Allen Stanley has been promoted to vice president, fittings manufacturing and distribution, and Rudy Smith to vice president, valve manufacturing. Elkhart, Ind. — NIBCO INC. has announced the promotion of Allen Stanley to vice president, fittings manufacturing and distribution, and Rudy Smith to vice president, valve manufacturing. Both Stanley and Smith will report to Ashley Read more
fittings
Allen Stanley has been promoted to vice president, fittings manufacturing and distribution, and Rudy Smith to vice president, valve manufacturing.
Elkhart, Ind. — NIBCO INC. has announced the promotion of Allen Stanley to vice president, fittings manufacturing and distribution, and Rudy Smith to vice president, valve manufacturing.
Both Stanley and Smith will report to Ashley Martin, president and COO, NIBCO.
Allen Stanley
“Allen and Rudy have long careers with NIBCO and the knowledge and expertise that they both bring to these roles will be valuable for the success of our organization,” said Martin. “Join me in congratulating them on their well-deserved promotions.”
In this new role, Stanley has responsibility for the Stuarts Draft, Virginia manufacturing operations and the Demand Planning department, along with his current responsibilities for the U.S. distribution centers, world headquarters logistics, and all plastic manufacturing facilities.
Stanley began his career in 1997 at NIBCO as administrative manager at the Atlanta Distribution Center. He held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility including operations manager at the Elkhart Distribution Center, manager, distribution and transportation, and most recently, director, plastic fittings manufacturing and distribution.
Stanley holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. He also earned his master’s degree in marketing from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Rudy Smith
In his new role, Smith will have responsibility for NIBCO’s Blytheville, Arkansas, facility, along with the company’s Nacogdoches, Texas, McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico facilities.
Smith began his career at NIBCO in 1996 in logistics at NIBCO’s world headquarters. Two years later, he was promoted and transferred as operations manager of NIBCO’s Nacogdoches facility. He held various roles from production superintendent, plant superintendent, plant manager, and most recently, senior plant manager at Reynosa, prior to his new role.
Rudy holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Rice University, in Houston, Texas.
The 180,000-sq.-ft. plant in Shalersville, Ohio, will break ground in November 2023 and is expected to be operational in early 2025. Broomfield, Colo. — Viega recently announced that it will build a new manufacturing facility for its ProPress® and MegaPress® products in Shalersville, Ohio, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland. Viega LLC President and CEO Read more
The 180,000-sq.-ft. plant in Shalersville, Ohio, will break ground in November 2023 and is expected to be operational in early 2025.
Broomfield, Colo. — Viega recently announced that it will build a new manufacturing facility for its ProPress® and MegaPress® products in Shalersville, Ohio, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland. Viega LLC President and CEO Markus Brettschneider made the announcement.
“This is an exciting time at Viega, as our growth continues to prompt the expansion of our North American footprint,” said Markus Brettschneider, CEO and President of Viega LLC. “This new facility in Ohio, along with recent investments in our existing Kansas facility, further supports our growing demand and is part of Viega’s plan to increase North American production. We look forward to expanding our presence in this part of the country to further support our customers.”
The 80-acre parcel in Shalersville and the construction of the new plant represent an investment of approximately $200 million in Ohio. Viega’s business continues to grow in the U.S., and the additional plant will help support the increased demand for Viega products. It also aligns with the company’s sustainability goals, which include reducing the carbon emissions associated with importing products by manufacturing more items in the U.S. The new facility will be completely carbon neutral from the start, supporting the company’s long-term goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions for all their plants by 2035.
“The expansion of our operations into Ohio shows our commitment to creating highly skilled jobs in the U.S.,” said Marki Huston, Head of Manufacturing for Viega LLC. “Our goal is to build more sustainable manufacturing processes and continue developing tomorrow’s workforce. With production scheduled to begin in early 2025, we expect to start hiring for positions as soon as January 2024, bringing more than 68 new jobs to the area over the next few years.”
