>> Will FACTS Improve Electric Power Transmission Systems?

The Blackout of 2003 focused attention on the state of the electric power transmission system in the US. Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS), and DC transmission are power semiconductor technologies which can improve the control, efficiency, and dynamic behavior of the power transmission system. This ARC survey asks your opinion about the size, growth, and barriers to deployment of FACTS and DC products in electric power transmission worldwide.

To take the survey, please click here: www.arcweb.com/ss2/wsb.dll/ARC/FACTS2004.htm 

>> ARC Forum in Orlando Targets Real-time Performance Management for Manufacturers

ARC's 8th Annual Performance Driven Manufacturing Forum, held in Orlando last week, provided attendees with information on real-world implementations of solutions in the process, hybrid, and discrete industries that enable users to achieve Real-time Performance Management (RPM). Forum presentations focused both on enabling technologies for deploying an RPM strategy as well as changes in work processes and the manufacturing organization that are necessary to achieve and sustain RPM.

===== COMPANY NEWS & BRIEFINGS =====

>> New Life Sciences Business Unit Formed at Parker Hannifin

Parker Hannifin has formed a new Life Sciences Business Unit whose mission is to enable the development of technologies. The new unit incorporates the full range of Parker motion and fluid control technologies to deliver application-specific engineered solutions, from large-scale to miniature integrated systems such as closed loop electronic pressure control. Their goal is to offer customers value enhancements in collaborative engineering, faster time-to-market, streamlined design, and systems integration.

>> Parker Hannifin Divests Wynn's Industrie: Maintains Ownership of Specialty Chemicals

Parker Hannifin completed the divestiture of Wynn's Industrie, an industrial lubricants unit of the Wynn's Specialty Chemicals business, to a subsidiary of Fuchs Petrolub AG. The divested unit, based in France, has

annual revenues of approximately $29 million. Parker Hannifin noted it

has retained all rights to the Wynn's brand, reflecting the company's continued ownership of Wynn's Specialty Chemicals, a producer of high-performance chemicals for mobile and automotive applications.