Cintas Corp. is rolling out a new initiative in providing companies with first-aid and safety equipment called Xpect. The Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus markets are among the first in the nation to have the van-delivered Xpect first-aid supplies and safety equipment.

        After acquiring several first-aid companies, Cintas, the Mason-based uniform supplier, created the Xpect brand to combine the best ideas in first aid and safety with its own distribution and customer service expertise.

        “Xpect is a completely new approach to first aid and safety designed to give our customers better service, better systems and better products,” said Ric McPike, Cincinnati location manager.

        Cintas has been offering first-aid equipment to customers in Cincinnati for two years.

        New Xpect products include first-aid kits, cabinets, safety glasses, hearing and respiratory protection and defibrillators.

        Xpect will also provide companies with CPR/first-aid classes and OSHA compliance training. The new Cintas brand includes a Web site, www.XpectFirstAid.com, and a toll-free number: (877) XPE-CT11.
       

Milacron inks $4M deal with Morton

        Milacron Inc.'s Ferromatik injection molding unit has signed a two-year agreement valued at more than $4 million to retrofit machines operated by Morton Custom Plastics with its MuCell injection molding technology.

        The agreement calls for Ferromatik to retrofit up to 40 Morton machines with new controls and MuCell hardware. MuCell technology, licensed from Trexel Inc. in Woburn, Mass., mixes polymers with compressed gas in the injection process, forming microscopic bubbles reducing part weight as much as 25 percent with little effect on structural properties of the part.

        The process results in lower costs. It also reduces production cycle times as much as 30 percent.

        “It's integral to our business strategy to offer our customers the most advanced manufacturing technologies,” said Paul Schmitz, president of Morton Custom Plastics, a unit of Morton Industrial Group Inc.

        Morton, which has six injection molding plants in the Midwest and Southeast, is a contract manufacturer producing parts for the appliance, aerospace, lawn equipment, electronics and other markets.

        The first Morton retrofit machine, a 1993 Milacron VH500-54 injection molding machine, will be returned to Morton's Lebanon, Ky., plant next month.
       

UK offers simulation on lean manufacturing

        The University of Kentucky Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems will offer a lean manufacturing simulation for senior managers, manufacturing engineers and others Nov. 2 at the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau.

        The simulation, offered in cooperation with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development Collaborative, is a hands-on experience to familiarize manufacturers with the concepts and benefits of lean manufacturing, designed to shorten the time from customer order to shipment by eliminating waste.

        For more information, contact Sandra Dunn at UK: (859) 257-6262, Ext. 214.
       

AK Steel boss honored for workplace safety

        AK Steel chairman and CEO Richard M. Wardrop Jr. was honored recently by the National Safety Council in New York for his commitment to workplace safety. At a Waldorf-Astoria black-tie dinner, Mr. Wardrop received the council's inaugural Green Cross for Safety medal.

        The National Safety Council said Mr. Wardrop was recognized for making safety a top operating priority at the Middletown-based steel company.

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