Year: 2019

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Computers Unlimited Adds New Features to TIMS Assistant Computers Unlimited has added new features to its TIMS Assistant mobile application, which gives sales staff the ability to meet the needs of customers on the spot and provides an up-to-the-minute link with TIMS Core back at the office. The new features include the following: Open Orders & Quotes — Convert quotes into orders with a single click. View and make changes to existing orders and quotes, including notes and order comments. Contract Pricing — Review individual contract prices and terms quickly and easily. No more guessing about specific pricing agreements for…

Lincoln Electric Acquires Baker Industries, Inc. Lincoln Electric has announced the acquisition of Baker Industries, Inc.. Baker is a privately held Detroit, Michigan-based provider of custom tooling, parts and fixtures primarily serving automotive and aerospace markets. Baker has extensive in-house design and manufacturing capabilities, including machining, fabricating, assembly and additive manufacturing. The Baker organization will complement Lincoln Electric’s automation portfolio and its new metal additive manufacturing service business that will launch in mid-2019. Leveraging Lincoln Electric’s core competencies in automation, software development and metallurgy, the new metal additive business will manufacture large-scale printed metal parts, prototypes and tooling for industrial…

PHMSA Revises 2016 Interpretation on Cylinder Labeling The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has revised an interpretation letter (see below) dated October 20, 2016 to clarify that the words “flammable gas” or “non-flammable gas” may be placed on two lines instead of one line when set out in the transportation diamond as illustrated in CGA C-7, Appendix A. The new interpretation states that the Hazardous Materials Regulations provide several options for labeling of compressed gas cylinders. Although the letter states that neither CGA C-7, Appendix A nor the HMR specifically illustrate the hazard class text displayed on two lines, 49 CFR…

Pulsa Releases Software Update and New Cellular Gateway Pulsa has released a new Cross-Network Cellular Gateway that supports cellular coverage across 10+ carriers in the United States (including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint) and over 400 carriers globally with one hardware platform. In addition, Pulsa has released a software update with several new features, including custom email triggers that allow distributors to configure their sensors to send messages upon reaching custom-defined gas level conditions. The new update also allows for sensor sharing, which means that distributors can share sensors with their customers, while continuing to manage their entire customer inventory…

GRCC Presents Metallica with Steel Guitar In a previous issue, we mentioned the $100,000 grant provided by the band Metallica to Grand Rapids Community College in support of workforce training. In this issue, we wanted to let you know how GRCC gave back. Welding professors John Doneth, Nick Pinckney and Nathan Haney appreciated the band’s support, and used their skills to turn 14-gauge sheet steel into a decorative guitar with the foundation’s logo and “GRCC WELDING” cut into the front. GRCC President Bill Pink and Julie Parks, GRCC’s executive director of workforce training, met with Metallica guitarist James Hetfield at…

Responsive Respiratory Expands Into the CPAP Market with Purify O3 CPAP/BiPAP Ozone Sanitizer Responsive Respiratory has entered the CPAP market with a new portable Purify O3 ozone sanitizer. The Purify O3 sanitizer utilizes ozone technology to disinfect CPAP and BiPAP equipment, including masks, tubing or humidification chambers in just 35 minutes. The sanitation cycle is quick and whisper quiet, killing 99.99% of bacteria and germs. “The addition of the Purify O3 to our product line was a natural extension,” said Tom Bannon, Responsive Respiratory president. “The CPAP and oxygen therapy markets go hand in hand — so many of our…

FMCSA Issues ANPRM on Eliminating or Modifying Driver Application The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to solicit comments on whether the agency should eliminate or modify the driver application requirement. See 84 Fed. Reg. 8497 (March 8, 2019). The agency requests public comment on the value of and need for this requirement, and on ways the requirement for an employment application could be changed to reduce the associated paperwork burdens for drivers and motor carriers, including but not limited to the complete elimination of the requirement. The ANPRM notes that the Federal…

It’s that time again. 2018 is behind us, and we approach the new year with a sense of optimism and renewed energy. It’s also time to ask our GAWDA members what they expect in 2019. This year, we asked members what they envision for their companies, the industry and the emerging marketplace. Read on to see what your fellow GAWDA members anticipate on the road ahead. THE QUESTIONS:   What do you expect in the coming year at your company? Are you celebrating an anniversary, opening a new branch, opening a new line of business or transitioning to new ownership?…

In 2018, the Compressed Gas Association celebrated a number of regulatory successes, including the adoption of CGA recommended practices for GHS-compliant labeling, design aspects of cylinder and valve packages, requalification of manifolded cylinders and several other issues. As we look forward to 2019, there are several key areas of regulatory activity to monitor for impacts to our industry. We will continue to collaborate with our members, partner organizations like GAWDA, and our regulatory stakeholders to promote acceptance of industry positions on these issues and others that come up throughout the year. Consumer Safety As our industry’s products become more common…

