Welding and Gases Today Q1, 2016

First Quarter 2016

Spring Conference Preview

Special Permit Update

Meet the 2016 Board

Cylinder Filling Tips

Compensation Report

Profile: Cee Kay Supply

The Official Journal of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association

WE PUT 110 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE INTO EVERY SPEC GAS REGULATOR WE BUILD.

CORROSIVE GAS APPLICATIONS • HIGH PURITY GAS APPLICATIONS • RESEARCH SAMPLE SYSTEMS GASES • PROCESS ANALYZER GASES • GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY EPA PROTOCOL GASES • LASER GAS SYSTEMS • EMISSION MONITORING SYSTEMS

THE HARRIS PRODUCTS GROUP • 1.800.733.4533 • www.harrisproductsgroup.com

contents

F E AT U R E S

First Quarter • Winter 2016 • Volume 15, No. 1

MEMBER PROFILE 12 Cee Kay Supply Uses Hardgoods Expertise to Gain Gas Sales

D E PA R T M E N T S

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE 7

28 Meet Your 2015-2016 GAWDA Board of Directors

Disruptions, Threats and Opportunities

Directors describe their goals and talk about their objectives for the Association, and for their businesses (in 140 characters or less).

By William Visintainer

SPRING MANGAGEMENT CONFERENCE

DIRECTOR’S DESK 9

78 Conference Overview

Investing In Our Future

A look at the speakers and events highlighting GAWDA’s 2016 Spring Management Conference scheduled for Savannah, GA, April 3 -5

By John Ospina

EDITOR’S NOTES

MONEY MATTERS

11 What a Ride!

By Carole Jesiolowski

81 Taking It to The Street

The effect of passing lower supplier prices to your customers. There are two major reasons that firms pass along price reductions routinely.

One of the reasons is strategic, the other is operational. Are you doing one or the other?

CONSULTANT CORNER 23 Four Cylinder-Filling Tips

By Michael Dodd

By Albert D. Bates, Ph.D.

24 Top Six Questions About Food and Beverage Gases

By Thomas L. Badstubner

26 DOT Issues New Rules for Special Permits and Approvals

84 Credit Card Chargebacks

Fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, but there are red flags that can help you prevent credit card chargeback fraud.

By Tony Hopkins

By Richard P. Schweitzer, Esq.

2016 INDUSTRY EVENTS 78

FEBRUARY

APRIL

10-11

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Fullerton, CA

24-26

WEMCO Annual Meeting // St. Petersburg, FL

1-3

AIWD Annual Convention // Charleston, SC

3-5

GAWDA Spring Management Conference // Savannah, GA

18-20 4-5

MAY

JUNE JULY AUGUST

SMC- SAVANNAH, GA THE WESTIN SAVANNAH HARBOR GOLF RESORT & SPA

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER

2

84

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Houston, TX GAWDA Regional Meeting // Destin, FL

11-12

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Atlantic City, NJ

17-19

IWDC Sales & Purchasing Convention // Indianapolis, IN

5-8

LDA Annual Membership Meeting // Orlando, FL

20-22

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Seven Springs, PA

13-14

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Maumee Bay, OH

20-22

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Coeur D’Alene, ID

8-9

GAWDA Regional Meeting // North Stonington, CT

12-13

GAWDA Regional Meeting // Kansas City, MO

25-28

GAWDA Annual Convention // Maui, HI

11-14

IWDC Owners Meeting // California

23-27

IOMA’s 2016 Annual Meeting // San Diego, CA.

14-16

FABTECH // Las Vegas, NV

Winter 2016

contents First Quarter • Winter 2016 • Volume 15, No. 1

D E PA R T M E N T S 2

Industry Calendar

87 News from Headquarters

COVER STORY BUSINESS FORECAST 2016 36 Distributors Plan to Find Efficiencies, Add Products, Carve New Markets Distributors discuss their innovative plans for weathering the year’s up, down and middle-ground business environments.

62 Facing Mixed Markets, Suppliers Look for New Niches and Innovations to Achieve Growth Industry investing, training and building for growth now and down the road.

Fall Convention Recap

92 Welcome New Members 95 In Memoriam 96 Industry News 98 Mergers & Acquisitions 99 New Products, Services & Technologies 100 Advertisers Index

ON THE WEB FOLLOW WELDING & GASES TODAY ON

www.WeldingAndGasesToday.org

The Road From Dayton celebrates GAWDA– our history, our members, our challenges, our achievements.

Each member company has received a copy. eXtras are availaBle from gawda HeadQUarters. toll-free: 844-251-3219

THE TEAM EXECUTIVE EDITOR John Ospina

SENIOR EDITORS Diane Stirling Charles McChesney

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Carole Jesiolowski Natasha Alexis

DESIGN Robin Turk 4

Welding & Gases Today (USPS 22-975) is published quarterly: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, with additional publications in Spring and Summer. • Non-member subscription rate is $195 per year. • GAWDA members (key contacts and branch locations) receive the magazine as part of their dues. • GAWDA members can order additional yearly subscriptions (4 issues) for $40. • Welding & Gases Today is published by Data Key Communications, Inc. on behalf of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association. • Periodicals postage paid at Pembroke Pines, FL, and at additional mailing offices (ISSN 1558-5344). • Editorial correspondence should be sent to: Editors, c/o editor@WeldingAndGasesToday.org • Advertising correspondence and materials should be sent to William Brod, Data Key Communications, Inc., 1415 W. Genesee Street, Syracuse, NY 13204; telephone (315) 445-2347 fax (315) 422-1721. • Postmaster: Send address changes to Welding & Gases Today, Gases and Welding Distributors Association, One Oakwood Blvd, Suite 195, Hollywood, FL 33020 • Welding & Gases Today is the official journal of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) and carries news and announcements concerning GAWDA. • It is not responsible for contents or opinions other than association activities. • Contents are copyright © 2016 Data Key Communications, Inc. • All rights reserved. • Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. • Questions and comments can be sent via e-mail to editor@WeldingAnd GasesToday.org. • Data Key Communications, Inc. reserves the right to print portions of or all of any correspondence mailed to the editors without liability on its part and no such correspondence will be returned. • Visit Welding & Gases Today online at www.WeldingAndGasesToday.org.

Winter 2016

Ceramic products that raise the bar for high performance abrasives.

Hardest. Fastest. Sharpest.

mercerabrasives.com • sales@mercerabrasives.com North American Headquarters Ronkonkoma, NY • t. 631.243.3900 | 800.221.5202 | f. 631.243.3209 Mercer West Fullerton, CA • t. 714.441.4975 | 888.560.8665 • f. 888.606.8665

ENJOYTHE

BENEFITS

MONEY MATTERS PLUS OF

™

We’ve reduced prices on all of our commercial MIG, TIG, Stick, and Engine Driven Welders and Plasma Cutters products. We’ve also developed a program that improves your margins while reducing stocking requirements on our most popular machines. And we’re putting big horsepower into getting customers into your showroom with in excess of 50 million targeted advertising impressions over the next year.

There’s never been a better time to sell Lincoln Electric products, but you have to be a Money Matters™ Plus distributor to get all of the benefits. Contact your sales representative for details.

AR14-29 © The Lincoln Electric Co. All Rights Reserved.

President’s Perspective

By William A. Visintainer

Disruption, Threats and Opportunities The force of change within our industry and association requires new ways of thinking.

A

After a fine year at the helm, Tom Biedermann has handed off the leadership of GAWDA. I intend to work with Membership, Staff and the Board to insure that we continue moving forward as a strong and independent industry association. I believe that the only way we can achieve this is by delivering significant value through our support and contribution to the success of each GAWDA member. I thank you for the opportunity to serve, and I expect to be held accountable.

The Executive Committee, which includes myself, Mark Raimy, Ned Lane, Tom Biedermann, Ned Pontious and David Walker, have worked through the fall to develop a strategic plan to guide Association activities and initiatives that target strategic plan achievement, including metrics and evidence of success for each initiative. Every GAWDA Committee, as well as the GAWDA staff, have developed a list of at least five, but no more than seven, initiatives within their areas of responsibility that will contribute to achievement of the Plan. This Plan will provide the level of accountability required for continuing Winter 2016

success. We look forward to receiving your insights and feedback.

In 1983, Arthur Andersen’s Steve Samek spoke at our Annual Convention. His topic was “Future Trends in Wholesale Distribution.”

The trends he spoke of were: new products, process improvement, value added services and acquisitions. Not once did he mention Disruption, Social Media, Ebay, Amazon Industrial, increasing compliance requirements or lean manufacturing. These are the current trends in industrial distribution. I can’t accurately predict what changes will impact our industry’s future, but I guarantee you that our industry has a future, and what we make of it is our responsibility.

While there certainly are fewer independent distributors today than we had in 1983, many of us have not only survived, we have thrived. We have grown in capabilities, sophistication, footprint, revenues and profits.

We have adapted and we have turned threats into opportunities.

I have high hopes for our future and I can’t wait to meet the obstacles and

the opportunities that lie ahead. As the velocity of change increases, there will only be two kinds of Distributors; the agile adaptives and the dead.

I challenge each of us to personally commit to making Our Association better, stronger and more relevant than it is today. I thank you for being a member of GAWDA. Let’s make 2016 a great year in the Gases and Welding Industry.

2015-16 GAWDA President W.A. Visintainer is president of Atlas Welding Supply Co. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and online at www.atlaswsco.com.

He can be reached at BVisintainer@ atlaswsco.com and at 205-345-6903.

7

Director’s Desk

By John Ospina

Investing in Our Future

W

hen we think of the gases and welding industry and the individuals who comprise it, we think “family business.”

Almost all of our member companies started as family-owned businesses.

Many are still independently owned family businesses and actively groom family members to be the next generation of business owners. Some businesses have grown and have been sold to other independents or to publicly traded companies. In many of these cases, there are still stockholders who are related to the original founding members. Some sell their businesses and start up new related businesses years later. Some have offered key employees ownership stock in their companies or converted their businesses to employee-owned companies. The point is that once you’re in this business, you tend to stay in it.

This sense of being a “family business” is not exclusive to owners. Many of our member companies hire employee’s family members. They come into the industry because their dad, mom, aunt, uncle, cousins or siblings worked in the industry and loved it. They’ve been told what a great industry this is to work for. They just need to prepare.

As you all know, GAWDA started a scholarship program in 2011 to benefit active GAWDA member company employees and their children. These

Winter 2016

scholarships are intended to promote education within the gases and welding industry. The GAWDA board has approved 12 scholarships of $2,000 each to be awarded at the 2016 Spring Management Conference. Scholarship applications are now available online at www.gawda.org/ resources/gawda-scholarships-program/.

The deadline for submission is February 15, so please let your employees know about this scholarship and encourage them to apply.

of the curricula can be tied back to the gases and welding industry.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT The GAWDA scholarships are made available through member contributions. Each year, we ask our members to invest in our collective future. This year, GAWDA will match the first $25,000 donated to the scholarship program.

Your donations are critical to the continued success of this program. Donors will be recognized at the 2016 Spring Management Conference in Savannah.

Donation forms are available online.

As always, thank you for your support.

Although the number of annual scholarships and their amounts can vary from year to year, they’ve been pretty consistent. GAWDA has awarded an average of 12 scholarships per year. A total of 37 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each have been awarded in the past three years. These scholarships have gone to young men and women all over the country whose programs of study support the jobs available in the Gases and Welding Industry. Some are studying business management, accounting, marketing, engineering.

Some are attending a trade school. All

John Ospina is GAWDA’s executive director. He can be reached at GAWDA Headquarters in Hollywood, Florida, via telephone at 844-251-3219 or via email at jospina@gawda.org.

9

TALK TO YOUR TANK

CylConnect provides a single platform to assure constant gas supply and lower cost through remote monitoring. Cyl-Connect uses the cellular network to provide multiple monitoring solutions for your high pressure, cryogenic, or bulk tank systems.

CYLCONNECT

COMMUNICATION

CUSTOMIZABLE ALERTS

SINGLE SUPPLIER

• • • •

• Can be sent through email • Example of Alert Types: - Low Level - Critical Low level - Rate of change - Low battery - Fill Detect - And more!

•

Daily update – 1 call/day Weekly update – 1 call/week AT&T and Verizon suppported Location data through cell towers or GPS

MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS • • • • •

Microbulk & Bulk Carbonation Systems Liquid Cylinders High Pressure Cylinders Custom Solutions

Online Remote Monitoring Platform

CALL US DIR ECT

888-429-5832 w w w. c y l- te c. co m

•

One internet portal for all solutions Equipment and customer service through Cyl-Tec

Editor’s Notes

By Carole Jesiolowski

What A Ride!

I

found myself standing outside an Airgas store on a Sunday morning in mid-December. I looked in the window, then got into my car and drove just one block up the boulevard, where I got out and stood in front of a small welding store that recently was acquired by Jackson Welding & Gases Products in Rochester, 100 miles away.

The acquisition spreads Jackson’s footprint into the Salt City of Syracuse, my city. A few miles away is the headquarters of Haun Welding Supply, a midsized family business with 17 locations in three states. It was a quiet morning in the city, so I picked up a hot coffee and drove the few miles north to Haun Welding, smiling as I recalled the many conversations I had with Mark Haun and Al Dohrn, who were never too busy to welcome me or a new writer to the plant to show us how things worked. I remembered how proud Al was of the new fill plant, and how he lifted me to the ceiling in a scissor lift just so I could get a better view of his new baby. He laughed the entire time, not at my fear of heights, but out of sheer joy and wonder at what was below us.

I remember another Sunday morning in Syracuse. It was 2002, and Judy Flanagan, my publisher, had just asked me to take on the role of editor for a new publication Data Key Communications would produce for the National Welding Supply Association (now GAWDA).

Welding? Gases? Huh?? At the time, Winter 2016

neither of us had any knowledge of either. I looked up every business in the area with the word “welding” or “gases” in its name. I drove the same route, stopping my car at the same locations, trying to figure out what this industry was all about as we were getting ready to launch the association’s first publication. Back then, I was foolish enough to be driving a convertible through a Syracuse snowstorm. The car was 10 years old and had a hole in the floorboard, but it rolled on four snow tires imported from Denmark. The ride, I thought, was sure to be an adventure, since it was snowing.

Sometimes when I’m trying to think of a story and how it could meet the mission of this magazine —to help the distributor make money or save money—I drive this same route, and I watch customers go in and out of these stores…a major, a one-store (now acquired) independent, and a larger independent with on-site fill capabilities. Usually I am inspired. Always I am in awe.

After serving as editor of all GAWDA Media, including Welding & Gases Today, the GAWDA Connection and GAWDA Edge, I am turning over the pencil to a new team at Data Key Communications. Editors Diane Stirling and Charles McChesney are eager to talk with you and continue the mission of this magazine. They will be writing the best practices, industry topics and news you have come to expect from your

member publication. Diane wrote the Distributor Forecast starting on page 36, and Charles wrote the Supplier Forecast on page 62. I will continue to write the GAWDA Member Profile and other articles, and will serve in an advisory capacity to the editorial staff. At the same time, Judy Flanagan will continue to advise Publisher Bill Brod and Relationship Manager Tim Hudson when it comes to supporting supplier members.

Don’t hesitate to call any of us. As always, we remain in the business of publishing articles that will help distributors to make or save money. Judy and I both look forward to seeing you at this year’s Spring Management Conference (our 14th) and to introducing you to the rest of the team.

All this to write that this ride with GAWDA has truly been an exceptional adventure. Thank you so very much.

Carole Jesiolowski is a contributing editor to GAWDA Media and Data Key Communications, located in Syracuse, New York. She can be reached at 315445-2347 and at carole@datakey.org.

11

GAWDA Member Profile

Cee Kay Supply Uses Hardgoods Expertise to Gain Gas Sales

C

ee Kay Supply, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, opened for business in 1948 as a distributor for National Cylinder Gas Company. Cee Kay was founded by Ralph Chase and Ralph Knight, and derived the name Cee Kay by using the “C” from Chase and the “K” from Knight. Three years later, Chase and Knight sold the assets of the company to Homer Fudge.

Paul Dunn was a service technician with National Cylinder Gas Company, and Cee Kay Supply was one of his customers. In 1955, Dunn purchased all of the stock of Cee Kay Supply from Homer Fudge. The company had one truck, one building, and two employees: a truck driver and a bookkeeper. Two years later, Dunn had grown the company so much that it had outgrown its space and had to move.

In 1979, Paul Dunn passed the reins of the company over to his son, Thomas Dunn. Soon after becoming Cee Kay Supply’s president, Tom Dunn embarked on an aggressive growth and diversification program that led to a broad expansion and overhaul of Cee Kay’s facilities, doubling the company’s revenues within five years.

Tom Dunn established a company-wide culture of caring

for customers, which meant standing behind quality products and exceeding expectations. He explains, “Our commitment to meeting our customers’ expectations has played a key role in our growth over the years. Their goals are our goals.”

In 1995, Ned Lane, an industry veteran with 13 years of experience at Air Products and MG Industries, joined Cee Kay Supply as manager of gases. Three years later, he was named president.

Today, Cee Kay operates from a 120,000 sq. ft. facility on six acres in St. Louis. Seven branches are located throughout Missouri and Illinois. There is also a Specialty Gas Division, Repair and Service Center, Technical Service Center, CO2 Division and a Re-Test Division. From complete welding solutions for large and small companies to bulk and specialty gases for a variety of applications, Cee Kay Supply offers a combination of products, technical expertise and services designed to exceed customers’ expectations.

MOVING FROM HARDGOODS TO GAS SALES When Ned Lane joined Cee Kay Supply, he brought with him a wealth of knowledge about the back end of distribu-

Cee Kay Supply headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Seven stores are located throughout Missouri and Illinois.

12

Winter 2016

Z4

Flap discs High Performance 14%

TOP 5 REASONS FOR CGW’s RAPID GROWTH

35%

5. Expanded product line with strong competitive advantages – Including

Z4 Flap Discs, Metallurgical Discs & Belts, Trimmable Flap Discs, Surface Conditioning Belts

11% 25%

4. Excellent CST SRV and shipping terms 3. Easy to follow catalogs and pricing

21%

2. Superior grains, bonds and technology 1. THE PRODUCT WORKS!

10% 22%

12%

43%

20% 34% 20% 33%

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

7525 North Oak Park Avenue, Niles, IL 60714 P: 800•447•4248

F: 800•447•3731

www.cgwcamel.com

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Member Profile: Cee Kay Supply tion. With an undergraduate degree in production and a graduate degree in finance, he was trained to look at processes, efficiencies and numbers. His first job with Air Products was scheduling hydrogen deliveries on the midnight shift.

He soon became distribution supervisor in Midlothian, Texas, and then an outside sales representative in Dallas. At MG Industries, he was the regional on-site manager selling PSAs, generators and ASUs, and then became manager of the Midwest region.

What Lane found when he joined Cee Kay Supply was a successful company that had done a good job growing sales.

But that was not transferred to the bottom line. “Growing sales,” says Lane, “is not what pays the bills. Often the sales can be categorized as busy work.” As harsh as that was for salespeople to hear, Lane set about establishing a cost-toserve analysis, measuring time to sell, number of invoices, cost to deliver, line items, product pricing and other measures. “Increasing sales by 20 percent does not mean the dollars have gone up by 20 percent,” he says.

Under Lane’s supervision, Cee Kay figured out the type of customer they wanted to do business with, and focused on the type of products they wanted to sell. “Rather than going out with a shotgun and spraying pellets all over the place, hoping one would hit, we dug in and figured out where the profit was, and began to shoot with a rifle, focusing on the target.” Lane cites another hunting analogy he tells to Cee Kay’s salespeople. “The sales process is the same regardless of whether it’s a big project or a little project. You can

hunt for elephants, or you can hunt for rabbits. It just takes a lot more rabbits to keep you fed.” The company is now much more disciplined. Products that are profit losers are now combined with those that are winners. This meant shifting Cee Kay’s product mix from a primarily hardgoods company to primarily a gas company. It used to be 80/20 hardgoods to gases; currently it is 50/50.

Lane uses the example of a cutting table. “When we sell a cutting table, we make sure we supply the gas that goes through the cutting table. The victory is not in selling the cutting table. These are one-time transactions at typically low margins. Our goal is to leverage our expertise to become the customer’s gas supplier.” Put another way, Cee Kay Supply utilizes its hardgoods expertise to gain the gas business, a more profitable product.

A certified welding instructor and a certified welding engineer staff Cee Kay’s Hil Bax Technical Center, where there is a fully functioning robot and cutting table on the floor. Customers and potential customers look to Cee Kay for instruction and product information, and Cee Kay obliges, but the initiative always leads to selling the gas that goes through the automation solution.

Cee Kay was one of the first distributors in the United States to adopt microbulk. In operation since 1997, it has brought valuable savings to Cee Kay’s customers, both in time and money. Replacing on-site, high-pressure cylinders, gas is delivered to the customer’s location and piped in to each welding station. A tanker truck delivers and transfers product to a stationary liquid container through a wall-mounted fill box connection. This process is accomplished without interruption to the customer’s operation. Cellular technology alerts Cee Kay when product reaches a specified level. The customer does not have to monitor a gauge, or contact Cee Kay when product is low.

Customers are on a multi-year contract, so retention has more certainty.

Cee Kay’s Gas Express trucks deliver oxygen, nitrogen and argon, and make the transfer without any interruption to the customer’s processes.

Winter 2016

15

Member Profile: Cee Kay Supply Cee Kay is always on the lookout for new and innovative solutions for their customers. “For us,” says Lane, “we want to know what we can bring to the table that is different. We don’t want to be on a spreadsheet analysis. We want to bring a solution to the customer, not a price war.”

The solution usually comes down to application knowledge. Cee Kay’s argon, oxygen and nitrogen aren’t better or faster than anyone else’s. But it comes with the expertise of Cee Kay Supply. That expertise is the differentiator. The goal of the sale is to leverage Cee Kay’s expertise in order to become the customer’s gas supplier.

NUMBERS TELL THE STORY Every Cee Kay department has gone through the Lean 5S process. There are metrics, measurements and goals that guide decisions. Says Lane, “We acknowledge that we all have opinions, particularly since many of us have been here for a while and have seen things done in a variety of ways.

But we also say, ‘Let’s let the numbers lead us.’” This surrender to the numbers often results in that light bulb moment when the solution to a challenge is seen in new clarity.

An example is Cee Kay’s warehouse, which had products laid out alphabetically by supplier, starting with the A’s at the front of the warehouse. This obviously made sense as it was easy for the pickers to know where the product was located…until the process was taken apart and analyzed up close. It was discovered that more products from the end of the alphabet were being picked than those from the front of the alphabet, resulting in repetitive trips down the aisles, extra steps and wasted time. The method was changed to a velocity pull, and products had to earn their bin location based on turns. The service department provides another example. With Time Available to Bill as the most valuable metric, the analysis uncovered things that were clumped under “non-billable hours” but were actually inhibiting the department from reaching the billable hour rate needed to make the department profitable, i.e., time spent tracking down inventory, processing paperwork, answering direct calls from customers.

Cee Kay’s management team, which, in addition to Tom Dunn and Ned Lane, includes Timm Evans, vice president of sales, Kevin Kimker, director of gas operations, Jean Lindsey, director of finance, and David Healzer, director of procurement/repair, oversee the direction of the company. With so many metrics in place, developing a strategic plan for the company built on real goals and objectives is made easier. Lane explains, “We determine if we are still on the right path, then take 16

CEO Tom Dunn (right) and Weldor welcome the third generation to Cee Kay Supply. Ryan (left) and Brad have served in several roles throughout company. Ryan currently is a business analyst and Brad is in business development.

out a clean piece of paper and set a plan in place.” An outside consultant helps with development of the plan.

Employees are updated quarterly with discussions that detail how the company is meeting goals. This includes sharing the financials. Lane believes that employees can’t impact the score if they don’t know how it’s being kept.

Bonuses and 401K match are determined by overall performance. Lane calls this having skin in the game. “When it’s good for Cee Kay, it’s good for everybody. If it’s slow, we tighten our belts, and we’re all in it together.”

Bonuses and 401K match are determined by overall performance. This is having skin in the game.

THE NEXT GENERATION Like many companies in the gases and welding business, Cee Kay is delving into the challenge of an aging workforce. The average age of the company’s 100 employees is 49.9 years old. Average tenure is 15.5 years, meaning that when employees retire or leave the company, a lot of industry knowledge will be gone. The established processes and analyses will go far in solving this challenge.

As to who will run the company when CEO Tom Dunn and President Ned Lane retire is another story. The management team is well aware of the statistics for third-generation family businesses. According to the Family Business Institute, only Winter 2016

Control Package Upgrade Fuels Fill Plant Efficiencies Continued Improvements Fuel Efficiencies and Growth.