Viega recently announced investments in new equipment for its McPherson, Kansas, manufacturing and distribution facility. In addition, Viega supports its customers and partners through distribution centers in Reno, Nev. and Carlisle, Penn., with more North American expansion planned for 2024 and 2025.
Viega worked with local, regional, and state organizations, including Team NEO, JobsOhio, Portage Development Board and the Shalersville-Streetsboro Joint Economic Development District on tax credit assistance and to select the 80-acre site. “We have a great manufacturing legacy, dedicated talent pool, and future-oriented industry resources to support Viega’s new operations,” said Team NEO Chief Executive Bill Koehler. “Along with JobsOhio and our local partners, we welcome Viega to the Northeast Ohio Region. We are confident they will thrive here.”
The latest stud finder design virtually eliminates false positives with multiple sensors and high-tech signal processing Plumbers are responsible for many tasks such as installing, repairing, and maintaining pipes, valves, fixtures, fittings, and drainage systems. To work safely and productively, plumbing contractors need as accurate a picture as possible of everything in the wall. Expediting Read more
The latest stud finder design virtually eliminates false positives with multiple sensors and high-tech signal processing
Plumbers are responsible for many tasks such as installing, repairing, and maintaining pipes, valves, fixtures, fittings, and drainage systems. To work safely and productively, plumbing contractors need as accurate a picture as possible of everything in the wall. Expediting plumbing work while minimizing costly mistakes, the stud finder is deemed an essential tool.
Plumbing contractors have long utilized stud finders with a design based on unrefined capacitive technology. While this technology can indicate the location of wood stud framing, it also discovers metal, plastic, wiring, and other objects in walls just as easily. Furthermore, constantly active, hypersensitive “deep scanning” models further increase the potential for “false positives” – objects mistakenly identified as studs. The result is that traditional stud finders frequently chirp or flash LED lights to indicate something was sensed, but it is not clear what that is.
Today, the challenge of quickly and accurately assessing what is within walls is only increasing. There is more behind the drywall than ever, including network cabling, plastic pipes, and tubing. Complicating matters, not all construction follows standard stud spacing practices of 16 inches or 24 inches on-center, and there are often additional support beams, fire blocks, and other framing features that can further muddy the picture.
In addition, piping may change directions to avoid studs, wiring, and other obstructions. Plumbing location also varies depending on the home’s style and layout.
Now, newer, and more refined technology is being introduced to the popular stud finder category, and it promises to redefine the standards for stud finder performance. The next generation “intelligent” models incorporate multiple sensors and sophisticated signal processing technology to alert the presence of false positives. Using a sophisticated, selectable deeper scan mode, the technology can also be used to quickly identify metal pipes and even plastic pipes or PEX tubing behind the walls when this is desired.
For professional plumbing contractors, this innovative technology will provide a more accurate representation of what is behind the drywall.
Increasing Plumbers’ Productivity and Profitability
For plumbers, maximizing their work efficiency and profitability involves knowing as clearly as possible what is inside a wall before cutting into it. They do not want to create damage. They want to reduce the risk of costly mistakes that need to be repaired.
To work safely and productively, plumbers typically rely on stud finders to accurately find the studs within a wall. This can be important to support long pipe runs and heavy fixtures. Plumbers also need to avoid wood studs, since most of the work involves remodeling rather than new construction.
Finding the voids between studs is necessary to quickly assess how much room there is within the wall space to reroute pipe or mount a new fixture. When remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, it can be particularly important to understand if the studs are plumb, or whether fire blocking runs horizontally.
To better address these needs, plumbers now can use advanced, second-generation stud finders like a new unit by Zircon Corporation that utilizes multiple sensors and sophisticated signal processing to filter out false positives.
Zircon, a wholly owned subsidiary of ZRCN Inc., has been in the stud finder game for more than 40 years. In 1980, the company manufactured the original StudSensor™ stud finder and invented the category. The Silicon Valley-based company produces more than just stud finders. They design and manufacture an extended range of sensor technologies in electronic hand tools including wall scanners, metal detectors, circuit breaker finders, drill guides, water detectors, and leveling tools.
