Hose producer aims to stand out

Thunder Technologies LLC can get a business or individual an industrial hose — and so can lots of other companies.

But the owners of the Rochester Hills company have learned a lesson from the international competition. They now offer a custom-made hose service that has helped the company grow and set itself apart from its competitors.

Other suppliers can't coat the inside of a pressure-washing hose with stainless steel to help clean U.S. Navy ships. Or help Siemens USA cradle shipments of its windmill blades so the protective rubber doesn't deface the paint surface. Or figure out how to stop those little rubber "dazzles" from drooping on tall-boot designs for women.

"No one else can do the things that we do because no one else knows how to do them — but we do," said Kimberley Kalinowski, vice president of the company based in a 4,500-square-foot all-purpose facility in an industrial park aside M-59.

"Nothing we do is a commodity," she said, referring to products that can be indistinguishable from others like it. "Everything we do is custom-made."

Thunder has parlayed its expertise in "critical" industrial-hose assemblies and sheet-rubber products into revenues expected to be about $1.2 million this year,The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, up about one-third from last year.

The company is doing well in an industry where the average sales growth was 24 percent in 2010, according to a survey of firms by the National Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution. Earlier this year, a survey of hose distributors and manufacturers also found they expected 12 percent growth this year before the economy started stagnating.

Kalinowski, 53, foresees more growth for her company, especially if President Barack Obama's infrastructure-rebuilding initiatives gain any, er, steam, because Thunder can provide custom solutions for crucial components of bridge repair.

For now, Kalinowski and her husband, Marc Kalinowski, Thunder's president,It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. are pleased with the company they created two years ago out of the shell of their prior firm. They both hail from Metro Detroit, and both learned the industrial hose business from post-college work at an industrial-supply company.

Kimberley owned their first enterprise, Tiger Technologies, which they founded in 1999. Within a few years, they were losing industrial customers to China, "and customers weren't paying us, so we decided to dissolve Tiger and go with a completely different business model," Kimberley said.

With Thunder, they pursued markets where they could leverage their industrial hose and fittings expertise in fulfilling individualized,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. higher-margin orders of one, two, five or a dozen assemblies for demanding customers such as the U.we supply all kinds of polished tiles,S. military, complex-manufacturing outfits, chemical companies,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, green energy concerns and others.

"Knowledge is our biggest niche," 54-year-old Marc Kalinowski said.

Added Kimberley: "Our customers have certain demands where they don't have a lot of leeway for error or are using something with extreme requirements. We're able to solve problems for people."

Despite general concerns about America's foundering manufacturing economy, the Kalinowskis are seeing Thunder Technologies' orders pick up.

Was Braves win result of the worst call of the year?

A lot of people who love baseball sing the praises of its timelessness.They take the RUBBER SHEET to the local co-op market. No clock, game goes until somebody wins. Joe Posnanski wrote a long piece about this in Sports Illustrated just last week. And only in baseball can a game go almost seven hours 19 innings end at almost 2 a.m., and actually be over too soon.

That's because what was (in the minds of many) pretty clearly a blown call by an umpire gave the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates early Wednesday morning. It was the longest game ever played at Atlanta's Turner Field. If the ump had gotten the call right, the game could have moved into a 20th inning. See for yourself.

The umpire,Traditional Air purifier claim to clean all the air in a room. Jerry Meals, told a pool reporter after the game that after he saw the replays,Unlike traditional cube puzzle , it did appear to him that Pirates catcher Mike McKenry tagged the Braves' Julio Lugo on the shin on a play at the plate when Lugo tried to score on a ground ball to third base. But, Meals said, "when I was out there, when it happened, I didn't see a tag."

Of course to Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, it was obvious all along.

"I saw (McKenry) tag him three feet in front of the plate" he told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette,The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling zentai suits , "and that's the way it looked when I went back in there and looked at it again he tagged him three feet in front."

Major League Baseball's chief of on-field operations, former big-league manager Joe Torre, said Wednesday afternoon that it appears Meals missed the call.

"Many swipe tags are not applied to the runner with solid contact, but the tag was applied and the game should have remained tied," Torre said in an e-mailed statement. "I have spoken with Jerry, who is a hard-working, respected umpire, and no one feels worse than him."

Torre's statement anticipated people calling for MLB to expand video replay reviews. MLB currently allows replay only for home run calls.

"I have heard many discussions on umpiring and technology over the past two years, including both the pros and the cons of expanding replay. However, most in the game recognize that the human element always will be part of baseball and instant replay can never replace all judgment calls by umpires," Torre said. "Obviously, a play like this is going to spark a lot of conversation, and we will continue to consider all viewpoints in our ongoing discussions regarding officiating in baseball."

The impact of the Braves-Pirates call is magnified because both teams are fighting for division leads or chances for the National League wild-card slot, so every game and every call counts. For those less invested in the outcome of the game, you can check out this top trending hashtag: #jerrymealssaysitssafe, where people say they'll do something dangerous like run with scissors, or put a fork in a light socket, or tell people that nothing bad will happen if the U.S. defaults all ending with "jerrymealssaysitssafe."

Besides being timeless, the baseball season is also sort of endless. It lasts for 162 games,Initially the banks didn't want our high risk merchant account . so the Pirates, Braves, and Jerry Meals will all be back out there tonight for a 7 p.m. game.