Clean Air Industries manufactures genuinely made-in-America air filtration systems, as opposed to mere assemblies as many others do under the same stamp. From its recently purchased Trumpf laser flat metal cutting equipment for large, thick, steel sheets to its painting facility, electrical controls manufacturing capabilities, in-house testing, and air filtration, everything is done on-site.

As a result, Clean Air Industries is trusted by educational institutions such as vocational trade schools, where its proprietary WeldStation™ weld fume extraction technology is in high demand. The company also serves large industrial companies in the automotive and other manufacturing industries, with the ability to provide turnkey engineered air filtration systems that help ensure the health and safety of learners and employees.

While the company has a wide range of standard portable units and components that make up larger air filtration systems, every system it installs is custom-engineered to blend into customers’ operations as seamlessly as possible. Apart from the ease, the best part of buying an air filtration system from Clean Air Industries is that its facility is equipped with the most advanced technology and engineering available, demonstrating the benefits of its product ownership firsthand.

The past two years preceding the company’s most recent acquisition brought tremendous positive change and improvement. “With our new ownership group came a brand new culture, a renewed dedication to quality, and a commitment to world-class customer service,” says Head of Marketing, Theodore Rigas. In the process, the team has also developed new ways of providing customers with improved support and overall purchasing experience.

Rigas is full of praise for the new Russellville outfit. “Amtech LC has a track record of designing and developing great industrial air filtration equipment,” he says. “Combined under the Clean Air Industries banner, we can offer solutions for pretty much any air quality challenge in the industrial and educational sectors. It opens up doors to offer a lot more turnkey solutions.” Thanks to the amalgamation, Clean Air Industries now has access to Amtech LC’s invaluable skills and knowledge of industrial-power central collection units, popular for trapping a variety of airborne particulates.

Accompanying these acquisitions, the Company also built a new leadership team, appointing President Mark Salamone last year following a notable tenure at CECO Environment. He was joined by the Head of Engineering Kyle Bjork, who came over from Air Quality Engineering in the same year. Theo Rigas joined the team just under a year ago, together with Chief Commercial Officer Josh Hannah, both formerly employed by the Absolent Air Care Group.

“What makes our new leaders great is that they are all problem solvers who have a high sense of urgency. Because they have industry experience, the learning curve is not quite as steep,” says Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Part Willings. “Their experience is also helping guide our strategic and capital allocation decisions, ultimately making our time-spend more efficient,” he adds.

The company’s overall success is rooted in its employees’ expertise. Collaboration and satisfied employees who enjoy being a part of a healthy team that functions optimally are the mainstays of this reinvigorated company’s success.

The original acquisition of Clean Air America was completed in 2021 and Rigas ascribes the vastly improved corporate culture and remuneration to Willings. He “has done a phenomenal job of driving change and creating a family culture,” he says.

Alongside the evolution of its culture, several new staff members have been appointed in key positions to help set the company on a new and positive trajectory. Throughout this process, existing staff picked up the slack where necessary and helped support the change in every way they could. Of this, its leadership is particularly proud and grateful.

As part of this makeover, the team is reimagining its product offering by consulting with customers and working through what works well and what could work even better. “We are taking a high-level look at what kind of products we can redo or enhance,” Salamone says. Product issues are never ignored but instead studied and used to improve future iterations of every model.

This initiative will see the launch of a unique product at the beginning of October: the Defender Downdraft Table series—a series of next-generation modular workbenches with automatic ventilation. The Company put the new name out for its team to vote on, giving everyone a sense of ownership in this exciting new addition to its product line.

The ownership “wants people to know that everybody’s voice matters, and there are no bad ideas. It has made for a great culture and a great team,” says Rigas.

As a result, people here have built strong personal relationships in a comparatively short period. That sense of belonging has fostered a renewed sense of pride in everything the company does—something that has stood it in good stead so far. Part of the reason for this newfound strength that binds its team together is a monthly newsletter written by Willings himself, sharing significant moments in the lives of its staff members—be those personal accomplishments, big events and interests, or those of their immediate families. “The best employees do not need managing,” he says.

