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Wire Journal News

September 2021

9/30/21 – It's October already but not too late to register for the IWCS starting this Monday, October 4th, kicking off with the annual Executive Session for Management, Panel Discussion, and Keynote presentation. Take in the Technical Sessions and Virtual Exhibition for the balance of the week!

Executive Session
This program element presents important information you need to manage your business. This session is designed for the general management of the wire and cable producing companies and their suppliers. Important issues facing the industry will be addressed by expert speakers in a provocative session which will be followed by a panel of industry leaders reflecting on the issues. Presentations by key industry analysts and market experts are featured as follows:

2021 Executive Session Presentations

A Wire And Cable Market Boom Amid Risks, Chenfei Wang, Senior Analyst, CRU International.

Opportunities For The Optical Cable Market In A Post-Pandemic World, Michael Finch, Head of Wire & Cable, CRU International

Global Economic Outlook, Robert Fry, Chief Economist, Robert Fry Economics

Panel Discussion
Insightful perspectives and answer your questions on Connectivity Technology Trends and Critical Infrastructure. Chenfei Wang, Michael Finch, and Robert Fry will join the following panelists to comprise a well-rounded panel that includes: Trevor Smith, VP of Strategy & Business Development, CommScope; Ric Johnson, SVP Broadband Networks, CommScope; Boh DuPree, Dir. Network Investments, Facebook; and Roland Montagne, Principal Analyst/Director IDATE/DigiWorld Institute.


Keynote Address
Demand/Needs for Connectivity Infrastructure in a Post Pandemic World, Trevor Smith, VP of Strategy & Business Development, CommScope

Visit www.iwcs.org.  

Published in Press Releases

9/23/21 – Madison, Connecticut, USA.  The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. will host a Virtual Industry 4.0 Conference along with its 91st Annual Convention on Oct. 26-27, 2021, as a continuation of its educational mission. The virtual format gives registrants the opportunity to participate from any location; interact with speakers; and also to replay sessions of interest.

Remarking on the introduction of the new conference, WAI President Tom Heberling said, “Offering this conference virtually is valuable for everyone who wants to understand how Industry 4.0 technologies apply to wire making. We are thrilled that the speakers—originally scheduled for Interwire—are cued up and ready to bring their expertise and energy to the program. We’ve adjusted our expectations upward since attendance is convenient for all.”

The 21 sessions feature speakers from manufacturing companies currently using Industry 4.0 technologies in their plants, as well as representatives from a wide range of suppliers that offer solutions in this space. Session categories include: Big Data; IoT; Industrial IoT; Process Automation; Smart Factories; Smart Planning; Smart Integration; and Virtual Reality.

The WAI Annual Convention features the following keynote speakers on Oct. 26 and 27, respectively.
Award-winning filmmaker Brett Culp presents “Superhero Leadership: How everyday people can have an extraordinary impact; and Kathleen Edge, EVP Operations, Southwire Company LLC presents: “Connected – flexible operating system.”

This program has the generous support of the following sponsors: Cerro Wire LLC; Encore Wire Corp.; Gem Gravure Co. Inc.; James Monroe Wire and Cable Corp.; Lloyd & Bouvier Inc.; Prysmian Group; SDI LaFarga COPPERWORKS; Sonoco Reels & Spools; Southwire Co. LLC; Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp.

Discounts are available for WAI members. Tickets are $90 USD for full access; and $110 for full access plus new WAI membership.

Visit: https://waiindustry40.heysummit.com/ for full details and to register.

Published in Press Releases

9/17/21 – Teknor Apex Company will present a webinar, Decoding the Wire & Cable Material Recognition Program, that features veteran staffers Mike Patel, director of marketing, and David Braun, wire & cable industry manager. It will be held at 2 pm EST on Wednesday, Sept. 22, and is open for registration at this link. Joining Patel and Braun will be Anthony Tassone, principal engineer, UL.

 The hour-long webinar will include the following topics:

  •  Current trends in wire & cable applications
  • How using UL-recognized components may help eliminate additional material testing saving time and money (an FAQ/panel discussion with UL)
  • Differences between polymeric materials for use in wire and cable vs. plastics component recognitions
  • How Teknor Apex develops compounds with regulations and UL recognitions in mind

The event will include a Q&A session, and attendees are welcome to send questions.