In 1972, I graduated LeTourneau College (now LeTourneau University) with a degree in welding engineering and began working for a small manufacturing firm as part of its five-person engineering group. My fellow team members were over 40 years old, which seemed ancient to me at the time.  However, I found it rewarding to introduce them to the exciting new ideas I had learned in college, which made the experience enjoyable. Over time, I noticed I did not share the enthusiasm my colleagues had for the work we performed, and this made me anxious. Eventually I approached my manager with a…

Really? Every business? This will seem obvious to larger companies with skilled marketing teams and dedicated resources, but to the small, independent business owner, along with a small staff of do-everything-every-day employees, it might not strike a chord. As a matter of fact, it could probably come off as being a nuisance, but stay with me here and I’ll explain why and provide a clear and simple means to get there. Ask yourself a few questions first: What is my brand or identity? Where is my business today? Who is my ideal customer? What is my competition doing? Look around…

Run an internet search for cryotherapy and you will see many celebrities and pro athletes touting the benefits of this treatment. From athletic recovery to anti-aging, the advertised benefits keep growing, and it seems the whole country has now hopped on the arctic bandwagon. While it sounds exotic, cryotherapy is simply the use of low temperatures to provide physiological benefits. In the 1970s, whole body cryotherapy (WBC) was developed in Japan as a method of treating rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It involves the immersion of the body in a cryotherapy unit, with only the user’s head outside of the…

The GAWDA mission is to promote the safe operation and economic vitality of distributors of industrial gases and related welding equipment and supplies. The association carries this out in many ways, but central to the group’s effectiveness has always been an open sharing of ideas among its membership in support of each other. In 2000, GAWDA’s acting president, J. David Mahoney, and his wife, Donna, suggested that GAWDA might extend this notion of sharing to the communities that host their annual event, coining the initiative as GAWDA Gives Back. Nearly 20 years later, the program has donated over $2.3 million…

Over a hundred years ago, two entrepreneurial brothers, Walter and John Brant, recognized the need for a gas supplier to serve the state of Indiana and neighboring communities. Together they founded Indiana Oxygen Company (IOC) in 1915, which initially supplied products to the local automotive industry including the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. According to Wally Brant, chief executive officer and grandson of founder Walter Brant, Indiana Oxygen was not only the first oxygen manufacturer (through electrolysis) and distributor in Indiana, it remains the oldest surviving gas and welding supply distributor in the nation. Being the first in the state, Indiana…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has submitted an Information Collection Request to the Office of Management and Budget seeking approval to conduct a study on truck and bus maintenance requirements and their impact on safety. The FMCSA notice states the goal of the study is to determine what improvements, ranging from better compliance interventions to better vehicle maintenance requirements, would enhance motor carrier safety. A 2014 study by the DOT’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on the effectiveness of the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System in identifying the highest risk motor carriers to be targeted for interventions found that motor…

Have you received a warning letter from the DOT asking you to review your record and improve your overall score? Several of our members have received such letters. This is not a letter that you want to get. It is a warning letter that, in so many words, means that if you do not improve your score, then you may be visited — another way of saying that you may get an audit. You may look at your overall record and review your score by going to the Safety Management System (SMS) website at this address: ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS/. This site allows…

What is the Latest FDA Thinking About Expiration Dates on Medical Gases? 21 CFR 211.137(a) clearly states that drugs must bear an expiration date. However, this does not represent the latest agency thinking or enforcement regarding expiration dating of medical gases. Enforcement Discretion We have three recent examples of FDA communication regarding expiration dates: In a message from the FDA to a medical gas firm, the agency stated: The agency is currently developing guidance pertaining to stability testing and expiration dating of medical gases. Pending publication of FDA guidance on this subject, our policy has been to use enforcement discretion…

Messer Group and CVC Close Acquisition of Linde Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII recently announced the completion of the planned acquisition of certain businesses in North and South America from Linde plc, launching a new name in the Americas market. Messer Americas offers largely the same products, services and people customers have come to know and trust. Together with Messer Group, the company represents a USD $3 billion global enterprise that includes presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. “I am proud to serve as CEO of Messer in the Americas, a continuation of my prior role,”…

Computers Unlimited Releases New Bulk Gas Module Computers Unlimited has released a new TIMS Bulk Gas Manager for managing bulk gas tank installations, forecasting, ordering, scheduling, billing and payment processing for all bulk gas operations within the TIMS system. The system allows the user to track any/all gases (propane, CO2, hydrogen, argon, helium, nitrogen and oxygen), as well as to run multiple gas managers at the same time for various gases. To run the manager, the user simply chooses a bulk gas type, selects the configurations and UOM conversions specific to each gas, then reads the dashboard to forecast future…