“You are at work more than you are at home. It is great that we bond and share fun times at and after work,” agrees Salamone.

Expertise is not all this company shares, either. The team also shares a commitment to doing good and contributing resources where they are needed, taking care of local sports teams in need of equipment, sponsoring community groups, and supporting welding organizations like the American Welding Society (AWS).

Having a team with such strong core values means that the company can effectively meet its customers’ increasing demands for shorter lead times. This capability is supported by continuous investment in equipment and technology to keep it in stride with customer needs.

As it remains focused on strategic growth, the company is ready to expand its workplace safety solutions throughout North America’s fabrication industry and beyond with the support of distribution partners while identifying new acquisition potential. “Most of our industrial customers were—and still are—working through significant backlogs, so the remainder of the year should be strong,” says Willings. “We are optimistic that 2024 could be exceptional, as our pipeline currently sits at a new record for both industrial and educational opportunities.”

The post Health & Safety Driven by Technology<p class="company">Clean Air Industries</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Selling original equipment manufacturing (OEM) products, the company grew, bringing on additional staff to fill key roles in sales, service, engineering, and programming. Bringing on others and creating a solid leadership team saw LPS build a solid client base. Looking for a new name that sounded rugged and would fit in manufacturing, the pair came up with ‘Viking’. And Viking it was, after clearing the new name with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, appliance maker Viking, and Viking Trailers. In just a few years, the company changed its name to Viking Packaging Technologies, Inc.

In 2006, the brothers partnered with internationally known packaging equipment giant Masek based in Vlasim, Czech Republic, and their company is today known as Viking Masek Packaging Technologies.

Vision and dedication
Today, the company that began as a two-man operation has expanded to encompass hundreds of staff spread across Viking Masek’s worldwide locations including its North American headquarters in Oostburg, Wisconsin, Viking Masek Robotics and Automation headquarters in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and the European sites, including Viking Masek’s Czech facility.

Along the way, the business built and expanded its Oostburg facility, premiered innovations on the Discovery Channel, was named Sheboygan County Manufacturer of the Year in 2017, 2019, and 2020, and was awarded Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Top Workplace in 2020, 2021, 2022.

For the company and the Leonhard family, 2021 was full of highs and lows. That year saw Viking Masek make a 33,000-square-foot facility expansion and welcome the formation of Viking Masek Robotics and Automation. Sadly, it also saw the passing of Robb’s older brother Rick in July after a brief, bravely fought battle with cancer.

Serving as Executive Vice President until that time, Robb was the logical choice to take over as company President, continuing to fulfill Rick’s vision for the future, passion for the industry, and commitment to Viking Masek’s staff and customers.

“Looking back to when we started this journey 19 years ago, we were in a much different position and facing different issues, but the spirit was the same,” said Leonhard when his presidency was announced on August 21, 2021. “We were a small, driven team on a mission to bring simple, automated tote-to-pallet packaging solutions to customers around the world. Today, automation has become so crucial, but our mission remains the same.”

For Leonhard and the entire team at Viking Masek, it was crucial to carry on Rick’s legacy, keep advancing the business, and strengthen the company’s involvement in the community.

“One of the things Rick and I were passionate about was giving back, being really involved and a crucial part of the community,” says Leonhard. This included re-inventing the company’s café-themed lunchroom as a European pub, naming it in Rick’s honor, and using it as a venue for a free Thanksgiving meal for the less fortunate. “Rick was very passionate about that, and it’s something we continue to do.”

Diverse clients
Offering packaging solutions for virtually any industry, Viking Masek works with customers every step of the way to ensure success. If products are dusty, wet, heavy, or even sticky, the experienced team at Viking Masek is there to offer machines, service, and solutions custom-made to the needs of every client in food and beverage, health and medical, and non-food product sectors.

