industry NEWS

2022 ABMA Innovation Award Nominations Deadline

The American Brush Manufacturers Association (ABMA) is now accepting nominations for the William A. Cordes Innovation Excellence Award for 2022.

Entries for the award will be accepted until November 30, 2021, and the award presentation will be made at the ABMA Annual Convention in March 2022 at the Hyatt Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Fla. The Innovation Award recognizes outstanding innovation of manufactured products, components or services in the brush, broom, mop and roller industry and is named after William A. Cordes, who served as the ABMA’s first President from 1917-1928. The 2021 award winner was The Wooster Brush Company’s Shortcut Hook & Hold Angle Sash Paintbrush. ABMA President Greg Miller says, “The ABMA Innovation Award competition is a great opportunity for companies to showcase their innovative products, components and services to the industry, and to the larger audience served by customers, users and consumers as well. It gives the greater industry a wonderful opportunity to see just how innovative, creative and vibrant we are as brushmakers.”

For more information, rules and nomination forms visit www.abma.org/innovationexcellenceaward.

New Hillbrush Initiative Utilizes Recycled Bottle Fiber

As part of its Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibilities (CSER), Hillbrush, the UK’s largest manufacturer of brushes and specialist cleaning tools has replaced the coco fiber used in several of its traditional brushes, with a new fiber material made from recycled plastic bottles. The new polyester PET monofilament, sourced from Beira in Sri Lanka is made from bottles, many of which are washed up on the beach, which are separated from their polypropylene caps, then the plastic is cut up into small granules. Many of these plastic granules are used for extrusion for premium brand trainer production, while the rest is extruded into brush monofilaments. its coco counterpart, not only making it more durable but retaining its brush sweeping characteristics too. While coco fiber has traditionally been used in brush manufacture due to its low cost and sustainable source, many of the methods used in its processing for use as a brush component pose significant health risks for operators, including the amount of dust created during brush manufacture and risks associated with the black dye used on the coco. Use of the PET monofilament rather than natural coco also means far more efficient brush production in the factory since it is far cleaner to use.

Interbrush Revises 2024 Dates

FWTM has announced an adjustment of the 2024 Interbrush dates to April 24-26, 2024. The date had been previously announced as May 24-26, but the organizers have indicated this was an error. The exhibition for the brush and paintbrush industry will be held in Messe Freiburg, Germany, in 2024. The event is normally held every four years and draws 7,000 visitors from over 90 countries. It is anticipated that the event will resume the normal four-year rotation after the 2024 edition. For more information, visit www.interbrush.com.

INBrush Moves to May 2022

Unitech Exhibitions has announced INBrush now will be held May 25-27, 2022, at the CIDCO Exhibition & Convention Centre in Mumbai, India. The event is the region’s only dedicated B2B event for brush manufacturing machinery and finished brushes. It had already been rescheduled to October of 2021 but due to prolonged international air travel restrictions by many countries, the event was delayed again. Unitech notes that all current exhibitors will have their booked stands at the same location and confirms there will be no change to the INBrush 2022 floor plan. For more information visit www.indiabrushexpo.com.

Deco Products: Multi-Slide Zinc Die-Casting Equipment Acquisition

Deco Products recently acquired miniature, fourslide zinc die-casting equipment and related process technology from Mumford Metal Casting of South Carolina. The equipment acquisition enables further expansion of Deco Products and solution advantages for customer designs. New benefits include:

• High-speed production

• Limited cavitation offers excellent part to part consistency

• Tighter “as cast” tolerances

• Longer tool life

• Flash-free castings

• Lower tool cost

• Reduce or eliminate secondary machining operations

• Elimination of trim die

• Quick die changeovers

Deco Products has been a reliable “Made in USA” zinc die-cast manufacturer since 1960 providing exceptional service and quality products for a multitude of industries. Deco’s capabilities include custom precision engineered zinc die-casting, powder coating, assembly, CNC Machining and DFM-Part Design. Learn more about Deco Products at www.decoprod.com.

PEOPLE

PelRay’s David McGee Retires After 35 years

The PelRay International Company has announced that sales manager David McGee will retire at the end of the month after 35 years with the company. He was recruited by Ray LeBlanc in 1986 and became the branch manager of Amex International’s warehouse located in Laredo, Texas. When Amex’s Laredo operations were relocated to San Antonio in 2007, McGee continued to work in sales and logistics for Amex alongside LeBlanc and Bart Pelton. In 2008, Amex International changed ownership and the name of the new company was crafted from parts of the original owners’ names – and PelRay was born. McGee continued to work for PelRay International Co., LLC, expanding his role in sales and purchasing. In 2019, Brush Fibers, Inc. acquired PelRay International and made a subtle name change to the “PelRay International Company.” Brush Fibers CEO Chris Monahan says, “McGee, LeBlanc and Pelton provided a combination of industry knowledge and customer service that was recognized worldwide. We were glad that David could continue working for us.” As a division of Brush Fibers, PelRay was in a stronger position to offer their customers more product lines, Bart Pelton, president, says, “David continued to actively work in logistics, sales, and purchasing after the acquisition, and to be an important source of knowledge for training our new employees as well.”

David McGee on top of Lost Mine Peak (elevation 7,500 ft) in Texas.

McGee is looking forward to spending more time with his family and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible in his retirement. “We wish David all the best and thank him for his loyalty to the company, through many changes,” Pelton says. Learn more about the PelRay International Company at www.pelray.com.

Casto Joins Nexstep Commercial Products

Nexstep Commercial Products, Exclusive Licensee of O-Cedar, is pleased to announce that Russell Casto has joined the corporate office in Springfield as a customer service representative. Casto’s background is in retail sales and prior to joining Nexstep, he worked at Best Buy for 17 years in various positions including customer service, sales, merchandising, warehouse lead and most recently inventory control manager. Casto grew up in the Springfield area. He is married and has two children, ages two and 10, who keep him busy. Casto’s three hobbies are movies, music and sports. He coaches his son’s baseball team, and every Monday night, Casto and a friend (or guest cohost) stream a podcast called “The Couch Brotato Podcast” where they analyze and discuss a featured movie of the week.

Abtex: Christian Donovan Promoted to Operations VP

Preparing for increasing growth in all lines of business, Abtex, LLC. has promoted Christian Donovan to Vice President, Operations. Donovan started with Abtex in 2016 bringing with him an impressive record of achievement in complex manufacturing serving automotive, military and medical markets. Prior to joining Abtex, Donovan held key roles at ZF TRW, Truck-Lite and Surmotec as well as serving honorably in the US Navy. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon Graduate School of Business.