2/10/21 -- Dr. Horace Pops, the industry guru for fines and wire breaks, destroyed the association record for webinar registration for the first of his three webinars: Annealing, Jan. 27, which had to close on Friday, Jan. 22 because all 500 available slots were filled. Of note, the days that followed brought additional requests.
The two other scheduled Pops’ webinars are Fines, held February 3, and Wire Breaks, to be held today, Feb. 10. The original registration was for all three sessions, so all three are closed.
“Dr. Pops has long been known in the industry for his ability to discuss potential wire problem areas in a way that makes sense, but even we were surprised that we had to shut registration six days before it was to be held,” WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll said. He observed that the three webinars will be available later online to WAI members.
A prolific author of technical papers, including multiple award winners, Pops has presented at numerous WAI events over the years. He is a mainstay at WAI’s Fundamentals of Wire & Cable Manufacturing course. A WAI Past President (1992-93), he is the principal of Horace Pops Consulting, Inc.
2/10/21 -- The WAI is seeking technical papers for the Association’s technical program at Interwire 2021, which earlier this year due to Covid-19 was rescheduled from May 10-13 to Oct. 26-27.
The WAI is focusing on Industry 4.0 at Interwire, (more on that in future issues), and technical papers that focus on this are being sought. Abstracts should be sent by March 1 to WAI Executive Director Steve Fetteroll at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Interwire will remain at its longtime location at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. More information will be presented about the event in future issues, including a “Prequel” of the Atlanta show in the August issue, then the full preview in the September issue.
2/10/21 -- The WAI’s Southeast Chapter was unable to hold its annual golf tournament in 2020, but its board confirmed at a recent meeting that it will issue four scholarships this year, using saved funds.
“As we come out of an uncertain time in 2020, the Southeast Board of Directors is excited to announce that the scholarship program will continue in 2021,” said Chapter President Chris McGill, Southwire. “We know there are deserving students in our community that could use the stability of this program to help them advance to the next level in their educational goals.”
The golf event, a key contributor to the chapter’s college scholarship program, also reflects a team effort. The 2019 event, held at the Rock Barn Country Club in Conover, North Carolina, was declared one of the best ever. Board members served as emcees, placed 40 sponsorship signs, managed the putting contest, photographed the event and made sure that everyone was fed and happy.
2/10/21 -- The board of the directors for the WAI’s New England Chapter met recently to discuss plans for 2021, which included the possibility of holding a technical program. Appropriately, it was a virtual meeting, as the discussion focused on how a program could best be done. The consensus was that, if it deemed possible to do this in spring, it should be similar to the Association’s Streamcast program in July 15, 2020, a WAI online first.
The Streamcast program featured 12 industry speakers. More than 400 people registered for the virtual event, which ran from 8:30 am to 2 pm on Wednesday, July 15. The final “attendee” numbers for individuals that took part was more than 250, which at the time set a record for any WAI online event.
More news will follow in a future issue as to whether there is traction for the chapter’s plans.
In other news, the chapter welcomed the addition of Jessica Foss, market development manager, Electric Cable Compounds, Inc., who will serve as its treasurer.
The chapter also named two new board members: Sean DeZalia, process engineer, EIS Wire & Cable, and Jason Ponce, product development engineer, Harbour Industries. Of note, more than half the board members are younger than 40, which those on the call agreed was a good sign.
2/10/21 -- The WAI’s Poland Chapter has rescheduled its 9th International Drawing Conference from Oct. 22, 2021, to a date in April 2022, at a new location in Poland.
The announcement from Poland Chapter President Jan W. Pilarczyk said that the plan is to now hold the event at the Hotel GALAXY in Krakow. The event date was changed due to concerns about the pandemic.
The conference will focus on modern methods of metal forming and drawing processes, and production of wire rods and wires. It is designed to serve as a gathering site for producers of carbon steel wire rod with their customers and create future cooperation for partners.
Beyond the technical program during the event, the conference will honor WAI Past President Tom Moran, a steel industry veteran, who will receive the Schneider Memorial Award, the highest honor in the Polish steel wire industry. For further and future details, go to the event website: www.msc.wip.pcz.pl.
