In 1946, it was the introduction of the radial tire, which offered greater flexibility and fuel economy than what was offered by the industry standard, the bias ply tire. In 1992, Michelin introduced its first Green X tire aimed at improving the fuel mileage of a vehicle. In recent years, Michelin has focused on issues of ecological sustainability and how its products can contribute to the achievement of a net zero carbon world by 2050.

Word from the top
To learn more, we spoke with Andrew Mutch, President of Michelin North America (Canada) Ltd., from company headquarters in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.

Mutch, who’s been in the presidential role since 2019, joined the company upon graduating from the engineering department of the University of Prince Edward Island and the University of New Brunswick in 1987.

“When I graduated, I knew I wanted to work for an international company but one with a local context, so that I could see a bit of the world but I could always come home,” he says.

Michelin, which has 74 plants and over 132,000 employees worldwide, and had opened its first North American plant in Pictou County, Nova Scotia in 1971, was a perfect fit. It gave Mutch opportunities to work as an industrial engineer and in various management positions in all three Nova Scotian facilities—Pictou, Bridgewater, and Waterville—as well as in Oklahoma, where a facility opened in 1971, and in South Carolina, at the company’s North American headquarters, before “coming home to the Maritimes.”

People, planet, profit
Underpinning Michelin’s drive toward a net zero carbon world is its sustainable strategy based on a philosophy of balancing people, planet, and profit. As Mutch explains, “Every direction and every decision Michelin takes must balance those factors because you can’t be sustainable if you’re only great with people and profitability but not respecting the planet. But at the same time, we have to be profitable so that we can invest in our people and re-invest in innovations that will benefit our planet and that includes how we make tires, how we reduce our footprint from a manufacturing perspective, and how our products will make a more sustainable future.”

Michelin has set a goal of producing net zero carbon emissions across all its manufacturing sites and is looking at how alternative energy options, such as wind, solar power, and biomass, can be used in its facilities.

Mutch told us he is excited about working with a Canadian company that uses a pyrolysis process to convert biomass into a low-carbon fuel oil that can be used in boilers in place of the natural gas currently used. This method has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the areas environmental scientists classify as Scope 1 (direct use of fossil fuel through combustion).

“We ran a test in our Waterville facility that was operationally successful. We’ve engaged with the provincial government and other stakeholders so they can learn and benefit from our experience with this low-carbon fuel,” he says. “We don’t want to keep all this knowledge to ourselves; we want to share it so everyone can advance.”

Additionally, in keeping with its commitment to the planet, Michelin plans to have 100 percent of its materials coming from sources that are renewable, meaning it can be replaced within a human life span of approximately 70 years, or are from recycled feedstocks.

Supplanting the supply chain
Controlling things inside the fence line is only part of the story. Ultimately, products need to get to market, which also has an impact on GHG emissions.

A project initiated at the Pictou County plant, where the majority of winter tires are produced and shipped across Canada, is looking at changing the current delivery model. Today, a product could be shipped first to one large distribution centre, then to another, and then to the customer’s distribution centre, and finally to the customer’s warehouse. A delivery model being trialled by the Pictou County plant sees tires delivered directly into the hands of the customer.

“This pilot improved availability for our customers, reduced logistics costs, increased sales, and lessened the impact on the environment because less fuel was being used,” Mutch explains. “It’s end-to-end thinking. It’s about working with customers, identifying the touch points, decreasing them, and optimizing the process.”

And it’s a perfect example of Michelin’s people-profit-planet model because, while helping customers and saving shipping and distribution costs, it has also saved 50 tons of CO2 emissions from going into the atmosphere.

Greener with the Green Freight Program
A significant portion of the CO2 emissions that create global warming comes from the commercial long-haul trucks and trailers essential to the supply chain and moving products across the continent. Michelin has been contracted through its GreenerFleets business to help many active Canadian fleets navigate and access funding through the Canadian government’s Green Freight Program. Acting as a consultant to fleets enrolled in this incentivizing program across the country, Michelin is helping them optimize the energy efficiency of their entire fleet and reduce GHG emissions.

One way of doing this is to reduce the rolling resistance of tires, because the higher the level of resistance, the greater the load on the truck’s engine, leading to increased consumption of diesel and more GHG emissions.

Michelin, recognized as a leader in fuel economizing in the long-haul industry with its X Line Energy Z+ commercial tire, is continuing to invest in technology at its Waterville plant to further reduce the rolling resistance of its tires, lowering diesel consumption and GHG emissions while still meeting all performance requirements.

In its role as consultant, Michelin is engaged with helping 93 fleets across Canada reduce their costs and their environmental impact by helping them apply for federal grants to retrofit their vehicles with lower rolling-resistance tires and improved aerodynamics on their trailers, which will improve drag reduction and again lower fuel consumption.