Linde North America tackled the much-needed overhaul of their 13-yr.-old palletized industrial fill plant, after recently completing their automated specialty gases plant in Hammond, IN. The plant was in dire need of a control-package upgrade. The upgraded automation from Weldcoa, has eliminated even more labor, and it’s providing even tighter tolerances on quality.

“We’re filling 7000 cylinders or more per month on the industrial side of the business,” said Linde area plant manager Jeff Matheny, “and growing 5 to 10 percent per year.”

Major Component Upgrades

Linde’s gas-plant control-package overhaul, completed in partnership with Weldcoa, included the following: • Operator interfaces—four new touch screens where installed onto the fill system; two for industrial oxygen fill heads and two for industrial-mix heads • PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)—upgraded old PLC Control Box, providing state-of-the-art capabilities including 24/hr remote support.

• Pump Control Center—acts as a “traffic controller’ for the fill station. Communicates with the entire pump station network.

These technology upgrades allow Linde to modernize the way they operate with advance features like VFD technology, allowing their pump system to be handled in a very efficient, safe, reliable fashion that is tracked with reports.

Linde also added a 6000-PSI fill station for high-pressure helium, argon and nitrogen. “Higher-pressure filling is a rapidly expanding market. You can put more product into a cylinder, have fewer changeouts, save on labor, stock fewer cylinders, and fill less often,” noted Matheny.

“All of the specifications for the project came at the recommendation of Weldcoa,” Matheny added. “We trusted them—Weldcoa is a top-shelf supplier that knows what they’re doing and were able to provide a turnkey installation, from planning to execution to startup.”

“The Weldcoa team knew we could not tolerate any production interruptions during the upgrade,” Matheny continued. “They trained our operators at the same time that the upgrades were being made so that by the time the system was ready to roll, we were able to hit the ground running.

Weldcoa was committed to our success.”

25-Percent More Efficient

Playing critical roles in the project were Hammond-plant employees Kimberly Taisipic (production supervisor) and Michael Wood (maintenance technician).

Detailing some of the key performance enhancements, Kim points to the PLC upgrade. In particular, the elimination of one of the two PLCs and the ability to communicate to the I/O cards that now are located inside of the existing enclosures. “We’re 25% more efficient now,” she said.

“We’re 25% more efficient now by removing 2 or 3 steps from the fill process. And once the operator initiates filling they can walk away and tend to other tasks.”

Kimberly Taisipic, Production Supervisor, Linde Hammond

“The streamlined equipment setup means there’s less for the operator to worry about, and it removes 2 or 3 steps from the fill process. Once the operator initiates the process he can walk away and tend to other tasks.”

Michael describes the benefits of the variable-frequency drives in the motor control center, with their keypads mounted to the door for easy access while running. “We no longer have to open the panel to see what’s going on,” he said.

“This makes it much simpler to monitor the process.”

Pinpoint Troubleshooting

On the pump side of the fill plant, keyed selector switches were installed to facilitate permissions and lockout/tagout procedures—two switches per pump, one for liquid supply and one for the pump. Weldcoa also added a new remote pump interface, piped back to the master pump control.

While the previous pump control provided for lockout/ tagout, “now we can manually start the pump and open valves from the control center,” Kim said, “which we could not do before. That proves very useful when we need to troubleshoot any issues on the island. It really saves a lot of time.”

To learn more call Weldcoa at 630.806.2000, or visit Weldcoa.com.

Member Profile: Cee Kay Supply 12% of family businesses survive into the third generation, and only 3% operate into the fourth generation or beyond. A major reason given for such a high rate of failure is the lack of effective planning for the succession.

To make sure Cee Kay Supply beats the odds, a consultant has been hired to help plan for transfer to the next generation.

Says Lane, “For Tom and me, there is a timeline. The questions are: What will Cee Kay look like ten years from now? When there are multiple family members, who will be doing what?

How do we lay out a plan that develops the next generation to be owners of the company?” Tom Dunn and Ned Lane know firsthand that ownership and management are not one and the same. So they have set a course of action to train the third generation to understand the workings of the business and to be good owners, good stewards, if you will. If they elect to be managers as well, they will have the requisite skills in place.

Ryan Dunn, 33, has worked full time at Cee Kay since 2007. He has experience in warehouse, retail and as a facilitator of Cee Kay’s lean process efforts on special projects.

He was territory sales manager before moving into the role of business analyst on January 1, a position that focuses on software and reporting results.

Brad Dunn, 29, joined Cee Kay in 2011 and has worked in gas sales, scheduling installations and selling microbulk, and has taken the lead into the dry ice initiative. His new role, which began on January 1, will be in business development, pursuing new opportunities for the company.

Growing sales is not what pays the bills. Often sales can be categorized as busy work.

DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE Cee Kay has always stuck to its core goal of “aspiring to be the definitive source of metalworking and gas-related technologies and solutions by treating those we do business with fairly and honestly. Cee Kay strives to help customers and suppliers meet their goals and objectives.”

Ned Lane believes that a distributor cannot be all things to all people and gives this advice to new companies and young people just starting out: “Pick what you want to be, what prod-

It only takes one leak to compromise your operations.

For over a century, CPV Manufacturing has provided safe and reliable valves and fittings worldwide. With state-of-the-art design, quality control, and attention to service, CPV Manufacturing provides assurance that valves and fittings fit perfectly, function effectively, and provide years of trouble-free service.

Don’t put your plant or facility at risk. Count on the valves and fittings that provide safe and reliable performance for your daily operations. Put the CPV trusted brand to work for you.

For more information: Phone: 866-708-1950 Email: sales@cpvmfg.com Web: www.cpvmfg.com

18

Winter 2016

Take the Lead

in MicroBulk distribution with the Perma-Cyl® 5500 VHP Storage System

Innovative Design, Technology and Reliability Chart leads the way in revolutionary MicroBulk storage with the introduction of the Perma-Cyl® 5500 VHP system. This innovative Perma-Cyl system will give you a leading edge in gas storage to amplify your MicroBulk business with its high capacity and high-performance capability.  High capacity – 5434 liters gross volume  High pressure – 500 psig MAWP  High gas flow rate – 5000 SCFH  FlexFill™ piping – fast, controlled refill  Auto fill termination – Orca™ delivery safety system

MicroBulk.com 1-800-400-4683

Take the Lead with Chart.

Visit us online or contact us to learn more.

Member Profile: Cee Kay Supply ucts you want to sell, and what customers you want to sell to. And be the best at it.”

From the people who take the orders to the people who deliver them, and everyone in between, Cee Kay Supply has clearly figured out what it is—a caring company driven to exceeding customers’ expectations while providing profitable solutions. The numbers tell the story.

At the 2015 Annual Convention, Cee Kay Supply President Ned Lane was elected to GAWDA’s Board of Directors and will serve on the Executive Committee as First Vice President. He will become president of the association in 2017.

20

Winter 2016

WDPG INSURANCE

ALS Business Income Coverage for Welding Supply Distributors

T

he WDPG insurance program introduces an important new coverage enhancement for welding supply distributors in 2016, offering Business Income and Extra Expense on an Actual Loss Sustained basis (ALS).

The WDPG insurance program and its underwriting partner(s), along with Ken Tidwell and Tony Hopkins of The Horton Group, plus a group of seasoned underwriters at Buschbach Insurance Agency, have always brought a lot to the table in the way of products, service, expertise and innovation for your welding supply distributor program. And 2016 is no exception.

A sound insurance partner is defined by the quality of its service, coverages and ability to respond to the dynamic needs of the welding supply and industrial gas distributors and vendors it serves year after year. By this measure, the WDPG insurance program and AIG stand at the top of the property & casualty marketplace; coupling expert underwriting flexibility and innovation with superior products and service and the assurance of stability that comes with the financial strength of AIG. Staying true to a tradition of excellence for almost 30 years, the WDPG’s philosophy as a “living program� continues to introduce important new coverages that help provide protection for your business.

We understand that the day-to-day challenges of operating your business are complex and costly. As margins become thinner and thinner a loss of income can be difficult to overcome and may even prevent your business from reopening.

The WDPG program is committed to providing income protection beyond other standard insurance policies.

Typical commercial property insurance policies may provide coverage for business income loss on a preset limit basis by adding an endorsement to your insurance policy. This endorsement is designed to protect you from loss of business Winter 2016

income that you would sustain as a result of a direct physical loss, damage, or destruction to your property when a covered loss occurs.

Actual Loss Sustained (ALS) is a form of business interruption insurance where no preset limit is specified for business interruption loss, but covers you for the total actual loss you sustain as a result of a covered claim.

In a recent survey of small business owners, 55% did not have business income insurance, 63% said they were unfamiliar with business income insurance and 60% said they did not have enough information they needed to determine their risk. The statistics add up to one very important fact.

Most business owners are leaving themselves exposed in the event of a business income loss.

Fire, weather, theft and vandalism can threaten your business. Even if you are protected by property and casualty insurance, the income lost while your business is being repaired or rebuilt often is not covered. That is why we have helped take the guesswork out of the equation to provide coverage that protects your business income with no preset limit. ALS covers you for the total actual loss you sustain because of a covered claim.

Our continuous commitment to professional excellence and innovation of our products is our promise to meeting the needs of the welding supply and industrial gas industry.

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT

21

DOT, SECURITY, OSHA & EPA

GAWDA’s Consultant Corner

By Michael Dodd

Four Cylinder-Filling Tips

I

t has been a few years since I last published this article about cylinder-filling tips, but it is an extremely important topic. I conduct high pressure cylinder/liquid container/carbon-dioxide cylinder-filling classes for GAWDA members all across the country. There are four items that I stress during these training classes that, if done, really reduce the chances of fatal or serious injury to our employees and customers.

TIP #1: HAMMER TEST (DEAD RING) ALL STEEL CYLINDERS. DOT requires that all steel cylinders approved to go 10 years between requalifications must pass a hammer test prior to each fill. I know of two cylinder failures in the past few years (one fatality and one near miss) that very likely would have not happened if the cylinder had been given a hammer test.

Both cylinders were in oxygen service and had water in them when filled. Both cylinders were extremely corroded and pitted on the inside from 100 percent oxygen and 100 percent humidity. Both cylinders had been hydrotested within two years of the failures. Therefore, I now recommend that all steel cylinders be hammer tested prior to filling, not just those approved for 10 years.

TIP #2: SEE THROUGH THE HOLES ON THE SAFETIES ON LIQUEFIED GAS PRODUCTS, SUCH AS CARBON DIOXIDE AND NITROUS OXIDE FOR EXAMPLES. If a fusible metal backed safety gets installed onto a liquefied gas cylinder, then with a temperature rise the product can expand to hydrostatic full and without a normal breakable safety disc, the cylinder can fail, resulting in a fatality potential situation due to cylinder rupture. If there is nothing wrong with the cylinder, then the failure pressure can be approximately 2.5 to 3.5 times the stamped service pressure. If the cylinder filler Winter 2016

will just verify prior to filling that they can see through the holes on the cylinder safety, then they have verified that a fusible metal-backed safety is not installed on the cylinder.

TIP #3: VERIFY THAT THERE IS A PRESSURE RELIEF DEVICE (PRV) ON THE LIQUID CONTAINER BEFORE FILLING. TIP #4: VERIFY THAT THERE IS A BURSTING DISC (BD) ON A LIQUID CONTAINER BEFORE FILLING. Both of these go together. I know of two instances of removing and plugging the openings where the PRV and BD were located resulted in the catastrophic failure of the liquid container. Both cases resulted in near fatalities for three people.

In both cases, the people filling the container did not see that the safety devices were removed and plugged. Since then, I have continually emphasized that any person filling a liquid container find the pressure gauge and look immediately behind the gauge and ask the very important question: Have a PRV and a BD been installed?

There are more cylinder-filling tips to know and follow to prevent potential problems. These four receive special emphasis during the cylinder-filling classes. Please verify that your cylinder-filling people know these four items and use them. You could be saving one of your employee’s or customer’s lives.

GAWDA’s DOT, Security, OSHA & EPA Consultant Michael Dodd is president of MLD Safety Associates in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Members can reach him at 573-718-2887 and MLDSafety@hotmail.com.

23

GAWDA’s Consultant Corner

FDA & Medical Gases

By Thomas L. Badstubner

The Top Six Questions About Food and Beverage Gases

T

he Food Safety Plan Roadmap, published for GAWDA members in January 2016, is a sample plan to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act provisions. The Final Rule, called “Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food,” can be found in the Federal Register (September 17, 2015) and online at http:// federalregister.gov/a/2015-21920.

Here are the top six questions to consider before implementing the new rules in your business.

Q. WHAT IS HARPC? HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls) is a systematic, risk-based, evaluation of your operations to prevent food-borne illnesses. It includes preventive controls for the mitigation of those identified (or reasonably foreseeable) hazards, unless an exemption applies. As a result of the hazard analysis, certain elements are established: • Preventive controls • Monitoring • Corrective actions and corrections • Verification • Recall plan • Associated records • “Qualified Individual” The HARPC template addresses these requirements. The Qualified Individual can be an employee or non-employee.

The Food Safety Plan training includes the necessary training for HARPC and the Qualified Individual.

Q. D OES HARPC APPLY TO ME? IS THERE AN EXEMPTION FOR MY BUSINESS? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined special, less difficult provisions for smaller companies. If you 24

meet either of the following “Qualified Facility” exemptions, you may have a reduced HARPC requirement: • Business with average annual sales of under $500,000 and at least half the sales to consumers or local retailers or restaurants (within the same state or within 275 miles).

• Very small business, which the rule defines as a business (including any subsidiaries and affiliates) averaging less than $1,000,000, adjusted for inflation, per year, during the three-year period preceding the applicable calendar year in sales of human food.

If you meet either of these definitions of a Qualified Facility, you can comply by notifying the FDA in your registration about your Qualified Facility status and that you are addressing hazards through preventive controls and monitoring. This will be less difficult than a full HARPC.

Q. H OW DO I REDUCE THE RISK OF FOOD/ BEVERAGE GAS CONTAMINATION? The new rules require food producers to assess the risk of adultering the food in their process. Food and beverage gases have a history of being safe and receive a relatively low level of attention from the FDA. However, there may be opportunities to further reduce the risk of our products by considering key issues in the production and distribution: cylinder contamination from prior beverage customers, which could affect future food/beverage gas quality as well as the internal corrosion in steel cylinders; and cylinder contamination from non-food/beverage (industrial) gas customers, possible if a foreign substance is backed up into the cylinder.

The Compressed Gas Association has published and ISBT is preparing guidance to consider for these situations.

See CGA G-6.3-2013 Carbon Dioxide Cylinder Filling and Handling Procedures. This publication is available for free to GAWDA members who participate in the CGA/GAWDA Safety Program. Preventive controls for cylinder contamiWinter 2016

FDA & Medical Gases nation may include cylinder evacuation, inversion, residual pressure valves, dedicated cylinder populations, labeling, etc. Further details are available in the sample Food Safety Plan and HARPC.

Q. WILL I NEED NEW PROCEDURES TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW REGULATIONS? Yes. Sample procedures are available that define your “Food Safety Plan.” There are several levels of procedures from which to choose: A) Basic Program for FDA Compliance, B) Enhanced Program for ISBT Compliance, and C) Food Quality Management System for Compliance to Major Beverage and Fast Food Customers’ Requirements.

A GOOD CASE FOR SAFE STORAGE High Pressure Cylinder Storage 18 models available from stock.

All programs include mandatory preventive controls, monitoring, supply-chain verification, recall plan, records retention, training, etc.

Q. WILL MY EMPLOYEES NEED ALLERGEN AND SANITATION TRAINING? Yes. This training is not difficult. Our food and beverage gases are inherently not allergenic. However, it’s necessary to assure that the complete package is not contaminated with allergenic substances. Besides general cleanliness, the major control measure is washing hands after eating, after using the toilet, and before handling food/beverage gas cylinders. The training is provided as part of GAWDA’s monthly Food Gas Roundtables.

Q. WILL I NEED A FORMAL SUPPLIER QUALIFICATION PROCEDURE? Yes. The procedures and forms are included in the sample Food Safety Plan and likely are similar to your present supplier qualification procedure.

Certain changes will be needed to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act. We intend to make the transition as smooth as possible through the sample procedures and monthly training.

GAWDA’s FDA & Medical Gases Consultant Thomas L. Badstubner is president of AsteRisk LLC in Lewisville, Texas. Members can reach him at 508-883-0927 and tom@asteriskllc.com.

Our High Pressure Cylinder Storage Cabinets meet OSHA and NFPA requirements for cylinder storage.

The cabinets feature an innovative, unique firewall option that allows storage of flammables and oxygen in the same unit.

Available in steel and aluminum.

Global Reach–Made in the USA.

800-488-8816 amrstd.com

Standard of Excellence Winter 2016

25

GAWDA’s Consultant Corner

Government Affairs & Human Resources

By Richard P. Schweitzer, Esq.

DOT Issues New Rules for Special Permits and Approvals

T

he Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation has published a final rule revising the standard operating procedures and objective evaluation criteria for obtaining special permits and approvals from the agency. The final rule became effective as of November 9, 2015. According to the agency, these amendments do not change previously established policies, including any inspection activities subsequent to issuance, modification or renewal of a special permit and approval.

The final rule establishes a new Appendix A to 49 CFR Part 107 that sets out the definitions, procedures and evaluation criteria. Under the rule, special permits and approvals will be granted when the agency finds that the applicant is fit to perform the tasks requested in the application.

PHMSA will coordinate with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to review the applicant’s accident history, inspection and compliance data, and other safety and transportation records for applications relating to transportation by truck.

The procedure begins with PHMSA reviewing an application for a special permit or approval to determine if it contains all of the required information. If not, the application may be rejected.

tion. This is when PHMSA coordinates with the FMCSA for special permits or approvals involving truck transportation.

The agencies review their databases for hazmat incident and accident information involving the applicant. This includes reviewing the applicant’s motor carrier inspection and crash data in the FMCSA records.

PHMSA then screens the applicant’s performance and compliance history to determine if, within four years prior to the application, the applicant was involved in any incident attributable to the applicant or package where two or more triggers for a safety profile review, or five or more triggers for an on-site inspection have occurred.

The safety profile evaluation determines whether the applicant is fit to conduct the activity requested in the application.

SAFETY PROFILE REVIEW TRIGGERS

Once an application is accepted and determined to be complete, it is published in the Federal Register for public comment. In addition, PHMSA conducts a technical evaluation of the application and a safety profile evaluation of the applicant. A technical evaluation considers whether the proposed special permit or approval will achieve a level of safety at least equal to that required under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).

Triggers for a safety profile review are: • Any incident involving a death or injury • Two or more incidents involving a Table 1 hazmat • Three or more incidents involving a bulk packaging, or an applicant that is an interstate carrier of hazmat under a special permit or approval • Any incident involving incorrect package selection, leaking packages, not following closure instructions, failure to test packagings and failure to secure packagings, including blocking and bracing.

The safety profile evaluation determines whether the applicant is fit to conduct the activity requested in the applica-

After the safety profile evaluation is completed, if the applicant is not selected for an on-site inspection, the ap-

26

Winter 2016

Government Affairs & Human Resources plicant will be determined to be fit to receive the special permit or approval.

ON-SITE INSPECTION TRIGGERS The triggers for an on-site inspection are: • Any hazmat incident that is attributable to the applicant or package, other than driver error • Evidence that the application has not taken sufficient corrective actions for prior violations, or is at risk of being unable to comply with the terms of the application, an existing special permit or approval, or the HMR • Incorrect or missing markings, labels, placards or shipping papers.

An applicant may still receive a special permit or approval if an on-site inspection is required. PHMSA stated that it plans to conduct on-site review for only a small percentage of companies that have failed a safety profile review. Further, since 2010, PHMSA has performed on-site reviews of five or fewer companies and none were determined to be unfit.

FROM STOCK REMOVAL TO FINISHING More Flap Discs For Every Performance/Price Level • NEW! 2" and 3" lighter, smaller minis: quickly get you in and out of tight spots • Type 27 Flat fiberglass‑ and plastic‑backed: your choice for finishing • Type 27 Flat with jumbo flaps: the solution for curved surfaces and fine‑grit blending • Type 29 conical: make fast work of stock removal applications

The criteria used to determine whether an applicant is fit to hold a special permit or approval are also unclear in the final rule. PHMSA stated that it articulated the conditions used in fitness determinations “to the extent possible” in the final rule. The agency said, “Too many variables exist among those who affect the safe transport of hazardous materials to state with certainty what HMR violations or previous incident history will be found and to what extent they will affect the status of an applicant’s fitness.”

But the agency notes that fitness will depend on whether the applicant has implemented sufficient corrective actions for prior violations or is at risk of not being able to comply with the terms of the application, an existing special permit or approval, or the HMR. The result is not a perfect process, but it gives applicants a bit more clarity about how their applications will be reviewed and evaluated within the agency.

GAWDA’s Government Affairs and Human Resources Legal Consultant Rick Schweitzer is president of Richard P. Schweitzer, PLLC in Washington, D.C. He is also GAWDA’s general counsel.

Members can reach him at 202-2233040 and rpschweitzer@rpslegal.com.

www.nortonindustrial.com © Saint‑Gobain October 2015.

Winter 2016

27

GAWDA’s 2016 Board of Directors knows the challenges that our industry is facing and, just as interesting, they know how to make use of an elevator speech when communicating via social media. President Bill Visintainer has declared the importance of disruption in business and in our association in order to navigate our collective futures along with a-management-by-objective operational style. They introduce themselves (in 140 characters or less), discuss the disruptive activities that they have instigated within their companies, and offer up their objectives for their companies, as well as their objectives as board members. As they share their thoughts, we can all benefit from getting to know them just a little bit better.

28

Winter 2016

Board of Directors

gawda president

BILL VISINTAINER president

Atlas Welding Supply Co. Tuscaloosa, AL

I aspire to exude each of the values held by early GAWDA board members, those values of being independent, rugged, individualistic, hard-nosed, hardworking, passionate for the industry, and being willing to do whatever it takes to grow my business.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Family-oriented, passionate, entrepreneurial, direct, tenacious, responsible, goal-oriented, accountable, open and fun loving.

Performance Objectives: Our only option for sustainable success is to insure the success of our customers. In 2016 and beyond, all of our objectives will target this reality. My objective as GAWDA’s President is to target specific elements of our 2016 Annual Plan. The Executive Committee, board and staff will be held accountable for achieving same.

Ultimately, we are responsible for increasing the value of GAWDA to all membership categories.

Disruption Example: My associates and I have taken a traditional brick and mortar welding supply company and turned it into a bigger traditional brick and mortar welding supply company. I have not instituted any disruptive activities and this causes me significant concern. I am hopeful that our 2016 conferences inspire me and create a sense of urgency to institute disruptive change that creates competitive advantage for our firm.

pursuit of success using intelligent argumentation and positive reinforcement to influence desired outcomes.

Performance Objectives: Customer satisfaction is always a main objective. To achieve this as measured by retention and sales growth, we have to execute at a high level at all times. I view GAWDA in the same manner. It’s all about our members.

gawda first vice president

NED LANE

president Cee Kay Supply St. Louis, MO

I have always operated with the mindset that I would never ask anyone to do something I haven’t done or would not be willing to do. Our company operates with discipline and focus.

We cannot be all things to all people. We need to be the best in the areas/markets that we choose to participate in.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Married, three children, coach, Cardinals fan, energetic, disciplined, competitive, passionate about the business, living a blessed life.

Performance Objectives: My business objectives for 2016 are to recruit and train top talent to allow for a smooth transition of our experienced personnel retiring over the next five years. I believe that to be the best you have to hire/train the best. My Board of Directors’ objective is to leave GAWDA in a stable, strong place when I leave the board in five years. gawda first past president

THOMAS BIEDERMANN gawda president-elect

MARK RAIMY

ceo Welders Supply Company– Raimy Corporation Erie, PA

Everyone at Welders Supply Company, including myself, put the customer and the company first in approaching any situation. This philosophy leads to the descriptors that the first GAWDA board used, including lugging cylinders.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Endlessly passionate in Winter 2016

vice president Airweld, Inc. Farmingdale, NY

When comparing my values to those of early board members, all I can say is “I resemble that remark.” By demonstrating those characteristics, we started and grew our business in the past.

We preach that to our employees as we go forward.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Married with two sons, I’m a 38-year company veteran, a GAWDA Past President, and a member of NYWSDA (a local industry association).

29

Board of Directors Performance Objectives: I would like the Board of Directors to continue the programs initiated during my term as President, i.e., Twitter, assisting/recognizing the young professionals, and further grow the Women of Gases and Welding Committee.