The company’s latest innovation is the Wood Stud SuperScan® advanced stud finder with Target Control® Technology and FILTERz™ cancellation. By analyzing the complex data streams from multiple sensors and controlling the result using sophisticated intelligence, the stud finder can find wood studs and filter out metallic objects such as plumbing, conduit, straps, brackets, screws, protector plates, or ductwork in the wall.
DeepScan® mode locates the center of wood studs and metal up to 1½ inches (38 mm) deep within walls. A MetalliWarning® indicator will display when metal is detected.
Additionally, the technology can alert the user to the presence of other low density, non-metallic targets, like plastic pipe and PEX tubing. To prevent cutting into dangerous electrical wires, the device also provides WireWarning® Detection, which indicates the presence of live, unshielded AC electricity.
The stud finder has a new and improved user interface that provides an intuitive “go/no go” indication in response to what is being sensed. A new haptic vibration and a patented SpotLite® Pointer that shines an arrow-shaped beam on the wall.
For plumbers, the ability to quickly identify what is inside the wall before cutting into it will substantially increase their productivity and safety.
Given the opportunity to see a much clearer picture of what is in the wall, plumbers would do well to upgrade their existing stud finder with an affordable, next-generation model that is sure to become the new standard in scanning.
For more information, call Zircon Corporation at (408) 963-4550, e-mail: info@zircon.com, or visit www.zircon.com
Viega plans to invest over $70 million in the next two years as part of its long-term strategy to expand U.S. manufacturing and support the needs of its North American customers. Broomfield, Colo. — Viega announced plans to expand its production capacity in McPherson, Kansas. The first wave of these investments is approximately $14 million Read more
Viega plans to invest over $70 million in the next two years as part of its long-term strategy to expand U.S. manufacturing and support the needs of its North American customers.
Broomfield, Colo. — Viega announced plans to expand its production capacity in McPherson, Kansas. The first wave of these investments is approximately $14 million and will increase the U.S. production of its industry-leading ProPress® products.
“As we continue to grow the business, we are bringing more production to the United States,” said Markus Brettschneider, CEO and President of Viega LLC. “These investments in our U.S. footprint will further support demand and leverage the talented U.S. manufacturing workforce, starting with the expansion of production capacity in Kansas.”
The McPherson manufacturing and distribution center is currently around 1 million sq. ft, with the facility more than doubling its footprint and workforce since opening in 2008. The new ProPress equipment is expected to be in production by the end of Q3 2023, with additional investments to come.
“We are proud to produce our fittings right here in Kansas. As we increase our U.S.-made products, we remain committed to creating highly skilled jobs in America, building out more sustainable manufacturing processes, and developing tomorrow’s workforce,” said Marki Huston, Head of Manufacturing for Viega LLC.
In addition to its McPherson, Kansas facility, Viega supports its customers and partners through distribution centers in Reno, Nev. and Carlisle, Penn., with further North American expansion planned for 2024 and 2025.
Targeted for specific U.S. regional distribution partners, Uponor is launching TotalFit™ — the professional-grade, engineered polymer (EP), push-to-connect fitting solution that provides greater value for residential projects with the same versatility and speed as brass push-to-connect fittings. Designed for use with PEX, PE-RT, CPVC, and copper piping systems, TotalFit is ideal for service repair, maintenance Read more
Targeted for specific U.S. regional distribution partners, Uponor is launching TotalFit™ — the professional-grade, engineered polymer (EP), push-to-connect fitting solution that provides greater value for residential projects with the same versatility and speed as brass push-to-connect fittings.
Designed for use with PEX, PE-RT, CPVC, and copper piping systems, TotalFit is ideal for service repair, maintenance, remodels, and retrofits for potable hot-water and cold-water distribution piping systems in single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, and condominiums.
Featuring patent-pending technology to provide a strong, lasting connection, TotalFit is one of the only full-featured, EP, push-to-connect fittings on the market right now, and it offers about a 30% savings against brass. The new offering includes 33 of the highest-volume push-to-connect fittings in sizes from ½” to 1″ to meet the greatest need in the market.