Manufacturing Global - July 2014

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3D DESIGN SOLUTIONS Inspire Morgan and Autodesk partnership

GM Responds to Safety Concerns with Six Sigma Initiatives Foxconn’s Big Data Strategy Remains on Course for 2020 Transformation

TOP 10: SUPPLY CHAINS

Rolls Royce Strive to Reduce the Inspiration Gap

IN THIS ISSUE

EDITOR’S COMMENT

INDUSTRY LEADERS

Embrace a Culture of Change

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Operations Excellence

W H I L E I T I S O F T E N assumed that SMEs and

Supply Chain Management

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Bombardier

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startups have more flexibility and entrepreneurial flair to be able to respond to the latest industry trends, we take a look this month at how some of the leading manufacturing organisations are displaying their own flair in preparing for the trends of the future.

Morgan Motors is a renowned niche automotive manufacturer and has entrusted the necessity of improved consumer customisation capabilities with tech specialists, Autodesk. We spoke to Jon Wells of the former and Tim Norman of the latter about the partnership and how pivotal an industry trend they see consumer customisation moving forward.

Other hot topics on the agenda this July are big data, six sigma and the so-called inspiration gap, which are discussed by some of the most recognised names in global manufacturing; Foxconn, General Motors and Rolls Royce respectively.

Finally, we count down the top 10 supply chains being managed globally at present, with a very familiar face coming out on top once again.

Delkor Systems Enjoy the issue!

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RMD Industries

Matthew Staff

Associate Editor matthew.staff@wdmgroup.com 3

CONTENTS

FEATURES

This month focus: the reclamation after mine closures and the the latest undeground mining equipment

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Operational Excellence

Manufacturing IT Foxconn’s Big Data Strategy Remains on Course for 2020 Transformation

People & Skills Rolls Royce Joins the Drive to Reduce the Manufacturing Inspiration Gap

TOP 10

Morgan Motors Embraces Consumer Customisation with Autodesk’s 3D Design Solutions

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The world’s best Supply Chains

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Supply Chain Management GM Responds to Safety Concerns with Intensive Six Sigma Initiative

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CONTENTS

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Artiflex Manufacturing

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Bombardier

COMPANY PROFILES This month we focus on some the best companies in the manufacturing sector - take a look at Treger Plastics on p.112

CANADA 48 Bombardier

USA 56 ArtiFlex Manufacturing 66 Delkor Systems 74 Olympus Controls 82 Hartness International 90 Orthman Conveying

AUSTRALIA 98 RMD Industries

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July 2014

106 Association: Singapore Manufacturing Federation

AFRICA

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Delkor Systems

112 Treger Plastics

LATIN AMERICA 126 Association: CINAE aresa 132 M Ensambladora

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Olympus Controls

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RMD Industries

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Hartness International

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Treger Plastics

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Orthman Conveying

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Association: CINAE

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O P E R AT I O N A L E X C E L L E N C E

Morgan Motors Embraces Consumer Customisation with Autodesk’s 3D Design Solutions The tech giant, along with both HP and Nvidia, has teamed up with the niche automotive company to help maintain Morgan’s notoriously unique style and design of cars.

Jon Wells at Morgan, and Tim Norman at Autodesk discuss what the partnership means W R I T T E N B Y : M A T T H E W S TA F F

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OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE Manufacturing Digital (MD): Could you talk me through how the partnership between Autodesk and Morgan came to be and the triggers which sparked this relationship?

Jon Wells & Tim Norman (J&T): Jon, Morgan Motor Company’s Head of Design, introduced Autodesk software to the company when he joined, almost eight years ago. He was in his third year at University, during a work placement, and wanted to use the software that he’d been trained in and taught what he knew.

Jon formed the link between the visual-based aesthetic designer and the engineering team, drawing on technical and 3D and surfacing Customisability is paramount

knowledge to interpret the aesthetics into an actual, physical component.

MD: How did the partnership fit into each company’s, but especially Morgan’s overall strategy and its general continuous improvement plans?