Disruption Example: We found it necessary to temporarily close our main manufacturing (pumping) location, requiring a consolidation of drivers from two locations. We were pleasantly surprised that the drivers understood the need for temporary consolidation, and they worked together to see that all deliveries were completed throughout this disruption to their schedule. gawda second past president

NED PONTIOUS president Norco Boise, ID

Our team at Norco is independent, rugged, individualistic, hard-nosed, hardworking, passionate about the industry, and willing to do whatever it takes to grow our business. In the old days those traits differentiated us from our competitors.

Today, these traits are only the ‘ticket to entry.’ To win a customer today, we have to provide accuracy, quickness and a sense of urgency to outwit competitors.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: President of Norco, with 1,200 employees and $300M in annual sales. I have a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA. Performance Objectives: Our company goal for 2016 is to implement a partial ESOP that will provide employees with 35 percent ownership of the company. While ensuring this transition goes smoothly, we anticipate sales growth of five percent. My objective as Second Past President is to ensure that our current board maintains the momentum we have created to keep the GAWDA organization independently managed while growing membership.

Disruption Example: Probably the biggest ‘disruptive task’ that we have instituted was the creation of an e-commerce platform to allow us to better serve our customers.

This created a new focus on ‘making everything right’ with the customers who now have access online to their cylinder balances, pricing and availability of product. The result has been that Norco is now forced to ‘get it right’ the first time 30

and HAS to maintain correct customer files, pricing, cylinder balances, etc. The data have to be correct in the system. gawda vice president

ROBERT ANDERS president/ceo Holston Gases Knoxville, TN

Our predecessors personified a selfless approach to their companies. It wasn’t a “big me-little you attitude” but was a “we attitude.” In 1958, our founder Pat Baxter wore his coat and tie when making morning sales calls and changed into working clothes in the afternoon when delivering the product he had sold that morning. I am a resource for all of my company’s 340 employees, not the other way around. Visiting a customer, meeting with a vendor, counseling an employee who is getting off track, or giving an “atta-boy” to a new employee who is making progress are all ways of helping my team to succeed.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Married to Missy, father of three. I began my career at Selox (then Airco). Favorite activities: golfing, skiing and target shooting.

Disruption Example: Moving our payroll to direct deposit was relatively minor. We knew that it made sense on paper but resisted because we assumed that the majority of our workers would not welcome this change. Our HR department did a survey and to our surprise, the support for the change was overwhelming. What we erroneously thought would be a burden and disruptive was perceived as another benefit provided by the company. gawda vice president

BOB EWING president Red Ball Oxygen Company Shreveport, LA

Early in my career, I had the privilege of knowing and observing Craig Kennedy, the patriarch and founder of our company.

He would have fit the mold of early GAWDA board members.

He was independent, rugged, individualistic, hard-nosed, hardworking, passionate, and was willing to do whatever it Winter 2016

E1 SINC 964

Proud Member of

52 Years

Meeting today’s needs with yesterday’s values.

Kaplan has always believed in offering the best when it comes to quality, value, service and customer relationships.

Today’s market place gets caught up too much with impersonal e-mails and electronic communications that can lead to forgetting who actually built up the welding and gas Industry….. the people!

Kaplan is more than just a like, tweet, or hashtag.

Pick up the phone and talk to people who care.

800.273.3216

GOOD PEOPLE , GREAT SERVICE .

National Headquarters 6255 Kilby Rd Harrison, OH 45030 www.kaplanindustries.com

Customer Care Line: 800.273.3216 Local: 513.367.6227 Fax: 856.779.8242 Email: kaplan@kaplanindustries.com

Board of Directors took to grow his company. I’m not sure I’m fit to buckle his shoes, so I don’t really invite the comparison! I do feel comfortable saying that I’m passionate about this industry, the amazing people who work in it, and especially the customers that we serve.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: A person is known by their passions. Mine are God, family, country, Red Ball Oxygen and the LSU Tigers, more or less in that order.

Performance Objectives: A key objective for our company in 2016 is to recruit, select and develop a handful of impact players in branch operations and sales. On the Board of Directors, my key objective is to keep Bill Visintainer happy.

Bill, I will do anything to support you, short of cheering for the Crimson Tide.

Disruption Example: We like to shake things up pretty regularly. Most recently, we implemented an activity-based costing system and moved everyone’s key metric from gross profit to net profit. It was pretty mind-bending at first and challenged a lot of cherished assumptions. I think we are now a lot more disciplined and make more informed business decisions because of it. gawda vice president

KEVIN FALCONER general manager Minneapolis Oxygen Company Minneapolis, MN

I am committed to our company, employees and the industry. All of GAWDA’s independent distributors can be proud that they have weathered many difficult and trying times over the years and are still strong and independent today. It’s a unique and rewarding position to be in. It’s also a challenge every day to find new and unique ways to differentiate ourselves and become even more independent so we can truly control our own destiny as a compaany.

Performance Objectives: While valuing relationships with our suppliers, my company is always trying to take ownership of the services we provide by performing more tasks in-house. To give my company and other companies like mine a voice in our industry, my objective as a board member is to listen, learn and provide as much feedback as I can.

There are so many accomplished people in GAWDA and on the board that every meeting and interaction is a learning Winter 2016

experience. I hope that I can in some way give what I learn today to someone else down the road. My commitment to GAWDA is a long-term commitment and will continue long after my term expires.

Disruption Example: We continually modify our management structure and the systems that we use to manage operations. Not every decision we make will be a popular one, but if we can communicate a clear vision and are willing to sit down and answer questions honestly, it can go a long way in helping people understand what led to making that decision. gawda vice president

GARY HALTER president Indiana Oxygen Company Indianapolis, IN

I am striving for my company to be more independent and am hardworking and passionate about the industry and our customers. With a true teamwork approach, I will do whatever it takes to grow my business profitably in our region.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Married with three children, I enjoy reading, listening to the band AC/DC, am a Colts fan, and wish that I was a better golfer.

Performance Objectives: My business objective is to increase sales and profits while maintaining a safe working environment. I believe in GAWDA and will contribute in any way that Bill feels I am best fit.

Disruption Example: We moved our hardgoods warehouse to a new building while joining the IWDC at the same time. The result is yet to be determined. We are working through the issues and believe it will benefit us, but not without some initial pain. gawda vice president

ABYDEE BUTLER MOORE vice president Butler Gas Products Pittsburgh, PA

An if-it’s-to-be-it’s-up-to-me mentality is what I believe continues to inspire us today. I feel lucky to have grown up in this industry, one that is so firm in its roots and traditionally grounded 33

Board of Directors yet driven to evolve by competition and consolidation. Early GAWDA members were our mentors’ mentors and likely everything we know about this business has come from them.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Results-focused smile-loving daughter, wife, friend and business person with a thirst for life, progress, positive impact and a good story.

Performance Objectives: At Butler Gas Products, our number one goal for 2016 is mandating 100 percent safe operational excellence. For the GAWDA Board of Directors, I would like to draw on my experience with the Member Services Committee to best promote, communicate and enhance GAWDA membership. We need to engage 100 percent of the membership in GAWDA’s valuable alliance with CGA, develop leadership training and mentorships to bridge the gap between GAWDA’s young professionals and established members, and grow the number of active distributor members in the association. gawda vice president

JAMES O’CONNOR director national distriBUtion Norton/Carborundum Abrasives Duluth, GA

The founders of GAWDA were entrepreneurs, some of them starting their businesses by selling tools out of the trunk of their car. It’s hard to retain that entrepreneurial spirit working for a large multi-national manufacturer, but I try to imitate that independent, hard-working, entrepreneurial spirit in all my efforts to serve welding distributors.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: A 37-year company veteran, my wife Dedra, two children and I ski in Colorado annually. I like to water ski, golf and travel.

Performance Objectives: By gaining share and growing faster than the market, the key objective for Norton/ Carborundum in 2016 is to grow sales to welding distributors

34

by five percent. A key objective I have for GAWDA is to recruit more distributors to our trade association. If distributors come, suppliers will follow. gawda vice president

BRAD PETERSON cHairman & cHief acQUisition officer Mississippi Welders Supply Company Winona, MN

I’m probably a lot like the people who served on GAWDA’s first Board of Directors. I’ve still got a hazmat CDL and do an occasional delivery of bulk liquid. I’ve also recently been in the field fixing a telemetry system, and on the other hand, I get to wear a suit occasionally. Bottom line…I take on any role that is necessary to keep my business rolling and my customer satisfied. I think that’s what the first board members did, and what all successful business people do.

Who I am in 140 characters or less: Business-oriented type A person, but with concern for relationships and people.

Married to a charming lady with two awesome sons.

Performance Objectives: My company’s key objective is to improve profitability. By improving profitability, we can utilize reinvested capital to accomplish many of our other goals. My objective as a GAWDA board member is to cultivate and recruit new members, work to maintain good relations with other industry organizations, and help the staff to settle in to a good relationship with the board, now that we are totally independent.

Disruption Example: A recent strategic planning session morphed into training, employee focus groups, secret shoppers and customer brand-awareness interviews, supported by our local community college. The effort led to a new mission/vision/values statement. Some of the specific outcomes from this effort included a biweekly company newsletter and a dress code that a majority of our employees requested.

Winter 2016

THE ROAD AHEAD

2016 BUSINESS FORECAST:

finding tailwinds in efficiencies, prodUct nicHes, carveoUt marKets It’s a year of headwinds and tailwinds; of regional markets having huge differences; of opportunities found in uncertainties. Facing these ups, downs and middle grounds, distributors lay out their plans for weathering and conquering the year’s diverse business environments.

36

Winter 2016

T

he economic prospects are different everywhere you look for 2016. Some distributors are facing outwardly, expanding their facilities and acquiring stores.

Others are examining operations introspectively to look for efficiencies and changes. All have many questions about a swirling customer landscape. Will a new product or service make sense? Should we pursue online sales? Could social media marketing be worth be the effort? Do new customers exist along current delivery routes? Can expanding our footprint by a few miles bring new business?

Distributors are creating added value for customers.

They’re adding training as an extra service. They’re leaving no stone unturned in the search for additional markets.

They’re introducing new products. The question they must assess is what road to take in 2016—and whether to invest heavily, hunker down and stay pat, or look for incremental improvements wherever they can be created.

The highly strategic and intensely tactical approaches that GAWDA distributor members are taking in 2016 may be best represented by longtime Sandusky, Ohio distributor Craig Wood’s apt marketplace assessment: “There’s no low-hanging fruit anymore; you’ve got to make it happen yourself today.”

EASTERN REGION In some parts of the East, strong construction has continued positive bottom lines. In other areas, traditional manufacturing has lagged but new technology-related manufacturing is up. In states where gas and mining are still down, some distributors are searching for innovative ways to create new business. The region’s average rate of projected growth for distributors interviewed is 5.4%, with the majority of GAWDA members expecting improvements of either 2%-4% or 10%-14% in 2016.

Pete Matarese, treasurer of Liberty Supply (Leominster, MA), has an upbeat outlook on the company’s 2016: a 10% to 15% increase in sales. Despite the state’s high energy costs and the departure of many businesses from Massachusetts, customer business remains steady, and Liberty has a forté in “the personal contact business,” servicing small-business accounts, he says. An initiative is being launched this year to Winter 2016

I think the only challenges are us just making sure that we are focused and doing what we believe we should be doing. I think if we remain focused, then we will achieve that.

STEPHEN NICHOLS PRESIDENT, ARCSOURCE, SEABROOK, NH

call on more such potential customers. Last year’s addition of a bulk liquid oxygen filling operation also will drive the year’s projected uptick, a belief borne out by the bankable results already achieved from adding bulk filling operations for CO2 nitrogen and argon over the past several years. Matarese says the addition of a concrete pad late last year is preparation for a retail expansion, and he is considering ways to use an added 4,000 sq. ft. of space formerly rented to an adjacent consignment shop.

At ARCSOURCE (Seabrook, NH), President Stephen Nichols is projecting a 10% increase in 2016 sales over last year’s totals, a boost he attributes to the firm’s efforts to simply “try harder.” The company “is putting more of an emphasis on some of the product lines that we have handled but not done a lot with in the past,” he says. That includes tools, abrasives, and filler metals. Another strategy is to focus on picking up more business close to existing distribution points, adding customers along existing routes and focusing on business in a tighter geographic area. He expects increasing efficiency will permit the company to add two or three new trucks this year.

Sales levels are forecast to be down by 5% to 8% for Church Towne Gas & Welding Supply (Cochranton, PA), according to President Charlie Mundt. He believes this a cyclical slump from a loss of manufacturing jobs, which he attributes to lower oil prices. The company president has plans to counter those conditions, hinging on obtaining new customers. Mundt also plans to introduce a new product, fuel gas Chemtane 2, and he’s thinking of expanding the market radius by 10 miles or so and by putting more focus on marketing. Mundt notes that in 2015, the company enhanced its plant facilities with a new 3,000-gallon liquid oxygen system, a 20,000-gallon propane tank and a snow shield. There 37

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

OVERALL GROWTH PROJECTIONS OF DISTRIBUTORS BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION

WEST +8.8%

CENTRAL +3.9%

EAST +5.4%

SOUTHWEST +11% *Average of ‘up,’ ‘down,’ and ‘similar’ responses Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

are plans to hire one person in 2016, an experienced person for a sales and management role, the president adds.

Steve Mattiace, president of McKinney Welding Supply Co. (New York, NY), had a good year in 2015 and expects 2016 to be just as positive, saying the company is expecting to sustain another year of a 10% - 15% sales increases. He attributes the West 52nd Street-based firm’s strong position to the resurgence of the New York City market, plus a new boom in construction. Though Mattiace considers the U.S. economy “still very fragile,” the area’s overall comeback, a strong construction industry and the “fair amount of business” McKinney does serving special-effects needs of a busy entertainment industry “really makes things very good for us.” The company has added oils to its mix of products this year, and is considering adding new lines of hardgoods such as accessories and safety items.

Following a record year of double-digit growth, Jim Earlbeck, president of Earlbeck Gases & Technologies (Baltimore, MD), expects 2016 to show modest growth of 3% - 5%. Earlbeck says the company can eke out incremental changes even as the economy experiences “wild swings” in manufacturing and cools off amid what he believes is “the middle of an industrial recession.” The firm’s newest store in York, PA now is gaining traction, and the company is working to open a public welding school in Pennsylvania. As a plan for 2016, Earlbeck has hired a specialist in gases to help increase market share for the traditionally hardgoods-orient38

ed retailer, and the company will try to further penetrate its existing market. With a cradle-to-grave outlook toward customer relations, the company focuses on internal training and on developing business skills among the staff, encouraging them to think with a business orientation and to share their knowledge to help Earlbeck customers grow their own operations.

At Middlesex Welding Sales Co. (North Brunswick, NJ), they’ve been SOUTH getting ready for fuel-grade gas, and +3.9% are refurbishing the 80-foot x 60foot physical plant and installing new pumping equipment, says Bruce Leasure, president. He says that over the past 18 months, sales have been “very low,” so this step was taken to “keep doing what we’re doing.” He’s expecting a flat year in 2016. The business focuses on small and middle-sized customers who need excellent service and are willing to pay a little more in order to get it, he notes, despite a very competitive marketplace. Another area of focus this year is IT, and the company is dedicating attention and funds to improve the interactivity of its web page.

Dale Oxygen (Johnstown, PA), President Harry Bennear is expecting a 5% boost in sales revenues in 2016, based on his belief that “manufacturing is in a bad way right now.”

With some 90% of his business based in that sector, he’ll be working to “invent ways for our sales people to do a better job” and he plans to introduce products that current customers may be missing. In addition, Bennear hopes to gain efficiencies by updating the company’s pumping equipment and fill systems. He’s considering installing an automated fill system for the argon line of gases, as well as adding to the size of the plant by as much as 50%. The company presently fills helium, oxygen, nitrogen, and CO2 but no specialty gases. Also on the drawing board for this year are plans to add administrative office space. While the steady downhill slide of the coal industry has impacted a small part of operations, medical gas and beverage gas sales fill in, comprising the other 10% in business.

Jackson Welding & Gas Products (Rochester, NY) President and CEO Robert Jackson believes that 2016 will yield growth that is “slightly better” than the past year, resulting in a 3% - 5% improvement in sales. He expects volume to Winter 2016

ARTICLE TITLE GOES HERE

Winter 2016

39

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

remain about the same and price increases to be the source of the boost. To enhance sales in 2016, the company wants to increase the number of medical customers, do more in the liquid cryogenic area, and “stay strong and tight” with its customer base, particularly in the metal fabrication sector and medical arena. An area targeted for growth in 2016 is the research and development sector, Jackson says. Operationally, the team is upgrading existing software platforms and adding a new application that will improve efficiency. Jackson also expects to add two people to the staff, presently numbering 50.

crease is from the New Jersey operation being supported by “a lot of good construction projects going on in our area that will continue into 2016.”

shipping and order fulfillment, he notes. Goodliffe says he is budgeting a 15% increase on the company’s internet sales side (which comprises 90% of revenues) and a 6% boost in its welding supply distributorship sales totals. The 6% in-

At Wilmington, DE-based Keen Compressed Gas Company, Bryan Keen, president, says “a little bit better economic environment” is likely to push sales upward by 3% - 5% in 2016. The company is looking for new-business op-

Expansions of territory and product lines are in the plans for 2016 for Economy Welding and Industrial Supply (Sewickley, PA), says Donald Rosenthal, president. Last year’s opening of a new location in Industry, PA will help push sales up 3% - 5% this year, he believes. Momentum was strong enough last year that the firm was able to invest in new equipment, vehicles and cylinders.

Rosenthal notes that his sales projection is optimistic in light of challenges We still have a lot of small presented by his area’s economy. “If businesses, and that’s our forté, the the gas and oil industry does not come personal-contact businesses. We’re back in this area, it’s going to be difa small company; we only have one ficult to maintain those increases. I’m not going to say that we’re not going to location. I’m content. I like what we be okay, because our business is solid, do. Our customers seem to like what but any growth that’s going to come, we do. It’s like the old saying, ‘If it it’s going to come from that particular isn’t broke, don’t fix it.’ area.” The firm plans to keep revenues in the positive column this year by soPETE MATARESE, TREASURER, lidifying its positions in its service, oil LIBERTY SUPPLY, LEONMINSTER, MA and gas and industrial markets, and it expects to hire one or two employees this year, Rosenthal says.

Sales levels are expected to be up by about 5% in 2016 at Lynox Welding Supply (Presque Isle, ME), as the compaAWISCO (Maspeth, NY) President Lloyd Robinson projny continues expanding throughout the state of Maine, plus ects 2016 as a comfortable year with growth in the 4% range, undertakes an initiative to build sales on the gas side of the much like the level experienced last year. With a majority business. According to Gene Lynch, president, argon sales are of business coming from heavy construction work and tied targeted to generate growth in 2016, and the company has preto large infrastructure and government spending projects, pared for that by adding a pumping system and an additional Robinson is pleased with that type of margin. The fact that 1500 sq. ft. of space at the Presque Isle site. Lynch says the the New York City metropolitan area is “doing very well” company is considering doing more in specialty gases, too, and bodes well for the future, he says, however the challenge likely will hire a sales person to help fulfill that function. in 2016 “is just making sure that as competition continues to increase and we are positioning ourselves to be the best J.W. Goodliffe & Son, DBA Cyberweld (Linden, NJ), is choice for our customers.” It’s a goal achieved by working looking at 2016 as its “IT Year,” says Bob Goodliffe, CEO. hard at “continuous improvement” and by wanting “to keep Implementation of a “major investment” of a purchasing and becoming the most versed company we can be,” he believes. distribution IT system is planned for the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Another focus for the company in 2016 will be “improving It’s a necessary change, he says, because the company has the retail experience in the branches,” Robinson says. The grown tenfold over 15 years while hanging onto the same firm has six locations around New York City and an export processes for orders and shipping. The new IT will provide center in Florida. automated purchasing systems that are tied to inventory,

40

Winter 2016

12/15 © Lincoln Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved

THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY 22801 St. Clair Avenue • Cleveland, OH • 44117 • U.S.A. Phone: +1 216 481 8100 • www.lincolnelectric.com

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

portunities outside the traditional welding shop, Keen says, including the metal environment, scientific biotechnology clinic applications, universities, laboratories and other users of cryogenic gases. They also are targeting the food and beverage gases industry. As another growth strategy, the company is hoping to make some acquisitions to help it expand, but economic conditions will dictate if those come to fruition.

The firm has started the planning and permitting processes for a plant expansion that is targeted to occur in 2017. With 115 employees now, the company may add two or three new people in the coming year to cover needs in its administrative and sales areas, Keen says.

New York City’s buoyant economy often can mask trends being experienced earlier elsewhere. Given that, John Zak, chief executive officer at AirWeld (Farmingdale, NY), thinks 2016 will be “a slow-down year in the economy.” His area’s “moderately strong economy” and a strong construction industry means expectations of sales that are “pretty equal” or optimistically, even up to 10% better than last year’s levels.

The company has installed a specialty gases lab and is making Grades 5 and 6 helium, plus hauling helium product. It also

42

invested in a Digital Wave Ultrasonic UE cylinder retesting system. An optimal deal on massive amounts of electrodes means they’re ordering almost every six weeks the equivalent amount they used to order at the end of each year, Zak says. AirWeld is adding abrasives in 2016, too. The company expects to hire 10 to 12 people for its 11 locations. Another change: the company has to move from its current location, he says, but it is searching for a close-by Brooklyn space.

It’s a busy new year at Oxygen Supply Company (White Plains, MD), because the company has acquired a 3,000 sq. ft. warehouse adjacent to its current location, which it plans to open in February. The added space is needed to house more inventory for both online and retail sales operations, and to make room for additional product lines, notes President Brant Romero. Brisk sales are being driven by the positive economic situation of several power plants opening in that area, he says. Even so, Romero expects sales levels to remain the same as they were in 2015 due to uncertain political and economic conditions. The company added several employees in 2015, and expects to hire perhaps five more employees for its retail and warehouse capacities, he adds.

Winter 2016

CENTRAL REGION In the nation’s heartland, record and near-record automobile sales are boosting prospects for growth for many GAWDA members. But distributors who are outside of automotive alley are dealing with slowdowns tied to low prices in the energy sector. Markets are highly varied. Sales projections show an average expectation of 3.9% growth. Still, conditions specific to their markets mean nearly one-third of distributors are projecting growth levels of anywhere from 5 to 9%, and some, even more.

For O.E. Meyer Company (Sandusky, OH), growth of 2% or 3% is expected for 2016 as the employee-owned company examines every aspect of operations and performance.

“There’s no low-hanging fruit anymore; you’ve got to make it happen yourself today,” says Weld Division President Craig “Woody” Wood. “We’re absolutely looking at everything we do and the way we do it, why we are doing it the way we are doing it, asking, ‘Is there a better way of doing it?’”

The firm is seeing traction from instrumental hires in 2015, experienced outside-sales staff who now are picking up business in outlying areas. A move back into the beverage CO2 business has been productive, as has a “focused approach to franchises,” where “word of mouth internally is helping us secure the business,” Wood says. The firm is working with a major fast-food company on standards for beverage CO2.

The initiative “has given us great credibility in the marketplace,” he says. While bottomed-out propane prices significantly impacted revenues, the company still plans to fill 6 to 10 new jobs in 2016 (in driver, sales, inhalation therapist and manager roles), due to medical field expansion efforts and by grasping geographic growth opportunities.

Something good came out of the 2008 financial crisis, says Steven Homrighaus, president, Welder Service Company (Toledo, OH). The squeeze forced potential customers to keep an open mind to possible solutions. “For the past several years now, we’ve had the opportunity to get in and quote businesses that had not given us the opportunity before.” That has created more customers and helped drive growth. For 2016, Homrighaus expects growth of 10% - 20%, from customers such as those in the growing HVAC sector as well as in craft brewing. The latter, he says, is a market that has been around for Welder Services for some time. “I don’t see it fading anytime soon. I think it will continue to add to our growth.”

Winter 2016

43

Sales will be up 6% to 7% for Koehler Welding Supply (Madison, IN), in 2016, predicts David Ungru, owner/president. The boost will show up in the first quarter, then performance will be flat for the rest of the year and through 2017, Ungru believes. Fortunately, Koehler “has been growing like crazy” within its region and within existing product and supply lines, Ungru says. The company is holding the line on expenditures and capital investments for 2016 after investing $2 million in a fill plant and adding 25,000 square feet of warehouse space in the last two years. A driver was added to staff in 2015, but the company doesn’t expect to add more employees anytime soon. It is addressing the issues of planning, training, and ultimately, replacing seasoned workers as they begin to retire, says Ungru. For now, the company is “just staying fast, and calling on people, and waiting for that opportunity when another company makes a mistake and you come in,” says Ungru.

