Snapshot

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ship Systems sector (www.northropgrumman.com) has three shipyards along the Gulf Coast that were in the path of Hurricane Katrina. The shipyard in Avondale, La., (Northrop Grumman's New Orleans Operations) had the least amount of flooding and facilities damage. The company's Gulfport Operations in Gulfport, Miss., however, had extensive flooding and wind damage, according to the company. Northrop's Ingalls operations in Pascagoula, Miss., were damaged the most, taking on six feet of water in some areas. Their facilities that handled shop work and materials that feed shipbuilding and repair work were heavily damaged by the storm.

According to a recent report from the Laser Systems Product Group of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (www.mfgtech.org), industrial laser shipments were up 10 percent in 2005. Shipments of industrial laser equipment and systems within North America totaled $122.3 million, while U.S. exports of that equipment amounted to $49.2 million for the third quarter of 2005. North American shipments and U.S. exports of industrial laser equipment and systems increased to $171.5 million, up 10 percent, in the third quarter of 2005, compared to the same quarter of 2004.

Cutting applications were the largest source for industrial laser activity for the quarter, accounting for nearly 60 percent of all shipments. In addition, more than 80 percent of the industrial lasers shipped in the third quarter of 2005 were configured as a system that included a laser source and a workstation. About 50 percent of the lasers shipped in the quarter were CO2 lasers.

Airgas, Inc. (www.airgas.com) announced Jan. 4 that it acquired Oxygen Service Company, Inc., head-quartered in Macon, Ga., and with four other locations in central and southern Georgia. Airgas separately announced it also acquired Alabama-Cylinder Gas in Enterprise, Ala. The six locations have been integrated into Airgas South, one of Airgas' 13 regional companies. Airgas South has headquarters in Kennesaw, Ga., and operates more than 50 locations in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The company said 35 employees of Oxygen Service and employees of Alabama Cylinder Gas will continue with Airgas after the acquisition. Nelson Hooper, co-founder of Alabama Cylinder Gas, will be the branch manager for the Airgas operation in Enterprise, Ala.

A recent survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, that included welders and fabricators, shows that U.S. manufacturing businesses will have a diminishing ability to compete globally because of a growing shortage of qualified employees.

The survey said a dwindling supply of skilled workers and growing technical demands in the manufacturing workplace will combine to reduce U.S. manufacturing's competitive edge in the global marketplace.

The survey found that more than 80 percent of manufacturers are seeing an overall shortage of qualified, skilled production workers, engineers and scientists.

In addition, the survey said manufacturers are seeing greatly reduced skills among their employees.

Complete survey results are available at www.nam.org/2005skillsgap.

Microtech Welding Corporation, a precision microscopic and laser welding service based in Fort Wayne, Ind., relocated in early January 2006 to a new production and office building.

The company's 7,500-square-foot, $400,000 building was completed in December 2005 and replaced its original facilities.

Robert F. Christman, president, said in a news release that his company is purchasing additional high-precision welding equipment to respond to demand for its services.

On Dec. 20, an Illinois appellate court upheld a 2001, $1-million negligence and product liability award against Lincoln Electric Company, Hobart Brothers Company and Airco/The BOC Group, Inc. The liability award came from a four-week trial in which the jury found that manganese fumes from the companies' welding rods caused or contributed to central nervous system injury that later resulted in Parkinson's Disease in the plaintiffs who filed the suit.

On Dec. 29, a New York State appeals court affirmed the first-ever jury finding that asbestos-containing welding rods, sold in the billions until the early 1980s, caused lung cancer and mesothelioma.

G-TEC Natural Gas Systems (www.gas-tec.com) named the Independent Welding Distributors Cooperative (www.weldmark.com) as the exclusive distributor for its natural gas pressure booster systems. The company says its torch boosters and refuelersare used in fabricating metals and in other industries.

The Independent Welding Distributors Cooperative has more than 650 branch locations throughout the United States. It will sell the G-Tech torch boosters and refuelers used to elevate the pressure of standard utility natural gas to pressures high enough to be used for cutting steel, brazing, heating and other industrial applications directly from utility gas lines.