J&T: Morgan Motors combines the use of state-of-the-art technology with traditional manufacturing techniques.

Using advanced software from Autodesk (Design Suite Ultimate which includes AutoCAD, Showcase, Alias, 3ds Max), designers can visualise their ideas and imagine things, pushing the boundaries of what engineers say is or isn’t possible due to budget, money or workflow constraints. This helps attract young, emerging talent and improve the efficiency of their workflow.

Making design software easily available to students is therefore hugely important to both Autodesk and Morgan Motors as it helps give students an advantage when applying for jobs and gives companies the opportunity to bring in fresh young talent with ideas that can radicalise and improve the status 10

July 2014

F E AT U R E A R T I C L E S H O R T E N E D H E A D L I N E

“Morgan’s working environment encourages innovation and creativity that succeeds” – Jon Wells Morgan Motor Company’s Head of Design Video: Morgan Motors Accelerates with Autodesk, HP, and NVIDIA quo. Autodesk is heavily vested in education and making its software freely available to students to feed into the next generation of designers, such as at Morgan Motors.

Morgan’s working environment also encourages innovation and creativity that succeeds. Every member of the team has a completely different background and skillset and every part of the process is sat within 30 square foot. This means the company knows about project progress in real-time and can adapt swiftly to

any changes and avoid hold-ups.

The team isn’t only responsible for design and engineering, but also for testing and approvals, managing all the parts and doing the entire brand and marketing. Speed and efficiency are key here and that’s where Autodesk software comes into play.

Morgan Motors has to be able to model something with accuracy, visualise it, commit to it and then demonstrate the idea to the shop floor and the other members of the team so they understand it.

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OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

“The use of the design tools enables Morgan Motors to continue to build cars with traditional methods, blending traditional body and trim with modern drivetrain and underpinnings” – Jon Wells

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M O R G A N M O T O R S E M B R A C E S C O N S U M E R C U S T O M I S AT I O N

MD: What is the process that occurs through Morgan’s use of the 3D design solutions from Autodesk, also comprising the HP and Nvidia software, and what advantages do these solutions bring?

on the tools we use. Powerful workstations (both mobile and static) need to be efficient and reliable.

J&T: Design at Morgan is very much real-time. Engineers of all different fields, designers and craftsmen on the shop floors work together throughout the development of any new product.

The ability to quickly adjust and visualise new designs accurately is very powerful. Designs can be evaluated and signed off in confidence. Then accurate data can be relayed to the coachbuilders hand beating panel work.

The nature of handmaking one off cars using traditional methods can be slow. Being confident of a surface’s volume and proportions on screen first prevents expense and time spent on costly rework later on.

News of any new model release can drastically affect existing sales of current Morgan models. This means getting to market quickly following a concept launch. In turn putting extreme importance

J&T: The use of the design tools enables Morgan Motors to continue to build cars with traditional methods, blending traditional body and trim with modern drivetrain and underpinnings.

The character, story and personality injected in this nature of manufacturing is only made possible by being able to increase the efficiency of the upfront design work. 3D rapid prototyping, CFD analysis and modern CAD design /visualisation work in harmony with hand beaten panel work, carpentry and leather trimming.

A fusion of old and new which is unique to Morgan cars and gives them a clear differentiator in the market.

MD: In what ways does this affiliation give Morgan a differentiator to market rivals?

MD: How much is the trend of consumer customisation playing a role in the importance of this partnership, and how do you expect the trend to develop over the coming months and years?

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OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE J&T: Consumer customisation is something that Morgan Motors takes very seriously. The British motor company featured a very interesting piece of car configuration technology at the Geneva Car Show earlier this year, thanks to its partnership with Autodesk and the technology behind the design process.

The configurator (3D visualisation and virtual prototyping software called Autodesk VRED) allowed users to configure their dream Morgan 3 Wheeler based on the array of options available to them with the 2014 model.

There are some interesting challenges in this project: one of Morgan’s key selling points is the extreme personalisation possible with their “bespoke” cars. For instance, for a modest premium you can basically choose any colour you want for your new Morgan’s paintwork.

