industry NEWS

Perlon’s Pedex GmbH Wins Großer Preis des Mittelstandes Award

Pedex GmbH in Affolterbach has been nominated for the 2021 ‘Großen Preis des Mittelstandes’ — a business award for small and medium-sized companies in Germany. The ‘Großen Preis des Mittelstandes‘ award has been the single most popular business award in Germany since 1994. The award is focused on evaluating businesses as a whole, not just on numbers, jobs or innovation. Every November, the Oskar-Patzelt-Foundation invites nominations of medium-sized companies for the competition from communities, associations, organizations and companies. The nomination can be for medium-sized companies from the industrial, commercial, service and trade sectors.

The businesses are evaluated according to five competition criteria:

• Overall development of the business

• Creation and safeguarding of jobs and apprenticeships

• Modernization and innovation

• Involvement in the region

• Service and customer focus, marketing

The winner and the finalists are decided by twelve regional juries and a final jury. In each competition region, there can be three prize winners selected from five finalists.

The announcement was made on September 18, 2021, at a gala evening in Würzburg, Germany. Jakob Jonsson (CCO) received the prize on behalf of Pedex GmbH, a prize winner for Hesse. Pedex GmbH is proud to have won the award and is looking forward to the announcement of the national winner which will place in Dresden on October 30, 2021.

To learn more about Perlon, visit www.perlon.com.

StaticFaction: New State of the Art Website

StaticFaction has launched a new website that is your onestop-shop for static control solutions. The website features Thunderon®, a conductive fiber, with unmatched static control in any electronic environment and over 300 ESD, anti-static and conductive brushes in addition to Thunderon® fiber.

StaticFaction, LLC, was founded in 1994 as the exclusive authorized North American distributor of Thunderon®, a conductive fiber that has an excellent corona discharge effect and is used to eliminate static electricity, antistatic products, including Corona Cord®, Filament/Tow, Tape, and Yarn. StaticFaction also sells finished ESD, anti-static and conductive brushes manufactured by Gordon Brush® and other brush manufacturers.

Invented in 1980, Thunderon® is manufactured by the Nihon Sanmo Dyeing Co. in Kyoto, Japan. Thunderon® is a patented organic fiber of copper sulfide chemically bonded to acrylic and wave shielding effects. nylon fibers. Thunderon® performs better than conventional carbon, stainless steel, or metalplated fibers in removing static electricity. Thunderon® provides proven, unmatched static control and corona discharge, superb conductivity, enhanced abrasion resistance and superior bend recovery, and antibacterial and odor-elimination properties. In addition to its conductive properties, Thunderon® has also been shown to have other significant properties such as antibacterial and deodorant effects, far-infrared radiation effects and electromagnetic

Thunderon® is ideal for use in printing, office machines, business machines, photo finishing, paper converting, plastic converting and textile machinery. It also has bacteriostatic applications in hospitals and cleanroom environments.

Visit the new StaticFaction website at www.staticfaction.com.

Deco Products on Zinc Energy Efficiency

At Deco Products, less fuel and electricity are needed to process parts in their proprietary zinc die-cast centers. Zinc alloy has a relatively low melting temperature when compared to other metals (approximately 790 degrees Fahrenheit). This along with its high pressure and rapid shot profile results in less energy consumed when processed.

This provides for cost savings and lower environmental impacts. Due to the fluidity in the metal zinc, it does not require additional expensive machining and/ or additional operations when manufacturing zinc.

Deco Products has committed to zinc die casting for many years and has been adding technology and expertise within its facility. With these core principles in place, Deco will continue to find more efficient ways to die-cast zinc to promote better global competitiveness and environmental sustainability. To learn more about zinc energy efficiency and the other advantages of zinc, visit https://decoprod.com/zinc-advantages-in-die-casting/.

Vivelle Acquires Bonette AB

Vivelle of Hambrücken, Germany, has announced the acquisition of all of the assets of Bonette AB, located in Kungsbacka, Sweden. Bonette AB is a leading manufacturer of electrostatic cleaning products servicing the cleaning and hygiene industry throughout Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

“For the past number of years our corporate mission at Vivelle has been to become the leading manufacturer in the dry mop electrostatic cleaning space and with the acquisition of the Bonette AB assets, it brings us one step closer to accomplishing this goal,” says Timothy MacGregor, managing director of Vivelle.