2/9/21 -- Ed Fenton, executive director of the Wire & Cable Manufacturers Alliance (WCMA) since 2005, has been named director, business development – cable OEMs for Ripley Tools, LLC. He will lead new business development and account management among metallic and fiber cable manufacturers. He has some 30 years of experience in electrical, electronic and fiber optic cable manufacturing. He was a co-founder and co-owner of the Wire & Cable Focus Conference and Exposition, which was sold in 1999 to IWCS. In 2005, he started the Fenton Group, consulting with specialty cable manufacturers, high temperature materials suppliers and component manufacturers. He was North American Business Manager for Wire & Cable publications by CRU International. He also was the owner of the Wire & Cable Clubs of America, which was the predecessor to WCMA. He also served for one year as vice president sales/marketing for Fluoropolymer Resources, Inc. He will continue in his leadership role at WCMA. He holds a degree in English from the University of Vermont. Based in Cromwell, Connecticut, Ripley Tools, LLC, is a manufacturer and global supplier of tools and test equipment for cable preparation and installation.
2/9/21 -- Windak has named Dieter Gerger as sales manager for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), based at Windak’s newly formed sales and service center. He will support customers and expand the company’s presence in the market. His previous employers include Rosendahl Nextrom in Austria, where he served as international sales manager for nine years. Based in Sweden, the Windak Group is a leading global manufacturer of cable packaging systems for the cable industry.
2/8/21 -- Arthur C. Nixon, CEO of Insulated Wire, Inc., died unexpectedly at home at age 69 on Dec. 23, 2020 in Sayville, New York.
In 1975, Nixon started working for his father. Charles Nixon, at his newly started company, Insulated Wire Inc. He soon focused on sales and was very adept at marketing opportunities. He introduced his father’s invention of Teflon tape-wrapped insulated wire that was far superior to anything on the market, and later realized the process could also make a superior core for microwave cable. In 1988 he was instrumental in forming the Microwave Products Division in Connecticut, where the cable was marketed and manufactured to customer specifications for cable assemblies. He traveled extensively, introducing IW’s products through trade shows and vising prospective customers around the world.
Nixon was described by company President and CEO Michael Sarni as “a fun, kind charismatic guy, always had great stories to tell. We expected him to be around for years.”
2/8/21 -- Agnes “Perkie” Rita Rubadue, of Greeley, Colorado, who with her husband, Edwin Rubadue, founded Rubadue Wire in California in 1976, died Dec. 14, 2020, at age 93.
Rubadue Wire, originally located in California, was later moved to Colorado. The company is now part of the Wire Experts Group along with Pelican Wire. Family members involved with the company over the years include Susan Welsh, retired CEO; Dan Rubadue, retired COO; and Michael and Jim Rubadue, both also long-time employees. Edwin, Susan and Dan, all received the WCMA Distinguished Career Award.
Rubadue was preceded in death by Edwin in 2009. They had 10 children, 38 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
2/8/2021 -- Germany’s EJP Maschinen GmbH announced that it has purchased a “significant portion” of Italmec, a manufacturer of wire drawing machines and peripheral equipment located in Poland that last year had joined it as a strategic partner.
A press release said that, with the drawing lines from Italmec and the cleaning systems from EJP (previously known as EJP WITEC GmbH), EJP’s structure now allows it to offer complete production lines for the entire process chain, from wire rod to finished coil. Founded in 2006, Italmec Sp. z o.o. has extensive industry knowledge and experience. In November 2018, Italmec acquired the WWM (Welding Wire Machinery) brand, which included the know-how of its employees as well as all projects and patents. At EJP’s website, it notes that it also offers combined drawing machines, drawbenches, peeling machines and straightening machines
Last September, EJP and Lothar Köppen co-founded EJP WIRE Technology, which supplies machines and related process technology for pretreatment of wire. “There were many changes in the international market in 2020,” said EJP Managing Director Jacques Paraskevas. “Through the participation in Italmec and WWM, we are filling a gap that was created last year.” He observed that the involvement in the two companies was another logical step towards complete solutions for the wire industry: EJP is now one of the few suppliers that produce complete plants for the entire “wire” process chain and at the same time have a global sales and service network. There are also synergies to other long products, such as “rods, tubes and profiles.”
The two other EJP companies include EJP-TOSCA, which supplies shot blasting equipment; and EJP Italia, which provides butt welding equipment for wire.
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