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Fagus GreCon Names Peterson As CEO
Fagus GreCon Inc. named Eric Peterson as CEO. Peterson has more than 20 years of experience leading successful teams across a broad spectrum of manufacturing industries from the food industry to the building products. He will be based in Fagus Grecon’s North America headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
Peterson, who holds an MBA in Marketing from Indiana University and a BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois, most recently led the Husqvarna Group’s retail handheld portfolio and has previously served as president of Sakrete of North America while at CRH Company-Oldcastle.
“It is a privilege to be a part of an organization with such a rich history of delivering innovative high-quality products and services that not only keep our customers safer but helps them reduce their costs,” Peterson says of his new company. Peterson will be working with the team leadership in establishing a strong infrastructure that will help the organization continue to deliver best-in-class products and services to its customers.
The addition of Peterson in Charlotte continues to build upon the organizational move from Portland, Ore. to Charlotte that began two years ago. The move brought Fagus GreCon closer to many of its customers, allowing it to improve the team’s ability to reach its customer base and better assist customers with service visits, technical support and sales visits more quickly and efficiently. In addition, Fagus GreCon has extended its outreach by establishing a motivated team of outside service technicians to assist customers with their business needs across the U.S. resulting in lowering service costs, and improving service and communications to customers.
These changes along with the business and growth plan that Peterson and the team will be building upon for North America will carry the continued momentum from 2019 into the years to come.
Fagus GreCon, Inc. is a leading supplier in the development and manufacturing of fire prevention solutions and measuring systems.
Weiler Forestry Comes Of Age
Weiler Forestry, Inc. announced the launch of Weiler purpose-built forestry products following its acquisition of Caterpillar’s purpose-built forestry business.
The product line consists of wheel skidders, track feller-bunchers, wheel feller-bunchers, and knuckleboom loaders.
Weiler Forestry facilities now include the former Caterpillar manufacturing plant and warehouse in LaGrange, Ga., a demonstration and training center in Auburn, Ala., the Prentice engineering and product development center in Prentice, Wis., and the legacy Prentice parts distribution center in Smithfield, NC.
Founded in 2000, Weiler produces an extensive portfolio of paving products and has a long history of successfully manufacturing purpose-built equipment distributed through the Cat dealer network.
“Over the past several months we have been listening to forestry customers and dealer personnel. We are excited to implement product expansion plans quickly to better serve the forestry market,” comments Pat Weiler, owner and founder of Weiler, Inc.
“I am looking forward to continuing to listen to our customers so we can offer them the products that best serve their needs through the best dealer network in the world,” adds Bill Hood, VP of Weiler, Inc.
Weiler Forestry will design and manufacture purpose-built forestry products, which will continue to be available through the Cat dealer network.
Weiler entered into a preliminary agreement with Caterpillar, Inc. in August 2018. Weiler stated it anticipates retaining the approximatey 270 employees supporting the forestry business, adding to the nearly 500 employees currently employed at the Knoxville, Iowa based manufacturer’s corporate office and manufacturing facility.
Test Burn Has Good Results
Wyssmont reports its large shop assembled unit TURBO-DRYER-TORREFIER unit was delivered to a Pacific Northwest plant and used to torrefy 1,000,000 pounds of wood chips for a test burn in a local power plant. It was reported that the unit produced a high quality product with a very uniform BTU output. The unit was supplied with internal electrical heating elements and a recycle system so the system could operate in an oxygen free atmosphere.
Norden, Enviva Continue Affiliation
Norden has contracted with Enviva to transport 1.3-1.5 million tonnes of wood pellets from the U.S. to Europe over a six-year period. The contract runs from 2021 to 2026 and builds on Norden’s long-term collaboration with Enviva.
Norden now holds a number of long-running contracts with Enviva for the transportation of wood pellets across the Atlantic, all of which are carried out on supramax vessels.
Morbark Appoints Product Manager
Morbark appointed Jason Showers as Product Manager, Tree Care Products. Showers will serve as the subject matter expert for all matters related to Morbark’s brush chipper equipment line. Showers has more than 20 years of hands-on experience with the brush chipper line and will make important contributions to product development and project management.