Just some of the products packaged with the company’s cutting-edge equipment include coffee, cheese, candy, individual quick frozen (IQF) items, cereals, nuts and snacks, pasta, beans and rice, pet food and treats, cannabis, pills and capsules, medical testing kits, and more. The California-based Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is one valued customer, and as Leonhard describes, “That’s a market we’ve focused on since day one. We provide a lot of automated machinery lines to regional coffee roasters, from very small to very large, for packaging ground coffee, whole bean coffee, flavored coffee, and more. We love the coffee industry.”

Able to pivot quickly to meet market demands, “During COVID, our machines were used very heavily to package COVID test kits, along with other test kits,” he explains. “We sold a lot of machines for packing COVID test kits.”

Highly knowledgeable about the packaging industry, Viking Masek advises its customers on the best equipment for their needs. Coffee and tea, for example, can be packaged through Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) machines, Flat Bottom, Quad Seal, Premade Bags, Stick Pack Equipment, or Bag-in-Bag VFFS Machines.

For cheese packaging, the company’s breadth of machines includes the Viking-8SD-235, the VFFS Solitaire, the VFFS Velocity, and more. Packing cheese through intermittent and continuous motion, Viking Masek’s line of VFFS Machines can package everything from small, consumer-sized, three-side seal bags with zippers to large pillow bags intended for restaurants and food service customers.

For the first-timer
As packaging industry experts, the Viking Masek team works with both longstanding customers and new ones looking to buy their first automated lines. Realizing that purchasing automated packaging machines is a big decision and a big investment, the company maintains an informative “First-Time Buyer” FAQ section on its website. To help customers with the process, Viking Masek has a downloadable PDF of consultation questions at https://vikingmasek.com/application/files/3616/5289/4274/Viking-Masek-consultation-questions-v1.1.pdf.

In the past decade, the company has partnered with clients embarking on their automation journey much earlier in the process than was the case previously, often in the pre-construction stages. Years ago, companies would call up asking for a vertical bagger; today, Viking Masek is doing much more full-line automation and becoming involved in the early stages of everything from plant design to room layout.

Becoming a one-stop shop was both intentional and driven by market demand. Building on years of combined experience, Viking Masek has the talent, technology, and skills needed to latch onto the process at the start and make valuable contributions through to the very end.

This approach includes not only engineering, design, programming, and automation, but also service, parts, and preventative maintenance packages. All pre-owned equipment sold through Viking Masek undergoes a minimum 25-point maintenance and safety check. Thoroughly inspected by the company’s certified technicians, all used equipment “is certified to perform to Viking Masek’s exacting standards.” And just like new pieces, pre-owned equipment can be modified to suit specific customer needs.

Automation for all
In the future, Viking Masek will continue its quality work with clients of all sizes—from those who need multiple lines running to those who need just one. And of course, the company will continue to develop new innovations. Its fast Twin Velocity VFFS machine is a unique offering, rated at over 500 bags per minute. First unveiled at the Pack Expo show last year, this September saw the company bring the popular machine back for this year’s show in Las Vegas.

“The businesses we deal with all require automation, automation, automation,” Leonhard emphasizes. “That’s been good for us because we’ve been ahead of the curve. We can do the whole thing—supplying that tote-to-pallet, fully automated line instead of just little pieces—so we’re a one-stop shop for customers who need automation,” he says. “Right now in the industry, automation is king. Everyone needs to automate because employees are getting harder and harder to find.”

At present, the company’s Robotics and Automation Division is exploring other areas, such as food preparation machines. And even though the company keeps growing, it continues to uphold its foundational values.

“We have been very fortunate and blessed. We started as a family organization, and we’re still a family organization. We view our employees and teammates as family, and we invest in them. Some people just say that, but It’s important to us and we do it. Our machinery is only going to be as good as the people who design it, maintain it, train on it. Our machinery has come a long way since the beginning, and that’s a testament to the talent, determination, and drive for excellence of our people.”

The post Proof That Top-Class Automated Packaging Takes Top-Class People<p class="company">Viking Masek</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.