Page 20 - MetalForming December 2015

2015 Awards of Excellence in Metalforming
design also improved dimensional stability and durability.
The Product Development Award, sponsored by Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Special Metals, Inc., North Haven, CT, acknowledges a manufacturing company that demonstrates outstanding innovation in developing and manufacturing a product that best uses metal in place of a nonmetal compet- itive material, or that develops a product using flat-rolled material that was previously manufactured using more cost- ly manufacturing processes.
Excellence in Safety—
Trans-Matic Manufacturing Co.
Trans-Matic also received the 2015 Pitcher Insurance Agency Safety Award, for sharing its lessons learned and the safety improvements made after a fire occurred in its Hol- land facility.
In March 2014, an inline water heater used to preheat water for a parts-washing line overheated, resulting in heavy smoke and a small fire in the pressroom. The Trans-Matic team responded to the emergency, evacuated the building, called the fire department and extinguished the fire. All employees were accounted for after reporting to their designated meeting areas. Although there was
heavy smoke, there
was only minimal
damage to the
building and
no injuries.
However, an
investigation
revealed that
there was the
potential for a
much more seri-
ous event and an
opportunity for lessons
to be learned and applied.
Trans-Matic conducted a thorough investigation to deter- mine the root cause and corrective actions. The team dis- covered that the water heater (with a 72,000-W heating ele- ment) was not designed for a standalone application as installed by Trans-Matic. Rather, it was designed to be part of a larger assembly and was therefore not equipped with important safety devices. These include sensors to monitor in and outflow, temperature limits and pressure. Trans- Matic, unaware of this fact, assumed the heater could be installed as-is.
The investigation also found that Trans-Matic lacked the expertise to select and engineer such a system without out- side help. As a result, the Trans-Matic team revised its safe- ty review-process to include outside expertise when neces- sary. This expanded safety review now is required for all new machines, equipment, processes and structures when the technology is new to Trans-Matic. The safety-review
process requires the signoff of a qualified expert for any new design, equipment or process under review. In addition, a safety-approval tag remains affixed to any new machine until the completion of installation and final reviews by maintenance, engineering, production and safety.
With its new safety-approval process in place at its Michi- gan and Arizona facilities (with plans to implement at its facil- ity in Suzhou, China, by year-end), Trans-Matic also applied the process to existing installations, to reveal any hidden acci- dents waiting to happen. During this review, it discovered two installations that required outside expertise—new work-in- process storage racks, and an inhouse part-coating process.
Trans-Matic has an outstanding safety record and has received MSHARP certification from the state of Michigan, awarded to companies committed to developing and main- taining effective safety and health systems. The water-heater incident helped Trans-Matic, a company with a strong safe- ty program, to become even stronger.
The Safety Award, sponsored by Pitcher Insurance Agency, Chicago, IL, acknowledges either an effective comprehensive safety program or a specific innovative idea in the context of an effective safety program.
Excellence in Productivity— Highlands Diversified Services
Highlands Diversified Services (HDS), London, KY, received the 2015 Zierick Manufacturing Corporation Pro- ductivity Award. The company specializes in metal stamping, secondary operations, powder painting and assembly, serv- ing the automotive, appliance, telecommunication, aerospace and office-equipment market segments.
HDS won the award for productivity improvements relat- ed to a satellite-dish assembly fabricated for a telecommu- nications company. Company management reviewed the entire process sur-
rounding the assem-
bly (including a
satellite dish, mount-
ing base and support
arm) from stamping
to packaging, and
made improvements
across the board.
HDS first created
a staging area dedi-
cated to the satellite-
dish assembly, locat-
ed close to a
paint-line and reduc-
ing the time spent by
a forklift driver handling associated totes of stamped parts throughout the 85,000-sq.-ft. plant. This staging method frees press and paint-line personnel from being dependent on a forklift. Now, totes move to the paint line via a manual
18 MetalForming/December 2015
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