7/8/21  The Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers, Inc. (CASMI) is re-scheduling SpringWorld 2022 so that it will not conflict with Yom Kippur.

A press release said that the event, which was scheduled to take place Oct. 5-7, 2022, will now take place Oct. 12-14, 2022, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. For more details about the event, go to www.casmi-springworld.org.  

7/8/21 DtGV, the German Association for Consumer Studies, has named SIKORA as one of the winners of its SME Innovation Award 2021/2022.

A press release said that the award goes to small and medium-sized companies from Germany “that demonstrate particularly high innovation potential in their segment and/or state.” The award was based on the Corporate Patent Classification (CPC) system. The basic parameter patent number was rounded off by the qualitative moment of the citation frequency and condensed into a score value.

SIKORA, a supplier of measuring technology, was scored as being among the top 10% of all examined SMEs in the CPC main class for instruments.” In the parallel federal state ranking, it was listed as one of the top three companies from Bremen. “This award makes us very proud and confirms the corporate course we have been following since the foundation of the company,” said Sikora CEO Dr. Christian Frank. “Thanks to our inventive spirit and innovation potential, we are able to continuously offer our customers future-oriented technology solutions. Thus, we create the basis for highest customer satisfaction and long-term growth.” 

7/7/21  Anand Bhagwat was promoted to senior manager - quality and technology at Minova USA. In his new position, he will continue to support daily operations of quality functions, and manage the overall technology group in the Americas region. He will also support the global R&D team on product development. He joined the company in 2011 as manager of the Steel Technology Center. Prior to that, he worked at the Seneca Wire Group from 2000 to 2006 as vice president of quality and technology. Following a three-year stint as managing director of WAI Wire and Cable Services, Ltd., in India, the past WAI president (2005) returned to Seneca in 2011 as plant manager of FENIX, LLC. Based in Georgetown, Kentucky, Minova USA supplies ground support products for the mining, construction and energy industries.

Oman Cables Industry announced that Cinzia Farise is the company’s new CEO. She has been a sales and marketing director in the services and industrial products sector. She joined Italy’s Prysmian Group in 2005, holding a number of positions that included vice president and CEO of Prysmian India. She later served as CEO for Trenord, a large Italian rail company. In 2019, she returned to the Prysmian Group, and was named CEO of the group’s Turkish affiliate. She holds a degree in economics. She replaces Ali Said al Habaj, who left for personal reasons. Based in Rusayl, the Sultanate of Oman, Oman Cables Industry manufactures a wide range of electrical wires.

Victor Muñizn is the new regional manager for Latin America for Proton Products, tasked with leading and developing its sales and services business for measuring equipment in Latin America and the Caribbean. He previously worked for more than 20 years for Beta LaserMike, which is a brand of NDC Technologies, in Latin America as well as the U.S. His career began in 1999 as a senior laboratory engineer for Alcatel in the U.K. He holds a degree from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and an MBA from the University of Hull. Based in the U.K., Proton Products offers a wide range of measuring technology for wire and cable.

Remee Wire & Cable has named Marc Stringer as the company’s engineering product manager. He has more than three decades of industry experience in product management, marketing, engineering and related positions throughout his career. Some of his previous employers include General Cable, Belden, Southwire, Coleman, Champlain Cable and TE Wire & Cable. Based in Florida, New York, Remee Wire & Cable manufactures a range of fiber optic and copper cable.

Chroma Color Corporation announced three new employees. Wayne Comeau is the new market development manager. He most recently worked for eight years in the masterbatch industry as a key account manager, focused on custom color concentrates across various strategic markets. Prior to that he worked in numerous molding processes. Bob Mann is a regional account manager for Indiana, Michigan, and key accounts in the Midwestern region. He has 15 years of experience in colorants and additives, and a solid technical background that included roles with increasing responsibilities in color development labs. Tony Tanner is a regional account manager in the Mid-Atlantic region. He most recently was a senior technical account manager with a global pigment and dye manufacturer. He has wide experience in the field. Based in McHenry, Illinois, Chroma Color Corporation is a leading specialty color and additive concentrate supplier for markets that include wire and cable. 

Obituary notice
WJI is sad to report the passing of Ronald “Ron” W. Reed, a past WAI President (2008) who died from cancer on June 24 at age 65. A friend to many, he was a superb Association advocate and volunteer, for which he was named the 2012 winner of the Donnellan Memorial Award. The August issue will have a full obituary.

7/7/21 Paramount Die Company announced that it has opened a new facility in Monterrey, Mexico, that will bolster its ability to serve international markets when it becomes operational in August.

The company, which notes that it is the world’s largest supplier of carbide wire drawing dies, reported that the new facility will enable it to better serve the Mexican and Latin American markets as well as provide additional capacity for production of wire drawing dies for export to international markets. More than half of Paramount Die’s products are already used outside the U.S. market, and the new facility will better position the company for further international expansion.

“With the addition of this new facility, Paramount Die expands its ability to quickly deliver world class products and services to the global market,” said Paramount Die President Richard Sarver. “The new facility will provide us additional capacity and will further strengthen our international competitiveness.”

Paramount is currently hiring and training staff for the new facility. The initial staff will be 20, and when fully operational, there will be more than a hundred employees.

Paramount’s plant in Abingdon, Maryland, will continue to function as the company’s primary manufacturing facility, technical R&D center and corporate headquarters. The Abingdon plant is also undergoing an expansion as Paramount continues to grow its production of carbide tooling for other metal forming applications, such as shaving, rolling and deep-draw tooling.

7/7/21 Optical Cable Corporation (OCC) and CommScope have entered into a long-term agreement to cross-license portions of their patent portfolios.

A press release said that the cross-license agreement relates to certain copper data communication connectivity patents of both OCC and CommScope, in addition to OCC’s in-building wireless patents. Both companies can access and implement the other company’s licensed patents and technologies under the agreement.

This agreement follows one in 2004 where CommScope and SMP Data Communications (now part of OCC) cross-licensed copper data communication connectivity technologies that included complementary core technologies related to Cat. 6/Cat. 6A RJ45 connector performance.
“We have had a long and productive relationship with OCC and we are pleased to extend it with this agreement,” said CommScope’s John Schmidt, vice president of building connectivity infrastructure.