Michelin also provides digital tools to help fleets optimize performance—maintaining proper air pressure in tires and giving feedback to drivers as to how to be more energy-efficient in the way they drive.

“It’s a wonderful virtuous circle we’re involved with, and we’re excited to be part of it,” Mutch says, “because it’s estimated that in the next four years, those 93 fleets will be saving 159,000 tons of CO2.”

Not only is the Waterville facility playing a dynamic role in the Canadian trucking industry, but the Michelin X-One double-wide tires it produces are contributing to global strategies for emission reductions.

As Mutch explains, “Because of the Infinicoil® technology that is in those tires, they have lower rolling resistance which reduces fuel consumption. Since the trucks only have half as many tires, they can carry a larger load than when riding on single tires and reduce the number of pressure checks and rotations.

Turning up the tires for EVs
Although all of Michelin’s passenger tires are suitable for electric vehicles, both cars and small trucks, the Bridgewater facility is preparing for the next generation of tires that will optimize the performance of EVs and accommodate their characteristics.

Typically, EVs are heavier than internal combustion engine vehicles because of the heavy battery or batteries. EVs also have more torque available at any speed. Any time the driver steps on the energy pedal, full power can be rapidly transmitted to the tire.

In addition, Mutch says, EV drivers might experience “range anxiety,” concerned with how far they can travel before needing to recharge. “So the challenge for the tires is they have to be able to handle more weight, manage the torque, and have improved rolling resistance while meeting all the other characteristics of starting, stopping, turning, and handling,” he explains.

Just as improved rolling performance reduces fuel consumption, these next-generation tires will also reduce the amount of energy used by the battery, increasing its range and lessening the range anxiety of the driver. “We have to be prepared for this emerging market and we are installing the technology and capacity to do that,” says Mutch.

A future for hydrogen
He went on to say that while Michelin recognizes EVs are a good solution to the GHG issue, “we don’t believe it’s the only solution and we believe there is a future for mobility with hydrogen. It’s going to have a place somewhere and, at a global level, Michelin has been working on hydrogen for the last 20 years and formed a joint venture with a company that makes hydrogen fuel cells capable of powering the largest commercial vehicles,” he shares.

“Nova Scotia has a unique opportunity because of all the investments in hydrogen that are coming to the province, so rather than just export hydrogen, what can we do to develop a domestic use for it in Atlantic Canada? We’re exploring ways where we can start to build an ecosystem in Nova Scotia to make use of domestic hydrogen and install transition technology so that eventually we can get to things like fuel cells.”

Green mobility
In addition to helping its customers reduce their GHG emissions through the supply chain, Michelin also has a goal to reduce its own CO2 emissions to meet international goals.

Last year, Michelin invested $300 million in a plan to modernize its Nova Scotian plants and electrify some of its processes. These include the investment made in Bridgewater to bring in electric curing presses—replacing the steam-powered ones—which will be more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. The company is also improving safety and ergonomics at all three of its plants, and in addition to the progress it is making on energy in the plants, it is also diverting waste streams and finding alternative uses for them.

The Bridgewater facility has been able to divert 100 percent of its production waste from landfill since 2017 and Mutch says the other two sites are making good progress toward that figure. He adds that, “from 2010 to now, we reduced our GHG emissions by 41 percent, so we are well on track to meet the 2030 goal of 50 percent.”

Powered by optimism
In an age of doom and gloom forecasts regarding global warming and climate change, we asked Mutch about his perspective on the net zero carbon future.

“Our planet needs our help,” he says. “It needs us to be advancing as fast as we can and we need to be responsible corporate citizens, pushing as hard as we possibly can to reduce our emissions and take our footprint to zero,” he says.

“Am I optimistic? Yes, I’m always optimistic. But is it easy? No, it’s hard because it takes a lot of work, and support from corporations, governments, and academia, and we need new avenues and incubators to bring all these things to fruition. But if you have a goal, and put your energy into renewable energy, then I believe you can advance.”

The post Sustainability, Net Zero, even Rolling Resistance – Michelin’s on a Roll<p class="company">Michelin North America</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We’ve had in-house automation for years, primarily on our brewing systems, but now we’ve developed the same thing for continuous columns,” explains Operations Manager John Leask of the technology for distilling spirits.

Specific Mechanical Systems created a continuous column distillation system that represents a significant advancement over traditional column still designs and offers a more efficient distillation process when compared with pot still distillation. While spirits are commonly produced in single batches via a time-consuming start-and-stop method, the continuous column system allows for uninterrupted flow. The company’s novel automation system has now made this speedy distillation process even more efficient and productive.