A “really good year” with sales up 15% is a hard act to follow, but Scott Bell, president of American Gases Corporation (Gurnee, IL), expects 2016 is apt to show a 5%

- 7% improvement in sales. The 14-person company added to its sales staff last year and captured more revenues as a result, Bell says. The firm also picked up another 30 to 40 customers from a close-by industry consolidation. The company has expanded its gas business, invested in 2,000-3,000 cylinders, replaced three trucks, and added a number of accessory lines at its retail location. Its customer focus is “everything,” from “fire departments, to manufacturing, to body shops, to you name it,” Bell says.

At Trade & Industrial Supply (Lawrenceburg, IN), Barry Nanz, president, expects sales to be slightly better than in 2015, increasing by 5%. That uptick is attributable to strides in infrastructure made to support propane sales and microbulk sales of carbon dioxide. The company fills a couple hundred or so 500- and 1,000-gallon propane tanks and 75-100 microbulk tanks for the beverage business of its restaurant customers, according to Nanz. For 2016, the company hopes to add a driver and a salesperson to support its microbulk CO2 business over a tri-state quadrant in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, the president notes.

NEW Go-fer IV

One Machine for All Applications! ● Digital Travel Speed Meter ● Built in dual contactors, gas manifold and cable anchor ● Includes 8' of track, 2 magnets & 2 spacers ● Lower profile case ● Large industrial rocker switches ● Supported by our 3 year warranty

A boost in sales of about 5% is projected for 2016, according to Scott Myran, president of Mississippi Welders Supply Company, Inc. (Winona, MN). That outlook is being driven by expectations of continuing success in gas sales, he says. The company did well in virtually all of its gas products last year, generating successes in acquiring customers in both the bulk and cylinder gas markets. Mississippi has added significantly to its cylinder stock in order to

1-800-245-3186 www.bugo.com 44

WGT_Jan_2016_GoferIV_Ad.indd 1

The agriculture market, still down from prior years, will influence the business climate again in 2016 for Superior Welding Supply Company (Waterloo, IA). The continuing downturn will mean a year where sales are flat, according to Jerry Wessels, president. In response, the company is looking at a variety of new product lines and the implementation of technological innovations, but there are no plans for expansions or new hires as it navigates a competitive marketplace, he says.

11/19/2015 9:07:45 AM

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

and a salesperson this year, and to upgrade the technology of its current inventory system.

be ready for that new business, he says. Myran also credits the uptick to “excellent employees” for “knowing how to get things done.”

Bemidji Welders Supply Inc. (Bemidji, MN) President Brian Hartje believes that 2016 is apt to be another good year, with sales sustaining at the same levels. One critical factor that could change everything for the better: whether the Sandpiper pipeline goes through, an initiative with a route that run from North Dakota to near Chicago. Planned to start last fall but delayed by environmental issues, if the light crude oil transport project is a go, that could happen in the second quarter, says Hartje. That development would bring “three or four thousand welders” into the area, “extra bodies” that are likely to spend money, he adds. Bemidji is well positioned if and when the project moves ahead, with ready inventory and confidence in its supplier stream. In the meantime, Hartje says, the company is concentrating on its existing markets and has plans to add a driver and a salesperson to the staff.

Gary Halter, president of Indiana Oxygen Company (Indianapolis, IN), anticipates a 5% boost in sales for 2016.

For the 70% fabrication and manufacturing-based business, the “fairly strong” automotive and manufacturing industries are driving that forecast, Halter says. The company will work to buoy its market position by adding the capability to haul bulk argon and perhaps will start transporting other gases, he adds. The company hopes to expand its specialty gas capabilities as another means of bolstering business. The 120-employee company plans to add sales staff in 2016. It also will continue its strategy of “good blocking and tackling, along with continuing to be good at the basics: “safety, customer service excellence, going above and beyond for customers,” according to Halter.

Michael Fink, operations manager at Machinery & Welder Corporation (West Allis, WI), foresees a year that may be characterized by flat or declining sales levels. It’s an output:Layout outlook that is pragmatic, he believes, given 2015’s drops in oil and commodity prices and the resulting impact on his large customers. “A lot of the businesses that we have in this area, once the commodity prices go low, a lot of the mining shuts down. Some of our customers are having a real difficult time competing with other foreign interests.” Some of the company’s big accounts have cut hours and made layoffs; others have moved away. As an offset, the firm is targeting smaller and mid-sized accounts such as job shops, Fink notes. It also is working to promote its “very strong” service abilities, hoping to pick up business from other distributors who have closed their repair and service shops. The other differentiator is Machinery & Welder’s expertise in robotics, Fink says. As a full robotic integration company, it advises customers regarding their use, installs and services robotic equipment and works with robotics vendors, he adds. Despite the flat outlook, the firm plans to add a service technician Winter 2016

Some things bear repeating. That includes the “very, very good year” Minneapolis Oxygen Company (Minneapolis, 1

2/21/11

3:38 PM

Page 1

45

You’ve got to find every possible way to be more efficient. We’ve come up with some pretty neat things by involving the folks who work in a given area.

They understand that we listen and that if it makes good sense, we’ll execute on it. We take what they say to heart.

CRAIG WOOD, PRESIDENT, WELD DIVISION, O.E. MEYER COMPANY, SANDUSKY OH

MN) experienced last year, and now it looks forward to a repeat of that 10% growth performance. Mark Falconer, president, says the company’s investments have begun to pay off, and the area also experienced a “fairly decent” business climate. That includes a manufacturing sector that is holding up and newer markets, such as high-tech and small-brewery customers, fueling growth. That healthy position is permitting the company to invest in an enhanced IT system and new equipment, and to hire two or three employees (for inside sales, IT services, and administrative help) in 2016, Falconer says. As it keeps its focus on “trying to be one of the easiest companies a customer deals with,” Minneapolis also plans a “slow and sure manner” of picking up business around the edges of existing geographic boundaries. The company also is doing a lot of training of current staff to help them develop skills and broaden their workplace responsibilities, and working with area vocational technology schools to attract young people to industry jobs. It’s one way the 50-person firm hopes to replace the expertise of retiring workers, Falconer notes.

touch

Viproxy® 1 Touch, just a simple touch to operate Viproxy® 1 Touch is an all-in-one valve requiring just a simple touch to operate, yet it delivers with precision to meet the oxygen requirements of patients from infants to adults. Wherever portable medical oxygen is required, the Viproxy® 1 Touch brings benefits to all parties in the healthcare chain. The Viproxy® 1 Touch strategically incorporates the flow selector and internal pressure indicator on the front of the regulator for ease of control and gauge reading. The shut-off valve is integrated into the flow selector hand wheel for control with little effort.

Cavagna North America Inc. 50 Napoleon Court, Somerset NJ 08873 Phone 732-469-2100 Fax 732 469 3344

46

Cavagna West 1393 Dodson Way-A Riverside, CA 92507 Phone 732-469-2100 Fax 732 469 3344

Info@cavagna.com www.cavagnagroup.com

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

With manufacturing and the scrap market being its major segments, Depke Welding Supplies, Inc. (Danville, IL), President and CEO Curtis Towne has had to look hard to find some optimism for the coming year, he says. “There’s talk of things improving, but I think that there are some fundamental manufacturing industries that aren’t doing so well right now, and I don’t see any big improvement next year,” Depke notes. The company expects level sales in 2016, but it has been “plugging along and doing what we can to add to the mix.” It has picked up accounts in other sectors – agriculture, health care, and food processing – and is “looking under some stones that we haven’t looked under before” in additional geographic markets. Chicago, to the north, may qualify for exploration, Depke says, and he is considering dipping a toe into the propane business.

A “definitely better” year, with sales up by an expected 10%, is in the works at Columbus, OH Geer Gas. The company is expanding in several ways and adding new markets and new customers through a fast-paced, multi-pronged growth strategy, says Kevin Kowalski, president. In 2016, he reports, the company’s new fill plant will be pumping its own oxygen, nitrogen, and argon for existing medical and industrial markets. The decision to build its own fill plant was made after completing the company’s 25-year succession plan. According to Kowalski, the thinking was: “You know what, let’s make the investment. We have the ability to do it; so let’s do it.” The company has purchased a 3½-ton delivery truck to accommodate new CO2 customers. It also has found new buyers for bulk CO2, including a town water treatment plant and some microbreweries. At the request of some of its oldest restaurant-chain customers who wanted improved service, Geer Gas has resumed CO2 delivery after selling its division more than 20 years ago. On top of all that, the company is working on acquiring two retail location firms in adjacent communities. Though Geer wants to be a “99.9% gas business,” it has added some hardgoods lines to its shelves and that effort also is bearing fruit.

A flat economy has James Horst, president, Albright Welding Supply Company (Wooster, OH), expecting flat sales in 2016. “Oil and gas are obviously not in good shape right now,” he notes. A major concern for Horst is increasingly complicated regulations that require more training.

“Still,” he says, “you have to comply.”

A flat line characterizes the 2016 outlook for Central McGowan (Saint Cloud, MN), says Dean Kiffmeyer, vice president of operations, even though there’s a high degree of change at the company. He sees manufacturing being a Winter 2016

2016 PROJECTED DISTRIBUTOR SALES TRENDS 6.34%

SAY SALES WILL DECREASE

71.4%

22.2%

SAY SALES WILL SHOW GROWTH

SAY SALES WILL BE FLAT/LEVEL WITH 2015

Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

SALES GROWTH EXPECTATIONS

10.3% 9.4%

9%

6.6%

2016*

2015

2014

2013

*Average rates across U.S. GAWDA Distributors Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

47

TALK! BACK

We want to know what you're thinking.

Send your TalkBack comments to editor@weldingandgasestoday.org

To Meet or Exceed the Most Rigorous Global Standards,

The Gas World Turns to

Weldship

Experience •Knowledge• Performance

Tube Trailers, ISO-Containers, CO2 Transports, Ground Storage Modules For superior product quality and performance, call on Weldship!

We have met virtually every global standard or code, and have the engineering, technical and manufacturing experience to assure you the right size and configuration for your gas product transports and containers.

All of our products are available for lease or purchase. In addition, we provide a complete testing service for required container certification.

Contact us today to keep your product safe, your fleet moving… and your profits rolling!

w w w. w e l d s h i p . c o m 225 West Second Street • Bethlehem, PA 18015 • P–610 861 7330 75 East Main Street • Westboro, MA 01581 • P–508 898 0100 1310 Highway 82 West • Gainesville, TX 76240 • P–940 668 1777

48

little slower, but says the purchase of an automation company (Pro-Fect, of Little Falls, MN) and its move to their location will begin to boost overall numbers. The impact already has been measureable, Kiffmeyer says, since “automation right now in manufacturing is an upward trend like crazy” and it is a revenue stream that “will keep climbing.” While the company previously focused on welding automation, “now we’re open to anything…from pick and place to vision seam packing and welding. There’s nothing we can’t get into anymore,” Kiffmeyer says. A third retail location is being contemplated, but economic conditions will decide whether the move is made this year. Plugging in Pro-Fect staff added seven people to the operation, and the company added an automation director and an R & D-type engineer last year, Kiffmeyer notes.

Though the company typically has set—and met—a goal of 10% growth each year for the last three years, 2016 sales levels may fall a little shy of that for Metro Welding Supply Corporation (Detroit, MI), says President Greg Stoneback.

Consequently, he expects 2016 revenues to be in the 8% -10% range.

Hardgoods sales have fallen off, along with a downturn in equipment buying, he says. The company is working aggressively to grow its gas business and to boost ancillary supply sales that are equipment related. They include abrasives, stainless and nickel wires and MIG and TIG wire for the aerospace industry. The firm also added CO2 dry ice, and is hoping to supply new customers with some 60 tons a month.

Metro recently opened a new, 20,000 sq. ft. automated fill plant in Ypsilanti, MI, and will make capital expenditures this year to “farm additional products Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

out at that plant,” Stoneback says. The company plans to add two to three drivers and two to three fillers there this year.

At Island Supply Welding Company (Grand Island, NE), Brian Weber, president, says sales will be steady, headed neither up nor down. With revenues based on the agricultural market, plus consumers who are careful about spending, a wait-and-see attitude is prevalent in the region, he says.

A challenge for 2016, given that situation, is that costs of all kinds are on the rise, including health care, government regulation costs, and supplier costs, and these have to be passed on. With more experienced staff members who have been at the company for 20 and 30 years getting closer to retirement, Weber says the transitional state of his workforce is a forefront operational issue. Accordingly, he notes, the company is engaging in significant training for newer staff members regarding supplies and the uses of equipment.

OVERALL SALES PROJECTIONS FOR 2016 - DISTRIBUTORS

DOWN*

NO GROWTH

2% TO 4%

5%

6% TO 9%

10% TO 14% 15%

25% *1 at 5-8%, 1 at 10%, 1 at 20%, 1 at 30% Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

SOUTHERN REGION Distributors are expecting growth across most of the South, with the exception of areas affected by the decline of coal or weakness in the oil and gas sectors. To face that challenge, distributors are getting innovative, and they’re looking to other markets and greater efficiencies to fill in the gaps. The projection of growth in the south is at 3.9% for 2016 among distributors interviewed. Nearly one-quarter of them are expecting flat or level sales, although about a third project growth in the range of 5%.

Despite a decimated coal industry and an economy bearing the new brunt of two just-closed steel mills, Robert Clay, vice president of Tri-State Oxygen (Ashland, KY), hopes to hold his own and float growth of 10% - 15% in 2016. The company has honed an ability to sell small amounts of hardgoods and supplies to small-needs customers and individuals. That has created a profitable niche that the competition can’t or won’t fill, he says. Some of Winter 2016

Tri-State’s newest customers are people who’ve lost their coal- or steel-industry jobs and are working on the side.

Transactions of that nature make money for the company, make the buyers happy, and create new customers, Clay says. Tri-State sells welding supplies and fills oxygen, argon, nitrogen, CO2 and propane. The company had been considering upgrades to its facilities, but the uncertain economy means those decisions will be “wait-and-see” until after the first quarter, according to Clay.

With new air conditioning, car parts manufacturing, and a Volvo plant locating to South Carolina, Jan Aubrey Fogle, president of Southern Welders Supply Company (Orangeburg, SC), says the company is well positioned for 2016. The firm focuses on retail and fill gas in its four locations in Orangeburg, Sumter, Florence and Myrtle Beach. In the coming year, Fogle says he is looking at expanding the reach of each location to surrounding cities to try to capture added manufacturing clients. Staff-wise, the company has instituted a general operations manager position, is implementing training to expand skills, and is experimenting with restructuring some of its positions.

Ronald Brower, president, Wayne Oxygen & Welding Supply (Waynesboro, VA), stresses customer service to his em49

System-Critical Products for Your Markets

We know valves are a system-critical piece of your business. We’re proud to provide you with American-made products and service you can trust.

50 MADE IN USA

888.508.2583 compgas@sherwoodvalve.com www.sherwoodvalve.com Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

ployees as the keys to continuing to build the gases and hardgoods business, the way his father before him did. “You want them to be treated as you’d be treated if the shoe were on the other foot,” he says, noting that’s how his medical, food, and industrial gases business will grow. He sees sales rising, predicting “a modest increase somewhere between 3% and 5%.”

Sales improvements of 6% - 7% are projected in 2016 for Statesboro, GA-based Logan Hagan Welding Supply, says Tommy Hagan, president. That positive outlook is driven by several new manufacturers moving to the area, a factor that makes the company “very, very comfortable in our trade area,” Hagan says. An Australian company will be moving in to manufacture concrete distribution equipment; a new offshore manufacturer is producing insulation gel used in the petro-chemical industry; other light industry is coming to the area, Hagan notes. While there seem to be new customers, Hagan is concerned about the increased likelihood of added regulations impeding progress. “I think there are some government issues coming down the road that we’re not having to face today; that some regulation compliance is going to be our biggest issue this year,” he suggests.

David Rimes Sr., president of Lake Welding Supplies, Inc. (Belle Glade, FL), is expecting to maintain a 13% boost in sales, repeating 2015 levels. That healthy level of growth is attributable to the firm’s ability to penetrate the Florida coast’s construction boom, Rimes says. It’s occurring in both residential and commercial construction markets, including mainly storefront retail, Rimes says. Lake Welding is looking ahead to investing in a new truck and a new liquid vessel in 2016. The company plans to add one person to its staff in 2016, a general laborer.

A sunny economy is generating a positive outlook for 2016 for Greg Bradshaw, vice president at Interstate Welding & Steel Supply (Murphy, NC), whose second location is in Mineral Bluff, GA. He’s projecting an increase in sales of 5% this year, He says the fact that sales have improved a bit each year for the last several years is due to an economy that’s “just been a little bit better here over the years.” As a 22-person, family-owned business and independent distributor, the company is “very excited” about the GAWDA health insurance offering for 2016. He says the firm now will be able to offer the health plan to employees after they complete a year of service.

FIBA - A RecognIzed LeAdeR In

TechnoLogy, InnovATIon, on, expeRIence ence & cApABILITIes

FIBA Technologies, Inc. 1535 Grafton Road, Millbury, MA USA 01527 Phone: 508.887.7100 | Fax: 508.754.2254 | www.fibatech.com

Winter 2016

51

16 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 52

CHALLENGES FOR 2016

Flat sales are likely to characterize 2016 for Mabscott Supply Company (Beckley, WV), notes President Michael Massinople. For distributors in an area heavily driven by the coal industry, and in an environment of plentiful natural gas, “we’re going through significant change,” he says. Given that those industries are the bulk of Mabscott’s business, “we’re pursuing more gas opportunities, more medical opportunities, and we’re just having to dig in deeper,” he reports. The company also is looking at propane sales at distribution centers and cross-docking facilities. It is also going after newly located businesses that come to the state and is working to align with trade schools. Home health demand for oxygen comprises a large share of the firm’s oxygen business. As it looks for new customers, Massinople says the company is focusing on existing processes and finding cost savings such as full maintenance leases on trucks.

Kenny Williams, president and owner, Dixie Welding Supply Company, Inc. (Attalla, AL), saw worsening fiscal numbers as 2015’s third quarter came to a close, and an October bellwether that caused him some pause. Accordingly, he thinks his firm will see a dip in sales of 10% overall for 2016. It’s a reality check that means he’s postponing changes that were in the planning stages, such as a new route truck and building improvements. The company is considering new markets and new products, but remains focused on its ability to deliver superior service, including retaining a certified technician, and it will hold on to its traditional offerings until it sees what else 2016 brings.

ARC3 Gases (Richmond, VA) Co-President Parker Dillard expects the company to stay on course in 2016 or even show modest sales improvements. That result is possible as long as its markets in commercial and industrial construction, such as at the region’s many paper mills and chemical plants, keep renovating, adding on, and making repairs—and also if the manufacturing sector doesn’t suffer, he says. The company operates in three states: Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Between the opening of two new retail locations and the acquisition of three sites, five new branches recently became part of the ARC3 group. The locations are in Charleston, SC; Anderson, SC; Alexandria, VA; Emporia, VA; and Tazewell, VA. The company has been able to maintain employees in all locations throughout the process.

As a distributor tied to road-industry manufacturing, the wait for highway bills to be signed has had an impact on sales figures. That’s partly why Harrison McCants, operations manager at Industrial Welding Supply Company (Chattanooga, TN), projects a flat year in sales. Though there Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

were “some big construction jobs” in the area, manufacturing dipped and power plant outage work also was down. So the company is broadening its offerings, adding new lines of hand tools, power tools, and fall-protection items, and providing training to go with the purchases. The idea is to offer customers a proactive approach, McCants notes. The firm’s customer-centric approach shows in its willingness to regularly take supplies to customers who are located on construction sites up to 150 miles away. The company has added more specialty gas mixtures and refrigerant gas products, and it is looking at other ways to reach out to more customers, McCants said.

The decline of the coal industry is impacting Modern Supply Company (Owensboro, KY). says Mark Pike, branch manager. Despite that challenge, he sees sales growth of 3% - 5% for the company. “We’re still fairly busy at our other stores,” he adds. His biggest concern is keeping up with the competition, particularly the majors. His firm has been around since 1961 and he’s counting on its experience and expertise to face that challenge. “We have a lot of tenure here; we have a lot of people that have a lot of knowledge in the industry.”

SOUTHWEST REGION Few parts of the country are more tied to the energy industry than the Southwest. However, in the face of falling oil and gas prices, distributors in the Southwest are finding ways to get more efficient, generate new markets and develop additional customers among ranchers, farmers and even hobbyists. The Southwestern region is showing an 11% growth rate among distributors interviewed—the strongest level of all regions per the GAWDA members surveyed.

Business will improve some 5% in 2016, a boost attributed to last year’s steps to put “more feet on the ground,” believes Vice President Todd Linnenbringer, at Delta Gases, Inc. (Maryland Heights, MO). The addition of both inside-sales Winter 2016

We’ve focused a little bit more on coming to the customer rather than setting up brick-and-mortar stores for them to come to us. We travel as far as 150 miles out of the home office to major construction sites on a routine basis. So we’ve definitely taken the approach of going to a customer rather than them coming to us.

HARRISON MCCANTS, OPERATIONS MANAGER, INDUSTRIAL WELDING SUPPLY CO., CHATTANOOGA, TN and outside-sales staff members in 2015 is bearing fruit, he says, freeing the company to focus in 2016 on developing a new facility. Linnenbringer says the firm plans to keep its gas plant in place and add a new retail/office building on the same site, or perhaps obtain land close-by for a new administrative/ retail building. One with 25,000 sq. ft. - 30,000 sq. ft. “would allow us to continue to grow for the next 15 - 20 years,” he observes. Continuing focus on its “bread-and-butter business” of welding gases and welding supplies, as well as the fabrication and medical gases markets, is Delta’s 2016 plan of action. “There’s plenty of business here with the current kind of customers we target; plenty of business here for us to grow with what we currently have, and what we specialize in,” says Linnenbringer.

Hopes are that 2015’s good 20% growth year will be followed by one in 2016 that sustains business at that level, or more optimistically, grows it another 10%, says Rodney Wray, vice president of Mitchell Welding Supply (Terrell, TX). Wray says 2015’s expansion efforts included installation of a new propane-filling station, which he thinks will yield most of the projected growth in public and manufacturing propane customers. The firm also is upgrading its whole welding repair facility and adding inventory storage space for what is now a 30,000 square-foot location. He also purchased a new route truck. Plans call for hiring two staff members – a pumper and a driver – in 2016 to fulfill a business strategy of expanding routes to pick up more customers from within the existing territory.

Even though the oil and gas business in Texas is slowing down, David Hodges, president of Hodges Welding 53

Supply (El Campo, TX), is predicting a year of steady operations and sales activity for 2016. “We’re in a unique situation down here because the business that we did lose to the oil and gas boom, we kind of picked up a bit” when a former distributor sold to a major and left the area, Hodges explains. The company has been operating for 40 years in a region “that’s either farm-related or field-related,” and without much else going on in the way of emerging markets, they’re taking a conservative stance and remaining “steady as we go,” says Hodges.

Monroe Welding Supply (Monroe, LA), President Christian E. Williams forecasts sales to be up 15% this year, based on hefty construction activity at oil refineries in south Texas and Louisiana. The company has been streamlining its operations the past two years to create efficiencies and increase productivity, including buying better equipment and replacing outdated systems, Williams says. Those moves cut pumping time from 60 minutes to 20 minutes, and permitted carrying 15,000 gallons of oxygen on property, versus 6,000 gallons previously. Monroe Welding services industrial and numerous medical customers, plus subcontracts some tank-

filling work and servicing some markets for Linde, Williams adds. The company, now with 36 employees, may add a filler position in 2016 in order to keep up with consistent demand.

A slower energy economy, including low oil prices on the Gulf Coast, is creating a downturn expected to come in at 20% for Champion Industrial Sales Company (Houston, TX), predicts Michael Kegg, owner and president. “There’s a lack of work out there. If the price of oil is too low, then it’s not economical to drill for it, pull it out of the ground and process it,” he cites. Those conditions will mean that Champion may likely focus more inwardly in 2016, using the slower conditions to fine-tune operations, look for efficiencies and upgrade its computer system, Kegg says. As a hardgoods-focused location, Champion has some concerns that competitive pricing and heavy discounting may come into play across the general marketplace. However, Kegg says the company is in a good position and it has a strategy in place.

“We’ve always run a pretty lean operation, so we would just try to weather the storm with what we have,” he adds.

Guy Marlin, president, Lampton Welding (Wichita, KS), believes there’s a 7% sales increase to be had for the com-

Our DISTRIBUTORS and CUSTOMERS agree.

