SUPPLIER NEWS

Norfolk Southern Corp. will spend million this year for capital improvements to its railroad operations and subsidiaries. The spending includes $671 million for roadway projects and $225 million for equipment, which will include 52 locomotives, the upgrade of existing locomotives, the certification and building of 300 multilevel automobile racks, and the purchase of 317 bi-level racks.

Deublin Co. announced the establishment of its new company, Deublin Steam Systems LLC, in Buford, Ga., which provides steam system and dryer section optimization services. The new company allows Deublin to provide comprehensive services from equipment supply, system design and integration, installation, diagnostics, and trouble shooting.

Sun Chemical has formed Sun Chemical Security, a new global business unit that will provide products used to print packages, documents, and currency that incorporate security measuresWeyerhaeuser has reached an agreement with Eaton Corp. for it to perform electrical are flash surveys at Weyerhaeuser's industrial facilities as part of an employee safety pilot program. Results from the survey will be used to develop a list of personal protection equipment required to meet the National Fire Protection Association standards. Each electrical cabinet will then be labeled with this equipment information to ensure the health and safety of the workers.

ABB has received a $48-million robotics contract from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to help it increase the efficiency of the mail service. ABB will supply turnkey robotics containerization systems to assist LISPS mail processing facilities in handling several million pieces of mail each day.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Coldwater Group has acquired Appleton international Inc. The company will operate under the name Coldwater-Appleton and will distribute both companies' products through their international manufacturing and distribution network. The former Appleton facility in Kimberly, Wis., will continue to operate, as well as Coldwater's facilities in Oxford, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga.; and China. The acquisition makes Coldwater-Appleton the largest supplier of suction seals and drainage foils in the world.

Körber AG's acquisition of Winkler + Dunnebier (W+D) has been approved under the EU Merger Regulation by the European Commission.

Can-Am Machinery has purchased the former Blue Water Fiber deink plant in Port Huron, Mich.

JOINT VENTURES

Invensys has chosen ExperTune's PlantTriage performance monitoring system for its new process control loop management services. The goal is for the two companies to help customers maximize the performance of their installed automation assets.