“Essentially, you can produce any type of spirit on the continuous column still. Customers will potentially prefer to create certain types of spirits on more traditional pot stills but, in terms of general distillation principles, any spirit can be produced on a continuous column still,” notes Sales and Marketing Manager Chad MacIsaac.

To automate its continuous distillation process, Specific could not rely on the same procedures and equipment it utilized to automate brewing. “There are some similarities for sure between what our automation system for the brewing and distilling will look like and perform like, but functionally, they are different systems and different processes,” says Leask.

Unlike typical brewing systems, distilleries operating continuous column stills often utilize extremely large equipment. To complement its continuous column stills, Specific Mechanical fabricates large stainless steel tanks that can accommodate thousands of litres of liquid. The column stills used for continuous distillation can be “anywhere from 30 to 70 feet tall,” he adds.

Continuous distillation systems are enormous. “Many of them are never actually fully assembled at our shop. They’re built and tested in sub-assemblies and are then fully assembled at the customer site,” Leask says. By contrast, “breweries aren’t that tall; we can set the whole thing up in our shop and test the complete system working on our shop floor.”

Brewing involves significant concentrations of water, and the sensors and testing devices used in the brewing process cannot always be used for distilling, which involves significant concentrations of ethanol. For a start, most ethanol testing equipment “needs to be explosion-proof rated. That cuts down your options dramatically,” he states.

Yet despite these difficulties, the in-house automation team prevailed. Automated continuous column distillation is the latest example of the company’s successful do-it-yourself approach. Fabrication, manufacturing, design, and automation work is performed in-house, and Specific Mechanical also continues to emphasize research and the development of new equipment and new processes.

Forward-thinking and innovative as it may be, the company retains an old-fashioned artisan pride in its work. “Every system is customized,” says Leask. “Of course, we have some templates that we draw from but, at the end of the day, every system is customized to suit the customer’s available space, ceiling heights, their process, what products they’re hoping to distill or brew, and their budget.”

Besides brewing and distilling equipment, the company designs and produces pressure and food processing vessels, wastewater tanks, stainless steel tanks, and other gear. Its products are used in wastewater treatment, oil and gas, other food and beverage markets, and pharmaceutical production, and the company has also been involved with battery technology for electric vehicles, according to MacIsaac.

“Without naming names, there are a handful of companies that are advancing battery technology in North America,” he says. “In the process of improving range, they’re looking at optimizing battery performance, and that involves fluid transfer, fluid storage. We provide the processing equipment to help in that regard.”

The company employs approximately 85 people at its Victoria operation. Another 35 people work at a facility run by the firm in Nevada. Job applicants need to have skills, experience, and a team player outlook.

“The right technical training is important, whether that’s someone on the shop floor in the trades—welding, machining, sheet metal, et cetera. On the office side, we’ve got engineers, project managers, et cetera,” says Leask, noting that the appropriate education and experience for those positions is required. “Beyond that, I think one of the biggest things we look for is somebody who is going to be a good fit with the team. We really promote teamwork, and that kind of comes through with our culture.”

In addition to a collaborative approach, this culture is all about quality and customer service. This includes “being available, being friendly, and being pleasant to deal with so people want to come back and work with us again,” he says. Those customers range from small craft brewers and distillers to huge corporations, including beer giants Labatt and Molson.

Though eager to expand the business it does with top brewers and distillers, Specific Mechanical has not lost touch with its roots. The firm was launched in 1984 by Bill Cummings and Philip Zacharias, long-time friends with backgrounds in machining and welding. At first, the pair built brewing systems for clients in Victoria, and it grew from there.

“Our company is different from many companies that compete in our space because we’re local. We’ve been around 40 years. We were started by two people,” states MacIsaac. “The values of a small company remain strong as we grow. We try to make sure every new employee who comes on understands and recognizes it. It’s really important for us to convey that message to customers so they know they are dealing with real people… and together, we’ll both be successful.”

To help ensure client success, Specific offers global installation services. “While our primary market is North America, our field service team is capable of doing installations worldwide,” says MacIsaac. “We’ve just delivered a very large system to Argentina, which will be the first large craft distillery in Argentina. We’re delivering a system to Rwanda, which will be our first system into continental Africa.”

The company provides both remote and in-person support to clients looking for guidance in setting up their equipment or dealing with problems.

Given that most of Specific Mechanical’s equipment is geared toward the beverage market, customer support is complemented by a commitment to quality. It has certifications from UL and Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC), and the company’s pressure vessel design and manufacturing capabilities have been certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

“There’s a pretty rigorous quality program in place to support that. Any ASME pressure vessel must be registered with the provincial government, if it’s in Canada. In the U.S., it’s called the National Board. There’s documentation, testing—numerous steps that have to be taken for those vessels. We have all that in place and have for many years,” says Leask.

