Industry News

Contracts | Mergers & Acquisitions | Personnel | Awards

Contracts

• Siemens Inks contract for MRI, Ultrasound with HealthTrust Purchasing Group
  Siemens Medical Solutions has inked a three-year contract to provide magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound technologies to HealthTrust Purchasing Group. 5/3/05
• ABB to Supply Brazil’s Largest Industrial Substation
  ABB has received an order from Brazil worth $30 million to supply three industrial substations, including the largest turnkey substation ever for an industrial customer in the country. 4/26/05

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Lincoln Electric Completes J.W. Harris Co. Acquisition
  Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., has completed the acquisition of J.W. Harris Co., Inc., a privately-held brazing and soldering alloys manufacturer, for $70 million in cash and $15 million of assumed debt. 5/5/05
• IDX Systems Corporation Agrees to Acquire the Assets of RealTimeImage, Ltd.
  IDX Systems Corporation has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of RealTimeImage, Ltd., a developer of a full range of Web-based medical specialty imaging solutions. 5/2/05
• Radiologix Expands Purchase of Merge eFilm Fusion RIS/PACS
  Merge Technologies Incorporated, d.b.a. Merge eFilm, has announced an expanded contract with Radiologix, Inc., a national provider of diagnostic imaging services, for the purchase of Fusion RIS/PACS. 4/29/05

Personnel

• Loughrey Named President and COO of Cummins Inc.
  Joe Loughrey, who has been with the company for 31 years, has been named president and chief operating officer of Cummins Inc. 5/4/05
• Cooper Industries Names Hachigian as CEO; Chairman Riley to Retire in December
  Cooper Industries, Ltd., announced that its board of directors has elected President Kirk S. Hachigian, age 46, to the additional post of chief executive officer. 4/28/05

Awards

• Gentex Honored by General Motors as 2004 Supplier of the Year
  For the eighth consecutive year and the ninth time overall, Gentex Corporation, a leading supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors to the worldwide automotive industry, has been named a General Motors Supplier of the Year. 5/6/05
• Philips SpeechMagic Wins UK E-Health-Innovations Award
  Royal Philips Electronics' speech recognition technology, SpeechMagic, has won the E-Health-Innovation Award in the United Kingdom in the category “Best use of e-health to improve efficiency.” 5/5/05
• Schneider Electric North American Operating Division Recognized as Outstanding Supplier by Grainger
  Schneider Electric's North American Operating Division was presented with Grainger's Customer Focused Quality Award for 2004. 5/2/05
• Johnson Controls Named General Motors Supplier of the Year for Outstanding Performance During 2004
  Johnson Controls, Inc., was named as a General Motors 2004 Supplier of the Year for its overall business performance in providing the automaker with world-class parts and services during the past year. 4/27/05

NEMA News

• NEMA's Industrial Control Business Indices Point to "Nascent Rebound" for Electroindustry
  Sales of industrial control products and systems increased modestly in the first quarter of 2005, which was reflected in a 1.4 percent gain in NEMA’s Primary Industrial Control Index. 5/6/05
• Respondents to NEMA's April EBCI Show Optimism on Current and Future Business Conditions
  NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index for current conditions in North America completed its second consecutive year above the growth threshold of 50 points in April. 4/27/05

Other News

• GE Consumer & Industrial Pledges $500,000 to NAED Foundation
  The National Association of Electrical Distributors has announced a $500,000 commitment by GE Consumer & Industrial to the NAED Education & Research Foundation. 5/6/05
• ABB-Saft Battery Enters Guinness Book of World Records
  A massive multi-celled battery system developed by ABB and battery maker Saft has powered its way to a certified Guinness world record as the world’s most powerful battery. 5/4/05
• Osram Sylvania Pledges $250,000 to NAED Education & Research Foundation
  The National Association of Electrical Distributors has announced a $250,000 contribution by Osram Sylvania to the NAED Education & Research Foundation. 5/2/05
• Rayovac Shareholders Approve Name Change to Spectrum Brands, Inc.
  The proposal to change Rayovac’s corporate name to Spectrum Brands, Inc., was approved by shareholders at the company's 2005 annual meeting of shareholders. 4/29/05