ALM POSITIONERS improve their bottom line!

"At Oxygen Service Company our customers like the ALM Positioners for their ability to move large weldments in any position to accommodate ease of welding for their employees. They are a proven reliable product."

Gary S. Teigen Oxygen Service Company

“We have sold product as a result of leads forwarded to us from ALM and we have several sales pending which will be sold at respectable margins. I would recommend ALM to any independent distributor wanting to represent a high quality line of equipment that's priced fairly and provides their customers with real value."

Scott St. Peter

“ALM Positioners save us 30% on our production time on a typical trailer.”

“The time saving. It goes right to the bottom line of what we are doing.”

Paul Zimmerman Mertz Manufacturing Weld Shop Manager

Weld Specialty Supply Corp.

We couldn’t say it better ourselves.

Let us show you how to increase everyone’s bottom line.

Call 855.750.4295 or visit www.almmh.com 8080 Centennial Expressway, Rock Island, IL 61201 • Phone: 855.750.4295 • E-Mail: sales@almmh.com DISTAD_2015.indd 1

54

12/7/2015 3:33:51 PM

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

pany in 2016, “if you work for it.” For Lampton, that means getting some traction from sales of product from its new plant, including growing its specialty gas business by producing it themselves. The company now is able to produce Grade 7 helium (in addition to Grades 5 and 6) and is able to do specialty gas mixes as well, he says. That allows more opportunity for hospitals, and other medical-gas uses, plus the “tremendous amount of labs” in place in the industrial field. On top of that, Marlin is leading construction of two new stores in Hutchinson, KS and McPherson, KS. They’re being built because both sites needed to be bigger to better serve customers, the president adds. Both are planned to open in the first quarter. Lampton employs a technology specialist to service its headquarters and 14 branches located in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. The company recently added a lab technician and anticipates putting a few more people to work this year as truck drivers, counter personnel, and sales people.

For Jay Dyches, chief operating officer of Cross Texas Supply (San Angelo, TX), the oil-field slowdown is shifting sales down by as much as 30% off previous levels, so he expects revenues to remain flat for 2016. The company is

Winter 2016

Finding good people is a catalyst to a good future.

You can’t grow if you don’t have the tools, and the tools are often people.

If you see an asset, you surely don’t want to turn your back on it.

GUY MARLIN, PRESIDENT LAMPTON WELDING, SUPPLY COMPANY, WICHITA, KS

compensating by focusing on increasing its market share and adding customers in the construction, farming, ranching, and industrial arenas, as well as delving into the hobbyist market. The company’s experience and expertise on processes, technology, how-to’s, and product selection are its selling

55

points, he says. Cross Texas uses social media, particularly a Facebook page, to appeal to the hobbyist audience, and dedicates employee time to that function. Until there’s an uptick in the economy, Dyches says the firm, which services 21 counties, will “hunker down, cut our expenses as much as we can, operate as tight and as lean as we can, and just drift through until things pick up.”

WESTERN REGION For many distributors in the Pacific Northwest, CO2 for brew houses and butane for the processing of now-legal marijuana provide a nice business lift. California’s remarkably diverse economy and changing market conditions hold promise, but distributors whose businesses are tied to natural resources, such as minerals and oil, are facing headwinds.

Among distributors interviewed in the Western states, the average sales growth of 8.8% is projected for 2016.

Colorado Compressed Gases/DME Solutions (Colorado Springs, CO) President Mark Frydenberg expects growth of 12% overall in 2016 from several revenue streams. A main driver is demand from the continuing cannabis market for CO2, which he expects will boost sales by 10%. Last year’s addition of an automated CryoVation fill system should mean an increase in welding and industrial gases sales of about 5%, he notes. The five-gas mixed pedal fill station adds argon, nitrogen, CO2 and CO2 mixes to the firm’s earlier ability to fill liquid nitrogen, oxygen, and CO2. CCG also has a healthy foundation in medical gases sales, according to Frydenberg.

While the company has been servicing its own cylinders, it is considering doing hydrotesting for other firms to turn new profits. The anticipated revenue bump will fund a new delivery vehicle and permit hiring of one or two salespeople, Frydenberg says, steps necessary to implement a geographic expansion initiative. CCG plans to move into the Denver market and to reach out to other parts of the state from its existing base, he adds.

Bob Laing, president, Industrial Source (Eugene, OR), is seeing a recovery in his region and expects sales to rise 6% in 2016 “across the board.” A particularly bright spot is craft brewing. Marijuana-production uses are another growth area.

A third is the motorcoach-building industry, since Winnebago 56

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

Buoyed by a construction boom and an influx of new agriculture- and dairy-based businesses in southern Idaho and Nevada, William Watt, president of Gem State Welders Supply (Twin Falls, ID), is anticipating a year of continuing growth and sales that are up by 7%, 8%, or even 9%. That kind of boost will comprise a second good year for Gem and continue to help the firm “get back on top” after “a pretty big sting” during the earlier recession, Watt says. The com-

recently announced it will be producing vehicles in Oregon. His top challenge, he says, is managing growth. After running lean for years, growth means “we’re kind of at a tipping point and need to be very careful about balancing expenses with growth.”

Steve Byers, president and COO, WestAir Gases & Equipment (San Diego, CA), credits Southern California’s “very diverse economy” for part of the company’s expected 4% growth. With stores throughout California as well as in Texas and Arizona and more than 230 employThe economy out here is pretty strong. ees, Byers says the top challenge is We’re looking to expand and maybe keeping the company quick and agile add an additional salesperson. We’re as it grows. “We can scale that,” he says, as the company plans to add angoing to try to take advantage of the other store and increase total employmarket while there’s one here. ee count by 6 or 7 people. He plans JEFFREY MICHAELSON, PRESIDENT to continue to be “very aggressive in RAINIER WELDING SUPPLIES, LAKEWOOD, WA bringing value to our customers and others for the long term.”

ADDING AND EXPANDING MARKETS AND FACILITIES GAWDA Distributor Plans, FY 2016

CENTRAL WEST • Adding Military Accounts • Adding Inventory Services • Adding a New Store • Expanding to the Motorcoach Industry • Expanding a Retail Location • Expanding Statewide Footprint • Adding Major-Cities Markets • Obtaining Government Contracts

• Adding More Government Accounts • Resuming CO2 Business for F&B Customers • Adding Medical and Industrial Oxygen • Building a New Fill Plant • Finding New Buyers for Bulk CO2 • Adding Microbrewery Customers • Expanding Out to Major-City Markets

EAST • Adding R&D Sector Accounts • Adding Biotech, University, Clinics • Adding Food & Beverage Gases • Adding Medical Customers • Expanding Fill Plant • Refurbishing Plant • Adding Retail Space • Adding Warehouse Space • Adding Administrative/Office Space • Opening a Warehouse • Expanding Plant Space • Upgrading Pumping Systems

• Adding Hobbyist Market and

Small Jobbers • Upgrading Welding Repair Facility • Expanding Routes in Existing Territories • Adding Hobbyist Market • Adding Construction, Ranching, Farming, Industrial Markets • Building 2 New Stores • Building New Retail/Office Space • Adding Inventory/Storage Space

• Adding Manufacturing Services • Adding Propane Sales to Distribution Centers • Expanding to Major-City Markets • Adding Medical and Home

Health Oxygen

SOUTH

SOUTHWEST Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

Winter 2016

57

pany’s positive standing will help it add one and possibly two new drivers this year. They will help the firm service more business in the region’s growing milk, cheese and yogurt operations that have been a big part of the region’s economic recovery. While Watt understands that online sales are part of the new norm for the industry, he believes the gases distribution and welding industry remains one where “the shops and plant people and the farmers, they kind of like to see us face-to-face, bringing them their product. The bulk of what our industry does, it’s a service industry. I think we have to be face-to-face with our customers and on the phone with them, and not strictly pointing everything to the computer.”

For the bulk of what our industry does, because it is a service industry, I think we have to be face-to-face with our customers and on the phone with them, and not pointing everything to the computer.

WILLIAM WATT, PRESIDENT, GEM STATE WELDERS SUPPLY, TWIN FALLS, ID

Parts of Arizona were among the hardest hit by the fall of real estate prices less than a decade ago. Now those markets are coming back, and that is good for Phoenix Welding Supply (Phoenix, AZ), says General Manager Douglas Seaman. With hard rock mining down due to low commodity prices, home building is a bright spot. Also promising are prospects that a long-planned semiconductor plant will soon open. Seaman sees a 4% - 6% increase in sales, largely attributable to changes in the competitive market. He sees a need for the industry to recommit to fundamentals, “things like cold calling, customer service and available inventory.

Customers don’t want to wait but the Internet is teaching people to expect to wait.”

“The economy out here is pretty strong,” says Jeffrey Michaelson, president, Rainier Welding Supplies (Lakewood, WA). “We’re going to try to take advantage of the market while there’s one here. So we would like it to be a 10% increase over 2015.” Rainier is looking to expand its helium business, with much of the growth coming from cylinder supply customers. The company anticipates adding 500 cylinders to its stock. Another avenue of expansion is to increase the amount of business the company does with government entities, including adjacent McChord military base and the Bremerton Shipyard. Rainier may also see a new line of business in 2016 since it’s been asked by other companies to provide inventory services. The company wants to add another salesperson to its current group of seven employees in 2016, Michaelson says.

A New Generation of Gas Storage and Transportation

CALL (415) 856-0570 FOR PRICING

Quadrum

GTM1350

GTM2500

Approved for Air, CO, CNG, Helium, Hydrogen, Argon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen

AVAILABLE FOR SALE OR LEASE | 490 POST ST, STE. 1700, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 | WWW.LUXFERGTM.COM

CALL (415) 856-0570 FOR PRICING

58

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

At Vern Lewis Welding Supply Inc. stores (Avondale, Mesa, and Phoenix, AZ), 20-pound propane tanks seem to be flying off the shelves. The “couple thousand a week” that the stores supply its small customers are going to consumers who, President Vern Lewis believes, are finally experiencing some relief from a recession. That recuperation has generated a high degree of profitability for the company, and for 2016, Lewis predicts a 10% - 15% increase in sales. Lewis’ strategy is to have on hand what his customers need and then provide them with good service. That orientation toward his mostly home-user and small-business customers is fueling plans for expansion at the company in 2016.

Washington State’s 2015 legalization of marijuana will mean a boost in sales of 6% for 2016, Gregory Walmsley, president of Spokane, WA-headquartered Oxarc believes. In order to accommodate an emerging market “that has done wonders for the bottom line,” the company responded quickly last year, fulfilling demand as supplies and services were needed. Walmsley says they took a “build it and they’ll come” perspective, adding a distribution facility to pump N-butane and N-propane, and installing another dry ice machine. The company of 350 employees in 18 locations in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon has completed a $2 million upgrade to its computer systems.

NORCO (Boise, ID)’s Robert Mohr Gerry, executive vice president, sees industrial sales in 2016 as likely to be flat on the industrial side, balanced by an estimated 15% growth on the medical sales side. The decline in mining, oil, gas, coal, and gold and silver industries affects two of the company’s seven operating states, and “I don’t see [those industries] as being up,” Mohr says. There are bright spots in industrial work: light fabrication, general metal and fabrication and agriculture, Mohr says. Projections for medical-side sales, which comprise more than half of revenue, are much sunnier. In addition, businesses relocating from California and Nevada and coming up the I-5 corridors are helping improve the picture, he says. Norco also is undergoing an employee-ownership initiative, and will become about a third employee-owned by the end of 2016. Mohr sees that as positive for both employees and customers, enhancing teamwork and driving performance.

The energy and oil slowdown is impacting operations at General Distributing Company (Great Falls, MT), says Glenn Bliss, president. The company’s alternative plan is to look at adding niche industrial products, some new equipment lines, some specialty gases, controlling variable expenses and “managing our income statement and cash flow,” Bliss says.

With heavy investing in capital equipment completed over the past two years, 2016 will be a year when the company takes a break in that area, instead taking the time to look carefully at its operations. Bliss says the firm is “spending a lot of time really analyzing our day-to-day activities to make sure that we’re doing things right, the first time.”

The marijuana and beer industries are part of growth plans for A-L Compressed Gases of Spokane (Spokane, WA). The company has added N-butane to serve marijuana processors who use the gas in the extraction of oils from the plant, says

Your Source For MIG Carts and Cabinets Dual Bottle Deluxe Weld Cabinet DWC2

Deluxe Weld Cabinet DWC1

Winter 2016

Universal Cart UWC3

www.metalmangear.com

•

888-762-4045

Universal Cart UWC2

59

Vice President/General Manager Brady Bush. The legalization of marijuana has created that market, while a resurgence in craft brewing of beer has increased demand for bulk gas deliveries. A-L Compressed Gases expanded its workforce 10% in 2015 and added a new location. Bush expects the company will see 10% sales growth in 2016 and may need a few additional people in sales and delivery this year.

We need to train our customers on safety and train them how to save money by doing things efficiently. That’s what we try to help them with.

VERNON LEWIS, PRESIDENT, VERN LEWIS WELDING SUPPLY, AVONDALE, AZ

60

Humphries Incorporated (American Fork, UT), is looking for “a little pick up” in 2016, says Vice President Bruce Cook. He expects sales to be up 10% - 12% through expansion initiatives. The mining industry can help with growth, he believes, however he expects little assistance in that goal from the oil and gas sectors. A concern is that suppliers will become competitors, bypassing him to sell to customers he helped create. To combat that, he says Humphries will continue to stress customer service, not simply compete on price.

Roy Renouf, general manager/vice president, Tri-Star Gases (El Monte, CA), is looking for 2016 to be “considerably better” than last year, thanks to a rising aerospace sector. A large contract win in the area is a major bonus. “Even though it’s not actually our customer that got the contract, all these little shops here in Southern California will all be up as a result of it.” He plans to add three workers to the 11-person staff to keep up with an anticipated 25% increase in sales, some from existing clients and some from growing his business with new customers.

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: DISTRIBUTORS

Adding New Products and Services in 2016

WEST

SOUTHWEST

CENTRAL

SOUTH

EAST

Argon, Nitrogen,

Specialty Gases

Argon

Hand Tools

Hardgoods lines

CO2 and CO2 Mixes

Food & Beverage CO2

Propane

Power Tools

Specialty gases

Bulk CO2

Argon

N Butane

Propane

Fall-Protection Items

Specialty Gases

Hardgoods lines

Hydrotesting Services

Customer Training Services

Food & Beverage CO2 Specialty Gases Abrasives CO2 Dry Ice

Special Gas Mixtures Refrigerant Gas Products

Stainless, Nickel, MIG & TIG Wire

Liquid Cryogenics

Abrasives Filler Metals, Tools

Helium Oils Safety Items

Source: Distributor Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

a global provider of thermal cutting technology.

A supplier as unique as you are.

Over 6,000 consumable parts in stock Commitment in providing new innovations or 1:1 direct replacement consumables that meet or exceed OEM specifications Specializing in replacement plasma torch/lead packages Same day shipment for more information, please visit

www.thermacut.com

Winter 2016

1-800-932-8312 Claremont, New Hampshire

61

THE ROAD AHEAD

2016 BUSINESS FORECAST:

witH marKets miXed, sUppliers looK for new nicHes and innovative waYs to acHieve growtH Investments, training, acquisitions and new products are some of the ways suppliers are working to continue growing.

62

Winter 2016

F

or 2016, supplier business forecasts are highly segmented. The decline in oil and natural gas prices has brought a rapid drop in what had been a large piece of business for many suppliers. Likewise, the decline in coal mining has hit some businesses, causing suppliers to be more cautious about their outlook for this year.

On the other hand, the promise of fuel-cell technology has other suppliers looking for double- and even triple-digit sales increases and innovative opportunities in which they can get their distributor customers involved. Those supplying the automotive industry and even some in construction see things moving up in 2016.

Behind it all is an awareness that the industry is continuing to change and develop, with new products promising to make things more efficient, economical, safer and simpler.

“Everybody still seems cautious, but positive,” says Hector Villarreal, president, Weldcoa (Aurora, IL). He is projecting a sales increase of as much as 10% given continued growth in construction, home sales and the medical field, offsetting weakness in oil and gas. The company plans to launch new products at the GAWDA Spring Management Conference. Weldcoa has made some $2 million in investments recently. “We’ve bought some robotics. We’ve bought some more lasers. We’ve expanded our main office building.

We’re automating more of our processes,” Villarreal notes.

Catalina Cylinders (Garden Grove, CA) will bring to market new products that “will be higher pressure, higher volume, and lighter weight than the ones in the market today,” says Rick Hill, vice president and general manager. He expects sales to be up more than 10%, spurred by large-volume, high-pressure industrial and specialty gas markets. As the company brings online 107,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space in Garden Grove around mid-year, it plans to hire close to 50 people.

Regional differences have Rex Larkin, vice president sales and marketing, ReelCraft (Columbia City, IN), expecting a 3% increase in sales. “If the distributors are catering heavily to automotive markets in either Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, places like that, they are probably doing fine. If you’re in the oil patch, Texas, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Pennsylvania, not so good,” he says. The company is bringing a new high-amperage welding cable reel to market, one that is good to 700 amps. Reelcraft has instituted a “quick ship” program, Larkin says, “stocking about 120 of our top-sellers, ready to ship, in three locations. They are West Coast, Indiana, and Canada, and we’re doing that for quantities of

Winter 2016

10 or less.” He says the goal is “to be the easiest company that a distributor would have to do business with.”

David Anderson, president, Metal Man Work Gear (Appleton, WI), sees growth of 20% - 30% driven by a new customer demand for its private-label goods. That growth has the company thinking about adding warehousing in the South, with an eye toward Georgia and Texas, as well as adding personnel.

Global Calibration Gases (Sarasota, FL), is looking at a 25% increase in revenues, said Managing Partner Ray Borzio. He says the company’s focus on EPA protocol mixtures and its service will drive growth. In addition, Borzio sees a growing emphasis on “all of the natural gas standards and hydrocarbon mixes related to the energy sector.”

Chris Mapes sees a challenging market ahead for the welding industry, even though the aerospace and automotive sectors show strength. Mapes, chairman and CEO, Lincoln Electric (Cleveland, OH), is confident. “Good distributors are going to continue to do what they’ve been doing successfully for the last several years. They are going to have a strong emphasis on servicing their customers and ensuring they’re working with their customers to try to drive solutions into the marketplace, irrespective of the strength of demand.” Lincoln is about to start work on a new $30 million education technology center at its campus in Cleveland. “We’re basically opening up the front end of the building and putting on another 130,000 sq. ft. It’s big,” Mapes says. “It all has to do with continuing to advance solutions and our train-the-trainer model, where we train welding educators from around the world.”

“We are working to provide turnkey approaches for our customers for helium pumping and trans-filling,” says Ric Boyd, president, CryoVation, (Hainesport, NJ). He expects a 15% increase driven by growth in helium, CO2 and automation, including a complete helium package the company is developing. “We’ve got some new automation going on to make trans-filling better and safer,” he says. In addition, the company will be looking at training to keep employees current. “There’s always a need to make sure your people are trained in what’s going on in the industry, but also what’s going on technology-wise in the world. That way your people and your product line stay current.”

David Cowart, president, Oxylance (Birmingham, AL), sees sales falling 5% - 8% because of the overall economy and the decline in energy prices and other commodities. One bright spot is demand among those who do demolition work on industrial infrastructure.

63

From Ideas to Reality

P.O. Drawer 1869 Clarksdale, MS 38614 1-800-542-2278 www.saftcart.com www.youtube.com/saftcartdemos

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

American Standard Manufacturing (Central Bridge, NY), saw phenomenal sales growth driven by welding regulations in 2015, says Vice President David Day. For 2016, he expects a rate of growth of 5% - 8% among regular customers after an extraordinary 2015. Later this year, the company will be rolling out a new product that allows for the quick and easy inverting of high-pressure cylinders for inspection and maintenance, he says. Amid the growth, Day sees his company’s greatest challenge as “navigating the internet marketing piece of our overall market approach, particularly where social media fits in a business-to-business marketing effort.” The buzz of social media can’t be ignored, he says, “so we are attempting to glean knowledge about how you do that in a business-to-business environment, and that is the challenge: determining where that fits in our overall marketing effort.”

Worthington Industries (Columbus, OH), is bullish on its prospects, says Dusty McClintock, vice president/general manager, industrial products. In late 2015, the company acquired the assets of the global CryoScience business of Taylor Wharton, including a manufacturing facility in Theodore, AL. The company also has built and has petitioned to open a cryogenic facility in Bandirma, Turkey, next year, for the production of bulk cryogenic vessels. In addition, Worthington is bringing new products for brazing and soldering technologies. The biggest challenge the company faces, McClintock says, is getting the right people. “We have a great strategy.

We need people to execute our strategy.”

Bill Dwyre, vice president, strategic marketing at Weiler Corporation (Cresco, PA), sees growth of about 3% ahead.

“We see a pretty strong headwind that we believe is focused on the energy issue and then, of course, the strength of the dollar. The combination of those two elements, I think, has created a recessionary environment in the industrial space.”

The company is expanding its bonded adhesive offerings in what Dwyre calls a “significant move.” It is part of the company’s just-finished expansion in Cresco that Dwyre says will ready the company to deliver more innovative products.

“We intend to be a one-stop shop abrasive supplier, with very technically savvy application specialists in the field that can work in partnership with distributors to help grow their businesses more quickly and more profitably.”

Jack Finn, president, FIBA Technologies (Littleton, MA), reports seeing level sales ahead as low oil prices and a strong dollar are offset by improvements in the electronics industry. In the third quarter, FIBA expects to introduce a new gas transportation product that combines higher payload and lower cost.

Winter 2016

Michael Hopsicker, president and CEO, Ray Murray (Lee, MA), which has acquired Best & Langston in Goldsboro, NC, is looking for that move to help drive sales in the Southeast region. Overall, Hopsicker is looking for growth between 5% - 10%.

Jim Johnston, senior vice president, Kaplan Industries (Harrison, OH), sees a slow 1st quarter due to softness in the manufacturing sector, followed by pent-up demand driving sales to positive growth later in the year. Kaplan is finishing work on a new facility in Ohio that after the 1st quarter will house its corporate headquarters operations, as well as those of Midwest Cylinder and Blue Steel Scuba Company.

“I’m an optimist. We foresee having a good 2016 because we can be creative on how we sell our products and make different promotions”, says Frank Salvucci Jr., president, Anthony Welded Products (Simi Valley, CA). The company plans to roll out new products in the 2nd quarter. “It’s going to reinvent the way cylinders are carried,” he says. “Not knowing what the future business climate will be worldwide, or in our sector, we’re controlling our costs. The good thing about being a family-owned business is we can do what we need to do.”

Everybody still seems cautious, but positive.

HECTOR VILLARREAL, PRESIDENT WELDCOA Eric Laubach, president, Direct Wire and Cable (Denver, PA), is looking for 5% sales growth. “I think the biggest factor for everybody is going to be the oil and gas industry,” he says. He acknowledges though, “people are starting to explore other avenues in manufacturing.” Direct is continuing to invest in its plant, planning more than a half-million dollars in capital investment for the year.

Jerry Leary, president, chairman and CEO, Koike Aronson (Arcade, NY), is expanding offerings within existing product lines to help drive an expected 8% - 10% increase in domestic sales. International sales are being pulled down by the strong dollar, he says, as well as softening markets in Russia, South America and the Middle East.

Kathi Leiden, president, Zephyr Solutions (Avon, OH), says the company will be rolling out new products in 2016, including a helium-air mixer, which is specific to the retail balloon industry. The first-quarter introduction has been two 65

years in the making, she notes, and it allows users to conserve helium when filling foil balloons.

Jack McCreary, president, at Winton Products (Charlotte, NC), is looking at a 15% increase in sales over the prior year, reflecting growth in market segments served by the company. Later in the year, McCreary says the company expects to introduce a new line to serve the propane industry.

Carborundum Abrasives: WITH YOU THROUGH THICK AND THIN – AND THINNEST! • 1/4" thick for demanding applications and longer wheel life • .045 ultrathin wheels for quick cutting applications and minimal kerf loss

Tim Temby, group president, ITW/Miller (Appleton, WI), is expecting weakness in the oil and gas industry to bring a slow start to the year, with better sales coming along in the second half. That should bring a 3% increase for the year, he says. Regardless of the economy, Temby sees the industry moving toward “thinner, lighter, more corrosive-resistant materials, the use of information as a better management tool for processes and toward a better environment for the welding area.” That better environment includes fume abatement, comfort and protection, he adds. “These are areas that we’ve been focusing on for a number of years. They are really creating opportunities, if managed correctly.”