Currently, the company is in the process of establishing an online store. The intent is to make its wares more easily accessible and available.

“Some new products lend themselves a little better to putting on an e-commerce site—not so much custom systems, but some of the more product-based things we have. For example, a keg washer. We have various pumps and things like that that we frequently sell, and we can put those up on an e-commerce site, and we’ll see how that goes. If it’s successful, we can keep building the inventory of what we have for sale.”

The team has not forgotten the importance of the human connection, however, and representatives routinely attend trade shows across North America.

Despite all this upward momentum, the company still faces its share of challenges. The pandemic’s lingering impact has resulted in price hikes for supplies, components, and other gear. At the same time, Specific Mechanical faces competition from overseas manufacturers who can offer lower prices for their systems. These lower prices, however, are more than offset by Specific Mechanical’s quality and customer service. Well-made equipment and prompt client care mean fewer maintenance and mechanical hassles in the long run.

“Price is obviously a key buying factor in any decision, including capital expenditures, but total cost of ownership is probably the most important component to consider. That’s how we differentiate from others, and we try to convey that message every day,” says MacIsaac.

If anything, the company is keen to increase the amount of business it does outside of North America. Going forward, “expansion into new markets geographically will be a focus for us,” he says.

Leask hopes that Specific Mechanical experiences “an increase in market share, particularly in the continuous column space,” over the next five years while “offering larger systems and having the capacity to build physically larger tanks and equipment.” Growth is on the horizon, and the future looks bright for this constant innovator.

The post A Brewing and Distilling Equipment Expert Continues to Innovate<p class="company">Specific Mechanical Systems </p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Since the company’s previous feature in Manufacturing in Focus in 2019, it has welcomed Kevin Medwick on as President and General Manager, a role he began in January 2022. Before his appointment, Medwick had been running a competitor and was subsequently headhunted for the executive position. He is now leading this renowned metal fabrication business that performs fabrication and assembly for original equipment manufacturers and Tier One suppliers across North America.

Champ constructs complicated metal assemblies in various ways. Its services include medium-to-high-volume fabricating and assembly of common and stainless steel, aluminum, carbon steel sheet, and tube metal, including laser cutting, forming, welding, assembly, and painting. Typically, customers are not just looking for cut and bent metal, but also parts and completed assemblies that go right onto their equipment.

Because of this, the company must keep ties with a vast network of companies on which it relies to do things outside its purview, and to supply difficult subassemblies for equipment, from across North America or even as far as countries like Japan. A lot of intricate hardware is required in these assemblies, so these networks afford Champ access to what it needs.

“Today, people require high-quality and on-time service, [which is] what we look for in our vendors,” says Medwick. Champ Industries’ commitment to these attributes has allowed it to forge its strongest and longest-lasting relationships.

In the past three years, and in Medwick’s time as President, Champ has increased its bottom line by about 120 percent, which he says is largely due to efforts in customer diversification. As recently as five years ago, prior to his appointment, the company would have been primarily tied to one large customer in the transportation space. Now, it sports three large customers and 10 medium-sized customers across more varied segments like rail and agriculture.

Medwick says that a highlight of his time so far has been acting on the ability of the business to target clients who are having difficulty finding skilled trades in their market, such as small-to-medium-sized agricultural companies in small cities. The company is pleased to produce metal parts for these smaller outfits so that clients can focus on assembly. The approach lets its clients focus on what makes them great, which allows Champ to do just the same in the metalwork industry. Champ endeavours to understand each client’s business to come up with the best cost and manufacturing models that marry the intent of the client and itself. This has allowed it to forge the strong business relationships that have been its hallmark for over 50 years now.

“Champ does a tremendous job understanding what customers need and how they need it,” he says, and this is particularly true because it operates in an industry where quality and timeliness are coveted values for a contractor. One of the ways in which it achieves this is through prototyping and working with a client’s designs and engineers to prove their concepts before production starts.

Relationships have always been valued at Champ, whether with clients, the workforce, or even the nearby citizens of its local areas. Medwick believes that a big reason why the company is so successful is because of the superb group of people in its workforce who all boast a deep knowledge of both the industry and the customer base. About 75 percent of the workforce has been with the company for five years or longer, with 30 percent of those having a decade or more of tenure, figures that are rarely seen at a contract manufacturer.

“I’m still blown away by the level of people we have at Champ,” he says. It is never far from mind that the reason for the company’s success is the people within it, and they need to be looked after in every respect. In turn, Champ and its people seek to look after their local community through philanthropic efforts, usually involving events and donations to local charities and worthy causes. A recent example saw the workforce donate to the children’s hospital toy drive at Christmas.