The configurator on the stand made use of an iPad as the primary input device – to select colours for the paint and the leather as well as the various decals and options available to you – with the results generated in close to real-time and displayed on the wall-mounted screen.

This fits in well with Autodesk’s 14

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“Autodesk and HP continue to work closely with small companies like Morgan providing valuable expertise in understanding how to get the most from their software / hardware” – Jon Wells own strategy to democratise design and to make its software available to designers, consumers and the Maker Movement. Autodesk has developed many consumer-facing products and, by giving students access to technology and also making software available on a pay as you go basis, the idea is that more people can use the software and become designers than ever before.

MD: How do both Autodesk and Morgan expect this partnership to grow in the future and what exciting projects are in the pipeline as a result?

J&T: We plan to continue to work

E N G I N E E R I N G T H E W O R L D ’ S FA S T E S T C A R

Inside Morgan: 100 Years of Pickersleigh Road closely together to incorporate innovations in technology to better serve our customers.

Every Morgan is designed bespoke to its owner but to be able to increase the speed in which we can visualise a car for the client (in doing so provide more alternatives) adds to the unique tailored experience.

Time and money can be further saved in the upfront design stage as

the technology evolves. Autodesk and HP continue to work closely with small companies like Morgan providing valuable expertise in understanding how to get the most from their software / hardware.

There are currently two very exciting new products scheduled over the next 18 months. Both of which are currently being designed and evaluated on screen.

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M A N U FAC TU R I N G IT

Foxconn’s Big Data Strategy Remains on Course for 2020 Transformation Hon Hai Precision Industry’s target of redirecting its focus towards becoming a machine-to-machine and big data organisation is on track following its recent 21vianet Group partnership W R I T T E N B Y: M A T T H E W S T A F F

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M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T FOXCONN HAS STEPPED up its big data strategy in recent months as more and more information comes to light regarding its 2020 transformation target.

The latest announcements have comprised a partnership with China’s leading telecom data company, 21 Vianet Group.

Meanwhile, the core regions of focus, both in China and Taiwan have also come to light as Hon Hai Precision Industry’s overall goal of becoming a machine-tomachine (M2M) manufacturer and big data firm begins to take shape.

Despite being the world’s largest electronics manufacturing services provider, infamous for being the engineering drive being the likes of the Apple iPhone and iPad as well as Amazon’s Kindle, CEO, Terry Gou has long indicated that enhancing the organisation’s big data influence will be pivotal to its future.

The year 2020 is the deadline for the completed transformation, and the company hopes that the overhaul will help to alleviate the pressure from its slowly dwindling contract manufacturing operations.

Killing two birds with one 18

July 2014

Foxconn manufactures EcoPod data center modules for HP. Here’s an EcoPod deployed eBay’s data center in Salt Lake City, Utah

‘The year 2020 is the deadline for the completed transformation, and the company hopes that the overhaul will help to alleviate the pressure from its slowly dwindling contract manufacturing operations’

F O X C O N N ’ S B I G D ATA S T R AT E G Y

progressive stone, Gou is positive that the move will naturally coincide with the general trend of more extensive cloud-end applications coming to the fore in the future, across numerous industries, making a market-leading big data presence a much more sustainable prospect of business over the next decade.

“We now only need 15 minutes to complete the design for a mould by having customers, suppliers, and design and manufacturing units discuss the blueprint via cloud-end

connections simultaneously, a far cry from around one week in the past,” said Gou in a recent interview.

As part of the transformation, Foxconn will design containerised data centres, fully equipped with photovoltaic panels to produce renewable energy generation capabilities, while inevitably speeding up dramatically its deployment of IT infrastructure.

April’s announcement that the company would be joining forces with 21Vianet has perhaps provided the 19

M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T

‘Big data industry is a big opportunity for us to add jobs, build new economic boosters and build a technology-strong Guizhou’ - Chen Min’er, Governor of Guizhou

Foxconn HQ most significant step towards its aim so far though, assigning them with the task of building its data centres.