About Teknor Apex. Teknor Apex Company, a privately held firm founded in 1924, is one of the world’s leading custom compounders of plastics.  Teknor Apex produces flexible and rigid vinyl, thermoplastic elastomers, nylons, color masterbatches, specialty chemicals, and hoses. The company is headquartered in Pawtucket, RI, U.S.A. and operates thirteen manufacturing facilities worldwide in the United States, Belgium, Germany, China, and Singapore. To learn more visit: www.teknorapex.com.

The Vinyl Division of Teknor Apex Company is a leading manufacturer of custom compounds, including Apex® flexible and rigid vinyl, Flexalloy® vinyl elastomers, Fireguard® low-flame, low-smoke compounds, and Halguard® low-smoke, halogen free, flame retardant compounds and elastomers. The Division is a global supplier to the appliance, automotive, construction, medical device, wire and cable, and other industries.

 The company can be contacted at: Teknor Apex, 505 Central Avenue, Pawtucket, RI  02861 U.S.A. Tel: 1-401-725-8000.  Tel. from U.S. only: 1-800-554-9892. Fax: 1-401-729-0166. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

 


  

Published in Press Releases

9/10/21 - The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. is the host of the biennial Interwire trade exposition and conference that historically draws visitors from 50 countries which include exhibitors, attendees, speakers, and sponsors.

The climbing Covid-19 counts and corresponding employee health and safety measures have led WAI’s Board of Directors to vote to cancel this year’s staging of Interwire, which was set to mark the 40th year since the show was introduced in Atlanta, Georgia.

Commenting on the difficult decision, 2021 WAI President Tom Heberling said, “It is our responsibility as the Interwire host to deliver a safe, fair, viable, and valuable event to all of our constituents. Unfortunately, having reviewed the data and the evolving factors that must affect the Interwire 2021 trade exposition and conference, the Board’s decision reflects the challenging operating environment facing all businesses.”

The Interwire event was well positioned to serve the wire and cable industry, which is experiencing significant capital investments and overall strong economic conditions. The exhibition, which included key machinery manufacturers and more than 200 suppliers, was anticipated by key buying groups to provide the essential face-to-face forum that has not been available due to the pandemic.

WAI’s Executive Director Steve Fetteroll commented “The Board of Directors devoted their expertise and considerable time to developing the first-ever Industry 4.0 Program that was set to stage at Interwire. The Industry 4.0 Program combined with the expansive exhibit was just what the industry needed. I regret that their key contributions along with the tremendous staff efforts will not be fully realized on the Interwire stage.”

In an effort to continue WAI’s educational mission and support the industry during this unprecedented period, the Association will host the Industry 4.0 conference virtually to serve its members and supporters. The conference will be held on October 26-27 along with WAI’s 91st Annual Convention.

For expediency, news of the new conference will be detailed at www. Interwire21.com.

The WAI leadership regrets that these international events have combined to force a change of direction at this late date. The Association remains grateful to its supporters. It is committed to the 2023 Interwire that will provide value to exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, attendees, and partners alike.

The Wire Association International is a not-for-profit association with 1,800 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exposition and the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.


Media Contacts: Janice E. Swindells, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-2777
x. 117; Steven J. Fetteroll, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-1777.

                                                                                      

 

Published in WAI News

9/8/21 – The Association’s New England Chapter has chosen the five below students to each receive a 2021 scholarship of $2,500.

Ana Aguilar, the daughter of Alberto Aguilar, president of Carris Reels, will be attending Clemson. She plans to study business marketing.

Connor Hartline, the son of Christopher Hartline, vice president of operations at RichardsApex, will be attending Pennsylvania State University. He plans to study engineering.

Robert Mancinelli, the son of John Mancinelli, national sales manager at Conneaut Industries, Inc., will be attending Lehigh University IBE Honors Program. He plans to study mechanical engineering and finance.

Erik Person, the son of Kimberly Person, corporate accountant at Insulated Wire, Inc., will be attending SUNY Genesco. He plans to study adolescent education.

Indigo Zachow, the daughter of John Zachow, vice president of Davis-Standard, will be attending Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. She plans to study graphic design.

Published in WAI News

9/8/21 – Companies can now either enter or update their company profiles for the 2022 edition of the Wire Journal International Reference Guide and WAI’s online Industry Search.
The new and updated entries, free, will be accepted until Nov. 30, 2021, for the printed publication. An instructional video on submitting a free listing is at
wirenet.org: (www.wirenet.org/industry-search-instructional-video)

Published in WAI News

9/8/21 -  Loos and Company is proud to announce the unveiling of our new government sales webpage. This page features our capabilities statement, shows proof of qualifications, lists our manufacturing standards and specifications, and provides an overview of our areas of support. As a domestic manufacturer, Loos has numerous certifications that we feel are important to share with you, especially when they regard government contracts. Here is a brief breakdown of the new government sales page.