As Q1 2024 progresses, Medwick shares that operations are extremely busy, especially in the United States and the company’s North Dakota hub. Since clients are based in North America, there can be instances of slowdown here and there, but Champ itself is not seeing any pause in its processes; in particular, its U.S. customer base continues to grow, with massive demand only increasing.

“If you can deliver what you say you’re delivering at a high quality and on time, those customers are going to be happy,” he says.

However, obtaining skilled workers is still a challenge for the business and industry-wide. Medwick says that, if one is willing to work hard at addressing the problem and understanding the market and what it is looking for—appropriate wages and working conditions—the workers are still there for employers to find. Just last year, Champ was able to recruit 25 welders to support a customer within three months as a result of this dogged approach, and Medwick says that Canadian immigration programs have been a big help in bringing in more skilled trade workers on board. The company has never been afraid to put in the necessary work to meet and exceed its goals in every respect.

The bulk of 2024 will see Champ investing in its operations, including changing equipment in preparation for a further focus on automation. The company is keen to begin automating its cutting, bending, and welding processes in the face of potential difficulties in talent recruitment, but the process of automation takes a lot of effort and expense to do properly. A business embarking on automation must ensure that it is learning from the successes of others that have taken the plunge, and the equipment itself requires appropriate due diligence to make sure that every dollar is spent in the right place.

Medwick affirms that, over the past two years and counting, leading Champ Industries has been a tremendous experience for him. A skilled team and a keen focus on the customer serve to further galvanize the company’s purpose, ensuring it stays as strong as the metal it works with.

The post Delivering What Is Promised<p class="company">Champ Industries</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

From its base in Nashville, Tennessee, John W. McDougall’s processing division is the dynamic, ISO 9001:2015-certified metal fabrication division of John W. McDougall Co. Inc., a firm with a breadth of talents. With an impressive selection of metal fabrication services for the architectural world and many other industries, this team is well-versed in bringing together insights to give customers options that its competitors often cannot.

As a proud American manufacturer, John W. McDougall prioritizes supporting suppliers that add value to metal on home soil whenever possible. It collaborates with customers whose services enhance its metal processing capabilities, providing access to more and better choices. Beyond its integrated and sophisticated architectural metal façade sister division, the company’s metal processing facility includes a well-equipped contract manufacturing outfit providing premium, custom metal components to individual clients who typically approach the company with fully developed designs in hand.

The processing division serves the company’s architectural division with premium metal manufacturing, bringing a thorough understanding of hurricane ratings due to working regularly with Florida’s building codes. This remarkable knowledge base and its access to private laboratories for product testing creates a process of system improvement that strengthens both departments as each evolves to benefit the other, giving the processing division a significant head start over competitors.

“You call us with a problem—whether it be unique part [needs] or if you’ve had a poor experience with a different vendor—and we’re going to do everything we can to bring you into our culture and offer you a solution,” says Michael Schneider, Senior Sales Engineer.

Efficient and eco-friendly
Continuous evolution is, therefore, at the heart of the entire company’s success. In keeping with this culture, the processing division established a state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot powder coating facility in 2022. This addition to its laser cutting and welding capabilities means that the company has gone from supplying only untreated components to delivering fully finished, packaged metal products ready for installation.

The AAMA2605-certified, eco-friendly powder coating allows customers to ditch toxic liquid paints in favor of a higher quality option featuring outstanding durability. That is because fired powder coatings form a highly protective shell around metal while offering improved value. Together with these benefits, preventing the waste typical of traditional spray-on lacquers results in greater efficiency.

And the company does more than invest in improved paint technology to lighten its environmental impact; it also insists on using recycled metals where possible. “We do everything in our power to ensure that we purchase post-consumer aluminum. Instead of being extracted from the Earth, these materials are recycled, reprocessed, and reintroduced into the supply chain,” says Schneider. In addition, the company aims to work with LEED-certified vendors.

Naturally, speed matters, as does problem-solving. “If you’re having problems forming a piece of metal or finding a partner to form metal, laser cut metal, or transform it in any way imaginable, you pick up the phone and call me. We can see if we can assist,” Schneider continues. Working with McDougall means that metal fabrication issues are solved immediately while, at the same time, the company’s team integrates with customer operations as a seamless addition to their supply chain.

Full processing capabilities
Achieving this symbiosis requires nurturing collaborations based on a complete knowledge of the unique demands of each customer. This goes back to the process division’s inception, beginning its life in 2019 with only a tube laser and a vision of earning $400,000 in revenue with a new focus on tube and precision sheet metal fabrication. The division is proud of the $12 million it invested in creating the next-generation facility as it exists today and the $25 million goal it set for this year considering the 40 percent annual growth it has achieved in recent years.

Today, the division boasts a comprehensive range of sophisticated equipment ready to roll out whenever customers need it. John W. McDougall’s processing division is known for keeping its equipment on par with the latest machinery available. “There is no hesitation by the ownership to invest in the company to keep us on the cutting edge,” Schneider says.

