GBSA, a leading supplier of molder rubber seals, oil seals, o-rings and the Multi-Lip seal, has named Kristopher Hocevar to the newly created position of Sales and Marketing Executive.

The position makes Hocevar responsible for qualification of customers throughout the United States, inside sales and the generation of new business for the . . . → Read More: Meet Our New Inside Sales and Marketing Executive]]> Chardon, OH (PRWEB) September 08, 2011

GBSA, a leading supplier of molder rubber seals, oil seals, o-rings and the Multi-Lip seal, has named Kristopher Hocevar to the newly created position of Sales and Marketing Executive.

The position makes Hocevar responsible for qualification of customers throughout the United States, inside sales and the generation of new business for the company. From a marketing perspective, Hocevar is responsible for assembling a communications plan and following up on its execution.

“I’m really excited about being here,” says Hocevar. “GBSA seems like a tight-knit group of people and I know we can make it grow. They’ve got a multitude of products, a great supply chain and engineers who’ll answer any question in plain language.”

Bernie Casamento, Chief Executive Officer of GBSA, is really impressed with Hocevar. “Kris is a very important piece of the puzzle to try to get us where we need to be. He has no problem getting on the phone with prospects or anyone else, making a qualification and selling them if the occasion presents itself.”

Hocevar is part of a strong management team at GBSA. Says Judy Pratt, General manager of GBSA, “with the team we’ve assembled, we can build the right products, distribute them efficiently and give each our full support.”

Hocevar graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Toledo. Formerly, he worked as a Display Advertising Executive at the Cleveland Plain Dealer selling ad programs and developing layouts for on-line and print campaigns. He currently lives with his wife and son in Euclid, Ohio.

Company Information
For over thirty years, GBSA has been a leading supplier of molded rubber parts, plastic, ceramic and metal stamping services that are engineered to work in the toughest environments. Our pledge is to deliver quality parts, on time and within budget.

In no time at all, a version of Just-In-Time Inventory Management was developed to help the prospect get the right price and . . . → Read More: GBSA Introduces a Just-In-Time Inventory Management System]]> A customer had two problems with an existing vendor… the product was way to expensive and delivery was far too long. GBSA felt that if they helped this prospect, he’d soon become a customer.

In no time at all, a version of Just-In-Time Inventory Management was developed to help the prospect get the right price and the six month supply that they required. So, the prospect that was looking for a “service advantage” became a GBSA customer.

Just-In-Time provides a methodology for ordering and tracking inventory shipments at a reduced cost and allows customers to run day to day operations easily and efficiently.

J-I-T is an in-house stocking program that is unique for every customer and guarantees a six-month supply of all products in the program. For any order, even one that’s unanticipated, GBSA has the stock available on-hand to deliver any product Just-In-Time. And, with the help of GBSA, each customer can determine their total-usage for a three, six or twelve month period making their job easier and ensuring they get precisely what they need.

Because of the order size, Just-In-Time inventory permits the customer to take advantage of better up-front pricing and since there is no additional sales tax on stocked items, inventory management saves even more money down-the-road. With a reduction of inventory, the customer saves on warehouse space and that represents the biggest savings of all.

Using a set of computer programs (or a compiler), GBSA helps to “manage” customer inventory. Each day, GBSA checks to see what products are in-stock at a customers location and replenishes them from their in-house inventory or places an order to re-manufacture the merchandise.

The benefits of Just-In-Time are evident on all sides. Because the customer is buying in bulk, their cost is reduced significantly, they’ve reduced their warehouse space and GBSA can ship products Just-In-Time. Meanwhile, GBSA has a reliable stock of inventory, fewer stock outs and quicker replenishment.

Considering all the benefits of J-I-T and the fact that it can be done for every customer, GBSA performs inventory management at no charge. According to Judy Pratt, General manager of GBSA, “it’s a win-win for both the customer and GBSA.”

For over thirty years, GBSA has been a leading supplier of molded rubber parts, plastic, ceramic and metal stamping services that are engineered to stand up to even the toughest conditions. Our pledge is to deliver quality parts, on time and on budget.

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Engine manufacturers and operators are under pressure . . . → Read More: PPE Extends Life of Rubber Seals as Low Emission Engines Burn Hotter]]> February 18, 2011 (FPRC) — High performance, marine engine seals specialist Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE), a unit of IDEX Corp., announces Perlast G75TX, a new generation of perfluoroelastomer seal that extends the life of pre-heat chamber and exhaust valve seat seals as engines burn hotter to meet lower emissions standards.

Engine manufacturers and operators are under pressure to reduce SOx, NOx and particulate emissions whilst achieving higher efficiencies, improved fuel economy, and extended maintenance intervals. Perfluoroelastomers are commonly used in the hottest parts of the engine for pre-heat chamber and exhaust valve seat seals. However until now they have suffered from a poor compression set, typically 20%, reducing the seal’s operational life. Perlast G75TX is the first perfluoroelastomer to provide a compression set of 8%, while improving the elastomer’s characteristic high temperature and chemical resistance.