Isabelle Schmitz, vice president, Rotarex North America (Mt. Pleasant, PA), is expecting sales to climb 10% or even 12% based on two things: “The pick-up of the U.S. market, which is quite strong right now, and what we’ve heard from our major customers.” The company plans to continue integrating electronics into its products. “It makes them more intelligent,” Schmitz says.

New products set to be released in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters are driving growth estimates of 2% or 3% for Sherwood Valve (Washington, PA), says Dino Sciullo, vice president sales and marketing. The company was acquired by Mueller Industries in 2015. Sherwood is now part of Mueller’s industrial metals group. The move opens a lot of new markets to Sherwood, Sciullo says.

Norman Sted, vice president of sales and marketing, Bug-O Systems (Canonsburg, PA), is looking for a sales increase of 5% - 7%. “The company plans to launch new products that will open additional markets within the gases and welding industry that will be served by traditional gas and welding distributors,” he says. “We are in a hiring mode right now; we plan to continue within the plant and have additional new hires in our engineering and research and development departments,” he notes.

products. pricing. experience. © Saint-Gobain October 2015.

66

Gary Watson, president and CEO, Watson Coatings (St. Louis, MO), expects sales to increase at a 2% or 3% rate, counting on his company’s ability to match customers’ needs.

“We’re very attuned to what the industry needs, and we foreWinter 2016

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

cast that well, so we have what they need, when they need it,” he says. “We’ve kind of seen ourselves as being the warehouse for their needs.”

Walter Surface Technologies (Windsor, CT), has dramatically increased the size of its sales force in the South and the West. “We needed fire power in those areas,” says U.S. Division President Jim Welch. He expects sales to increase between 10% - 15%. More new product introductions are planned for 2016 to compliment those launched last year, and a new distribution and training center of 40,000 sq. ft. to 50,000 sq. ft. is planned for mid-year in Texas, he reports.

Tom Carey, group president for the Chart distribution and storage group, Chart Distribution and Storage Gases (Ball Ground, GA), expects sales to be flat for the year. He says that is largely due to headwinds from the oil and gas industry, as well as the continuing strength of the U.S. dollar. “But we see good opportunities in other application areas,” he says, including the food and beverage market, as well as the water and wastewater treatment sector. He also sees promise in liquid hydrogen applications. “That’s partly led by hydrogen fuel cells for forklift truck applications because, in general, hydrogen’s trending upwards for fuel cell applications.”

In addition, comments heard at a fall trade show left Carey thinking the overall metal fabrication market is going to be OK, he adds. The company is introducing a number of new products this year.

George Ratermann, president, Ratermann Manufacturing (Livermore, CA), is “very optimistic” for 2016. “There are many new ways to do things in the marketplace,” he says. “The company is optimistic,” he says, “because we’re spending so much energy and time developing, training and growing our people.” Ratermann is rolling out new technology that allows distributors to instantly see what hoses work with what gases and to make the proper selection.

Dennis Richardson, vice president sales and marketing, Thermco Instrument (La Porte, IN), sees sales rising 10% with good, steady growth. Among the reasons for the growth are new products, including “a small gas mixing system with a built-in gas analyzer.” Recent growth has come despite a strong U.S. dollar, making the domestic market a larger percentage of the company’s business. Richardson sees signs that manufacturing is gaining prestige as a career track.

“There was a time when manufacturing was not looked on as a quality career,” he says. “That has changed to some degree from everything I’ve been reading.”

Winter 2016

OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT! INTENSIVE 3 DAY COURSES FOR SALES & PRODUCTION PERSONNEL Production Technology • Vacuum Technology • Cylinder Preparation • Maintaining Purity • Blending Technology • Gravimetrics • Serial Dilutions • Analysis Techniques • And Much More...

Sales Applications • Instrument Gases • Calibration Gases • Fuels & Carriers • Modified Atmospheres • Laser Gases • EPA Protocols • And Much More...

INSTRUCTOR:

RAY BORZIO

THE SPECIALTY GAS INSTITUTE

HOSTED BY: GLOBAL CALIBRATION GASES FOR INFORMATION & COURSE SCHEDULES CONTACT: rayborzio@specialgas.com 67

Kareem Afzal, vice president of PDC Machines (Warminster, PA), sees hydrogen compressors for hydrogen energy powering a 35% sales increase in 2016. It’s a business he thinks distributors can get into. “I can see some re-selling, high-pressure storage for this,” Afzal says of hydrogen for use in alternative energy cars. “We feel it’s the wave of the future. It’s a great opportunity for the gas distribution suppliers nationwide.” PDC is planning to add five employees in the field in 2016 and to balance the demand for more floor space with the need to remain efficient.

Not knowing what the future business climate will be world-wide, or in our sector, we’re controlling our costs.

FRANK SALVUCCI JR., PRESIDENT, ANTHONY WELDED PRODUCTS

Don Murphy, sales manager, Arcon Welding Equipment (Salisbury, MD), attended a trade show in the fall of 2015 and, “I just got that vibe that everybody was a little more optimistic for the coming year.” He is projecting 2% sales growth for this year. The company recently opened a new full-service welding training center in Salisbury, has an updated design of its rugged workhorse welders set to be rolled out in the 1st quarter and finished up a year and half project working on a multi-process power supply.

Bill Zheng, CEO, BTIC America Corporation (Houston, TX), says growth depends on the strength of the U.S. and world economies. “We hope it should be going up.” Zheng stressed there is a lot of uncertainty in the market in 2016 because of consolidation.

Pavel Perlov, director of business development at Electronic Fluorocarbons (Hopkinton, MA), sees the energy sector impacting business negatively in North America. “The price of oil is having a harsh impact in our business sector.

Independent distributors who are heavily involved in this business are feeling the largest impact in the entire Gulf Region.”

The company is continuing to expand and is planning on opening a specialty gas plant on a 16-acre site in Hatfield, PA.

On-Site Gas Blending with a wide range of flow rates for large manufacturing companies to small mom & pop shops!

Trumix® Gas Blenders Value to the entire gas management system.

Accurate Blend.

Automatic shut off.

No electricity, floor space or storage tanks.

Shielding Gas / Food Packaging / Beer Dispense Call for details!

www.McDantim.com • 888.735.5607 68

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

“Now is the time to invest,” says Steve Fyffe, president, Astaras (Largo, FL). “We see the market and the commodity products relatively soft next year, maybe a couple of points growth. But for us, we would predict double-digit growth.” To accommodate that, Astaras has extensive expansion plans. “We’re adding another 2,300 sq. ft. to customer service. We’re adding 10,000 sq. ft. in additional warehousing.” The company is looking at acquisitions or investments in American manufacturing, as well. Fyffe says his company’s position as part of a global holding company, with manufacturing plants around the world, allows it to think globally and act locally. He sees two key challenges: the continuing concern with regulatory compliance and the loss of skilled welders to do the industry’s work. He notes that the industry is looking “at 300,000 people retiring in the next four or five years and we don’t have the people to replace them.”

Ashley Madray, vice president, Gas Innovations (LaPorte, TX), sees demand for welding wire stabilizing and a mixed outlook that includes “some manufacturing pullback, but an increase in petrochemical and pharmaceutical activities.” He expects sales to rise between 5% and 8%, and

says the company plans to upgrade facilities to accommodate new products coming out in the first half of the year.

American Wire Research (Pittsburg, PA), is a startup, and President Beau Barsotti is looking for growing sales despite an overall level market in 2016 He says the company “now is making carbon steel and mild steel wire and tubular 71T1 type product, but we intend on manufacturing a tubular stainless product in 2016.” The company doubled the number of production lines in the past year. “We’re growing,” Barsotti says.

Mark Anderson, director of sales and marketing, Digital Wave Corporation (Centennial, CO), sees sales rising 10% - 15%. The boost is “due to the gas industry’s use of composite pressure vessels,” he adds. New products are in the pipeline, Anderson says, noting that the firm “will be coming out with a new line of modal acoustic emission testing equipment called the Digital Mode or DM line this year.” The new products will improve the ease of testing customer-owned composite pressure vessels, he says.

John Kaylor, president U.S. and Canada, ABICOR Binzel Corporation (Frederick, MD), expects a couple of rough quarters at the beginning of the year followed by a pickup in the OVERALL SALES PROJECTIONS FOR 2016 - SUPPLIERS second half. Kaylor believes “it’s going to be flat, at best, if not, a few points down.” That brings Kaylor to the biggest challenge for the year: “From a management perspective, DOWN it’s going to be finding that balance of controlling costs in what we think NO GROWTH is going to be a fairly flat year in the market segments while still adding 5% OR LESS personnel.” Additionally, the company expects to bring out new products in the 1st quarter and again mid-year.

6% TO 10% 11% TO 15%

15% TO 20% 20% TO 25% MORE THAN 25% Source: Supplier Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

Winter 2016

Brian Hoffmann, president and CEO, CPV Manufacturing (Kennett Square, PA), sees continued growth in 2016 as independent distributors continue to upgrade plants and build new ones. He sees recruiting to be the top challenge, again. “Our top challenge for 2016 is what it was in 2015 - continuing to attract talented employees.”

The Harris Products Group 69

Gentec is a total solution provider for your welding, cutting, and gas control needs.

From components to fully integrated systems, we can offer customized solutions to fit your specific needs. Our team is dedicated to servicing you with engineering and support.

welding & cutting apparatus

automation solutions

manifold systems

specialty gas equipment

Welding & Cutting Apparatus | Regulators | Welding & Cutting Outfits | Cutting Tips Welding & Cutting Automation | Machine Cutting Torches | Gas Control Systems

Genstar Technologies Company Inc. 909.606.2726 | www.genstartech.com

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

(Mason, OH), was expecting a better year in 2015 than it got, says David Nangle, president, and he sees those trends continuing into at least the first two quarters of 2016. Weaknesses in both the global and domestic oil and gas industry were partially to blame, and this softness was only modestly offset by strength in the automotive sector, he says. Meanwhile, the housing sector failed to provide much, if any, positive momentum. He sees this situation creating a great opportunity for manufacturers and distributors to work together to provide outstanding service, increase knowledge and reduce costs. “Following that is a great opportunity to increase our market share,” Nangle says. Harris has significantly stepped up training, has several product launches in the pipeline and has expanded its fleet of demo vans to demonstrate products and capabilities in the field. In the first quarter of 2016, the company is introducing products manufactured by the Harris Group in Poland. “These will fill gaps in the company’s product line and give us competitive price points we will pass on to distributors,” he says. “The welding Industry is cyclical, so the plan is to plant the seeds for when the wind is at our back again.”

Ed Martin, president, Arc One (Taunton, MA), thinks revenue will likely be flat because of the continuing weakness in the oil and gas sector. However, “if that market turns

PERCENTAGE OF SALES INCREASES EXPECTED BY SUPPLIERS IN 2016 MORE THAN 25%

20% TO 25%

around, then our revenue will be much higher due to the new products,” he adds. The company has five new products in the pipeline for release throughout 2016 and Martin considers the biggest challenge to make sure the launches go smoothly and according to plan.

Scott Mazzulla, president, Hobart Institute of Welding Technology (Troy, OH), expects enrollment to remain “very solid.” The Institute is adding an advanced blueprint course in the first quarter. The challenge at the top of Mazzulla’s list is hiring welding instructors. That’s a challenge for two reasons, he says. “First, they must have three years’ minimum practical experience in the welding industry. “Secondly, they must have that personality mindset to be able to teach and command the classroom.”

Coming off a record year in 2015, Dave Hudson, president of U.S. operations, Gullco International (Cleveland, OH), projects sales to be level in 2016. “But that will be outstanding,” he observes. He credits national contractors with projects that will last through the year for that perspective Wade Holt, executive vice president, Hyperkinetics (Williamstown, VT), is expecting sales in 2016 to be similar to 2015. “We’re looking for a status quo kind of 2016,” he says.

New products are in the works for introduction around the middle of the year. “I think probably the biggest challenge that we have is just competing with product that comes from offshore,” he says. “The stuff that comes from offshore, some of it’s good, some of it’s not so good, and it varies a lot from batch to batch. But probably our largest challenge is just staying competitive financially with products that can be bought elsewhere,” he notes.

5% OR LESS 11% TO 15%

6% TO 10%

Source: Supplier Interviews, 2016 Business Forecast, Welding & Gases Today, 1st Quarter 2016

Winter 2016

John Adams, senior vice president and general manager, RegO (Elon, NC), is looking to get a 3% - 5% sales increase in 2016 out of a market that is flat overall.

He sees gains in refurbished tanks, an area that has done well in recent years. “On the industrial side, we are focused on North America and Europe, and really looking at the distribution and storage segment,” he says. “We think that market has shown some pretty good growth and should continue to do so. We’re introducing some new products that expand our product offerings to position us to grow.” The com71

pany plans to add a salesperson, and, if Q1 shows strength, Adams says he could see the overall market start to open up.

ing on aggressive sales and target marketing to help Amtech reach that goal.

Kenneth Tidwell, senior vice president for WDPG Insurance/Horton Group (Nashville, TN), sees sales rising. “Business for the distributors has been really good and in some pockets of the country are better than or more robust than others. But just looking at the forecast in sales, it looks like it’s going to run around 10% on average,” he says. A new product is in the works for The Horton Group, which uses actual sustained losses for calculations. “It takes the guesswork out of a business income loss and pays for the actual loss sustained in the event of a covered loss,” he explains.

Steve Aderholt, president, Western Sales and Testing of Amarillo (Amarillo, TX), expects sales to rise 10% - 15% from a weak 2015. “Basically, we expect the tube trailer re‑testing to step back into a cycle to start a lot more maintenance, due to DOT regulations and so forth,” he says. The company has added testing capability at plants in Texas and North Carolina.

David Schaer, president, Computers Unlimited (Billings, MT), is expecting a sales increase of 10% as customers continue to “integrate technology to streamline operations.” The company is planning to roll out new products through the year, including e-commerce improvements and smartphone apps for cylinder inventory and delivery.

Paul J. Andrews, president, Amtech Insurance Brokers (Latham, NY), is looking for sales to rise 8%. He’s count-

Thermacut (Claremont, NH), should see sales about the same in 2016 as they were in 2015 says, Kevin Bonneau, co-president. The company is planning to introduce new products in the 2nd quarter and will be rolling out a new web site that Bonneau says will be “more user-friendly and interactive” in terms of product searches and product offerings to help distributors. The site will include a chat capability, he says.

Evergreen Midwest Corporation (Mentor, OH), has just introduced a new web site, says Tom Cregan, president. He expects the system to reduce the number of orders made by phone or fax. “We’re always here to answer any questions,”

ROTAREX CO2 RESIDUAL PRESSURE VALVES OPTIMIZE GAS USE IN BEVERAGES APPLICATIONS: HEALTH & SAFETY FIRST

ROTAREX CYLINDER VALVES WITH RESIDUAL PRESSURE VALVES INTEGRATED (RPV) ENSURE PROPER BEVERAGES CARBONIZATION ★ HEALTH: CO2 purity is entirely respected to ensure beverage highest quality level for consumers. No toxins introduced into the beverages. ★ SAFETY: Cylinder is fully protected which prevents moisture from entering the cylinder and causing corrosion. No damage of the cylinder wall.

NORTH AMERICA Tel.: +1 724-696-4340  E-mail: info@rotarex-inc.rotarex.com  221 Westec Drive  Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania 15666 USA WORLD HEADQUARTERS Tel.: +352 32 78 32 - 1  E-mail: info@rotarex.com  24, rue de Diekirch  B.P.19, L-7505 Lintgen - Luxembourg

72

Rotarex is the gas control equipment specialist for all industrial, specialty and ultra-high purity gas applications from low to high pressure.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ADVANCED SOLUTIONS: www.rotarex.com

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

he says, but the new system should free him up for his top priority. “It’s going to allow me spend time face-to-face with the customer. My goal next year is to spend more face-toface time in front of our customers.”

Dan Fallon, president, McDantim (Helena, MT), is looking to increase sales 3% - 5%. “We’re kind of steady,” he says. “What’s happened is we’re not the new kid on the block anymore.” He sees growth coming in the industrial sector as customers recognize the benefit of mixing gases on site.

Michael Koonce, president, Luxfer-GTM Technologies (San Francisco, CA), expects business to triple. He says hydrogen for fuel cells is driving the 200% increase. The company plans to bring out new products in every quarter, including new transports that will hold more hydrogen. The company will also triple its space in the 1st or 2nd quarter, Koonce says. Hiring plans include drivers, management and assembly positions. That fits with the top challenge listed by Koonce: finding qualified personnel.

Bill McCloy, managing director, AmWINS Program Underwriters (Charlotte, NC), is looking for growth in the 2% - 3% range. He says, “we write more welding distributors than any other insurance carrier,” and considers consolidation in the market to be the biggest challenge.

Kevin Toft, president, ALM Positioners (Rock Island, IL), credits an improved distributor network for his prediction that sales will rise 20% - 25%. The company was acquired by Hawk Technology in 2015. “It was a match made in heaven,” he says. “We brought on several new distributors in 2015.

Therefore, this year we expect to see the real improvement on that network.” The company expanded its physical plant in 2015 and expects to add another 6,000 sq. ft. in the 2nd quarter this year. The top challenge, Toft says, is meeting production demands. “Our facility growth in 2015 gives us a good leg up for that, as will our continued growth in 2016.”

Ron Weldon, executive director, Association of Independent Welding Distributors (Overland Park, KS), is projecting a 7% net purchase increase for the year. The challenge Weldon puts first is growing AIWD membership in the face of consolidation. In 2015, the organization gained 22 new members, the most in any year. “The reason that’s important: It means that we buy more from vendors and buying more from vendors makes us more relevant to them.”

Joe O’Mera, president, Camel Grinding Wheels (Niles, IL), is hopeful that the second half of 2016 will be stronger than the first. Overall, he expects sales to be down between 0% and 5% for the year. CGW is focused on stocking Winter 2016

Good distributors are going to continue to do what they’ve been doing successfully for the last several years.

They are going to have a strong emphasis 23-5578_1/4 page b/w ad on servicing their customers and ensuring they’re working with their customers to try to drive solutions into the marketplace, irrespective of the strength of demand.

CHRIS MAPES, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, LINCOLN ELECTRIC

Fork Lift Cylinder Tank Storage Cabinet

EW Series Delivery Bodies Kaddy-Kart Cylinder Handling

FOR ALL OF YOUR GAS HANDLING NEEDS H&H delivers the gas handling equipment you need to reduce labor, increase safety & save money.

HAUL IT— The EW Series truck body features a modular design with your choice of steel treadplate or bar grate flooring for confident transport. H&H can provide the optimum lift gate for your loading/unloading operation.

STORE IT— Our Cylinder-Stor Cabinets set the mark for convenience and secure outside storage. Both single and double section models are furnished with tamper-proof padlock hasps, keyed padlocks and bolt-down features for the best in safety and security.

MOVE IT— H&H Kaddy-Karts are small enough to get through doors and traffic lanes yet large enough to carry plenty of cylinders. Pallet-style bottoms for easy movement and alignment. Some models offer casters, tow hitches or crane lifting eyes.

You'll find the model you need to improve your operation.

Get H&H to help you today to safer and easier cylinder handling.

16339 Lima Rd., P.O. Box 686 • Huntertown, IN 46748-0686 Phone: 260-637-3177 • 800-551-9341 • FAX: 260-637-6880 E-mail: hhequip@frontier.com • Web: www.hhsalescompany.com

800-551-9341

73

top-selling items and the production of a new catalog. “We will host distributor training sessions and keep our presence at trade shows and industry events,” O’Mera says. New flap discs and resin-coated products are planned for release in the spring. He says CGW is implementing a new software program “to help improve how we manage existing inventory.”

“The industrial market for us is growing rapidly,” says Steve Anderson, president, CEO and chairman of the board, Forney Industries (Fort Collins, CO). He sees sales growth of 3% - 5% for the company, and triple digit growth for their industrial channel. Forney has benefited from their balanced and diverse customer base. “We don’t sell directly to the oil industry, which has been hit pretty hard. While the drop in oil created a headwind, we are able to focus on growth in other areas. I think that helped us.” Also contributing to the positive outlook, he says, are sales and marketing efforts. “I think that means focusing more on our branding and our messaging and getting in front of people - we have a lot of what we call ‘feet in the street’ out there.” Forney Industries will be introducing new accessories and enhancing the capabilities of some equipment.

TE CHNOLOGY FO R TH E W EL D ER’S W O RL D .

Fumes suck...

The life out of you.

With a diverse customer base, American Cap Company (Wheatland, PA), is looking at rising sales of 5% - 8% with current customers, says Phil Moroco II, president. Then the plan is to “reach out to new customers for more opportunities.” He’s looking for service and the ability to provide customers with a quick turnaround on their products to help spur sales. “A lot of times our customers don’t get great forecasts from their customers, so they rely upon us for quick turn-around on the products they need at a moment’s notice. That’s kind of the way we’ve positioned our business.”

Tim Miller, president, INOXCVA (Baytown, TX), projects growth of 3% - 5%. “Our key right now is to have an inventory level of tanks available at a moment’s notice,” he says. The key challenge Miller sees is consolidation and the declining number of potential customers.

Marie Ffolkes, president, Industrial Gases Americas Group, Air Products (Allentown, PA), is looking to expanded product offerings to help drive growth, highlighting CO2. “It’s a really great opportunity for us and we’re looking at how we can continue to improve the reliability

SHERLOCK ® LEAK DETECTOR FAST —Locates leaks in just five seconds.

ACCURATE —Finds leaks other detectors miss.

CONVENIENT —Ready-mixed for immediate use.

MANY DIFFERENT TYPES —For gas and air, above

freezing, below freezing, pure oxygen and compressed air, for refrigerant gases and air conditioning systems.

SEVERAL SIZES —In 4 and 8 oz. squeeze and dauber bottles and bulk sizes—1, 5 and 55 gal. drums. Buy our famous Pint Brush Top Dispenser and fill from bulk.

RAB Grip TA

Fume Extraction MIG

Threaded, Low-Profile Consumables

Puts the life back in you.

Contact Joyce Rick or Jack McCreary

WINTON PRODUCTS CO., INC. w w w .bi n ze l - abi c o r.c o m

74

P.O. Box 36332, Charlotte, North Carolina 28236 • 704/399-5151 Fax: 704/392-5389 • e-mail: wintonprod@aol.com www.wintonproducts.com

Winter 2016

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

of our supply chain for our customers.” Helium is also an area of growth, she says. After a period when helium supplies were tight, Air Products has taken actions to create a more secure helium supply, she says. For example, Air Products’ new Doe Canyon, Colorado, helium facility is the only one in the world extracting helium from CO2. “So, we will let our customers know that they’ll never be in a position again where the supply is tight, because the reliability is so huge.” Ffolkes also said that Air Products’ new West Texas and Big River Steel plants will provide much-needed liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon capacity to the market. She says the company expects sales growth to be in line with that of manufacturing.

For Ryan Day, vice president sales and marketing, H&M Pipe Beveling Machine Company (Tulsa, OK), the top challenge for 2016 is making sales. He is counting on educating his people and “staying on top of market demand.” H&M has two new products in the pipeline for introduction in the 1st quarter, products Day says “will increase accuracy of the cut and durability.”

Matthew Nolting, sales manager, FasTest (Roseville, MN), is looking for double-digit growth and plans to introduce new products at the GAWDA Spring Management meeting in Savannah, GA. At the end of 2015, the firm added new engineers and expanded its facility. For 2016, Nolting is looking for new products, expanding market share and better coverage to drive growth.

“There’s been talk that the economy should be relatively flat for at least the first couple of quarters in 2016,” says Jack Walters III, president, American Torch Tip (Bradenton, FL).

But he thinks his company’s sales will be up. “We’re continually developing and coming up with new products and we see some movement and some growth coming forward,” he says.

The new products in 2016 will have added benefits to users and, he says, “will be fun and interesting for the distributors to sell.”

Andreas Willfort, general manager, WEH Technologies (Katy, TX), expects sales gains from 20% to as much as 30%.

» WEH® GAS CONNECTOR SOLUTIONS

BRATIN LE E

Just PUSH to connect – No hand tightening

G

C

DataWeld, (Bossier City, LA), is developing tools to dramatically simplify the tracking of cylinders, says CEO Jim

Broughton. He is looking to open new markets in 2016 and achieve a sales increase of 7%. “We’ll be reaching out to the distributors, as we always have, through GAWDA meetings and through one-on-one contacts,” he says.

1

65949-2014 Y EARS

U.S. T O R C H E S FOR U.S. JOBS

H-style Head Mix

V-style Head Mix

A-style Head Mix

Uniweld. The only U.S. manufacturer that can deliver all 3 torch styles.

