Airgas Inc. this week announced that its Red-D-Arc Welderentals subsidiary has partnered with Key Plant Automation Ltd. to become its exclusive global distributor of Key Plant weld-positioning and automation products. Key Plant has more than 50 years of experience in the design and manufacture of standard and custom-designed weld-positioning and automation equipment in the U.K., with sales to a variety of customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

“We are confident that with Red-D-Arc as our dedicated distributor, Key Plant can expand our global business opportunities,” said Kevin Davies, managing director of Key Plant Automation Ltd. “Red-D-Arc’s long history and expertise in the sale, lease and rental of both welding and weld-positioning equipment, as well as their global reach, make them an excellent partner.”

Key Plant’s full-line includes floor turntables; seam welders; side beams and lathe types; handling equipment; column and booms; girth welders; pipe and valve cladding systems; standard, bench, elevating, and rotilt positioners; headstocks and tailstocks; self-aligning, pipe and scissor, anti-drift, and conventional rotators, as well as welding equipment and supplies.

“Key Plant has long been recognized as a world-class designer and fabricator of automation equipment,” said Mitch Imielinski, president of Red-D-Arc. “Our companies share a commitment to growing this business, and we are excited about the new opportunities that this partnership will provide.”

In partnering with Red-D-Arc, Key Plant brings these essential weld-positioning and automation products to a broad, worldwide customer base. Steel fabrication shops, tank and vessel manufacturers, wind tower manufacturers, shipyards, special-purpose fabricators, welding equipment manufacturers, and pipe fabricating shops, among others, can locate Red-D-Arc’s network of retail stores and staff at www.red-d-arc.com.

Key Plant, based in Liverpool, U.K., is a leader in the manufacture, sale and rental of positioning and automation equipment.

Based in Radnor, Pa., Airgas Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, and hardgoods, such as welding equipment and supplies.

Red-D-Arc Welderentals, an Airgas company, is the largest provider of welding and welding-related rental products and services in North America, with more than 50,000 units in its fleet. Based in Austell, Ga., it is No. 22 on the RER 100.