Author: Ron Bargman

Almost all types of  O-ring seal designs today are based on the toroidal geometry patented by Neils Christensen. This seal, which was primarily utilized in military applications, gradually found its place in the hydraulic sector, and is today used in almost all applications ranging from indoor plumbing to the . . . → Read More: Future Advancements in Sealing Technology with a Focus on O-Rings]]> Future Advancements in Sealing Technology with a Focus on O-Rings

Author: Ron Bargman

Almost all types of  O-ring seal designs today are based on the toroidal
geometry patented by Neils Christensen. This seal, which was primarily
utilized in military applications, gradually found its place in the
hydraulic sector, and is today used in almost all applications ranging
from indoor plumbing to the space shuttle. Although there has been no
major changes in the basic shape of an O-ring, improvements in the
sealing technology, material development, characterization, and testing
areas has taken a new dimension. The use of nano-technology rubber is
one such example of technological advancement. As O-rings are majorly
used in the field of material science and chemistry, any advancement or
development in nano-technology has a greater impact on the O-ring
industry.

Material Enhancements

Nano-PTFE
Nano-PTFE is a
specialized formulation developed through nanotechnology with
multi-functional characteristics. Such materials along with nano-carbon,
when filled into elastomers result in O-rings with anti-scratch, fire
resistant, anti-UV, super hydrophobic, and several other properties.
When reinforcing agents, inert fillers like mineral fillers, and carbon
black are added, the physical properties of O-rings are improved. Use of
carbon nano-tubes makes the O-rings suitable for electrostatic
dissipative applications. Nano-PTFE utilized in semiconductor
application provides improved abrasion resistance, decreases permeation,
and reduced friction.

Plasticizers
Material enhancement using
plasticizers not only decreases the stiffness of the O-ring, but also
enhances its low-temperature properties. Recently, special additives
like flame-retardants and pigments are also utilized for enhancing the
O-ring performance.

Anti-degradants
Anti-degradants are
special compounds used to inhibit deterioration or aging of rubber
compounds. Such compounds when utilized along with the O-ring materials
reduce the unwanted chemical reaction at the time of compounding and
help in fast construction of finished parts.

Special Compounds
A combination of accelerators, activators (zinc oxide and stearic acid),
and curing agents improve the vulcanization rate of an O-ring component.

Advancements in Analytical Characterization and Testing
In the recent past, there has been a major change in the analytical
characterization of elastomers. The use of fillers, such as carbon
black, prevents electrical arcing and static spark formation within the
rubber material to provide electrostatic dissipation of rubber. Such
charge dissipation of rubber along with additives imparts flame
resistance to the final O-ring product.

On the other hand, there have been gradual advancements in the testing processes of various O-ring elastomers. Stress-relaxing tests and seal lifetime analysis are some recent developments in testing that envisage potential failures accurately and at an earlier stage.

Seal Configurations
Today, low-leakage designs are one of the popular choices to develop seal
configurations. However, recent developments have resulted in the
emerging of zero-leakage designs, which are far more cost-effective and
of high performance. In addition, there are several software packages
available currently to assist in robust designing of O-rings. AutoCAD is
one such popular software used to design O-rings efficiently.

Utilization of finite element analysis is another recent improvement in enhancing seal configurations. The finite element analysis results in early
identification of non-linearity in elastomers.

Future O-rings
Although there has been a tremendous increase in emerging technologies, the scope for future developments remains open. In the future, new materials can be applied for reliable and consistent operation even under extreme conditions. In addition to designing, the application of CAD and
Simulation for performance prediction would provide efficient operations
at minimized costs. Technology needs to be modified for providing
reduced maintenance and ability to offer modularized package of seal
along with condition monitoring. This condition monitoring is considered
one feasible way of increasing the efficiency and reliability at a low
maintenance budget.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1822940_22.html

About
the Author: Ron Bargman, president of Zycon.com, has been fascinated
and involved with the engineering and manufacturing processes required
to turn ideas into products for over 30 years. Mr. Bargman is a regular
contributor of manufacturing theme articles, and his rich industry
history provides insight into manufacturing and engineering events and
changes that are timely, poignant, and relevant. Through Zycon, he is
able to transfer his passion for the industry by assisting engineers,
designers and inventors find the services, parts and components that
they need to succeed.

http://www.zycon.com

“I’ve developed new products before but none in terms of molded . . . → Read More: GBSA, Inc. Expands Engineering Staff]]> GBSA, a leader in molded rubber v-seals, oils seals and o-rings, announced the appointment of Eric Farmer as Engineering Manager.

Farmer will be responsible for all research and development testing including building the test sites.  In addition, he will develop new products for GBSA.

“I’ve developed new products before but none in terms of molded rubber seals,” says Farmer. “I think my greatest single challenge will be to learn all about the rubber derivatives that are used in GBSA compounds,” he continued.

Judy Pratt, General Manager of GBSA adds, “so much of the work that we do revolves around the testing of our products.  It’s being certain that they work as expected in any application. We think Eric can be a real resource to our team.”

Farmer, who previously worked as an aerospace engineer for Kelly Aerospace fuel systems and an electro-mechanical engineer on military specified circular connections at Aero-Electric, is a 1993 Industrial Engineering graduate of Wichita State in Kansas.  He lives in Willoughby, Ohio.