Business briefs

Electrical Apparatus, Nov 1996 by Jones, Kevin

Triangle Wire is bought by Essex Group

Triangle Wire & Cable, Inc., Lincoln, R.I., recently announced an agreement to sell its electrical wire and cable business to Essex Group, Inc., of Fort Wayne, Ind. While terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, Triangle has sold its manufacturing operations in Florence, Ala., Phoenix, Ariz., Sikeston, Mo., and Pawtucket, R.I., as well as its distribution facilities, U.S. and Canadian sales operations, inventories, technology, trade names, and other wire- and cable-related assets.

Continued manufacturing is planned at Florence, Phoenix, Sikeston, and Pawtucket, according to Triangle Wire and Cable. Triangle's corporate offices in Rhode Island are to close. Essex has indicated it will hire some of the 105 corporate staffers.

Triangle chairman and CEO Steven Gerard said that "Essex is an industry leader whose commitment to product quality, innovation, and customer service is consistent with the history and operating philosophy of Triangle. This sale is a very positive step for our employees, agents, customers, shareholders, and the whole wire and cable industry."

CSI buys Philadelphia maintenance company

Computational Systems, Inc., Knoxville, Tenn., a provider of diagnostic software and services, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Philadelphia-based Maintenance & Diagnostics, LLC, the research, service, and training center for the electric power industry. Under the agreement, the M&D management team will remain with the company.

Projected to have $10 million in revenues for 1996, M&D, among other activities, has operated the Electric Power Research Institute's Monitoring & Diagnostic Center for ten years.

M&D has ongoing condition monitoring projects in more than 40 utilities, representing 15% of the industry, including PECo Energy, Duke Power, Southern California Edison, and Commonwealth Edison. Internationally, M&D is engaged in projects in France, Hong Kong, Italy, and South Korea.

Louis Allis offering $10,000 warranty

The Louis Allis Co. of Milwaukee, a maker of large induction motors, specialty motors, synchronous motors and generators, and synchronous condensers, has announced that it will accept a onetime change-out fee of up to $10,000 on an original motor that failed under warranty. Under such an arrangement, the customer typically pays an upfront fee-in this case $2,500-as insurance against the motor's failure.

An extended two-year warranty on new hermetic motors is also now available from the company. This option, which must be elected prior to shipment of the motor from the factory, will provide customers with a cost-efficient alternative to unreasonable failed-motor repair charges, according to the company.

The warranty covers the cost of repair or replacement due to motor failure. Louis Allis is able to offer this type of coverage because the probability that its motors will fail is low, according to Louis Allis. The chiller-motors are not remanufactured or rewound, but new motors. All motors are tested and approved before delivery, per the original chiller-motor specification, according to the company.

Gould Electronics buys German fuse maker

The Circuit Breaker Division of Gould Electronics, Inc., Newburyport, Mass., recently acquired Lindner GmbH of Bamberg, Germany, a manufacturer of IEC DIN standard industrial power fuses and compact fuse switches. The DIN standard for power fuses, which originated in Germany, is the most widely specified and fasted growing international fuse system in the world, according to Gould.

Cable company to buy assembly maker

WPI, Inc., Salem, N.J., a maker of cables and connectors, recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Wyle Laboratories, Inc., of El Segundo, Calif., to purchase Burton Electrical Engineering Co., a Wyle division that manufactures special-purpose cable assemblies. Burton, also located in El Segundo, designs, manufactures, and markets specialized electrical high-voltage, high-current, interconnecting devices and cables for use in hostile environments. These include aircraft ground servicing, oil field production, and applications in undersea exploration.

Stephen Wyle, CEO of Wyle Laboratories, said that "Burton is an excellent business, which has continued to operate profitably, but which does not fit our long-term strategy." He said the sale is "part of our on-going effort to focus Wyle on its core business areas."

Houston drive maker in Japan partnership

Complete Motor Drives of Houston and the Meidensha Corp. of Tokyo have announced a North American sales partnership, the purpose of which is to provide market access, in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, to the a-c motor drive products made by the Meidensha Corp. The companies plan to market variable-frequency a-c motor drives up to 600 hp (vector 1200 hp) and 24-hour onsite or shop service support.

Complete Motor Drives is offering Meidensha a-c motor drives, under the Meiden name, with UL listing for motors ranging from 1 to 60 hp 460 VAC three-phase. The 230 VAC product range is fractional to three horsepower with one phase input and fractional to 125 hp with three-phase input.