What’s Happening
Walter acquires ArcOne
Walter Surface Technologies, Windsor, Connecticut, has acquired ArcOne, Taunton, Massachusetts, a provider of industrial safety products. Through this acquisition, Walter adds a personal protective equipment product line to its offering, complementing its metalworking products and workplace safety seminar program. ArcOne will continue to operate under its own brand.
Beckhoff expands regional office
Beckhoff Automation LLC, Savage, Minnesota, moved its Charlotte, North Carolina, office to a larger location to meet constant growth in customer base and market share in the area. The new facility enhances workspaces for sales and support engineers, includes a showroom and customer training room. Beckhoff also plans to open new facilities in 2020 and 2021 in or near Denver, Los Angeles, Houston, Milwaukee and Orlando.
AWS adds certification
The American Welding Society launched its newest certification, the Certified Resistance Welding Technician (CWRT). Co-developed by the AWS and the Resistance Welding Manufacturing Alliance, the certification serves as a benchmark to evaluate resistance welding personnel and separates the qualified from the untested. The CRWT exam tests the candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities in conducting the setup, operation, maintenance, testing and quality control of resistance welding equipment.
Society awards education grants
The American Welding Society Foundation, Miami, in partnership with Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Appleton, Wisconsin, selected eight high schools as winners of its inaugural Light a Spark Grant. Recipients are Blairsville-Saltsburg School District (Pennsylvania), Easton Valley High School (Iowa), James Hillhouse High School (Connecticut), Regional Apprenticeship Pathways (Washington), Republic-Michigamme School (Michigan), Swanville High School (Minnesota), Union Mine High School (California), and Waltrip High School (Texas). These schools will each receive a turnkey Miller welding starter pack including equipment, supplies and personal protective equipment valued at more than $12,000, so they can teach welding.
HGG opens Houston service and support center
HGG Profiling Equipment opened a 6,500-sq.-ft. center in Houston, to service and support its customers and profile-cutting machine installations in North and South America.The centralized hub will rapidly deploy technical field service and engineering support, warehouse spare machine parts and plasma consumables, and train customers and HGG personnel with profile-cutting demo machinery on site.
ESAB completes brand transition
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products, Annapolis Junction, Maryland, has finalized the transition to the Exaton brand name for all welding filler metals involved with its 2018 acquisition of Sandvik Welding Consumables. For stainless consumables, the Sandvik name has been replaced with the Exaton followed by the AWS/ASME classification of the product. For example, Sandvik 317L is now Exaton 317L. The nickel-based consumables, previously sold under the Sandvik and Sanicro names, have been renamed with the Exaton followed by the AWS/ASME classification of the product. For example, Sandvik NiCrMo-3 is now Exaton NiCrMo-3.
