Pit & Quarry, February 2011

THE LATEST ON EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY Manufacturer briefs Meeting demand Caterpillar Inc plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Thailand that will produce a full range of underground mining articulated trucks and loaders the company announced Cat will break ground on the factory early this year with production scheduled to begin in late 2012 Once the facility is fully operational and at full capacity it is expected to employ about 800 people New contest sponsor Caterpillar Inc became a major sponsor of the 2011 AEM Construction Challenge presented by Volvo Construction Equipment AEM announced The finals will be held in front of an estimated 100000 people during ConExpo Con Agg on March 22 26 in Las Vegas JCB adds dealer JCBs North American dealer network now includes Black JCB a new division of Black Equipment Co Black JCB will provide new and used equipment sales and rentals to the materials handling and construction industries along with 24 hour parts and service Bearing repair expertise The Yuba City Calif based Kingsbury Inc repair and service facility which opened in 2007 to service the fluid film bearing market in the western United States and Canada is now available to provide inspections and repairs of ball and roller bearings for its western customers the company announced Gearbox repair facility opens Rexnord Industries opened a fully renovated 29000 sq ft gearbox repair and remanufacturing facility in Salt Lake City The facility is part of the companys Falk Renew Prager product services which repairs or rebuilds gearboxes of all makes brands and sizes It will join Renew locations near Milwaukee and New Orleans Behind the scenes Volvo Construction Equipment is holding the Working Iron Challenge a competitive online opportunity for people to show how hard they work on job sites across the United States and Canada The grand prize winning video will be announced in March at ConExpo Con Agg 2011 For details visit www workingironchallenge com New year brings numerous industry personnel changes A number of companies have recently announced personnel moves KPI JCI Jeff May was promoted to vice president of operations for Kolberg Pioneer Inc He will continue in his role as controller for the company as well as his management of the accounting and IT departments and their staffs Fenner Dunlop Mark Hardwick was appointed COO for Fenner Dunlop Americas He will oversee the sales marketing customer service technical development and facility management of the companys full range of conveyor belting products services components diagnostics and project management in North America Terex Doug Friesen was appointed senior vice president of Terex Business System Friesen will transition from vice president and managing director of Terex Cranes Demag in Zweibrucken Germany to his new position in the next several months the company said Stedman Eric Marcotte was appointed southern U S regional sales manager for Stedman and Innovative Processing Solutions Paladin Construction Group Attachment manufacturer Paladin Construction Group appointed Peter LaFosse to territory manager covering the northeast United States and Mike Roberto to heavy construction territory manager covering the Ohio Valley Precision Pulley Idler Chris Hopper a former employee of Thaman Rubber Co accepted a regional sales manager position with Precision Pulley Idler Thaman Vice President Chris Nelson said ISCO Industries Jerry Smith joined ISCO Industries distributor and custom fabricator of piping products as the new aggregate market specialist Flexco offers another belt training solution Flexco developed the PT Smart belt trainer to enhance its line of belt tracking equipment The PT Smart will join the Belt Positioner and the heavyduty PT Max belt trainer as an option for medium duty tensioned belts The economical and versatile PT Smart works with mechanical and vulcanized belts It is made of durable materials and is easy to install according to the company www flexco com 10 PIT QUARRY February 2011 www pitandquarry com