All of the acquired assets will be moved from Bonette AB’s, Kungsbacka facility and set up at the Vivelle manufacturing and converting facility in Hambrücken, Germany. The management and staff at Vivelle are extremely excited to be able to continue to support all of our present customers while also welcoming all of the new Bonette AB clients.

“On behalf of Vivelle and its parent company Atlas Graham Furgale, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, I would like to take the time to thank Mr. Bo Apler, President at Bonette AB for the privilege of working with him in such an open and transparent manner,” says Timothy MacGregor. “The Bonette AB brand has long since been a name that has been associated with quality and innovation and we intend to carry on this tradition at Vivelle.”

WÖHLER BC 810 Bundle Cutter Update

WÖHLER has announced a new generation update for their BC 810 Bundle Cutter that includes an option for automated bundle length sorting into two containers. The WÖHLER BC 810 is the high-end cutting solution in WÖHLER bundle cutters for synthetic, abrasive and natural filaments. The bundle cutter is fitted with a cutting plate with seven individual cutting bushings from 1.6" to 3.5" (40 to 90 mm).

The WÖHLER BC 810 features a clean-cut function with waste sorting as well as a remaining bundle sorting function. Settings are made easily and intuitively by means of the setup wizard via touch screen. Two different cut lengths can be selected simultaneously for optimal use of the material hanks. Entry of the remaining bundle length is likewise possible. The bundle cutter calculates the optimal cutting positions from the values entered in order to minimize the cut waste. Remaining bundle lengths which can still be economically used are sorted separately and ejected.

The new manual operation function allows the operator to cut materials that are not automatically cuttable both quickly and safely. The optional module for cutting natural materials allows efficient cutting of natural materials wound with cord or tape. The remaining bundle length processing turns leftovers into saleable products, which is of particular interest in the case of more costly materials.

With the optional second ejection chute, the WÖHLER BC 810 sorts different jobs into two bins and saves the operator work.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Up to 70 cuts/min

• Precision cut tolerances +/- 0.008" (0.2 mm)

• Short bundle lengths

• Extremely long blade service time

• Natural filament cutting (optional)

• Automatic remaining length processing (optional)

• Fast manual operation for flexible materials (optional)

• Fully automatic bundle length sorting into two containers (optional)

Learn more about the WÖHLER BC 810 at bt.woehler.com/en/machine/bc-810/.

PEOPLE

Deco Products Adds Two New Employees

Deco Products Company recently announced the hiring of Jordan Thompson as a quote specialist and Eric Smedsrud as HR Recruiter.

Jordan Thompson

Thompson previously was a marketing and sales intern at Deco before taking the job as the new quote specialist. He grew up in New Market, Alabama, with his parents and six siblings. He moved to Decorah, Iowa, four years ago when Jordan Thompson he started college at Luther College. In Quote Specialist the spring of 2021, he graduated from Luther with a bachelor’s degree in management.

His marketing and sales internship began in May 2021 and lasted until the quote specialist position opened in the middle of June. He interviewed for the position and accepted it at the end of June.

Thompson will be in charge of determining Deco’s costs to produce specific parts. He will also assist in developing prices to offer to customers related to requests for all parts, both commonmade and very specific, specialized parts.

Smedsrud was previously working as the marketing and sales intern at Deco before being promoted to the human resources position. He started his career at Deco in 2018 when he worked in production. He worked at Deco for three months during the summer in-between his freshman and sophomore year at college. He came back in August of 2020 and held the marketing and sales intern position for ten months until he was offered the position of HR Recruiter.

Eric Smedsrud

Smedsrud grew up in Decorah, Iowa. He graduated from Luther College this past spring with a major in biology and a minor in management. He will be responsible for recruiting people to apply and hire at Deco. He will also continue to work with creating advertisements for recruitment, be a part of various committees to promote Deco to the community and “on board” new Deco employees.

To learn more about Deco Products, visit www.decoprod.com.

StoreBound’s Glenn DeStefano Elected to IHA Board Of Directors

Glenn DeStefano, president of StoreBound LLC, has been elected to the board of directors of the International Housewares Association (IHA), the full-service trade association for the housewares industry. His three-year term begins October 1, 2021, and ends September 30, 2024. In addition, Yvette Laugier, managing director, Peugeot Saveurs North America, LLC joins the board of directors as chairman and Steve Greenspon, CEO, Honey-Can-Do International LLC will serve as vice chairman/chairman-elect. Neal Asbury, president and CEO, The Legacy Companies is the new treasurer. Howard “Chip”

Steidle, Jr., president, John Ritzenthaler Co. will retire from the board, while Lisa Knierim, CEO, Creative Tops Inc. was re-appointed for a second threeyear term.