WEH offers a wide range of certified quick connectors for gas cylinder filling applications. Most CGA standards are available (i.e. CGA 320 for CO2 filling / blow-down), and the filling requirements for both conventional and residual pressure valve filling are met.

Uniweld can build all your cutting equipment: H-style, V-style and A-style and every tip you’ll need to go with ‘em.

All three styles...all U.S. made.

90˚, straight and 70˚ heads Custom lengths built to your specs.

Welding Handles and Hand Cutting Torches available in all three styles.

Call or email for catalog.

» » » » Made In The USA

UNIWELD PRODUCTS, INC. 2850 RAVENSWOOD ROAD FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33312 U.S.A. www.uniweld.com • info@uniweld.com 800.323.2111

Winter 2016 gawda-us-torches-65-years1-4-page-07-31-14.indd 1

Pressure-tight connections in seconds Ergonomic efficiency Increased productivity High safety standards

WEH Technologies Inc. | Katy, TX | Call us: 832-331-0021

» www.weh.us 75

8/5/14 9:27 AM

2016 FORECAST: SUPPLIERS

In general, hydrogen’s trending upwards for fuel cell applications.

TOM CAREY, GROUP PRESIDENT, CHART DISTRIBUTION AND STORAGE GASES

He says the company’s assemblies for filling cylinders “are more economical and operator-friendly.” Consequently, the company believes “these will gain acceptance as we supply them. This is part of what will help us to grow.”

Additionally, WEH provides service for its equipment locally and is moving to a larger sales and service location early in the year. Willfort recently joined the Safety Committee of GAWDA and hopes to pursue his top goal of driving awareness of safety and quality in the industry.

Rick Ferry, president, Broco Inc. and Rankin Industries (Ontario, CA), has been at work consolidating its operations from three facilities into a single, new facility in Ontario.

That should be completed in the first quarter this year. Ferry is projecting a 15% sales increase for 2016, coming from a sharp focus on, “those products and those customers where we can achieve some growth, working with end users to deliver business to our distributors.” There are new products in the pipeline for the second quarter that Ferry expects will lead their segment, he says.

“It was a very challenging market in 2015,” says Brandon Boyd, sales manager for North America, Mathey Dearman (Tulsa, OK). Weak oil and gas sectors hurt. “Hopefully, as we move into the summer months, into the second or third quarter, we’ll start to see some modest gain with a strong finish in 2016 into 2017.” With that in mind, Boyd is looking for growth of 5% - 10% and training for distributors is part of the plan. “We just opened up a brand new training facility at our main location here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are trying to complete and fine-tune a web-based curriculum for training for distributors.”

76

Winter 2016

Performance Tested Equipment and Sound, Proven Techniques

We Design, Build, and Maintain

Compressed Gas Fill Plants Experienced, Knowledgeable Veite Cryogenics Has Designed and Installed Compressed Gas Fill Plants, and Cryogenic Equipment for 45 Years

Multiple Gases We Know How to Build and Maintain Reliable, Hard-Working Fill Plants For Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon, Other Compressed Gases , and High Pressure Applications Reliability,Safety Our Reputation For High Quality Work Gives You the Added Benefit of Increased Safety in What Could be Hazardous Activities.

Safety is Built in.

V C E Winter 2016

Veite

Cryogenic Equipment and Service Corp.

www.veitecryogenic.com77

2016 SPRING MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

Disruptive Change THE THREATS AND THE OPPORTUNITIES

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS SUNDAY, APRIL 3 8:00 am - 6:00 pm 8:00 am - 9:00 am 9:00 am - 12:00 pm 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Conference Registration Executive Committee Board of Directors Meeting Committee Meetings First Timers’ Reception President’s Welcome Reception

MONDAY, APRIL 4 7:00 am - 5:00 pm 7:00 am - 8:00 am 8:15 am - 12:00 pm 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Conference Registration Breakf ast Workshop General Business Session Group Lunch Contact Booth Program

TUESDAY, APRIL 5 7:00 am - 1:00 pm 7:00 am - 8:00 am 8:00 am - 11:30 am 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

78

Conference Registration Networking Breakfast General Business Session Golf Tournament

Winter 2016

2016 SPRING MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

SAVE THE DATE Sunday, April 3-Tuesday, April 5, 2016 The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa 1 Resort Drive, Savannah, GA 31421

SESSION SPEAKERS THOMAS DECARLO, PH.D., is the Ben S. Weil Endowed Chair of Industrial Distribution, Director of the Charles & Patsy Collat Industrial Distribution Program in the Collat School of Business at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Professor of Marketing there. He has taught in executive MBA programs in China, the Iowa State University Thomas DeCarlo, Ph.D. and University of Georgia. Thomas has conducted many seminars and research projects dealing with new product development, market analysis and segmentation, sales force and brand management for companies such as 3M, Agenta Biotechnologies, Lockheed Martin, Andersen Windows and Vermeer Manufacturing. His primary research interests deal with strategic issues in selling and sales force management, customer relationship management and marketing communications. He is the co-author of “Sales Management,” and has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Service Research and Industrial Marketing Management.

DIRK BEVERIDGE has been a consultant to a wide range of companies for more than 25 years. He’s a best-selling author and is one of the country’s most outstanding speakers, delivering a new voice, a new energy, and a new outlook. His best-selling book, “INNOVATE! How Successful Distributors Lead Change In Disruptive Times,” has drawn praise Dirk Beveridge from business leaders, who have called it, “Indispensable,” “A must read” and “One of the best busiWinter 2016

ness books I have ever read.” One Amazon review read succinctly: “Great book and insight into the supply chain and gaining the edge.”

William Taylor, Co-founder of Fast Company magazine, said of Beveridge: “Every field has its rabble rousers, change agents, thought leaders—people with the wisdom to understand the past, and the creativity to conjure up a new vision for the future. In the field of wholesale distribution, Dirk Beveridge is that thought leader.”

Beveridge is routinely asked to speak on innovation, business strategy, sales, and leadership, and he delivers original, proven, and often disruptive thinking. His energy and passion for excellence are infectious, and he inspires audiences to step out from their comfort zones to unleash change.

Jim Earlbeck

JIM EARLBECK, president of Earlbeck Gases & Technologies, is a distinguished member of the AWS, a former member of the GAWDA Board of Directors, and teaches the science of welding to engineering students at the University of Maryland, John Hopkins University and the US Naval Academy. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and in 1976, he became one of the first AWS

Certified Welding Inspectors.

Earlbeck is considered to be a thought leader in the field of industrial distribution, and he’s always scanning for changes on the horizon. In contemplating the path of taking his company to the third generation, he stopped and asked, “Why are we still here?” He questioned if the wholesale distributor and the U.S. based manufacturer were still, or will be, relevant entities in the modern world of the Internet and the global economy. He has helped to start a dialogue about the disruptors in our industry. Through continuing this discussion, Earlbeck hopes that we will be able to find a viable path that is positive for the distributor, the manufacturer and the end user.

79

I am the Number One Seamless Cored Wire Engineered by the Leading Welding Consumables Developers

I am the dependable force in cored wire welding. I weld the ships, trucks and trains that roam seas and continents. I connect the rigs, pipelines and wind turbines that supply the world’s energy. I make robots weld relentlessly. I make welders proud.

My impenetrable seamless mantle keeps any moisture out of my core and shields your weld from hydrogen cracking. My mantle is stiff and my surface copper-coated for smooth and stable feeding. My core is packed with decades of know-how and engineered to bring you productivity, weld quality and – above all – more profit.

I am the world’s number one seamless cored wire – from voestalpine Böhler Welding.

voestalpine Bohler Welding USA Inc. www.voestalpine.com/welding

Money Matters

By Albert D. Bates, Ph.D.

Taking It to The Street The effect of passing lower supplier prices to your customers.

T

he economy still seems to be taking the proverbial two steps forward and one step backward on a daily basis.

In such an environment, important opportunities to purchase merchandise opportunistically are widespread.

Such opportunities should result in a strong improvement in profitability for distributors. However, in some cases, enhanced buying leads to stagnant or even declining profit.

Those distributors simply can’t seem to overcome the urge to take lower supplier prices directly “to the street.” That is, they reflexively pass through lower prices to their customers.

This report examines the nature of the take it to the street issue. It will do so from two important perspectives: Price Reduction Rationales – A discussion of the two different thought processes that cause firms to pass along price reductions in a seemingly automatic fashion.

Profit Implications – An analysis of the economic impact of supplier price reductions, both good and bad.

PRICE REDUCTION RATIONALES There are two major reasons that firms pass along price reductions routinely. One of the reasons is strategic, the other is operational.

also had the same opportunity to purchase at lower prices.

Operational: The operational factor is that firms are still addicted to standardized mark-ups despite the rather substantial increase in pricing sophistication over the last ten years or so.

If an item generated a 46.5% gross margin before the supplier price reduction, then it should generate about the same gross margin after the price reduction. Gross margin targets vary by product velocity, of course, and they usually vary by customer type. However, once the margin is locked in, it tends to remain somewhat sacrosanct as product costs change.

The crux of the problem is that firms have to put prices on thousands of SKUs, the cost of which may rise and fall several times during the year. Few firms have the luxury of leisurely contemplating each individual pricing change.

Technology has made staticmargin pricing decisions faster, but not better.

Strategic: The strategic rationale is that price competition is endemic in distribution. A supplier price reduction provides the opportunity for firms to demonstrate their price aggressiveness to their customers.

Unfortunately, the advent of new technology has not changed the culture of standardized mark-ups. Again, the sheer magnitude of the pricing decisions to be made gets in the way. Such technology has made static-margin pricing decisions faster, but not better.

Since the supplier price reduction is often short-lived, some distributors view the price reduction as an opportunity to be “on sale.” That is, they can develop a price position that will provide a competitive advantage over competition. This rather blissfully ignores the fact that every other distributor has

Whether the decision to pass along price reductions is strategic or operational, doing so still has the same impact on profit. Namely, it decimates it. Unfortunately, some managers continue to believe that passing along price decreases associated with opportunistic buying “doesn’t cost us anything.”

Winter 2016

81

Money Matters In looking at changes in pricing, it is necessary to break expenses out into their fixed and variable components. Fixed expenses are overhead items, or the cost of getting ready to sell. They only change when management takes an action.

THE PROFIT IMPLICATIONS An understanding of the economics of passing through price reductions is provided by looking at an illustrative set of financial results. Exhibit 1 examines the performance of a sample welding distributor.

In contrast, variable expenses are items that increase or decrease at the same rate as sales increases or decreases. The most obvious example is sales commissions. Other variable items include interest on accounts receivable, bad debts and a few additional, incidental items.

As can be seen in the first column of numbers, this sample firm generates $10,000,000 in sales, operates on a gross margin of 46.5% of sales, and produces a bottom line profit of 3.7% of sales or $370,000. In short, profit performance is adequate, but somewhat unexciting.

In most distribution businesses, fixed expenses account for about 80.0% of total operating expenses.

THE IMPACT OF A 2.0% REDUCTION IN COST OF In Exhibit 1, fixed exGOODS SOLD FOR A SAMPLE WELDING DISTRIBUTOR penses are assumed to be a constant Current No Price 2.0% Price $3,980,000 across Income Statement-$ Results Changes Reduction modest increases or decreases in sales.

Net Sales 10,000,000 10,000,000 9,800,000 Variable expenses are Cost of Goods Sold 5,350,000 5,243,000 5,243,000 assumed to be 3.0% of revenue.

Gross Margin

4,650,000

4,757,000

4,557,000

Fixed Expenses

3,980,000

3,980,000

3,980,000

300,000

300,000

294,000

4,280,000

4,280,000

4,274,000

370,000

477,000

283,000

107,000

-87,000

Current Results

No Price Changes

2.0% Price Reduction

100.0

100.0

100.0

Cost of Goods Sold

53.5

52.4

53.5

Gross Margin

46.5

47.6

46.5

Fixed Expenses

39.8

39.8

40.6

3.0

3.0

3.0

42.8

42.8

43.6

3.7

4.8

2.9

28.9

-23.5

Variable Expenses Total Expenses Profit Before Taxes Change in Profit Income Statement-% Net Sales

Variable Expenses Total Expenses Profit Before Taxes Change in Profit--%

EXHIBIT 1 82

The last two columns of numbers in Exhibit 1 present the potential results associated with an opportunistic purchasing opportunity.

To demonstrate the impact clearly, it is best to examine the total firm. The same results would be produced for a segment of the business.

It is assumed that the firm is now able to buy everything that it sells at a price that is 2.0% lower than before. As a result, the cost of goods sold had been reduced by 2.0% for the entire firm.

This is true in both of the last two columns.

Winter 2016

Money Matters The first column of potential results has been labeled No Price Changes. In this column, the firm is using the supplier price reduction as an opportunity to enhance both its gross margin and its profit.

the intentions of the reduction, profit suffers. Buying and pricing must be separate decisions.

All of the reduction in cost of goods has been driven to both the gross margin line and the bottom line. The resulting increase in profit is dramatic. Profit has increased from the $370,000 original figure to $477,000, an increase of 28.9%.

Pricing will probably always be the most difficult decision process for distributors. From an operational perspective, there are lots of pricing decisions to be made.

The final column of numbers reflects the same opportunistic buying situation. However, prices outbound have been cut by 2.0% to mirror the 2.0% price reduction from suppliers. Again, this could occur either for strategic reasons or for operational ones. It makes no difference what the reason is. Profit takes a significant hit.

While the gross margin percentage remains the same, the gross margin is being generated on sales that have been lowered by the amount of the price reduction. Some expense reduction is attainable because of lower variable expenses, but fixed expenses hold constant. The overall result is that profit decreases by 23.5%, falling to $283,000. Whatever

Winter 2016

MOVING FORWARD

Despite these issues, there is a substantial gross margin and profit opportunity to be seized by avoiding an automatic response to opportunistic buying situations.

Albert D. Bates, Ph.D., the author of “Breaking Down the Profit Barriers in Distribution,” is founder and president of Profit Planning Group, a distribution research firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, and at www.profitplanninggroup.com.

83

Money Matters

By Tony Hopkins

Credit Card Chargebacks Fraudsters are out to get you.

A

rash of fraud originating out of Indianapolis has hit some welding distributors for some large credit card chargebacks, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars each, with the total going well into six figures. The fraudster used stolen credit cards to purchase multiple welders over several orders, having them shipped throughout the United States, then posted on eBay and Craigslist.

Unfortunately, insurance coverage for credit card chargeback does not exist. Some insurance agents mistakenly have assumed that coverage is available through Credit Card Forgery or a new coverage type called Social Engineering Fraud. However, it has been proven that neither insurance type covers credit card chargebacks. (See Sidebar.)

RED FLAGS Fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, refining and developing their deception skills quickly. Many businesses are unaware that offering ecommerce or accepting electronic payments via phone or fax opens them up to increased liability and credit card payment risks. It has been reported that some fraudsters are setting up operational 800 numbers and websites, presenting the appearance of a legitimate business. Often, though, they move from place to place, usually lasting no longer than a four-week credit card billing cycle. When the actual account holder sees the charges on their statement and alerts their bank (who then contacts the business that accepted the stolen credit card), the fraudster has already moved on. “They rely on the hope that your branch will be so excited about the new business that they may overlook the policies put in place to prevent this type of fraud,” says Robin Saklar, CFO at SJ Smith.

84

Do not allow a credit card purchase for anyone without an established account.

Many welding distributors, especially in the last few months, have stories about a situation where there was not only one red flag along the way, but multiple. ILMO Products has put together a procedure that lists red-flag-type activity and requires employees to contact the accounting manager if they spot anything on this list. The policy is restated regularly to keep the awareness level high.

Below is a list of customer actions red-flagged for concern…

• Wants to pay with more than one credit card • Willing to pay list price (especially for a large order) and/or is willing to accept any substitutions • Is overly friendly, chatty, clearly looking to build a relationship and gain your trust • Tries to rush order through because of a tight timeframe • Targets branch locations, where policies maybe more lax • Order comes from a party outside the normal delivery area • Requests to ship product outside the normal delivery area • Uses a runner, without asking for delivery options • Attempts to re-route the delivery to a new address, sometimes coordinating directly with the shipping department, instead of the branch manager or sales representative • Order comes in via phone, fax or email from someone without a current account • Order is for a significant amount of money Winter 2016

UNCAGED & ATTACKING METAL NEW: BONDED ABRASIVE WHEELS Weiler’s Cutting and Grinding wheels get the most demanding jobs done right, and done fast. Our high quality lineup helps Welding & Fabrication professionals select the best solution for the toughest jobs. Whether you’re looking for serious stock removal, beveling, grinding, notching, facing, cutting or edge softening, Weiler will get it done.

Attack with Weiler and gain a competitive edge.

800.835.9999 / weilercorp.com

Talk to a Weiler Customer Solutions Specialist today: 800.835.9999

Money Matters • Unwilling to provide verifiable contact and billing address information • Order is for a new business/startup.

Many internal procedures can be followed to prevent and reduce your exposure to a credit card chargeback, from the very sophisticated to the most fundamental. SJ Smith’s Robin Saklar believes the most basic one is frequently the most effective and advises, “Above all, use common sense! For new, unknown customers, be very skeptical. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” It is important for every company to structure their own procedures to work with their company culture and their clients.

INTERNAL PROCEDURES TO PREVENT CREDIT CARD CHARGEBACKS

COVERAGE FOR FORGERY/FRAUD? Credit Card Forgery Insurance coverage is only available when someone else forges a credit card of the business. Coverage does not apply if your business accepts a forged credit card.

Social Engineering Fraud is the intentional misleading of an employee through misrepresentation of a material fact that is relied upon by an employee, believing it to be genuine (i.e. vendor, supplier, executive or client impersonation). Insurance coverage for this type of situation never existed until recently, due to the increasing number of occurrences. Coverage is typically not provided unless specifically requested as an addition to your current Crime coverage.

86

• Train your employees on the warning signs and have them follow procedure • The credit card must be present at the transaction • The only exception to a card not being present is when taking orders from long-time established customers • Obtain the customer’s signature, expiration date and security code • Run the card through the machine • Be wary of credit card applications over a certain transaction size (i.e. $1,000) • Do not allow a credit card purchase for anyone without an established account • Validate customer address • Validate customer’s phone number, found independently • Be skeptical of new, unknown customers The majority of businesses today have experienced a credit card chargeback due to fraud. Hopefully by being vigilant and following some of these procedures, your business can avoid this happening to you or, at the very least, keep your exposure to a minimum.

Tony Hopkins is an insurance broker for The Horton Group, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and at www. thehortongroup.com.

Winter 2016

News From GAWDA Headquarters

GAWDA Members Celebrate 70th Anniversary In Scottsdale

G

AWDA’s 2015 Annual Convention held at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona, brought together 816 people, including 14 Past Presidents and hundreds of GAWDA members and guests.

At the Opening Business Session, 2014-15 GAWDA President Thomas Biedermann gave the annual State of the Association address, detailing the results of the initiatives of the past year. He noted that GAWDA had become an independent, self-managed association on January 1, 2015. This entailed a move to a new headquarters location in Hollywood, Florida, hiring staff, purchasing equipment, supplies and other required start-up items. President Biedermann reported that first year stand-alone operating costs were close to the costs estimated.

The number of GAWDA members is currently at a six-year high, with an eight percent increase over 2014. Ten Regional

Meetings were held, with record attendance. Biedermann ended his address by saying, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth to have had the opportunity to serve this outstanding association. Thank you.”

SPEAKERS CHALLENGE AND INSPIRE A variety of speakers addressed attendees. GAWDA Media Publisher Judy C. Flanagan of Data Key Communications provided an overview of “The Road From Dayton,” a book commissioned for the 70th Anniversary of the association and the first year of self-management, which led to the convention theme: “Strong. Proud. Independent.”

Flanagan touched on different programs offered over the past 70 years to support the independent distributor, saying “Education and networking remain the cornerstones of GAWDA membership.”

FDA & Medical Gas Consultant Tom Badstubner explained the latest Food Gas issues and the Final Rule, which

Winter 2016

87

Rely on Reelcraft

News From GAWDA Headquarters went into effect on September 17. Justin Trafton and Erich Haun, co-chairs of the Young Professionals Committee, shared the group’s new mission statement and urged attendees to join the convention’s Twitter feed. A new program to provide group health insurance to members was also discussed.

The first keynote speaker, David Nour, business strategist and president of The Nour Group, set the bar high, engaging members in a thoughtful discussion about strategic planning, delivering customer service and developing relationships in a new millennium. He also challenged the audience to look at their websites with a critical eye and make needed changes.

Most Popular 1/4” I.D. x 50’ TW7450 OLP

Complete line of welding reels ü Profitable sales ü Excellent quality and service ü Strong brand preference ü Most complete ü On-time delivery product line

Cable Welding Reels p

WC7000

Shown with optional clamp and cable (not included)

In “Delivering the Perfect Order,” Red Ball Oxygen President Bob Ewing reminded attendees that industrial distribution is at a crossroads. “Order management is our core competence,” he said. “Our mistakes are viewed as incompetence,” and he called on members to share best practices.

On Wednesday, Dan Thurmon, president of Motivation Works, suggested a work-life balance, visually representing the concept with a series of juggling balls and pins. The final speaker, Mike Rowe from CNN’s TV show, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” and Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs,” shared his experiences with tradesmen and tradeswomen.

CONTACT BOOTH CROWDS Space was made to accommodate 122 Exhibitors, spilling out into the main hallway outside the Exhibit Hall. Breaking attendance records for the first time in many

See more photos from the 2015 Annual Convention in Scottsdale at www.WeldingAndGasesToday.org

p

Longer Lengths

1/4” I.D. x 150’ T-1225-04-100T

p

T grade hose included

Most Robust

1/4” I.D. x 100’ TW84100 OLPT

www.reelcraft.com 88

800-444-3134 Winter 2016

News From GAWDA Headquarters years, distributors spent over three hours at the show meeting supplier executives from the industry and viewing their latest products and offerings.

NEW LEADERSHIP The terms of Board Members Craig Wood, O.E. Meyer Co.; Jim Earlbeck, Earlbeck Gases and Technology; Paul Dillard, Arc3 Gases; and Sue Reiter, Air Products, came to a close at the Annual Convention. Each was presented with a token of appreciation for their many years of service to the association. Members elected Bill Visintainer of Atlas Welding Supply as 2015-16 GAWDA President. In addition to Visintainer, the Executive Committee includes President-Elect Mark Raimy, Welders Supply Company-Raimy Corporation; First Vice President Ned Lane, Cee Kay Supply; First Past President Thomas Biedermann,

CALIBRATION GASES AND EQUIPMENT

A WIDE SELECTION OF CYLINDERS AND EQUIPMENT...

• Industrial Hygiene Mixtures • VOC Mixtures

• Custom Mixtures • Regulators • Carrying Cases

...FOR ALL YOUR GAS NEEDS. Website: www.norlab-gas.com Email: norlab@norlab-gas.com Fax: 208-331-3038

800-657-6672 Winter 2016

89

News From GAWDA Headquarters Airweld, Inc.; and Second President Ned Pontious, Norco.

Past

Additional members elected to the 2015-16 GAWDA Board of Directors include: Vice Presidents Robert Anders, Holston Gases; Abydee Butler, Butler Gas Products; Bob Ewing, Red Ball Oxygen; Kevin Falconer, Minneapolis Oxygen Co; Gary Halter, Indiana Oxygen Co.; Jim O’Connor, Norton Abrasives; Brad Peterson, Mississippi Welders Supply. David Walker serves as Treasurer.

GAWDA GIVES BACK President Thomas Biedermann and his wife Terri presented checks in the amount of $94,636.90 each to 2015 GAWDA Gives Back recipients Camp Soaring Eagle and Ryan House.

The founder of Camp Soaring Eagle, Max James, called it “one of the largest single donations received in 2015,” allowing for 50 children to attend camp.

Ryan House Executive Director Alyssa Crockett explained that it costs $1,000 a day to provide respite services for one sick child. “This donation will help many children. They don’t have to walk alone.”

GAWDA Gives Back raised a total of $189,273.80 for two worthy organizations in Scottsdale. Thank you to all who gave.

90

Winter 2016

News From GAWDA Headquarters

CUSTOMER SURVEY OPPORTUNITY GAWDA is able to make available, through the work of our Spring Management Conference speaker, a downloadable software program that permits GAWDA members to conduct their own customer satisfaction surveys.

The survey, provided by Thomas DeCarlo, Ph.D., is available online now. He says the survey will help those with questions such as: • Would you be able to pinpoint if your sales are coming from repeat or new customers?

• Would you know the specific reasons why your customers are giving you repeat business?

