This year SEMATECH (www.sematech.org), the international consortium of leading semiconductor device, equipment, and materials manufacturers, observes its 25th anniversary. SEMATECH’s members and partners, who represent about half of the world’s semiconductor production, work to reduce the time from innovation to manufacturing through...
In Part 1 of this series on Independent Distributors Transforming the Playing Field (see “nexAir’s Path to Operational Excellence,” CryoGas, December 2011, p. 38), we described how the low performing warehouse department at nexAir, a Memphis, TN based distributor with revenues...
For over 75 years, GOW-MAC® Instrument Company (www.gow-mac.com), Bethlehem, PA, has been a leading provider of gas analysis solutions. GOW-MAC designs, engineers, and manufactures gas chromatographs, gas analyzers, and gas detectors for use in chemical, industrial gas, laboratory, and educational applications.
In just the recent past, “Specialty Gases,” to the Independent Gas and Welding Distributor, were considered mysterious and novel. They were to be purchased from and sold as directed by the major gas companies. Independents regarded these gases as too...
Prior to World War II, gases and supplies were sold directly from manufacturers to end-users. Following the war, however, large gas manufacturers tried to alleviate the cost and burden of selling directly to smaller customers, and wanted...
nexAir (www.nexair.com), a Memphis, Tennessee- based company with revenues over $100 million, is a dominant force in the industrial gas markets in the southeastern region of the US. Its warehouse team, under the leadership of John Climer, helped establish an improved...
Linking continuous improvement (CI) through a company’s culture to its strategic business goals is imperative to the successful implementation of CI. For example, General Electric links forty percent of top management bonuses to successful implementation of CI. Without such linkage, CI...
Our second annual Best of CryoGas International proved as difficult yet as enjoyable as our first. Poring over a year’s worth of images spoke to our creative sides as we debated the merits of advertisements, graphics,...
The American Welding Society Foundation (www.aws.org) was established in 1989 with a single mission—to develop funding to support welding scholarships. In 1991, money was set aside to support the first fellowship, which was awarded for $20,000. Since that time, the Foundation...
During the week of September 19, 2011, I had the great pleasure of visiting Beijing, China and attending the Chinese Industrial Gases Industry Association’s (CIGIA) 13th China International Exhibition on Gases Technology, Equipment, and Applications. I also had the privilege of...