Initially, a new-generation data centre will be launched focusing on business from Tianjin, Shenzhen and Guiyang in China, as well as Kaohsuing in Taiwan.

The state-of-the-art modern data centre is anticipated to not only carry Hon Hai towards its overall goal, but consequently double its revenue to NT$10 trillion over the next 10 years.

Based in Beijing, 21Vianet should prove to be the perfect bridge between Foxconn’s HQ in Taiwan 20

July 2014

and its key target markets in China; the former optimising its expertise in data centre construction and its presence in China’s cloud network, and the latter contributing its global equipment manufacturing capabilities to also aid with 21Vianet’s supply of products.

“This partnership will further enhance the technical capabilities of 21Vianet’s self-built data centres in terms of speed and scale, and help the Company remain ahead of the growing demand for data centres and cloud services in China and abroad,” the company

F O X C O N N ’ S B I G D ATA S T R AT E G Y

said in an announcement.

Alongside its main Provinces of interest in China - Tianjin and Shenzhen - the new Guiyang zone within Guizhou province is perhaps the most intriguing, with its own goals coinciding with those of Foxconn resulting in a collaborative push towards enhanced prosperity by 2020.

This consists of a green-tunnel data centre and R&D hub costing US$35 million and epitomising the province’s identification of big data as a way to boost its economy.

As one of the least developed regions in that respect, its affiliation with the likes of Foxconn and 21Vianet - who were both on hand at a promotional event in Beijing recently alongside Guizhou representatives - could potentially bring the region in line with the rest of the country’s GDP in just six years.

“Big data industry is a big opportunity for us to add jobs, build new economic boosters and build a technology-strong Guizhou,” said Chen Min’er, governor of Guizhou in relation to the partnership.

“We hope the data analytical business will help lift people’s

personal income in the coming years.”

Wu Hequan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, added: “Guizhou is betting on big data bringing the region more lowerstream businesses and services that are important for its development.

It is possible for the region to leapfrog, economically taking advantage of big data industry.”

Foxconn’s own 2020 vision will be pivotal to the success of the Guiyang zone, and it is these complementary synergies and mutually beneficial relationships which will undoubtedly work in the company’s favour as it edges nearer to the deadline.

Gou has unveiled his ‘roadmap’ from this point onwards and Hon Hai’s transition to becoming a M2M, big data-focused manufacturing company is already ahead of schedule.

This, combined with the promise that internal skills development will also be preferred to automation and staff layoffs has also won the company a lot of positive press, which both it, and China, will be all too happy to promote as its big data drive enters the business end towards completion.

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S U P P LY C H A I N M A N A G E M E N T

GM Responds to Safety Concerns with Intensive Six Sigma Initiative General Motors is making Black Belt Six Sigma certification a necessity among its engineers as it looks to make recently documented safety shortfalls a thing of the past W R I T T E N B Y : M A T T H E W S TA F F

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July 2014

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT GENERAL MOTORS (GM) has said all the right things in recent months to offset the criticisms regarding an ignition switch issue that resulted in both deaths and recalls, and is now turning to advanced Six Sigma and an overhaul of its entire production chain to ensure similar incidents are avoided in the future.

GM produces vehicles across 30 countries and is one of the world’s leading automakers, responsible for the likes of Chevrolet, Buick, Opel and Vauxhall, but has had its reputation severely dented following the recalling of more than two-and-a-half million cars, which have since been linked Tim Solso, Chairman of GM

to 13 deaths and 54 crashes.

The Valukas Report which brought these figures to light has put intense heat on Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mary Barra and Chairman, Tim Solso, who have since described the report as extremely ‘thorough’, ‘brutally tough’ and ‘deeply troubling’.

Conclusion: Change is needed at GM. In the immediate term, 15 employees have been dismissed from the organisation, a further five severely disciplined and a compensation fund has been set up for the people affected by the ignition default.

