Special Olympics get “dumped on”
A 30-ton Komatsu HM300-2 articulated dump truck “set free” more than 30,000 rubber ducks into the Chicago River to start the fifth annual Windy City Rubber Ducky Derby. Since its inception five years ago, Komatsu America Corp., Rolling Meadows, Ill., has taken part in the Derby, which benefits Special Olympics Illinois. Rubber ducks are “adopted” by sponsors (for a monetary donation) to race down the Chicago River. Prizes are awarded for the first ducks to cross the finish line. This year’s Duck Derby raised more than $250,000.
Komatsu employees have a “hands-on” role in the derby’s management and organize a variety of fund-raisers throughout the year to support the event. Komatsu America then matches those funds.
50th anniversary
For the past 50 years, Candy Mfg. Co. Inc.’s mechanical rotary motion-control products have provided manufacturers with on-the-fly position and timing-control adjustment, resulting in improved process accuracy, higher quality, and reduced downtime and waste.
Currently located in Niles, Ill., Candy was founded in 1960 by Robert Hendershot, who worked out of his Evanston, Ill., home. Hendershot invented its first product, the Phase Variator, a timing mechanism that adjusts the position of various machine components while running.