In light of these investments, the team works hard to ensure that its machines run to their full capability and capacity, and finding new ways to improve performance is considered a matter of pride. As such, its most popular high-volume, low-lead time services include tight-tolerance punch and die metal forming and its modern powder coating applications. Besides outstanding metal fabrication, the company also offers metal treatments like precision plate rolling and leveling.

Certainly, innovation is nothing new here, with the parent company having a long history of courting unusual projects. After more than 85 years in the industry, its founder, whose name the company still carries, could not possibly have envisioned the remarkable collection of laser machines—including an automated Trumpf 7000 combination laser punch machine, three Trumpf punches, a robotic welder, multiple manual weld stations, two computer numerical control (CNC) routing tables, two tube lasers capable of processing a 10” diameter round, three 10kw fiber lasers, and seven press brakes—and sophisticated finishing equipment the company owns today.

Building a culture
The team considers its relationships with customers, vendors, and its roughly 150 employees equally important, and so it makes certain that its people hold the certifications needed to excel at their work. One example is the company’s welders, all qualified under the AWS D1.1 Structural Steel Welding Code which guides them to observe top quality and safety standards in the field. This is an aspect of the company’s culture that is considered key to healthy professional relationships.

“I would say it all goes back to culture and respect. That is why people love to work here; that is why people love to work with each other,” Schneider says. “Having a team of dedicated individuals who are committed to our customers’ success just as much as our own means a lot.”

With the processing division always prepared to upgrade equipment to remain at the leading edge, this is advantageous for employees looking to advance their careers in a company that defies stagnancy. The cleanliness of everything—including restrooms—also illustrates a keen attention to detail.

To further show the leadership’s appreciation, staff members are taken good care of with remuneration packages that include tuition reimbursement and paid time off that allows employees to do their part for community charities on company time. “The management team does a great job of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of everybody that works here,” Schneider adds. Because of this, people can positively develop themselves with the support of John W. McDougall, to their benefit and the company’s.

People are heard and encouraged to provide suggestions for improvement, resulting in safety and efficiency being cultivated across all operations. In addition to giving staff paid time off to volunteer, the company has raised funds and awareness for addiction recovery for more than 50 years. In 2023, however, it increased its efforts, introducing an exciting new event. The company raised more than $30,000 in aid of Cumberland Heights, a local addiction treatment center, at its first Swing to Save golf day in September last year. The event is set to be repeated this year, with the company looking to make this a tradition. Interested people are welcome to donate or to become event sponsors by contacting John W. McDougall Co. Inc. directly via its website.

Growing together
John W. McDougall takes its annual business analysis process seriously, plotting its future growth with precision. The process is vital for achieving its goal of $40 million in revenue over the next five years while minimizing bank dependency and keeping its company culture intact.

“We are not going to sacrifice morale or culture for growth. They go hand-in-hand… while we project toward the fourth generation of family ownership in the future,” Schneider assures us. By learning from mistakes, being prepared for the future, and working hard, this team knows it can overcome any challenge.

To this end, satisfying customer needs within a lean and well-run operation is the guiding principle for taking the firm forward. While Schneider points out that metalwork, in its essence, has not changed much since its invention, he believes that new technology drives the art in modern times. By translating its lightning-fast, targeted response into meaningful customer benefits, John W. McDougall Co. Inc. is paving the way to undoubted longevity.

The post Technology-Driven Metal Transformation<p class="company">John W. McDougall Co.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Condensation, a major driver behind the limited lifespan of non-thermally broken doors, is caused due to the deficit between interior and exterior temperatures. Metal frames typically lose heat while condensation causes frost formation, which means that much more energy is needed to keep room temperatures stable. Melting frost also causes complications and increased cost of ownership with floor and hinge damage. Dawson Metal Company’s Transcend thermally broken entrance makes complications from water penetration a thing of the past.

While the race has been on to improve on the only existing solution for thermally broken doors which typically relied on lightweight metal components, Dawson’s Transcend thermal break system is based on Azon structural thermoset polyurethane which is cast using state-of-the-art technology that turns this engineered composite material into the main insulator within the frame system.

That is because the thermal break prevents condensation between inside and outside panels. The structural thermoset polyurethane component also acts as the frame to which a laser-cut door pan is custom fitted. Therefore, the polyurethane component acts as a non-conductive thermal break, preventing internal temperatures from transferring from the inside panel to the outside panel and vice versa. Part of the company’s innovation in which these polyurethane breaks are used is the seam-free frame faces and door surfaces on all Transcend thermal entrances.