De Stefano, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, joined StoreBound in 2016. Before joining StoreBound, De Stefano was with Lenox Corporation from 2000-2016, serving in various roles before being named president in 2010. He also worked for Macy’s from 1988-2000, serving in various roles including corporate buyer.

EMERGING LEADERS LOOK TO DISCOVER STRENGTHS

By Meg Cooper

The ABMA Emerging Leaders group held a “Back to School” Zoom meeting on September 16, 2021, with eight members participating. From the prior meeting in June, the Emerging Leaders (EL) group asked all members to read “Discover Your CliftonStrengths” and then proceed to take the CliftonStrengths™ test to identify which five strengths were the most dominant in our personalities. The strengths test was a way for EL members to get more in tune with their strongest personality traits and assets with the hope of being able to build upon those strengths in order to progress on career goals.

The catalyst for the strengths test concept evolved from the following questions raised during the June meeting:

• How do you retain Millennial and Gen Z workers?

• What skills do Millennial and Gen Z workers need to be able to succeed within a company?

• Why is it so hard for companies to find and fill positions with Millennial and Gen Z employees?

The CliftonStrengths™ test is the result of a 40-year study by Gallup scientists (led by Don Clifton) that helps people discover their top five strengths of over 34 of the most common talents. This test was born out of the idea that people who were unable to focus on their strengths in their work were not as emotionally engaged on the job as they could be. Engaging in your job on a deeper level means more long-term success as well as more happiness in your chosen career field. From an employers’ perspective, this also means that retention increases due to having happier, more engaged employees and you have now helped to create an environment that is equally inviting to acquiring employees.

Why would you want your employees to take CliftonStrengths™? Why would applying this method help you or your business? With employee acquisition and retention reaching new lows during the pandemic, it may be worth considering adding some new managerial tools to your toolkit.

In the post-pandemic era, there is a shift underway regarding the unmet needs of the current workforce. Managers and employers can find more success if every angle is considered regarding employee hiring and retention – even if that means taking a more dedicated and individualized approach to connecting with employees.

For members of the EL, taking the CliftonStrengths™ test was an eye-opening experience as the discussion ranged from initial skepticism to eventual acceptance of one’s test results. A recurring topic during the EL discussion was that every person acknowledged and appreciated how they ended up in their current career path in their unique way.

When asked about his impressions on the CliftonStrengths™ results, Kevin White says, “The insights regarding the strengths are what I found to be interesting because I was then able to extract specific ideas from the analysis which, in turn, led me to reflect on past decisions and interactions. The theme of StrengthFinders is, as the name implies, to find your strengths and focus on using them to better yourself and your team. The program does so in divergent paths, describing to the user what the good parts about their strengths are as well as what ‘blind spots’ may occur as a result of said strengths. The same thing that makes athletes, politicians or business leaders great may also be the thing that leads to disaster. StrengthFinders does not give you information that couldn’t be found through other means but it does frame the information in a way that makes you reflect and ask the question ‘why do I do a certain thing and what does doing that thing cause?’ a lot. The biggest takeaways I had from this evaluation were the tools I can use to continue to bolster my strengths and become more conscious of how to be a good teammate. We must surround ourselves with a team that complements our strengths to succeed in our endeavors.”

With the upcoming ABMA convention in March 2022, the EL group has a roundtable discussion planned that may include some discussion on using the CliftonStrengths™ test. If you’re a current member of the Emerging Leaders group and received your book in the mail, it may be worth taking the time to read the introduction and take the CliftonStrengths™ test online.

When asked about additional takeaways from the September meeting, White says, “We also discussed what the ABMA EL group can do better to serve its members. What we are noticing is that it will be hard to maintain any kind of large group when meeting at a specific time during the day, so we must provide benefits that can be accessible to the members as they see fit. Ideas included a Facebook group forum, mini-lessons and presentations, public speaking groups and other activities that will help the members grow as individuals, employees and leaders. We will be rolling out an implementation plan, and these timeindependent features will become available to our members in the coming weeks and months. Things like the Facebook group will be implemented by the end of the week once we have our board meeting so we can decide on the specifics of management.”

If you’d like more information about the ABMA Emerging Leaders group, upcoming events, or other ways to connect, visit www.abma.org/abmaemergingleaders.