Seneca Foods equipment auction set for fall
Schneider Industries, New Mill Capital and Smith Food Machinery are set to sell the equipment assets of Seneca Foods fruit processing and packaging plant in Modesto, California. Seneca announced the closure of the plant, one of the largest single-location fruit processing and packaging operations in the world, in February 2018. The sale of assets consists of pieces of equipment used for fruit receiving, processing, packaging and plant support. Inspections are available by appointment with offers being taken on equipment prior to the auction set for fall 2018. The facility features raw receiving, extraction, syrup production, evaporation, stainless processing, decanters, optical sorting lines, blanching, can filling and seaming lines, can cooker coolers, hydrostatic can cooker, cherry coloring plant, complete fruit cocktail plant, slicing, dicing, secondary packaging, and all plant support.
Saint-Gobain starts production of fluoropolymer parts in India
Saint-Gobain Seals started production of its Rulon 123 stamped fluoropolymer parts at its Bangalore, India facility to supply local parts to an industrial customer for use in gasoline metering pumps. The company moved ahead with local manufacturing due to the customer’s increase in volume and need to maintain efficient JIT (just in time) purchasing process. While the Bangalore facility was set up to meet the needs of a sole customer, Saint-Gobain Seals will now work with other customers to meet their needs for Rulon stamped parts and other Rulon solutions. Rulon polymer material is equipped to support applications in various markets including aerospace, transportation and automotive, consumer, industrial, life sciences, oil and gas and habitat.
ROSS opens online store
Charles Ross & Son Company opened an online store that features standard laboratory mixers (3/4 horsepower [hp] and 1 hp), batch and inline high-shear mixers (up to 25 hp), as well as production-scale high-speed dispersers (up to 30 hp). Variable frequency drives (NEMA 1 or 4X) are offered as options. The website is designed for browsing and selection, with mixer features outlined. Those interested in special features, customizations or additional accessories have the option to request a custom quote from the store.
ATEK Metal Technologies expands Iowa Plant
ATEK Metal Technologies is expanding its plant and technical capabilities to keep up with demand. As part of the expansion, the company is improving its plant automation program with an investment in robotic de-gating and deburring of castings.The building expansion is planned to be completed in December. ATEK specializes in low pressure permanent and semipermanent mold aluminum castings. It also has advanced counter pressure castings (ACPC) capabilities.
BossTek extends company warranty on direct-drive fan motors
BossTek, formerly Dust Control Technology, upgraded its product warranty from a three-year, 3,000-hour to a five-year, 5,000-hour replacement warranty on the direct-drive fan motor of its entire product lineup. The demand for atomized mist dust suppression technology has increased since air quality inspectors now test for smaller, non-visible fugitive particle sizes (<10 microns in diameter or roughly the size of pollen), the company said. These particulates can leave the site line and expose the surrounding community to potentially hazardous respiratory issues. Previously, industries controlled dust by applying surface suppression using water sprayed from hoses, which create droplets from 200 to 1,000 microns in size. Operators discovered that in order to control dust emissions, droplet sizes must roughly match the size of airborne particulates, which hoses cannot accomplish.
QED Environmental Systems starts in-house machining
QED Environmental Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Graco Inc., will now machine parts for approximately 90 percent of its finished goods. By machining in-house, QED can monitor every step of the manufacturing process from incoming material to the final product. The company will use a Citizen Cincom L32 Swiss CNC lathe, a Behringer automatic band saw and a Mazak Multiplex 6300YR turning center to machine parts and is now also manufacturing all applicable parts out of 316 stainless steel, upgrading from 304 stainless steel to improve resistance to corrosion and chemical attack.