In the long term though, the emphasis has turned towards an

“The Board, like management, is committed to changing the company’s culture and processes to ensure that the problems described in the Valukas report never happen again” – Tim Solso, Chairman of GM

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F E AT U R E A R T I C L E S H O R T E N E D H E A D L I N E

GM Press Conference entire change of culture within the company, with Solso guiding, but not dictating, Barra in a complete overhaul of standards throughout the company, from the top down.

“The Board, like management, is committed to changing the company’s culture and processes to ensure that the problems described in the Valukas report never happen again,” the Chairman said in a company release.

“Together, we have to understand that the attitudes and practices that allowed this failure to occur will not

be tolerated,” Barra added. “Also, if we think that cleaning up this problem and making a few process changes will be enough, we are badly mistaken. Our job is not just to fix the problem. Our job must be to set a new industry standard for safety, quality, and excellence.”

The call-backs have cost the company a total of $1.7 billion over the past year and this figure is expected to rise further as more recalls and compensation claims come to light. GM’s stocks have also 25

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

“Our job is not just to fix the problem. Our job must be to set a new industry standard for safety, quality, and excellence” – Mary Barra, CEO of GM been hit by a 14 percent decline.

The company’s rallying cry has been for enhanced transparency, which isn’t necessarily easy in a 220,000 people-strong organisation, but will theoretically improve levels of product development, safety, customer satisfaction, and, perhaps most importantly, employee development.

“If you have high-performance teams and quality leadership and the right people in the right jobs — and they’re aligned around guiding 26

July 2014

principles, vision, mission, values and strategy — a lot can happen.

And I think that’s the first step in terms of really making long-term permanent change in a company,” Solso told The Detroit News.

“I think as tragic as the recall is, one benefit is that it’s going to be a catalyst to change General Motors much faster than if it hadn’t happened.”

Accountability has been the second buzz word to be delivered

by GM in the fallout from the report,

GM RESPONDS TO SAFETY CONCERNS

putting even more pressure and reliance on the workforce to take responsibility for what they are delivering from the factories.

To help them reach those required levels, Barra and Solso have highlighted the significance of Six Sigma, which has already saved the company billions of dollars over the years, but can still prove even more beneficial moving forward.

“It provided a common language, it provided for transparency,” Solso said in his interview with the Detroitbased site. “So at one level we want Six Sigma at General Motors for eliminating waste and variation and reducing costs, but in another way, it’s a way of saying, ‘You know, we’re going to be different.’ ” Up until now, Six Sigma has primarily been used in its engineering operations but the plan is to now implement the same culture across the entire organisation, infiltrating areas of supply chain management, product development, and of course, recall procedures.

The process has already begun too with the company appointing Jeff Boyer as the new Vice President of Global Vehicle

Safety, while 35 product safety investigators have been employed to address incidents such as those experienced recently, more quickly.

The company’s Speak up for Safety programme also encourages employees to voice their concerns over performance and safety, and finally, a Global Product Integrity arm has been introduced to improve overall safety and production quality.

All of this has been done to, in Barra’s words, “restore honour and respect” to GM, and given the success of Six Sigma initiatives within the organisation in the past, the signals of intent alone should take some heat off the manufacturing heavyweight as it begins its road to redemption.

“We are working hard to improve our ability to identify and respond to safety issues,” Boyer explained in a company statement. “…we are encouraging and empowering our employees to raise their hands to address safety concerns…and we have set new requirements for our engineers to attain Black Belt certification through Design for Six Sigma.”

“We will emerge from this situation a stronger company,” Barra concluded.

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PEOPLE & SKILLS

Rolls Royce Joins the Drive to Reduce the Manufacturing Inspiration Gap Training and development of young, aspiring engineers is an ongoing topic of concern for the manufacturing industry, but one of Rolls Royce’s prodigies is positive that there is a change in attitude developing within the ranks W r i t t e n b y : M AT T H E W S TA F F

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PEOPLE & SKILLS MUCH HAS BEEN made of the so-called inspiration gap within manufacturing at present, but there are signs that some of the industry’s leading protagonists are promoting an environment of change.

In a recent Epicor study in the UK, more than 300 manufacturing executives put their company’s inspiration rating at only 5.7 out of 10, indicating the need for a change of mindset.