These highly engineered doors also ensure best-in-class thermal efficiency with thoroughly tested specifications never seen before in the industry. To ensure that clients get only the best value for their money the product will soon be submitted for external testing with an independent certifying test agency for ASTM E283-04 standards, NFRC 100 thermal U-factor, and further performance tests. As a result, buildings fitted with these modern, thermally broken doors are guaranteed to preserve ambient room temperatures.

Arriving fully assembled and ready to function, the factory-glazed doors can be unwrapped and installed without any hassle whatsoever, meaning less time and money expended. The full-height architectural doors are installed swiftly with factory-fitted tubular push/pull sets and panic devices, plus completely welded seams.

The process of procuring and installing a Transcend thermally broken entrance could not be any easier and guaranteed consistency gives peace of mind. Dawson will assign a dedicated project manager from the inception of your project through approvals and fabrication. A Dawson Engineer is always available to offer real-time support.

For professionals in the field who know just how frustrating installing such doors can be when working with companies whose processes are typically more time-consuming and less sophisticated, working with Dawson Metal Company is always a pleasure.

Dawson Metal Company built its reputation on much more than superb quality and the latest technology. Instead, the success of its architectural doors also revolves around innovation. The company has earned its merits one high-performance custom design at a time, and its impressive selection of fully-assembled, ready-to-install products that reduce energy consumption and installation time are offered at a price that suits. Choosing these heavy-duty, high-performance, entrance doors does not include sacrificing aesthetics or energy efficiency.

Based in Jamestown, New York, this fabricator is known for some of the most beautiful main entrance doors to some of the United States’ oldest, most treasured buildings. It was also responsible for the doors on the façades of the Museum of the Bible in Washington and many others.

Beyond home soil, its doors remain popular across the Middle East, with oversized stainless steel doors installed in a famous hotel in Riyadh only a few years ago. More custom-made pieces feature in the home of the Emir of Qatar and at King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia. Elsewhere in the world, its doors can be found at the United States Embassy in Beijing and several buildings in the United Kingdom. The Mormon Church is another of its largest clients, favoring the bronze temple entrances for which it has become known.

“We are proud to bring this industry-leading entrance series, which represents the culmination of our decades of experience in architectural entrance design and manufacturing, to market,” says David Dawson, CEO and President of Dawson Metal Company. “The Transcend entrance series is a game-changer for the industry, and we are confident that our customers will be delighted with its performance and aesthetics. We look forward to seeing it grace the entrances of buildings all over the world.”

After 77 years in business, Dawson Metal Company knows what works. While many American fabricators off-shored their plants in years gone by, Dawson and its doors have stood the test of time on home soil.

“Dawson Metal Company is one of only a few fabricators globally who can accomplish the level of complex engineering and close-tolerance fabrication that our clients demand,” said Dawson in an interview with us in 2018. “The company fabricates and forms the metal into high-quality architectural products in our door division and custom enclosures in our industrial division. All aspects of our business specialize in solving challenging projects to meet customers’ specific and demanding requirements.”

The company was founded by Dawson’s grandfather, who passed through Ellis Island in 1910 as a 14-year-old from Sweden. After establishing himself as an expert in the sheet metal industry, Mr. Dawson, together with his son George, founded the business after the end of World War II. The father-and-son-duo started fabricating dishwasher enclosures and mailboxes in a 2000-square-foot facility with five employees.

George’s son, David, joined the company in 1980 and decided to harness technology to take the company into its next growth phase, never looking back. Reinventing and improving itself and its offering became part of the company’s fiber.

One of the company’s strengths is the generational knowledge of its loyal and dedicated team of 100 professionals. Their tenures are typically long, as many employees remain with the company for their entire working lives. That is a trend that the firm is working hard to continue.

As energy compliance codes become increasingly stricter across the United States, especially in cities like New York, the company sees its business continuing to expand considerably. In response to the call, it is committed to developing its range of proprietary products and capabilities and investing in technology that saves time while guarding quality. The company is also expanding its thermally broken range of doors which will all continue to be submitted to the rigors of in-house testing before being tested by independent certification authorities.

The post Thermal Broken Doors to Transcend Trends<p class="company">Dawson Metal Company</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

SyBridge Technologies offers end-to-end manufacturing solutions from design and prototyping to tooling, production, and aftermarket support. Capabilities include some of the industry’s best and most comprehensive in design-for-manufacturability, rapid prototyping, high cavitation tools, supportive injection molding, and custom parts manufacturing. The company partners with some of the world’s most well-known brands across a diverse set of high-value industries including life sciences, health and beauty, and consumer goods.

Manufacturing in Focus sat down with Senior Director of R&D, Dr. Charlie Wood and one of the company’s leading Additive Manufacturing and Engineering experts, Greg Nemecek, to learn how SyBridge Technologies is changing the industry with the latest advances in additive manufacturing.

