Industrial
12 February 20, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
Section 1 . Business & Industry
International Paper located at 981 South Hickory St., in Fond du Lac, recognizes employees with 40 years of service. From left: Gary Freund, John Hansen, L. John Dolan and Jeff Sonnenberg. Not pictured: John Bebow and Pat Smet. The 40-year employees are joined by managers, back row, from left: Chris Weber, EHS manager; Bryan Freeman, manufacturing manager; and Todd Gregoire, general manager of Fond du Lac International Paper. At left is a view of the International Paper plant.
International Paper
Fond du Lac container plant celebrates 55 years with new equipment, facility upgrades Webster’s Dictionary defines Upgrade as: raising standards to a higher grade or standard: such as upgrading equipment to replace (a software program) with a more recently released, enhanced version, to replace equipment with one that provides better performance, an upward incline.
Determined is what the Management Team, and the United Steelworkers Union Local 2-0945, is to ensure that International Paper’s Fond du Lac facility remains in Fond du Lac another 55 years. In order to enhance productivity, reduce downtime and waste, and better service
We answer to our community and to the world.
CELEBRATING 55 YEARS IN FOND DU LAC and we salute them! 1,884 Years of Combined Service in 2013.
30-39 YEARS Al Immel (39) Brad Schmitz (39) Dave Balthazor (38) Wayne Kaufman (38) Joe Koenen (37) Al Schaefer (37) Anthony Schumacher (37) Dick Parsons (34) John Marquardt (30)
20-29 YEARS Jackie Ninneman (29) Jeff Baehler (28) Lori Roeseler (28)
10-19 YEARS Dave Burgess (19) June Wilson (19) Bob St. Mary (19) Jeff A. Wilson (19) Sandy Mertens (18) Lisa Ruehl (17) Anna Wiese (17) Connie Etta (16) Jeff Schneider (16) Jim Ziesmer (16) Diane Wagner (15) Michelle Hammang (14) Kevin Kleinschmidt (14) Melanie Machmueller (14) Jason Schmidt (14) Jim Geelan (13)
Jeff Gudex (13) Keith Monte (13) Greg Semashko (13) Bryan Freeman (12) Wayne Hoffmann (12) Bruce McClintock (12) Paul Mueller (12) Steve Rockow (12) Joan Nett (11) Chris Nitschke (11) Chrystal St. Mary (11) Cory Vande Berg (11) Gwyn Conrad-Kessler (10) Slate Fuller (10) Marc Griggs (10)
Wayne Wilke (6)
6-9 YEARS
David Urmanski (4)
Michael Marion (9) Sherry Bartel (8) Chad Wegner (8) David Flynn (7) Jesse Godina (6) Aaron Buchholz (6) Rhonda Fryman (6) Ann Macha (6) Michael Mutz (6) Darrell Parkinson, Jr. (6) Mike Schwersinske (6) Amber Seibel (6) Cody Smet (6)
Team efforts within the converting department, where the board is taken and converted into boxes, and the shipping and maintenance departments are also key contributing factors in Fond du Lac’s success. Obviously, without the efforts of everyone working together as a team nothing would get done. It doesn’t matter if someone is in sales or design, customer service, HR, accounting, or manufacturing none of it would happen without the other departments.
1-5 YEARS Nicholas Bellis (5) Scott Jaschob (5) Thomas Lapine (5) Bridgett Miller (5) Christopher Neumann (5) Justin Paulson (5)
Today’s box plant organization has to look at what was once a non-conventional box market for the corrugated industry. IP sales and management had to look at penetrating the non-durable consumer products industries such as the food and beverage industry and find non-conventional ways for the “old corrugated industry” to satisfy new and existing customers’ needs and find new markets, and provide packaging solutions for companies that manufacture and/or distribute goods for industrial use, food and beverage products, plastics, paper, plumbing and many other products.
Leng Vang (5) Steven Bonilla (4) Joshua Funk (4) Tricia Egnoski (4) Joseph Gurno (4) Matthew Jeske (4) Travis Halle (3) Lance Mertzig (3) Joshua Strean (3) Allen Wetzel (3) David Andrews (2)
Bryan Freeman, site manager states, “The knowledge is in our people. The average years of service at Fond du Lac is 24 years per individual. It’s a collaboration of new ideas, new and old talents; and to survive we must become one of the lowest cost producers in the marketplace to enable us to grow our business and provide quality products.”
Erich Polnow (2) Megan Ruehl (2) Brad Schaefer (2) Jacob Gubin (1) Steven Schmitz (1)
LESS THAN 1 YEAR Melvin Schultz
“SUCCESS THROUGH PEOPLE, CUSTOMERS AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE”
WI-5001614376
Karen Babler (44) Joe Steffes (44) Abundio Velasco (44) Dave Brown (43) Joe Baltz (41) Greg Dauterman (41) Lester Elsinger (41) Mike Mielke (41) John Bebow (40) L. John Dolan (40) Gary Freund (40) John Hansen (40) Pat Smet (40) Jeff Sonnenberg (40)
Dan St. Mary (28) Dave Brzezinski (26) Keith Broadway (25) Gary Burgess (25) Mike St. Mary (25) Pam VanKirk (24) Mark Gedamke (23) Dan Lindloff (23) Mike Ptaschinski (22) Tim Reddersen (22) Jonathan Wisner (22) Rick Gilgenbach (20)
Many improvements have been made to enhance International Paper’s production and quality throughout the fiscal year of 2012. Some of the improvements have been splicer upgrades on the corrugator, new Valco glue systems on plant converting equipment, a complete overhaul and upgrade on the slotting section of the 38-inch Flexo and E & L Bridge upgrades for better alignment of the paper webs. Looking ahead for 2013 the plant is slated for a new Single Facer that will increase output and quality off the corrugator.
We are proud of our employees
40 PLUS YEARS
their customer’s needs, production and maintenance employees will be challenged once again in 2013 with capital improvements.
Todd Gregoire, Wisconsin Complex General Manager for the Fond du Lac, Manitowoc and Rockford, IL facilities states, “In order to continue to survive
in this economy we must differentiate ourselves from our competitors. We decided to enter segments of the market which our competitors are unable or unwilling to go.” The Fond du Lac plant continues its focus daily wherever needed. When it comes to world-class improvements, team members at International Paper’s Fond du Lac Container facility are the ones who make the difference. Process improvement, and producing the best quality product available is the key to survival. The need for all departments to continue to strive for improvements in productivity, quality and safety has never been greater, and many machine centers have seen excellent improvements over the last nine years. The employees at IP’s Fond du Lac plant have met and will continue to meet these challenges head on. Team members on board understand this and continue to build stable jobs for the future. The management of the Fond du Lac facility is very proud of its employees as they continue to strive to be the best in the industry. The Fond du Lac facility continues its involvement in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) as a Star Site. 2012 marked the Fond du Lac corrugated box plant’s second year under its fouryear recertification process as a Star Site in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). IP continues to support the Fond du Lac community through thousands of dollars in corrugated donations, miscellaneous community donations and foundation money contributed to the literacy program of the Fond du Lac Boys and Girls Club. It is proud to be a member of the community for 55 years. International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global paper and packaging company with manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Russia, Asia and North Africa. Its businesses include uncoated papers and industrial and consumer packaging, complemented by xpedx, the Company’s North American distribution company. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company employs about 59,500 people in more than 24 countries and serves customers worldwide. 2011 net sales were more than $26 billion. For more information about International Paper, its products and stewardship efforts, visit internationalpaper.com