Only six percent of respondents in the survey rated themselves as highly inspired while nearly twothirds signaled the need for the industry to adapt significantly if it is to achieve future success.

To get the inside track on what it is like trying to break into the industry, Manufacturing Digital spoke to Jessica Charter who has recently completed a one year placement at Rolls Royce as a Manufacturing Systems Engineer and believes, through her own intensive experiences with the manufacturing giant, that more can be done to encourage the next generation of skills into the sector.

Manufacturing Digital (MD): Could you firstly describe 30

July 2014

your early ambitions and your subsequent decision to enter the world of manufacturing?

Jessica Charter (JC): I’d always been interested in the concept of engineering, taking something and seeing what was possible in order to improve on it. The manufacturing sector seemed structured and process orientated which appealed to me, given my analytical educational background. Then when I finished my A-levels in math, physics, design and technology I opted for a year in industry and was lucky to get a good position at Rolls Royce.

MD: In what ways did your time at Rolls Royce confirm your interest in continuing this path into the industry?

JC: The experience of working at Rolls Royce was amazing and opened my eyes up to the manufacturing industry and the opportunities it offers. It fuelled my interest in aerospace engineering and led me to carry out an extended project researching the fundamental principles of a Gas Turbine Engine.

R E D U C Ioption, N G T H E M A N U FA C T U R I N G “As a career manufacturing provides you with the opportunity to learn on the job and develop transferable skills.

If you have passion you can go into any manufacturing role and succeed”

I N S P I R AT I O N G A P

– J essica Charter, Manufacturing Systems Engineer graduate I took my interest a step further by attending a training course and examination and gained a Level 1 Award on Basic Holistic Gas Turbines.

MD: How well were you received by fellow workers as a young person entering the industry JC: I really loved working at Rolls Royce. Not only are the people there very friendly but as a young person and a female I was welcomed, taken seriously and treated with respect from more experienced

members of the team – like I’d worked there for a few years, not just a pre-university student.

MD: Do you feel that common perceptions and images of getting into manufacturing were confirmed or slightly off from your early experience at a major company like Rolls Royce?

JC: Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect – but I quickly found that I loved the culture and values in this branch of the manufacturing 31

PEOPLE & SKILLS industry. What I liked most of all was knowing that the day to day work I did resulted in continuous measureable improvement in the company’s manufacturing systems.

MD: A lot has been made of the so-called ‘inspiration gap’ currently occurring within manufacturing, so do you feel that you have been suitably ‘inspired’ and encouraged to enter this industry throughout the education process?

JC: I would put my level of inspiration at nine out of 10. I think manufacturing is inspiring in that you can take a process and look to make it better. Once you’ve done that you can take and apply that knowledge to other situations, sharing it with the team around you so everyone can tangibly see what you have done that makes a difference to the business.

MD: What is the general feeling among your peers and people you have learnt alongside in regards to levels of inspiration to enter the industry at such a young age?

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R E D U C I N G T H E M A N U FA C T U R I N G I N S P I R AT I O N G A P

JC: As a career option, manufacturing provides you with the opportunity to learn on the job and develop transferable skills.

If you have passion you can go into any manufacturing role and succeed. However I do feel that the manufacturing sector has not been very well understood and many do not consider it as a career option simply because they are not exposed to its true potential.

MD: In the long term, what are your personal aspirations, and how do you feel that the industry and its ability to inspire young people will develop?

JC: One day I’d like to lead and inspire more people into engineering and also the manufacturing industry.

I would especially like to inspire more women into manufacturing as I believe that they have a great deal to add to the sector.

Aside from this I think the public image of the industry is actually far from the reality of it, which is one of the main problems in terms of inspiring young people. You don’t really know what it’s like to work in the sector until you’ve

tried it and many people just think it’s about factories and machinery.

Actually it’s just as much about people working effectively together - as in the services industries.

The difference in manufacturing is that you all contribute to a tangible finished product to be proud of at the end of the day.

