Mark Dancer joined Pembroke Consulting as vice president. Dancer has over 12 years of consulting experience with business-to-business clients. He developed his expertise in strategy, marketing and the channel needs of industrial, construction, automotive, communication, printing and other distribution-intensive industries. Dancer recently authored The Wholesale Distribution Customer Speaks and is a well-known lecturer.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. will pay $419 million in cash and assumed debt to acquire the remaining interest in American Tool Co. Rubbermaid acquired a minority interest in 1985. American Tool employs 4,600 workers and had $443.6 million in 2001 sales. Its product lines include Vise-Grip® pliers and Marathon^TM saw blades.

Kaman Corp. acquired majority ownership of Delamac de Mexico S.A. de C.V., a Mexican distributor of power transmission, bearings and fluid power products. The business will become part of Kaman Industrial Technologies . Delamac, with sales of $7 million in 2001, operates facilities in Mexico City and Queretaro.

For the full story and the latest news updates, go to www.inddist.com

The Gorman-Rupp Co. acquired American Machine and Tool Company Inc. ... Parker Hannifin Corp. and Japan's Taiyo Ltd. formed a global strategic alliance ... USFlow Corp. expanded to Minneapolis when it acquired certain assets from Flow Technologies ... Dayton Progress established an alliance with Korea-based LuBo Industries ...N.H. Bragg & Sons sold its automotive supply business to General Parts, Inc., operating as Carquest, but will retain its industrial, welding, safety and janitorial supplies distribution business ... The Timken Co. purchased Glunt Industries's Inc. Niles, Ohio-based industrial equipment repair facility.

Fortune magazine named W.W. Grainger, Inc., one of America's Most Admired Companies ... Parts Plus named Federal-Mogul 2001 Vendor of the Year for Product Excellence ... Bradley Corp. won the 2001 Pinnacle Award for most innovative application at the POLYCON '01 ... Winners of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing included Bridgestone/ Firestone, Delphi Automotive Systems, Ford Motor Co., Freudenberg-NOK, and Lockheed Martin ... Accounting Today magazine named Exact Macola's ERP software as one of the 2002 Top 100 Software Products.

Send Update information to associate editor Richard Trombly, 275 Washington St., Newton, Mass., 02458; call (617) 558-4289; fax to (617) 558-4327; or e-mail rtrombly@cahners.com.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration recognized Kennametal Inc.'s Orwell, Ohio, facility for excellence in workplace safety. Kennametal achieved Merit Level Participant in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program, an honor that only 800 companies received nationwide.

3M received the Points of Light Foundation 2001 Award for Excellence in Corporate Community Service. 3M, its employees and retirees donated cash and in-kind gifts of more than $47 million to charitable and educational institutions through the company's Contributions Program.

Recycling is big business and may be a market for MRO prospects. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Recycling Coalition report details the economic impact of the $235 billion dollar industry. According to the EPA, 56,000 businesses and non-profit organizations employ 1.1 million people with annual payroll totaling $37 billion. View the report at http://www.nrc-recycle.org/ resources/rei/reihome. htm.