ABB has announced the appointment of Joseph M. Hogan as ABB Group CEO. Hogan is currently CEO of GE Healthcare, and is a member of the GE Senior Executive Council. He will join ABB on 1 September, 2008. Prior to working in GE’s Healthcare and Medical businesses he served as president and CEO of GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.
Bosch Rexroth plans to acquire all shares in Hägglunds Drives AB, which is based in Mellansel, Sweden. The contract was signed on 18 July, 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. The acquisition expands Bosch Rexroth’s industrial hydraulics portfolio and opens up new potential in growing markets, such as renewable energies, mining and materials handling. The deal is subject to approval by the authorities.
Hägglunds Drives employed around 900 people and achieved sales of approximately EUR 200 million in 2007. The company is a leading international supplier of complete hydraulic drive systems, separate drive motors and services. In the renewable energies sector, its products are used to drive machines for producing ethanol, and also feature in early prototypes for generating tidal energy.
Danfoss Group president and CEO since 1996, Jørgen M. Clausen, has announced that he will be retiring with effect from 1 October, 2008 and Niels B. Christiansen has been designated as the new president and CEO with effect from the same date.
Clausen plans to concentrate on his directorships, which include the chairmanship of Sauer-Danfoss and membership of the board of the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation.
When the board elects its chairman after the Annual General Meeting it will nominate Clausen, to replace Henrik E. Nyegaard, who will not be standing for re-election.
Parker Aerospace has been selected as the exclusive supplier for a period of 10 years of fly-by-wire flight control systems for all new Bombardier widebody aircraft programs requiring this technology.
Parker will develop a complete, state-of-the-art generic fly-by-wire system from stick to surface, that will then be customised and manufactured for each aircraft program, starting with the CSeries. The company estimates that this has the potential to generate revenues of US$3,5 billion over the life of the programs.
Siemens has delivered the first of 37 SD 160 type right rail vehicles to the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The new trains will be used to service the South Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension as from spring 2009, and to increase ridership capacity on the City’s existing northern line. When the line is complete, LRT ridership is expected to double to 100 000 passengers per day.
SKF is investing approximately 400 million Swedish kronor (R500m) in its facilities in Göteborg for a further increase of capacity. Investments include a new production line for large size bearings, a new plant for the heat treatment of components for the new production line as well as new equipment for the production of rolling elements.
SKF in G#246;teborg supplies products to the mining, energy, pulp and paper industries, among others. The production volume has grown considerably during the last few years thanks to the strong sales development of the company's products.
This new investment of 400 million Swedish kronor is in addition to the one announced in February last year, also aimed at increased production. The construction and installations as a result of that investment are ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of the year.
SKF has acquired QPM Aerospace's metallic rod business. The manufacturing site is located in Monroe close to Seattle, USA. Metallic rods are used in various aerospace applications such as mechanism actuation, aeroplane structures and equipment suspensions. QPM is a supplier to Boeing and is also qualified to supply Airbus.
SKF's metallic rod activities are located in Saint Vallier, South of Lyon in France. SKF's existing customer base is mainly European with customers such as Airbus, Dassault and Eurocopter. This acquisition will be a platform for SKF's growth in the metallic rod business in North America.
Vacon, the Finnish AC drives manufacturer, has signed a global cooperation agreement with Voith Paper Automation. Headquartered in Germany, Voith Paper Automation has chosen Vacon as its preferred AC drives supplier for its paper machine deliveries worldwide.
Vacon will supply Voith Paper Automation with AC drives for use in paper machine applications. Vacon offers a complete range of variable speed AC drives that cover a wide application area, everything from simple pump drives to demanding system drives, thus improving processes in terms of runnability, efficiency and quality.
Yaskawa Electric Europe GMBH has appointed Manfred Stern as its president and COO effective 1 June 2008. The 52-year-old immediately takes on the role of managing director and at the same time he is responsible for the strategic business of Yaskawa in Europe.
This is the first time since the foundation of the European headquarters in 1980 that a European is part of the top management team of Yaskawa Electric Europe. In this newly created position, he reports directly to the Chairman and CEO, Yoshikatsu Minami (49), who is now responsible for the European business of Yaskawa as well as Motoman.
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