Grote Industries’ Robotic LED Production Wins EIA’s IDEA of the Year Award
Grote Industries Product Development Engineer, Edward Sitarski, has been presented with the Employee Involvement Association’s Individual IDEA of the Year Award for 2007. For more than 65 years, the Employee Involvement Association has provided quality educational programs to a broad range of industries who understand that their employees have the ideas to help make their companies more productive and profitable. EIA’s Annual Awards Program, the highlight of its annual international conference, focuses on outstanding ideas of the year and leadership of employee involvement and suggestion systems programs. Approximately 250,000 ideas are submitted each year from companies globally. Sitarski’s idea to automate manual terminal connector LED production bested 90 finalists for the win.
AMH Canada Unveils New SpectraJet Waterborne Paint Drying Method
AMH Canada Ltd has introduced SpectraJet, a new non-infrared product, into the Spectratek range of paint drying equipment. According to the company, SpectraJet is a simple air moving system that solves the problem of slow drying waterborne basecoats increasingly used in the automotive refinish industry. SpectraJet pushes clean, filtered booth air across the painted panels
Four Seasons Offers Tips for Chrysler’s Flashing LEDs
Four Seasons offers tips to help professional technicians resolve Chrysler’s flashing LEDs. In many cases after the replacement of a battery, a HVAC control module, door actuator and/or various button LEDs on the control module will begin to blink. This is due to a system requirement for actuator calibration to be performed. On 1996 to 2000 vehicle models, the rear wiper and rear intermittent wiper LEDs flash simultaneously. On 2001 to 2004 models, the AC and RECIRC LEDs flash simultaneously.
From Counterman.com: Time and a Half
One of the hot-button issues in the independent automotive service industry is how to charge for diagnostic time. Currently, the debate is framed by two basic schools of thought. The practitioners of the first school are the shop managers who regard “free diagnostic code reads” as a marketing expense needed to lure potential customers into their doors. The practitioners of the second school are “hard-line” shop managers who believe that diagnostic time should yield profits commensurate with the tooling and training expense needed to diagnose complex powertrain and body control systems.
Executive Interview with Lee Murray, General Manager, Dana Engine Parts Division
In this week’s Executive Interview, we hear from Lee Murray, general manager for Dana’s Clevite Engine Parts Division. Murray assumed this role in April 2006 and has responsibility for all functions associated with the Clevite, Perfect Circle and Victor Reinz brands. He originally came to Clevite in 2004 as vice-president of marketing. Join us as Murray talks about the sale of Dana’s Engine Parts division to MAHLE, the general health of the engine business and more.
Sunair Products Acquires EMN Air, Announces Expansion in Europe
Sunair Products has purchased Euromotoren (EMN Air) located in Weert, The Netherlands to form Sunair Europe b.v. Sunair has been doing business in Europe for five years. For many years, EMN Air has been the sole distributor for Sunair compressor remanufacturing parts, tools, chemicals and components to the compressor remanufacturing aftermarket in Europe. Now with the formation of Sunair Europe b.v., the two companies combine Sunair USA’s 25 years of experience with the European compressor market knowledge, client base and personnel that EMN Air posses.
Canadian Automakers Have Six Months to Come Up with Plan for Targeting Harmful Mercury Switches
From Canadian Press KITCHENER, Ontario — Canada’s automakers have been put on notice regarding the harmful mercury switches still found in millions of cars. The companies have been given six months to formulate a plan to reduce by 90 percent the amount of mercury switches headed to the junkyard. Environment Minister Rona Ambrose announced the
OE Dealerships Are Improving Vehicle Service, According to New J.D. Power Study
According to a new study released today by J.D. Power and Associates, automotive dealerships are getting a lot better when it comes to repairs and maintenance, an area where OEMs are actively trying to increase market share. Dealerships are doing better at getting the work done right the first time and having the vehicle ready when promised, the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Service Usage and Retention Study (SURS) finds.
Tomorrow’s Technician Editor Serves as Team Judge to Winning Team in National Student Auto Skills Competition
Earlier this week, 50 two-person student teams from across the country competed against each other, and against the clock, to accurately diagnose and fix vehicles in the 2006 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals. The competition took place June 27 in Dearborn, MI. Two aspiring techs Bradley Bolton and Aaron Clay, seniors at Paris High School in Paris, TX, only needed 29 minutes and 34 seconds to accurately diagnose and fix their Ford Mustang Convertible and win the 2006 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills national finals on Tuesday. Ed Sunkin, editor of Tomorrow’s Technician, a B-to-B automotive tech magazine that is distributed to 1,200 NATEF-certified schools, reaching more than 50,000 automotive technician students, served as a Team Judge for the Paris, TX, duo.
PART II — The Collapse of American Remanufacturers Inc: An In-depth Look at ARI’s Fall into Bankruptcy
There were certainly many internal factors that lead to the collapse of ARI. Indeed, troubled mergers and internal accounting problems are not new in business. But for the industry at large, ARI’s story poses broader questions about foreign competition and the market’s ability to adapt to today’s rapidly changing global dynamics.