“Additive manufacturing has been around for a number of years but primarily it has been used in the aerospace industry,” Nemecek says. “The technology right now is in a real growth spurt. There are advancements that are being made that are going to be changing the game as far as throughput on these machines and what we are doing with it.”

From hearing aids and helmets to tooling and rocket components, the technology can reliably produce an exhaustive range of products. With ever-improving materials, as well as advancements in print speed and repeatability, additive manufacturing is now a realistic option across a range of manufacturing technologies and industry use cases.

But, as a relatively new technology in most industries, additive manufacturing has much uncertainty surrounding it. “For a really long time, additive has been really challenged by people’s understanding of the capabilities,” Wood says. “There is a lack of understanding in how all of these technologies work and so there is skepticism.” One common concern is whether it can perform consistently. He says that manufacturers ask, “Can I make the same part over and over again? How much can I rely on this process I have never seen before?’”

In the case of injection molding tools, productivity and reliability are of primary concern to end users. After the technology’s steady advance over the last decade, users have seen additive enter new waters. “The hardware has gotten a lot better,” he points out. “It is ready to be deployed into real manufacturing settings, and so you’re beginning to see the impact across industries.” The SyBridge team highlighted applications where additive manufacturing has been trusted for a long time.

“Believe it or not, there are a lot of these guys in NASCAR that have these metal printers, and they are printing clutch pedals, brake pedals, accelerator pedals,” Nemecek explains, demonstrating how tool makers can learn from these innovations and develop similar trust for the technology. Wood and Nemecek discussed how SyBridge is focused on applications where additive manufacturing is used in tooling to drive improved performance, cost, and lead times. They excitedly talked about the developments around conformal cooling and how it helps drive customer outcomes.

When it comes to the typical SyBridge customer, the primary benefit is “going to be through a higher quality mold for manufacturing,” Nemecek notes. “That is really what it comes down to. That mold is going to perform better. It is going to be a performance tool if you weigh it against a traditionally manufactured tool.” In some examples, they showed how simply re-designing a few components can cut cycle time in half or better.

The technology’s ability to produce conformal cooled tooling is a great example of this high-performance potential. This cooling approach looks to optimize part cooling during the molding process by creating complex, optimized cooling channels unlocked via additive manufacturing. “When you have an injection mold or an injection molded part that has hard-to-reach areas in the mold, where the opportunity to get incremental cooling is either very difficult or impossible, with additive manufacturing, you can get the cooling up in those areas and thus reduce cycle time and part warp,” he explains. “These complex channels are easy work for these machines and we are just beginning to understand how to optimize the performance.”

Upfront costs may seem high, but it is important to see the big picture when considering the adoption of the technology. Nemecek further explains, “One thing that I always tell people to remember is that you may pay more initially for the conformally-cooled 3D-metal-printed mold components. But the upfront investment in tool design will help in cost savings down the road when that mold goes into a plastic injection press. That is where you save your money, and that saving is a return that keeps giving over and over. When those components are designed to efficiently cool a mold and dramatically reduce cycle times, the savings are tremendous. If you are running a million parts and you save 10 percent on your cycle time—which doesn’t seem like much, but you take that 10 percent and you multiply it by a million times, however many seconds—that is a lot of time saved in the press.”

The team understands the importance of communicating the advantages of harnessing the power of additive to molders. “They are checking it out but they are not all jumping right in because they have concerns about durability, about how the conformal channels can be cleaned out if they get plugged up,” Nemecek says. “There are lots of different things that they are concerned with but, one by one, we are slowly quelling those fears.”

With a track record that proves the advantages, the team is eager to transform the industry with next-generation technology, despite the challenges. This includes not only physically creating parts but also the groundbreaking software behind them. “The manufacturing industry has this reputation of being static and not innovative,” Wood says.

“I think we have a different view which is there are all these opportunities in the form of advanced factory and manufacturing technologies that enable us to make better parts and better serve the changing needs of our customers. But there is also this intersection with new software technology, like digital design, that enables radically new ways of doing things like conformal cooling. Because you are able to now design and optimize these complicated fluid structures, we can cool the parts in new ways that attain new levels of performance. And so, it is really the confluence of not only the hard technology but also the digital technologies that enables parts to be made better,” he continues.

SyBridge’s future is exciting, especially considering the team’s ongoing commitment to disrupt the industry. “We really want to bring a technology-driven view on manufacturing and to find these types of opportunities to drive customer outcomes from speed-to-market, quality, and cost standpoints,” Wood summarizes. “Data is at the heart of what we are doing, building a robust digital thread that enables new solutions. That is the bold vision of where we are going.”

The post Disrupting the Industry<p class="company">SyBridge Technologies </p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.