport and infrastructure sectors.
| A Manufacturers'Monthly release || April 06, 2017 |||
An Irish insulation manufacturer , Kingspan who also have presence in the New Zealand market, has officially opened its new facility in Somerton, creating 50 new jobs, and setting new standards in energy efficiency.
Victorian Minister for Industry and Employment Wade Noonan congratulated Kingspan at a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Victorian Government has worked with Kingspan to develop the Oherns Road factory – worth about $40 million – by providing funding support and assisting with planning and approval.
The company’s new Somerton base has become Australia’s first ever Green Star rated manufacturing facility.
It includes a 750 kW solar system built into the roof design, and innovative features such as industrial low energy lighting and heating systems.
It’s at least 10 per cent more energy efficient than Kingspan’s other manufacturing facilities.
Kingspan will supply its insulation products to the Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Oceania markets, with 35 per cent of output expected to be exported by 2020.
The Victorian Government supported Kingspan’s investment in partnership with the Federal Government through the Melbourne’s North Innovation and Investment Fund (MNIIF).
MNIIF has since been replaced by the $33 million Local Industry Fund for Transition (LIFT), supporting new investment, and creating jobs for retrenched automotive workers.
These grants have already created an additional 122 jobs from six projects in Melbourne’s north – as the Victorian Government works to build a strong, innovative and sustainable manufacturing sector.
| A Kingspan release | April 06, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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