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LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR
 In
with the new year, in with our new business partner,
and out with the past period of uncertainty! The
Bleutec team is reenergized, motivated, and anxious
for new challenges.
The changeover of Guitel
to Blickle casters is still in the transition
phase, and we can already offer you quite a large
range of Blickle wheels and casters (see our new
Vol. 4 catalogue) from our inventory.
As mentioned in our last
edition of the leader.com, the upcoming 2006 issues
will continue to bring you articles about our
distributors. Therefore, to start the NEW year,
we introduce you to 1 distributor from NEW Brunswick,
and 1 from NEW York. Also, you`ll read about a
"blue wheel" test, and some fun articles
about the Bleutec team.
We wish you a happy and
prosperous 2006, and we hope that our business
relationships will continue to grow in the coming
years.
Signed,
Luc Turcotte
Editor
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What
differentiates the Resilex wheel from other
blue wheels?
Since its establishment
in 1987, Bleutec has been synonomous with the
introduction of Guitel's original blue Resilex
wheel to the North American market. We are very
proud to have been the first to believe that
North America was open to using a higher quality
caster for material handling applications.
With the human factor and pushing efforts that
came into play with studies on ergonomics by
health and occupational safety committees, the
introduction of our blue Resilex wheel answered
the market's demand for reduced starting and
rolling efforts, noise, and enhanced product
performance.
The success of our blue wheel in the material
handling industry caused competitors to react,
therefore research was done to try to manufacture
a blue wheel that could compete with the Resilex
wheel. Today, there are more than enough blue
wheels on the market, but does their quality
stand up to the blue Resilex wheel? Even at
Bleutec, for over 2 years now, we've had to
do our own sourcing to find a low-priced offshore
blue wheel.
In order for us to learn more about competitors'
products, to confirm the quality of our own
products, and to be able to give better information
to our customers, we asked our new partner to
conduct a test on different blue wheels. 6 casters
were tested, and we thought we'd share the test
results with you.
 3
blue European manufactured wheels, and 3 Chinese
manufactured wheels were tested. 1 wheel did
not pass the first step of the test, which consisted
of:
- a load capacity of 330 lbs.
- a speed of 2 mph
- passing over obstacles of 5% of wheel's diameter,
and this 500 times
- 15,000 rotations
- rolling for 3 minutes, stopping for 1 minute,
then changing directions,
therefore swiveling every 10 rotations
After, more intense tests were done, and this
until complete destruction of the caster which
permitted to find the most durable product.
The speed and obstacle height remained the same,
but the test was done non-stop, without direction
change, all while increasing the weight by 55
lbs. each 20 minutes, until destruction of the
wheel and/or caster.
The blue Chinese manufactured casters started
to deteriorate under a weight of 385 lbs., and
only 1 resisted for a short period of time at
495 lbs. The blue European manufactured wheels
came out on top with resistances of up to 605
lbs.
Your questions and comments about this test
are more than welomce. We'd be happy to send
you the test results if you'd like to receive
them. Call us, or simply drop us a line to make
your request.
Luc
Turcotte
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HM
Cross
In our continuing efforts
to inform our readers about our distribution network,
we introduce to you our first US stocking dealer,
HM Cross, based out of Rochester, NY.
HM Cross’s mechanical,
electrical and structural engineers are devoted
to develop custom material handling systems. In
addition to our line of casters, they distribute
many different types of products that answer northern
New York’s material handling market: conveyors,
cranes, hoists, lift tables, workstations, shelving,
racking, and ergonomic equipment.
We are very proud of writing
about HM Cross in this edition of the LEADER.COM
as they have been our stocking distributor for
over 5 years. Also, we want to thank the entire
team at HM Cross for helping us in the growth
of our organization and popularity of our products,especially
the inside sales staff: Ron, Scott and Mike for
their ongoing support.
You can reach HM Cross at
585-424-5500,
or at
www.hmcross.com
Frederic
Lagace
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DON'T FORGET TO WRITE US...
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Show
News!
Bleutec will be exhibiting at the NA06 Material
Handling and Logistics Show.
The upcoming show is
in Cleveland Ohio, from March 27th to March
30th. There will be over 400 exhibitors at
the “one-stop show for manufacturing,
warehousing, distribution and logistics solutions”
(www.na2006.org).
Please let us know if you would like us to
send you some show passes.
Bleutec will be showcasing their new Blickle®
heavy duty wheels and casters, such as the
Extrathane® polyurethane casters and cast
nylon wheels.
If you’re planning
to head to NA06, make sure you stop in at
booth #2748 to see Bleutec and Blickle®.
Hope to see you
in Cleveland!
Nancy
Allen
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Trip to Germany
This past December, Frank (from our shipping
department) and I were given a great opportunity
to go to Rosenfeld, Germany for 3 days to follow
a product training of Blickle wheels and casters.
Mr. Giorgiutti, Sales
Director from Blickle France, was in Rosenfeld
to teach us all that there is to know about
Blickle`s products. His 30-year experience in
the material handling industry, along with his
anecdotal stories made us see just how Blickle
is always searching for solutions to problems
encountered in the material handling world.
Although our visit was
short, we did get the chance to try some renown
cuisine from the South of Germany and see some
of the picturesque villages around Rosenfeld.
We even got to learn a bit of German!
Frank and I would like to thank Mr. Blickle
for his hospitality, Mr. Giorgiutti for his
time with us, and the entire Blickle team for
their warm reception during our stay.
Karine Piche |
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Liquidation
sale of discontinued Guitel casters
 During
the next few weeks, keep your eyes open and
make sure you check your incoming Bleutec e-mails
because we’re preparing a sale of discontinued
Guitel wheels and casters.
There will only be a limited
amount of products, therefore you’ll have
to be quick to take advantage of our sale. All
quantities, dimensions, weight capacities, and
pictures of the discontinued products will be
available on our flyer.
Please note that because
this will be considered a “final sale”,
we will not be accepting returns on these liquidated
products.
Remember, check your e-mails
to take advantage of this sale!
Luc Turcotte
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Changes
at Wheelmax
If you are one of our
Ontario readers, please note that our WHEELMAX
division has recently merged its operations
with its sister company, Bleutec Wheels &
Casters.
All of our Wheelmax customers
will still be able reach us at the same telephone
and fax numbers. Nancy and myself will be answering
your calls and requests, as we have always done
in the past.
We have sent letters to
advise of this merger, and we will be happy
to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you!
Frederic Lagace |
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JEAN
C DUPONT LTD.
We introduce
you to one of our industrial distributors
from New Brunswick,
Jean C. Dupont Ltd.
JC Dupont started in
a small local store over 25 years ago. Today,
this family business from Edmunston, NB has
grown into a diversified company with 2 branches
servicing companies in New Brunswick and Maine.
In 1998, JC Dupont expanded with the opening
of a branch in Grand Sault, NB.
They serve a wide customer
base: from the trucking, forestry, and farming
industries, to maintenance garages and industrial
and manufacturing companies.
Jean
C Dupont Ltd
www.jcdupont.com
jcdupont@nbnet.nb.ca |
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Setup and design of The Leader.Com by Karine
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