Buy America, Buy American, and Domestic Manufacturing:

Loos draws wire, strands, and closes wire rope up to 1-1/4" DIA right in the USA at our Pomfret, Connecticut facility. As a result, our capability statement focuses on how Loos meets the standards of Buy America and Buy American. What's Buy American? Specific manufacturing outlines set by the Federal Government. For a wire product to qualify for Buy American, the wire must be manufactured in the USA, and the cost of domestic components must exceed 50% of the total cost. You may have noticed we also use the terms "100% domestic" or "Buy America" when talking about our products. For wire rope to be called "100% domestic" or "Buy America", products are required to have been manufactured in the USA from components made in the USA, including the steel mill products. Refer to our complete government sales page for additional information.

Our Primary Areas of Support:

Our new government sales webpage focuses on our ability to meet Military and Federal specifications. Our page provides the exact number and callouts for each of these specifications, making it easy to see the full extent of our manufacturing capabilities.

Our Certifications:

Our new webpage highlights some of our achievements as a manufacturing company. For example, our Wire and Wire Rope Division at Loos meets ISO 9001:2015 & AS9100: Rev D certification. Additionally, we have highlighted our CAGE and DUNS ID numbers to make it easy for those working in government sales quickly to quickly and easily reference our capabilities.

To look at a complete list of our domestic capabilities, the primary areas we support, and the certifications & ID numbers we have at Loos and Company, check out our brand-new government sales page! If you would like to discuss one of our Government specifications, you can contact our Government sales specialist here. Alternatively, if you have any other questions, our team is happy to help! Reach out to us by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at (860) 928-7981.

Published in Press Releases

9/8/21 -- Ulbrich understands the need for rapid Medical Device development cycles. With the new Ulbrich Braid Wire Accelerator™ Program, timelines and specific design performance characteristics are faster and more precise than ever before. Once an order is placed, we will ship a set of bobbins directly from our manufacturing facility within 24 hours and can have the product in customers’ hands in 72 hours or less. Alloys currently offered through this program are Stainless Steels, Nitinol, L605, MP35N, Tungsten, and Copper Beryllium, with plans of adding new materials in the future.

Braid reinforcement wires are important components in minimally invasive delivery systems. Our wires enable torque transmission and strength in these critical systems, with just the right amount of flexibility. As a leader in specialty wire production and development, Ulbrich’s wire manufacturing capabilities can reach as small as 0.0005″ diameter (about 5 times thinner than a human hair). Ulbrich’s advantages include tight dimensional and mechanical property control, which translates to a consistent program of commonly used sizes and alloys for quick response to new and existing medical braid wire customers.

Inventory management and customer service are areas in which Ulbrich excels and this program allows for braid wire customers to stabilize their supply chain. Our Development Partnership serves as an extension of your design team. When it comes to metals, we can bring expertise, technology and extraordinary processing capabilities to your project. That’s lightning-fast support from Ulbrich, your trusted partner from concept through mass production!

Ulbrich Specialty Wire Products, located in Westminster, South Carolina, is equipped for rolling, drawing, annealing, straightening and precision winding of a variety of round, flat and square wire products. Our “focus factory” (factory within a factory) dedicates managers and engineers along with state-of-the-art equipment to produce and manage industry specific requirements.

Ulbrich offers technical support and applications engineers who work directly with customers to determine product needs and specifications based upon our customers processes, equipment and specific needs. Ulbrich is on the technical forefront of the metals industry delivering precision wire products to an increasingly diversified and global marketplace, expanding into the medical, solar, electronics, aerospace, microwave cable, automotive and other industries.

Published in Press Releases

9/8/21 -- Following a recent order for a new wire rod outlet, Primetals Technologies has been contracted by Kaptan Demir Çelik (Kaptan Iron & Steel) to supply the upstream mill for the Marmara Ereğlisi, Turkey production site.

A press release said that the mill will prepare the round feedstocks (intermediate sizes) to be further rolled and finished in the wire rod outlet. It will have a yearly capacity of 650,000 metric tons. High-value products will be processed such as carbon, SBQ and austenitic stainless-steel grades, catering to the engineering and automotive industries in both domestic and export markets. The hot commissioning of the complete installation is expected in mid-2022.

