[INDUSTRY NEWS]


Chant Engineering mourns the loss of its Founder, L. James “Jim” Chant, an industry icon.


> Leonard James “Jim” Chant, age 89, died peacefully at home on Thursday, June 15, 2017, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Lewisham, a town in southeast London, England, he was the son of the late Sidney and Doris (Barnes) Chant. In 1937 homes in Lewisham were being wired for


electricity. Jim observed the electricians at work, and when the work was completed and the lights switched on, Jim knew at that moment what he wanted to do with his life. At the onset of WWII, when Jim was 11 years old, he earned a merit scholarship to attend Bancroft’s School, a boarding school for boys. Had the war not ended Jim would have joined the Royal Air Force at 17. It did end, however, so Jim continued his education. He earned a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of London in 1949, the first in his family to attend a university. Jim was a Chartered Professional Engineer and Chant Engineering’s founder. For eight years he was also the US Representative of the British Institution of Engineering and Technology, one of the world’s largest engineering institutions. In 1959, as a young British engineer, Jim was recruited to be part of the nascent US space


program. He and his wife Barbara, with their growing family, immigrated to the USA on the ocean liner Hanseatic. The family first settled in New Jersey before moving a few years later to Pennsylvania. In 1962 Chant was hired as the Chief Engineer at Boonshaft and Fuchs Co., a small but


well-known Government testing equipment and machinery manufacturer. Jim was one of the designers of the human centrifuge at the Johnsville Naval Air Station, where astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn, part of the renowned “Mercury Seven,” trained for the early 1960’s Mercury Space Missions. After working for other engineering companies, Jim founded L. J. Chant and Associates in 1970 in the basement of his Hatboro home. This company later became Chant Engineering Co., Inc., from where he just recently retired as CEO. A serial entrepreneur and developer, Jim was always involved in something and constantly seeking his next project. In 1976 the company moved to a rented garage, a technician was hired to help out and


the name was changed to Chant Engineering Co. Inc. The company remained unchanged until 1986 when Philip Chant, Jim’s fourth and youngest son joined the company as a full-time employee. In 1988, Chant moved its location to New Britain, PA where they built their first new


10,000 sq. ft. facility. Chant products are still to this day manufactured in the U.S.A. in a larger 55,000 sq. ft. facility just a few blocks away from the original facility. Involved with his local community New Britain Borough for over twenty years, Jim


and Barbara recently donated land to expand the nature preserve in New Britain Borough. In recognition of this, the Borough has named this section of the nature preserve as Chant’s Woods. He leaves behind his beloved wife Barbara after 65 years of marriage, children


Steven (Kaoru), Peter, Michael, Philip (Lori) Chant and Christine (Rob) Schuyler, ten grandchildren and one great-grandson. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the New Britain Food Larder in care of the New Britain Baptist Church. y


Southwest Wire Rope Achieves DNV GL Certification for Offshore Lifting Sets


> Southwest Wire Rope, a Heavy Lift Division of HWC (NASDAQ: HWCC), has received its DNV GL Type Approval Certificate (TAC) to design, manufacture, test, tag and certify lifting sets for Offshore Containers (DNV 2.7-1) and Portable Offshore Units (DNV 2.7-3). This certification positions Southwest Wire


Rope as a DNV GL certified manufacturer of the largest wire rope diameter for offshore lifting slings in the US. DNV is the premier accredited registrar and


classification society for offshore lifting in the world. A vast majority of offshore companies require (or at least prefer) DNV certification for offshore lifting needs. What sets Southwest Wire Rope apart from its competition in this space boils down to three key factors: The TAC covers wire rope sizes up to


3-1/2” (89 mm) with a Working Load Limit of 92 metric tons (applicable to DNV 2.7-3) , the largest wire rope size in the US; and, Southwest Wire Rope will design &


manufacture slings for DNV 2.7-1 & DNV 2.7-3 without requiring DNV GL’s approval, resulting in shorter lead times and lower costs for customers; and, Southwest Wire Rope will manufacture


DNV GL certified slings in all three locations: Houston, Texas, as well as New Iberia & Sulphur, Louisiana. The DNV GL TAC was issued to


Southwest Wire Rope on 6/13/2017 and is valid through 6/12/2021. “We are excited by the opportunity this


presents our customers across the Gulf Coast,” said Eric Davis, President of HWC Heavy Lift Division, “because the nature of our DNV certification allows us to manufacture these types of offshore lifting slings faster than anyone else – which gives our customers a decisive advantage in a highly competitive market.” y


WireCo WorldGroup Establishes Distribution Center in Brazil


> WireCo WorldGroup has established a new Distribution Center in Queimados, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as part of the company’s strategy to bring its industry-leading wire rope products to the Brazilian mining, ports, industrial cranes, construction, and fishing markets.


WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE JULY–AUGUST 2017 7


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