• Would you know how many of these repeat customers are susceptible to leave you for a competitor?

• If sales have been decreasing, would you know why?

• Are you inadvertently “pushing” existing and potential customers away because specific aspects of your service offerings fall short of expectations?

• Are you meeting customer expectations but being outperformed by competitors?

If you are interested in collecting data from your customers using that online survey, here’s how to do so: • Email Natasha Alexis (nalexis@gawda.org) at GAWDA Headquarters, and request that she send you a link to the survey. You will receive the survey as an attachment in her reply email with in a “.qsf” file.

• Once you have received that email and link, follow the instructions on how to set up and email the survey to your customers from your own survey account.

• You’ll be able to adapt the survey and email it from your computer to your customer lists.

• The software will collect data from your customers as they complete the survey, and will assemble and assess the data.

For additional information regarding this survey, please contact Dr. DeCarlo at Collat School of Business, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, BEC 219, 1150 10th Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 35294; phone: 205-934-8989; email: tdecarlo@uab.edu; web: www.uab.edu/id.

TECHNICAL TRAINING The Hobart Institute of Welding Technology offers our comprehensive Technical Training courses throughout the year!

Prep for AWS Certified Welding Supervisor Exam Prep for AWS Welding Inspector/Educator Exam Visual Inspection Welding for the Non Welder Arc Welding Inspection & Quality Control Weldability of Metals, Ferrous & Nonferrous Liquid Penetrant & Magnetic Particle Inspection

1-800-332-9448

or visit us at www.welding.org for more information. © 2009 Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, Troy, OH St. of Ohio Reg. No. 70-12-0064HT

Winter 2016

91

Watson Coatings is tops at taking care of business...your business.

With superior products, Watson Coatings meets your every need for VOC compliant coatings.

Year after year, Watson Coatings is unsurpassed in providing: • New WAS spray product • Standard WSR roll product • Full range of industry colors in stock • Fast service, delivery and performance

Call or email us today. 800-844-4212 watson@watsoncoatings.com 325 Paul Avenue • St. Louis, MO 63135

...we’ve got you covered.

Welcome New Members

New Members Welcome to the following companies that recently joined the Gases and Welding Distributors Association. For more information about available member benefits and services, please contact the association at 884-251-3219 or visit www.gawda.org.

DISTRIBUTOR MEMBERS ATHENS GAS AND WELDING SUPPLY INC. 1775 Winterville Road Athens, GA 30605 706-549-4848 www.agaws.com Lance McMurray, Owner lance@agaws.com

EDDO’S WELDING & INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES CO. LTD 27 Royal Road, San Fernando Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies 868-652-4924 www.edooscaribbean.com Imzaan Edoo, COO imzaanedoo@edooscaribbean.com

EMPRESAS DE SOLDADURAS

Buy and Sell High Pressure Cylinders NEW OR REFURBISHED

Ameritanx, Inc. p: 800-247-8269 | f: 937-981-4555 ameritanx@yahoo.com

92

1226 Ave Jesus T Pinero Caparra Terrace San Juan, Puerto Rico 00921-1643 787-783-0262 www.soldaduraspr.com Wigberto de la Cruz, General Manager wigberto@fuerzaindustrial.com

HOCON INDUSTRIAL GAS

86 Payne Road Danbury, CT 06810 203-791-2240 www.hoconindustrial.com Duke Llewellyn, Vice President duke@hocongas.com

MAHANY WELDING SUPPLY 115 Fedex Way Rochester, NY 14624 585-352-8000 www.mahanyweld.com Michael Krupnick, President mkrup@mahanyweld.com

Winter 2016

OPEN FOR BUSINESS! US OXO

5512 HWY 281 North Marble Falls, TX 78654 830-693-5170 www.usoxo.com Mark Miller, CEO mark@usoxo.com

SUPPLIER MEMBERS ARTOTIC

621 Carolina Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415- 996-9979 www.artotic.com Rick Hanson, General Manager artoticwelding@gmail.com

As we enter our 15th successful year, we invite you to join us!

What sets the AIWD apart from other buying groups?

“We’ve never felt the need to join a buying group before, but after visiting with Ron and discussing the values of the group and the direction they are going, we were motivated to be a part of it. Our 62-years of success inspires us to make a difference in this indusindustry, and the AIWD is the perfect vehicle in which to accomplish this.”

— Doug Seaman, GM Phoenix Welding Supplies

CHESTERFIELD SPECIAL CYLINDERS 201 Penn Center Boulevard, Suite 400 Pittsburgh, PA 15235-5441 412-600-0530 www.chesterfieldcylinders.com Deborah Schultz, Executive Vice President deborah.schultz@chesterfieldcylinders.com

EXOCOR

375 North French Road Amherst, NY 14228 888-317-2209 www.exocor.com Paul Kinsella, President pkinsella@exocor.com

RANCH CRYOGENICS

11845 South Brewster Road Dwight, IL 60402 815-584-9161 www.ranchcryogenics.com Michael (Trey) Duffy, Vice President & GM mduffy3@ranchcryogenics.com

SUMIG USA CORPORATION

1420 Celebration Boulevard, Suite 304 Celebration, FL 34747 www.sumigusa.com 407-749-6688 Wilian Susin, CEO ws@sumig.com Winter 2016

For information about membership, please contact: Ron Weldon Executive Director E: rweldon@welders.to P: 913.963.9135 W: www.welders.to 93

Insurance / Risk Advisory / Employee Benefits

BUSINESS OWNERS:

Take Back Control of Healthcare Costs Take advantage of our new program specifically designed for GAWDA members to alleviate rising healthcare costs due to ACA regulations, state small group health reform and fully-insured marketplaces.

800.383.8283

www.thehortongroup.com/welding

In Memoriam GARY MARTEN KENNEDY, RED BALL OXYGEN CO. Gary Marten Kennedy, CEO and chairman of Red Ball Oxygen in Shreveport, Louisiana, passed away in November after a prolonged illness. Mr. Kennedy was an inspirational leader, fiercely loyal friend and loving father. During his 40-year career, Gary treated the employees at Red Ball like an extended family, and he took the time to get to know them, celebrate their achievements, and reward their hard work and dedication. He was a founding member of the Shreveport Rugby Club, and he loved to play, support and cheer for the team he helped found. Red Ball President Bob Ewing describes the impact Mr. Kennedy had on the employees of Red Ball: “He was unconditional in his support and unwavering in his belief that we would succeed.

He brushed off the losses, and savored the victories. The secret to his extraordinary business success is that he elevated the people around him. He challenged us with responsibility before we knew we were ready. He wouldn’t just praise you to your face, he would call your wife, or your kids, or your parents and tell them what a world beater you were. He made an indelible imprint on all of us by telling stories and repeating proverbial business knowledge we called ‘Garyisms’ that are now part of Red Ball’s DNA.” Mr. Kennedy is survived by his wife Lydia, daughters Claire and Sarah, son Alex, mother Lorena Kennedy, his brother Larry, his sister Judith Kennedy Storer, and several grandchildren.

JIM O’CONNER, DELILLE OXYGEN COMPANY James F. “Jim” O’Conner, 79, president of DeLille Oxygen Company in Columbus, Ohio, began his 30-year career in the gases and welding industry loading delivery trucks. The owner of DeLille Oxygen saw his energy, ability to learn quickly, and skill with people and processes. O’Conner worked his way up through the company filling cylinders, doing counter sales, outside sales, sales management and operations. He became president of the company in 1994, a position he held until his retirement in 2002.

Recognized as a straight shooter and a great motivator who inspired employees to work hard, Mr. O’Connor is remembered as a leader who had everyone’s back and whose employees returned the respect and did not want to let him down. He loved children and knew the names and interests of employees’ children. He served as president of the Grove City Kids Association and supported the local 4H program.

Winter 2016

He was very fond of horse racing and owned several horses over the years. Mr. O’Conner is survived by his wife Joan, three children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

BETTY Q. CHADWICK, C&C OXYGEN COMPANY Described as a trail blazer, Betty Quintrell Chadwick, president of C&C Oxygen Company in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the first woman to graduate from the University of Chattanooga with a degree in accounting, in 1952. She became the first female CPA in Tennessee in 1969 and went on to establish her own successful accounting firm. Along with husband Pete Chadwick and son Phil Chadwick, she started C&C Oxygen Co. in 1975. She was an active participant in the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program and traveled to China, Russia, South Africa and Japan where she collaborated with accountants in these countries to improve the accounting profession. Mrs. Chadwick was also active in many non-profit organizations. She is survived by two sons, Phil and Quin, and a daughter Star, as well as several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

DEREK MARTIN MILNER, FORMERLY OF AWISCO Derek Martin Milner, 51, president of Milner & Martin Associates, died on November 2 while on a business trip in Las Vegas. Prior to establishing his business in 2007, he worked as vice president of sales & marketing at AWISCO in Maspeth, New York. Mr. Milner was an avid car enthusiast, a member of the Corvette Club of America, and enjoyed boating. He is survived by his partner of 32 years, Cynthia DeFeis, his mother, Christa Gleason, a brother and two sisters.

NANCY WARD, FOUNDER OF BUCKEYE WELDERS SERVICES Nancy Ward, who founded Buckeye Welders Services (Buckweld) together with her late husband, George Ward, passed away in Naples, Florida. Buckeye Welders Services was established in Lima, Ohio, in 1977 and had locations in Hilliard and Dayton. Nancy and George loved being small business owners, and were active members of NWSA/ GAWDA and the IDA Group. The business was sold to Valley National Gases in 1997, and they moved to Naples, purchased a powerboat named “Magnum” and continued to race and sail, winning numerous championships. As an 11year pancreatic cancer survivor, Mrs. Ward became a symbol of inspiration for many, providing words of encouragement for the sick and organizing fund raisers. Mrs. Ward is survived by her son Jim Ward, who is a senior account manager at Linde, her grandson George and sister Bonnie Freck.

95

Industry News

Industry News TWO GAWDA DISTRIBUTORS HONORED FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS

ACME COMPLETES ADDITION TO ALLENTOWN LOCATION

Chantilly, VA — At GAWDA’s 2015 Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, two GAWDA distributor companies were honored for their hard work to improve safety at their companies. Wagner Welding Supply took top honors in the 100,000 or Fewer Employee Exposure Hours category. Coastal Welding Supply was honored in the 100,000+ Employee Exposure Hours. The awards were presented by CGA President/CEO Mike Tiller. Jointly sponsored by CGA and GAWDA since 2012, the Distributor Safety Award recognizes companies showing the greatest improvement in safety performance during the previous two years. The Distributor Safety Award is intended to promote safety awareness as an extension of both CGA and GAWDA’s safety missions.

Allentown, PA — Acme Cryogenics completed a 7,500 sq. ft. addition to its plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The building is equipped to handle Acme’s helium container and hydrogen tank rehab services and is designed for rapid expansion to accommodate growth.

The addition was necessary because the company lost its long-term lease on the former facility due to redevelopment of Allentown’s waterAcme’s new facility is equipped for the rehab front property. of helium containers and hydrogen tanks.

SHERWOOD VALVE APPOINTS QUALITY MANAGER

Chuck Mazoch (center) and the Coastal team accept the Distributor Safety Award from CGA’s Mike Tiller (3rd from left) and GAWDA’s John Ospina (2nd from left).

CLAY KIEFABER TO RETIRE AS CEO OF ESAB Annapolis Junction, MD — Clay Kiefaber retired on December 31, 2015, as ESAB’s president & CEO and as EVP of Colfax Corporation. Matthew Trerotola, CEO & president of Colfax Corporation, is serving as interim president of ESAB while a search for a successor for ESAB is conducted. To assist with the transition, Steve Breitzka will be joining ESAB as interim senior vice president, global operations & Americas. Breitzka previously served as president and CEO of Apex Tool Group.

96

Washington, PA — Tom Apathy was appointed quality manager responsible for maintaining and implementing best practices across Sherwood Valve’s Quality Management System. He will oversee all areas of quality, including compliance, systems, corrective action and parts inspection at Sherwood’s three manufacturing facilities. Apathy has over 30 years of experience in quality assurance, most recently at Eaton Corporation where he served as quality assurance manager. He also held Quality Assurance management positions at Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Furon Corporation and SK Wellman.

Tom Apathy

ED SARKY NAMED VP OF SALES AT ANTHONY WELDED PRODUCTS Simi Valley, CA — Ed Sarky joined Anthony Welded Products as vice president of sales. Sarky brings over 20 years of experience in the welding industry, having overseen

Ed Sarky Winter 2016

Industry News product management of 100+ welding manufacturers for ORS Nasco, along with national and international account management at OKI Bering. Sarky has experience developing markets, growing brand awareness and developing marketing approaches that increased penetration for a broad range of product lines.

AIR PRODUCTS OPENS LIQUID NITROGEN FACILITY Allentown, PA — Air Products opened a $33 million liquid nitrogen facility in Odessa, Texas. The plant will produce about 250 tons of liquid nitrogen per day servicing customers within a 350-mile range. Marie Ffolkes, president of industrial gases in the Americas at Air Products, projects a resurgence in this market. “We build our base where we see customers needing us, and we look at the long-term strategic value. So even though the oilfield services market is in a downturn, we see that as going to come back.” Air Products marked the opening of the plant with a ribbon cutting and a $12,500 gift to the West Texas Food Bank and the Hillcrest School, a non-profit program for children with learning disabilities.

well as bringing in vendors for training. MWS Operations Manager Troy Elmer says, “There is a desperate need for skilled workers in our field and we will do whatever we can to help this program survive and thrive. We had a surplus of slow-moving inventory that we knew could be used by a school so it was a great way to move the inventory to a place where it was more useful. I encourage other distributors to do the same thing.”

WELDSHIP NAMES GM AND ADDS MANAGER Bethlehem, PA — Steve Varga was named general manager at Weldship Corporation, responsible for purchasing, inventory controls, production scheduling and business process improvement. Varga has over 30 years of experience in the compressed gas industry. Eric Liskanich was hired as customer service/inside sales manager. Liskanich brings wide proficiency and technical expertise in product management, production scheduling, purchasing and inside/outside sales.

MWS GIVES BACK TO WELDING PROGRAM Winona, MN — Mississippi Welders Supply (MWS) donated approximately 3,000 lbs. of welding rod and wire to the welding program at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) in New Richmond, Wisconsin. MWS has been involved with WITC since the school revived the welding program over 10 years ago. The company is active on WITC’s advisory committee and has provided many man-hours installing and helping spec equipment for the classroom, as

MWS Outside Sales Rep Tom Morrissey and MWS Branch Manager Steve Lundborg (front with black jackets), deliver welding rod and wire to WITC Welding Program Instructor Dan Wilkinson (far right) and welding students.

Winter 2016

Steve Varga

Eric Liskanich

CENTRAL MCGOWAN INC. EXPANDS AUTOMATION CAPABILITIES AND ADDS STAFF Saint Cloud, MN — Central McGowan Inc. opened a 12,000 sq. ft. automation manufacturing facility adjacent to its headquarters in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Allan Holst was hired to manage overall operations as director of automation. Holst has held a variety of positions with manufacturers of welding equipment and CNC cutting machines. Dean Kiffmeyer was promoted to vice president of operations and will have responsibility for all branches and operations.

Kiffmeyer has been with the company for almost 20 years, most recently as sales manager. Troy Warner, previously an account manager, replaces Kiffmeyer as sales manager.

PRAXAIR SIGNS LONG-TERM HELIUM PURCHASE AGREEMENT Danbury, CT — Praxair, Inc. signed a long-term agreement for the purchase of helium from Nacogdoches Oil & 97

Industry News Gas (NOG). NOG operates a helium-bearing gas field in Apache County, Arizona, and will supply up to 100 million scf per year of helium under the agreement, with the potential for further expansion. The field produces a gas made almost entirely of helium and nitrogen. Because helium is the primary product, this source provides Praxair with flexibility to respond to market conditions.

M & A SCORECARD • Miller Electric Mfg. Co. acquired IMPACT Engineering of Jackson, Mississippi, a designer and manufacturer of weld data monitoring systems.

KAPLAN NAMES VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

• nexAir acquired the assets and operations

Harrison, OH — Paul O’Neal was named vice president of operations for Kaplan Industries’ production facility in Harrison, Ohio. O’Neal brings more than 36 years of industry experience to Kaplan Industries, most recently as vice president for technical at Cyl-Tec. Prior to that, O’Neal worked in sales of specialty products, technology and product development with Coyne Cylinder, Thermadyne Industries and Taylor-Wharton.

Paul O’Neal

of National Balloon & Banner, dba HICO of

NORRIS CYLINDER RESTRUCTURES SALES ORGANIZATION Longview, TX — Michael J. Rollins was appointed vice president of global sales and marketing for Norris Cylinder Company. Rollins joined Norris in 2012 as director of international business development, helping to grow the company’s export business. George Stevens was promoted to customer service manager and regional sales for the south. Victor Palzes is taking over responsibility as national sales manager and is overseeing all sales in the western region, including buying groups Michael J. Rollins and designated key accounts.

PAT GARTEN WINS IWDC’S TOP AWARD Indianapolis, IN — In recognition for his contributions to IWDC, the industrial gas and welding industry and the surrounding Indianapolis community, Pat Garten, president of Sutton-Garten Company, was presented the Memorial Bob Jackson Award at the 2015 Independent Welding Distributors Cooperative (IWDC) Owners Meeting. Former NWSA (now 98

Jackson, a 28-year-old helium distributor in Jackson, Mississippi.

• Tech Air acquired Gas & Alloy Supply Co., a distributor of gases and welding supplies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

• Air Liquide acquired Airgas, Inc., including Airgas’ 1,100 distribution locations in the United States.

GAWDA) President Bob Jackson played an integral part in the formation of the IWDC. The Bob Jackson is considered the preeminent award of the IWDC. Criteria for the award includes: strong volunteer spirit, supportive of independents, viewed internally and externally as a respected leader, and is community- and family-centric. Sutton-Garten is a fourth-generation company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

ILMO ADDS MEDICAL GAS SPECIALIST Jacksonville, IL — Brandon Large was promoted to the newly formed position of medical gas specialist at ILMO Medical Gases. Large joined ILMO in 2014, after 15 years with a home healthcare company. He will maintain and cultivate business relationships with healthcare professionals throughout the medical industry, as well as service those in home healthcare, short- and long-term nursing care, veterinary medicine, medical device manufacturing and maintenance, emergency care, and healthcare co-ops and buying Brandon Large groups.

Winter 2016

New Products, Services & Technologies SUBMERGED ARC AND LOW TEMPERATURE ELECTRODES FROM SELECT-ARC Fort Loramie, OH — SelectWear 410NiMo-S, a hardsurfacing martensitic stainless steel wire from Select-Arc, is a tubular submerged arc welding electrode that produces a tough, abrasion-resistant deposit with corrosion and thermal fatigue resistance. Available in 3/32-inch, 7/64-inch and 1/8-inch diameters, SelectWear 410NiMo-S is utilized in hardsurfacing applications such as pinch rolls, caster rolls and idler rolls.

E71T8-Ni1J-H16 is a carbon steel, flux cored, self-shielded T-8 electrode that provides low temperature toughness properties and operates on straight polarity (DCEN) with no external shielding gas. Approved by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) 3YSA H10, the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) E491T8-Ni1J-H16, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) III YMS H10 and Lloyd’s 3YS H10, the electrode’s fast freezing slag facilitates weldability in all positions. Available in 1/16-inch, .072-inch and 5/64-inch diameters, Select 78-Ni1

Winter 2016

is utilized in critical structural applications such as offshore platforms, shipbuilding, heavy wall tubular construction and general fabrication.

THERMCO MIXER INCLUDES NEW TECHNOLOGY La Porte, IN – With an accuracy that exceeds the requirements for mixture tolerances for welding shield gases stipulated in the AWS A5.32M/A5.32:2011 , Thermco Instrument Corp.’s new model 8530 has a capacity up to 750 SCFH with a built-gas analyzer. Able to be mounted outdoors or in, and taking only a small amount of wall space, the 8530 features Thermco’s thermal conductivity gas analyzer, which requires a calibration check only once a year. The mixer also uses Thermco’s surge tank mixing technology. model 8530

99

Advertisers Index ABICOR Binzel USA................................................ 74

Koike Aronson....................................................... 39

Acme Cryogenics.................................................. 90

The Lincoln Electric Company..............................6, 41

AIWD.................................................................... 93

Luxfer-GTM Technologies....................................... 58

ALM Positioners.................................................... 54

McDantim............................................................. 68

American Standard Manufacturing.......................... 25

Mercer Abrasives.................................................... 5

Ameritanx Inc........................................................ 92

Metal Man Work Gear Co....................................... 59

AmWINS Program Underwriters.............................. 56

Midalloy................................................................ 45

Anthony Welded Products.............................1, 43, 99

Norlab.................................................................. 89

Arcos Industries................................................... IBC

Norton Abrasives................................................... 27

Bug-O Systems .................................................... 44

ORS Nasco............................................................. 3

California Cylinder................................................. 91

Ratermann Manufacturing, Inc................................ 13

Carborundum Abrasives......................................... 66

Ray Murray Inc...................................................... 83

Catalina Cylinders................................................. 60

Reelcraft Industries................................................ 88

Cavagna North America......................................... 46

RegO Cryo-Flow Products........................................ 8

CGW-Camel Grinding Wheels................................. 14

Rotarex North America........................................... 72

Chart Industries..................................................... 19

SafTCart............................................................... 64

CPV Manufacturing................................................ 18

Select-Arc, Inc...................................................... BC

Cyl-Tec................................................................. 10

Sherwood Valve..................................................... 50

DataWeld.............................................................. 76

Tech Air................................................................ 31

Direct Wire and Cable............................................ 22

Thermacut............................................................ 61

ELCo Enterprises................................................... 55

Thermco Instrument Corp....................................... 20

FIBA Technologies................................................. 51

Uniweld Products.................................................. 75

Gas Innovations/WWS............................................ 42

Veite Cryogenic Equipment & Service Corp.............. 77

Generant Company................................................ 60

voestalpine Bรถhler Welding.................................... 80

Genstar Technologies Company, Inc (GENTEC.......... 70

Watson Coatings, Inc............................................. 92

Global Calibration Gases........................................ 67

WDPG Business Insurance/The Horton Group.....21, 94

Gullco International................................................ 55

WEH Technologies................................................. 75

H & H Sales Company............................................ 73

Weiler Corporation................................................. 85

The Harris Products Group.....................................IFC

Weldcoa............................................................... 17

Hobart Institute of Welding Technology.................... 91

Weldship Corporation............................................ 48

INOXCVA.............................................................. 35

Winton Products Co............................................... 74

Kaplan Industries................................................... 32 100

Winter 2016

The Electrode That Takes the Stress Out of Stress-Corrosion Resistant Welding…

Arcos 352

Arcos Industries, LLC has developed a premium nickelchromium-iron electrode for the welding of alloy 690 in nuclear reactor and steam generator components. This wire provides corrosion-resistant welds on a broad range of low alloy and stainless steels in applications requiring resistance to oxidizing acids.

Arcos 352 bare wire electrodes are available in diameters from .035" – 3/16", the covered electrodes from 3/32" – 3/16".

Arcos 352 bare wire and covered electrodes: • Deliver the higher chromium levels needed for stress-corrosion cracking resistance.

• Are specifically designed for welding in the critical pure water environments of nuclear power generation plants.

• Weld NiCrFe alloys ASTM B163, B166, B167 and B168 to themselves and to dissimilar joint configurations.

• Have earned ASME Nuclear Certificate # QSC448

Arcos Industries, LLC 394 Arcos Drive • Mt. Carmel, PA 17851 Phone: (570) 339-5200 • Fax: (570) 339-5206

Discover for yourself the vital advantages afforded by specifying Arcos 352. Contact Arcos today at 800-233-8460 or visit our website at www.arcos.us.

tHe stanDarD oF excellence In:

loW alloY

These outstanding wires deliver exceptional welding characteristics such as:

carbon steel

low alloy tubular electrodes

Select-Arc, Inc. offers over 50 premium flux cored and metal cored low alloy welding electrode products. From bridge construction to oil exploration equipment, pressure vessels to chemical plants, mining equipment to submarines (and so many others), Select-Arc low alloy electrodes are designed to meet your designated welding application.

• Excellent CVN toughness • Smooth, stable arc transfer with minimal spatter • High deposition rates • Slag that removes easily

For more information on Select-Arc low alloy electrodes, call us at 1-800-341-5215 or visit our website at www.select-arc.com.

nIcKel alloYs

And, of course, all Select-Arc low alloy electrodes are backed by the finest in value-added support and our renowned customer service.

staInless steel

• Superb bead profile

HarDsUrFacInG