APPOINTMENTS Heatbath Corp/ Park Metallurgical has announced the appointment of Arlen Walker as technical sales rep-

resentat ive with responsibili ty for Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc. announced that Paul Barnes has joined its team as nat ional sales manager.

KUKA Robotics Corp. announced the appoin tment of T i m o t h y J . Arndorfer as ac-

count manager, Southwest region.

Everett Industries Inc. con- gra tu la ted Ray Flynn for 30 years of service as a sales repre- sentat ive with the company. Flynn sells abrasive cut-off saws and wheels in the Indiana and Michigan territory.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Fanta Equipment Co. recently purchased the assets of Napco Inc . T h e y wil l c o n t i n u e to b u i l d and service all Napco equipment.

Stoelting has acquired the product lines of T r e k Industries. This agreement was finalized effective Feb. 1. The new addition will broaden the product line Stoelting offers to the cleaning market.

ACM Co. Inc., a sister company of R e s i n T e c h Inc. , has pur- chased OTC Laboratories. ACM plans to modernize the existing OTC regeneration facil- ity and expand the company's line of products and services.

M a c D e r m i d R e p o r t s Q4 and Year-End F i n a n c i a l s

MacDermid, Inc., a manufacturer of proprietary specialty chemical products and mater ia ls for the electronics, metal finishing, and graphic arts industries, reported fourth quar te r sales of $172.1 million, a 6% increase over the same period in 2003. Revenues reflected strong demand in its Advanced Surface Finishing business, combined with the favor- able impact of foreign currency.

Total repor ted earnings per share for the fourth quarter was $0.63, MacDermid said, which included earnings of $0.18 per share from discontinued opera- tions arising from the gain on the disposal of Eurocir. Reported earnings per share for the year ended December 2003 of $1.80 included the abovement ioned $0.18 per share and the favor- able cumulat ive effect of an accounting change amounting to $0.03 per share.

Management said it continues to believe these i tems are not represen ta t ive of the perform- ance of the business.

Dan Leever, chairman and CEO, noted that MacDermid's fourth- quar ter financial performance was similar to recent quarters. "Our owner earnings were a solid $22.8 million for the quarter and $76.7 million for the year, leaving us with $137.8 million in cash," he said.

"We have shown our cash gener- ation is predictable and sustain- able. This gives us significant options to consider."

MacDermid said year-end sales rose 7% over the previous year to $660.8 million. Diluted earnings per share of $0.48 were $0.03 more than reported for continu- ing operations in 2003. Earnings for the year of $53.2 million were up 7% over last year while earn- ings per share rose 8% to $1.72.

Columbia C h e m i c a l Granted Pa ten t

Columbia Chemical Corp. said it was granted a U.S. patent for a new alkaline cyanide-free zinc electro- plating bath and brightener addi- tive, which is now available to cus- tomers. The additive incorporates new technology into Columbia's Excel family of products.

The aqueous bath contains zinc ions for producing bright elec- trodeposits of zinc. The brighten- ing agent is comprised of a poly- meric qua te rna ry amine and a reducing sugar, as well as a com- pound that forms a reducing sugar upon hydrolysis, Columbia said.

S u r f a c e S p e c i a l t i e s Tops I n d u s t r y Sa fe ty R e c o r d s

Surface Specialties Inc. announced that three of its North America pro- duction sites have achieved all- t ime safety records. Two plants have achieved "zero" lost-time inci- dents for more than 11 consecutive years, while a third has just record- ed 800,000 working-hours without a lost-time incident.

The Surface Specialties plant in Langley, S.C., which produces acrylic resins for the graphic arts and adhesives industries, and the laboratory/pilot p lant in Indian

Orchard, Mass., which manufac- tures a range of adhesives and liq- uid coating resins, combined have achieved more than 1.2 million working hours without a lost-time incident, the firm said.

A third site in North Augusta, S.C., which manufactures acrylated resins and monomers for radcure UV/EB technologies and polyester resins for powder coating technolo- gies, has just reached the milestone of 800,000 man-hours worked with- out a lost-time incident.

4 www.metalfinishing.com

SurfFin '05 Des igned to Meet Supplier and. Buyer Needs

In an a t tempt to revitalize the show and better meet the demands of suppliers and buyers in the surface finishing industry, Sur/Fin 2005 is positioned as the first finishing t rade show that will be jointly pre- sented by all three indus t ry associations: AESF (American Surface Finishing Council), MFSA (Metal Finishing Supplier's Association) and NAMF (National Association of Metal Finishers).

This collaboration has allowed both the supply communi ty and pas t a t tendees to be heard, and enhancements have been made to the quality of the exhibit floor and the conference program, according to show organizers.

This year's Sur/Fin will be held at the America's Center in St. Louis, with conference sessions run- ning June 13 to 16, and the exhibit hall open June 14 to 16. To entice at tendees and please exhibitors, the Sur/Fin steering committee implemented many changes, including: • New technical t racks that will speak to current

issues in the surface finishing industry. • A keynote speaker, Joseph A. De Feo, CEO of the

J u r a n Inst i tute , an organizat ion tha t promotes lean manufacturing, will speak on the virtues of lean on June 14 at 1 p.m.

• The exhibit hall will be open Tuesday from 2 to 7 p.m. NAMF has committed to programming that morning designed to bring shop owners to St. Louis for a special NAMF meeting with the aver- age job shop owner in mind. A free at tendee recep- tion will be held that evening in the exhibit hall.

• Nonconflicting exhibit and conference hours; the show is open June 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Conference sessions conclude on Wednesday at noon, offering six hours for a t t endees to visit exhibits. A free lunch will be served to all atten- dees and a Wednesday evening reception will be held on the show floor. Later that evening, SFIC will host a networking party.

• The AESF Aerospace/Airline forum and AESF-US EPA Conference are now part of Sur/Fin, making this the one industry event that will bring finish- ers together in 2005.

• A post-note speaker and lunch; the exhibit hall will be open on Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. Lunch will be served to attendees and a post-note speech will be delivered by former a s t ronau t Colonel Rick Searfoss, who was also chief judge of the X-Prize. The X-Prize was recently awarded for demonstrat ing private sector technology in space travel by a pr ivate firm launching a craft into space and returning to land on earth twice in a 30- day period.

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March 2005 5