Weldbend's Jim Coulas Jr. Assesses The Steel Market

The website of Piping & Equipment Inc.  details its most recent assessment of PVF market activity updated in April, and includes a global assessment of the carbon steel marketplace by Weldbend's Jim Coulas Jr. "Barring a major event, I expect prices on carbon steel fittings and flanges to rise in the near future, maybe several times," he said. Coulas added: "Like you, we are frustrated by this pricing instability in the market. We all know that occasional price increases are healthy; but we have never experienced conditions like these over the past 5-6 years, and particularly the last 3-4 months."

Victaulic's John Perry Passes Away
Victaulic Co. announced that its Vice President of Fire Protection and New Business John E. Perry died on May 1 at age 61. He had been with Victaulic since 1997 and had led the company into the fire sprinkler, valve and devices market. Prior to Victaulic, he held engineering and general management positions with Grinnell Supply Sales.

Schroder Joins EMS As VP/Sales
EMS Group (EMS), a North American provider of operations and maintenance services to the energy industry, announced today that James S. (Steve) Schroder has been appointed as vice president of sales. He joins EMS from Baker Hughes where he was GM/Director of Baker Hughes Pipeline Management Group, Inc.

Deacon Ind. Supply Names Operations, Purchasing Heads
Deacon Industrial Supply Co., a PVF distributor based in King of Prussia, PA, has appointed Dan Tropea to director of purchasing.  Prior to joining Deacon, Tropea was a purchasing manager with Dorman Products where he was responsible for managing an overseas supply base. Deacon also promoted Adam Lord to operations manager. He had been a branch operations manager for Deacon's King of Prussia location. In his new position Lord will oversee the King of Prussia and New Castle, DE facilities, as well as manage the vendor managed inventory accounts.

ITC Investigates China Stainless Pipe Dumping
A preliminary investigation is underway of dumping charges against Chinese manufacturers of welded stainless pressure pipe. Click here to view a lengthy report of this investigation.

Good Things Happen When You Put Customers First 

Everyone in business should read this New York Times tale of Amazon.com's success, even though they do things on the financial side that displease Wall St. analysts.

Better Busy Than Bored

Conventional wisdom suggests an overworked employee is one who's probably polishing his resume. But according to a new survey, overtaxed workers may not be the ones most at risk of becoming disgruntled in your organization.

Pocket Guide to Flanges, Fittings, and Piping Data

Packed with pictures, definitions, and descriptions of ANSI and API piping materials, such as flanges, fittings, bolts, gaskets, and required wrench sizes, it serves as an excellent guide for "rookies" and a ready reference for "old-timers" alike. This compact reference is packed with pictures, definitions, and descriptions of ANSI and API  piping materials, such as flanges, fittings, bolts, gaskets, and required wrench sizes. It contains basic information and data to answer common questions that arise in materials handling, pipe fitting, and engineering. $60.95 CLICK HERE to order.

Visit AECstore.com   to view all of our Plumbing resources or all Stephanie at 248-244-1275 with any questions.

PME's Hydronics Webinar Series Continues in 2008

This series of 90-minute Webinars presents the latest concepts for modern hydronic heating system design in both residential and commercial applications.  CEU/PDH Credit is available.

This year's Webinar topics include:

June 12 

Home Run Distribution Systems - An Outstanding Alternative to Metal Piping

Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 1:00 pm ET

Presented by:

John Siegenthaler, P.E. John is a licensed engineer with more than 28 years of experience in hydronic heating. He also is a writer, software developer and columnist for PM and PM Engineer magazines.

Register today at: http://webinar.pmengineer.com.  If you're busy that day, sign up anyway. You have 12 months to play back the scheduled broadcast any time you like.

Missed one of our 2007 MEC Webinars? No Problem! They are now available On-Demand! Visit PME's webinar archives  to view these and other Webinars.

AEC Store’s FEATURED Product

Valve Selection Handbook

Though there are only four basic types of valves, there is an enormous number of different kinds of valves within each category, each one used for a specific purpose. No other book on the market analyzes the use, construction, and selection of valves in such a comprehensive manner.

Click here to purchase, or visit AECstore.com to view our entire product selection.  Call Stephanie at 248-244-1275 with any questions.

New ITT Fabri-Valves
ITT has introduced two new products to its Fabri-Valve line. The new ITT Fabri-Valve S16 Urethane Lined Knife Gate Valve incorporates ITT's robust perimeter sealing technology. Although the S16 was specifically designed for gypsum and limestone slurries found in Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD), its features will also be desirable in numerous abrasive and corrosive process slurry applications. Also, ITT's Fabri-Valve® brand has added new flat face flange models to its line of XS150-ULV Urethane Lined Knife Gate Valves. Flat face flanges are now standard on 2" through 24" diameter models and raised face flanges are optional. Aggressive chemical applications that employ rubber-lined piping systems will benefit from a flat face flange design.