The upstream mill will have a maximum rolling rate of 130 tons per hour, and will process billets with square dimensions of 130, 160 and 200 mm and length of 12 meters. The diameters of the prepared feedstocks will range from 17 mm to 33 mm, as required by the roll pass design of the wire rod outlet. The layout, equipment and process of the new upstream mill will be optimized and compatible with an additional bar outlet to be added later, which will make the installation a modern combined mill of quality and austenitic stainless steel.

In other news, Bosnian steel producer ArcelorMittal Zenica d.o.o. placed an order with Primetals Technologies to replace the vessel of BOF converter #2 and supply associated equipment. An optimized design will increase the vessel volume and make production easier. ArcelorMittal Zenica is the largest producer of long steel products in the Balkans with annual production capacity of nearly one million tons per year. The company’s base product range includes rebar (in bars and coils), wire rod, mesh and lattice girders.

Published in Industry News

9/8/21 -- Central Wire President Paul From recently announced that all company employees would be required to be vaccinated by Oct. 29, barring an acceptable exemption request. Below, he shares further thoughts on this with WJI.

WJI: Just how many people does this edict cover, and what has the response been so far?
From: It covers everyone, which is approximately 700 people in 13 facilities in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. I have been overwhelmed with the positive response from employees. It surprised me. There have been some negative calls but many more positive ones. My contact info is posted in all the plants, so anyone can call me to discuss this—good, bad or indifferent—and they do. I have had some interesting conversations with people who felt that they could not speak out in favor of the vaccine inside the facility because some people would get angry. They remained uncommitted and confused about what to do. There was a lot of disinformation being pushed around and politicized, and I suspect that’s commonplace in many companies.

WJI: You didn’t have to do this, so why are you?
From: I am treating this as a health and safety threat. As president and CEO, it’s a lot easier if I apply the science and technology we would use to deal with any workplace hazard. As a virus, it can be stopped, and my job is to stop it. I have to provide the safest workplace I can, that’s my role.

WJI: Are you getting any calls from other manufacturers?
From: As of yesterday, 15, and they all are moving in this direction. All were very concerned about the ramifications but feel this is the way to go.

WJI: Could there be a legal challenge to this by employees?
From: That’s a good question. Yes, there could be, but it could be from both sides, the unvaccinated and the vaccinated. Anyone can hire a lawyer. The unvaccinated can fight it, but the courts seem already to have moved in a firm direction on this. The vaccinated can also demand companies take action to guarantee a safe workplace. I think that is just around the corner actually, and I want to be in front of it. If I can’t provide a safe work environment for the vaccinated, they have every right to challenge us. Should the virus have the capacity to mutate again, and it becomes even more transmissible and deadly, then the situation will change again. I would prefer to deal with this entire situation before that can happen.

WJI: Is your edict the same for all your operations?
From: Yes. Rules for Canada and the U.K. are somewhat different than the U.S., but what we are doing is still fine. The Canadian government just mandated vaccines for all federal employees, air travelers, train travelers and over-night vessel travelers.

WJI: What would you like to say to employees who oppose this?
From: Think of your coworkers. I know of six employees undergoing cancer treatment in our company, and I am sure there are others who have family members facing the same thing. I know of employees whose children have either received organ transplants or have disabilities and health challenges that even without Covid must be hard to cope with. We also have employees who have diabetes and other conditions that compromised their immune systems. Do you really want to expose them to this risk?
That also goes for other company owners: do you want someone inside your factory to become infected and take it home to someone not strong enough to fight this?
Freedom of choice I understand, but it goes hand in hand with a greater responsibility. Thankfully we have a number of vaccine choices. We must protect the integrity of our health care system and the professionals who are fighting a minute-by-minute battle to keep people alive.

WJI: How has this situation affected your business?
From: I was born in 1965, and this is my first pandemic. It is a struggle unlike anything I have ever experienced. There is no playbook for this. The last 18 months have been a huge struggle. I spend little time running the business in the traditional sense, buying equipment, considering acquisitions, seeing customers and suppliers, improving operations and developing a better future. I had expected that once the vaccine came out, it would greatly improve things and allow us to get back to “normal.” Now I feel further from normal than ever, but I also believe that the companies that can get past this will have achieved something great, and by doing so they will have benefitted employees, shareholders and society. I truly believe that.

Published in Industry News
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P: (203) 453-2777