“I am excited to continue in a capacity at Morbark where I can share my knowledge with other industry colleagues,” says Showers. “After working with Morbark products for many years, I look forward to putting my expertise to work and helping the company grow and innovate this product line.”
Before assuming this new position, he served as Morbark’s product manager for the company’s Boxer Equipment line of compact utility loaders and attachments and has been instrumental in developing and managing the product line’s network of distributors, manufacturing representatives, and rental business.
Inside Sales Coordinator Mark Rau will now assume the duties of developing and managing the Boxer Equipment network of independent distributors, manufacturing representatives, as well as continuing to develop the company’s presence in the rental market. In the past, Rau has served as the company’s Dealer Development Manager and has been with Morbark for 40 years.
Kice Offers Larger Airlocks
Kice Industries has introduced larger sizes for its popular VJX airlock. The new sizes available include 18x12x12; 18x14x14; 20x12x12; 20x15x15; 24x15x15, and 24x20x20. The VJX airlock gives users less maintenance, reduced downtime and lower overall operating costs. It is designed to comply with NFPA 69 criteria as a passive isolation device. The patented bearing cartridge design bolts to the endplate for ease of assembly and maintenance.
A maintenance-free Teflon seal and triple quad-ring seals to protect bearings from product contamination are standard, and there are no packing seals to tighten or replace. With fewer parts and an improved seal, the VJX airlock can withstand higher operating pressures without maintenance, significantly reducing downtime and overall operating costs.
Andritz Supplies Tokushima Tsuda
Andritz has received an order from Hitachi Zosen Corporation (HITZ), Japan, to deliver a PowerFluid circulating fluidized bed boiler with a flue gas cleaning system. The boiler will be part of a new biomass power plant to be built in Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku Island, some 500 km southwest of Tokyo, for the Tokushima Tsuda biomass power plant. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in early 2023.
The PowerFluid boiler to be supplied by Andritz features the lowest emissions, high efficiency and availability, as well as highest fuel flexibility. It forms an essential part of a high-efficiency biomass power plant for supply of green energy to the national grid. The biomass power plant fired with wood pellets and palm kernel shells as main fuels will generate around 74.8 MW.
This is the sixth order in a row for supply of an Andritz PowerFluid circulating fluidized bed boiler for the Japanese market.
MAXAM LogXtra Forestry Tire
MAXAM introduces the LogXtra forestry line to its broad range of specialty tire programs. MAXAM has engineered the MS931 LogXtra to provide the industry with the best solution for abusive forestry applications.
Throughout the development and performance validation phase of the LogXtra program, the design components and tire construction have displayed increased efficiency, durability and traction compared to industry benchmarks. The steel belt stabilized construction along with heavy duty shoulder and sidewall thrives in harsh environments while also resisting cuts, cracks, impacts and punctures.
A high performance rubber compound has been developed by the MAXAM engineering group specifically for the LogXtra tread to maximize tire resilience in the working environment. To prevent bead winding defects and protect against mounting damage, the LogXtra goes through an enhanced bead wrapping process that has been developed and implemented during the manufacturing process.
In addition, the LogXtra offers excellent traction and flotation thanks to its aggressive self-cleaning tread pattern that is deeper and wider than the industry standards. The MS931 Logxtra will be offered in five LS2 sizes and optional ply ratings. Visit maxamtire.com.
Evergreen Engineering Adds Seattle Office
Evergreen Engineering, Inc., is adding a location in the Seattle, Wash. area.
“We wanted to better serve our major wood products and pulp and paper clients in Washington state,” comments Evergreen Business Development Director Aaron Edewards. “We also wanted to take advantage of the pool of local talent open to us there.”
Kevin Tangen, formerly based at Evergreen’s Eugene, Ore. office, will lead the staff as Project and Office Manager. He will be joined by mechanical engineer Erik Lasher, also formerly of Eugene, and newly hired Senior Project Manager Jeffrey Tuma of Port Orchard, Wash. A complement of locally hired designers and drafters will round out the team.
The expansion coincides with the redesign of Evergreen’s website, www.evergreenengineering.com. Site visitors will find the pages more user-friendly, especially for mobile devices.
Established in 1985, Evergreen Engineering, Inc., now has offices in Eugene, Seattle, and Atlanta, Ga.
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