MD: What needs to change to encourage more young people into manufacturing?

JC: There are definitely not as many young people in the industry as there should be. I would urge anyone to give it a try and have no preconceptions.

This lack of attracted talent and skills is probably down to the image that the industry portrays more than anything else, so a key development would be to work on this image – to let a true picture of the inspirational culture to shine through.

My experiences are only good and suggest that the sector is full of inspired people who can help to overcome this image problem.

For me it was great to be part of a team of professionals all working towards a common goal.

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TOP 10

SUPPLY

Globalisation and consumer demand are making component of the manufacturing process, so we mastering its international logistics operations ac

CHAINS

the art of supply chain management a pivotal take a look at the leading protagonists ccording to Gartner’s latest research

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TOP 10

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Nike Inc. Sector: Apparel

Like many of the companies in this countdown, Nike’s challenges arise from its global prominence and ensuring that it is being seen to act in a responsible manner, not just in its immediate vicinity, Nike’s facilities in Vietnam

but influencing that same ethos throughout the entire supply chain.

Nike achieves this by focusing on the roots of potential problems to ensure sustainability and a personable nature with its partners. www.nike.com

Dell’s facilities in Poland

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Dell Sector: IT

Similarly, Dell sees the importance of industry collaboration as key in optimising its supply chain, making sure that the competitive nature of the tech industry doesn’t overshadow the

importance of mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers.

As a result, the company enforces an environment of shared expertise and best practices to get the entire value chain reading from the same hymn sheet. www.dell.com 37

TOP 10

Colgate-Palmolive operations in Colombia

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Colgate-Palmolive Sector: Consumer Goods

Supply chain visibility has been the trigger for Colgate-Palmolive’s supply chain success, while also emphasising the importance of accelerated time to market through its affiliation with SAP over the past 38

July 2014

20 years. Its global network and subsequent reliance on internet sales has recently made its supply chain even more complex than before, making partnerships with the likes of SAP even more pivotal to move with the times. www.colgatepalmolive.com

S U P P LY C H A I N S

07

Coca-Cola Sector: Beverages

Coca-Cola has openly stated that it wants to save as much as $1 billion through its supply chain in the next two years, with the company pinpointing its logistics operations as a cost-

cutting opportunity following its recent net income decline.

This comes as part of its productivity and reinvestment initative which pays special significance to global supply chain optimisation and IT standardisation. www.cocacola.com

Coca-cola has an established and extensive global supply chain

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06

Samsung Sector: IT

As a member of the supply chain hall of fame, Samsung Electronics’ adherence to six sigma and lean strategies has spread its influence across its partners too.

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Its infamous ‘Best Practice Analysis’ philosophy incorporates evaluation of some of the world’s leading companies to both learn from and improve upon the most efficient models in manufacturing. www.samsung.com

S U P P LY C H A I N S

05

Cisco Systems Sector: IT

Cisco Systems is another to base its supply chain motives on lean principles; once again filtering this through its entire operations, from manufacturer to customer.

The main advantages enjoyed as a result comprise retiring obsolete processes, reducing or eliminating waste, reducing costs and creating value through its engineering capabilities. www.cisco.com 41

TOP 10

04

Procter & Gamble Sector: Consumer Goods

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is driving supply chain optimisation through its global sustainability goals, which the company has become so renowned for over the years.

Its commitment to eliminating 42

July 2014

deforestation in its palm oil supply chain by educating and improving practices alongside its suppliers has won the company great acclaim as it looks to find unique and environmentally significant solutions to supply chain challenges. www.pg.com

S U P P LY C H A I N S

03

Intel Sector: IT

Visibility and transparency are becoming key components of a trustworthy supply chain, especially among globally operating organisations, and Intel has been vigilant in meeting

the demands of this trend.

The chip manufacturer has subsequently partnered with other companies in the IT industry to create and promote a ‘Transparency Task Force’. www.intel.com

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02

Unilever Sector: Consumer Goods

Winning the title of best supply chain in Europe, not for the first time, Unilever has long been applauded for its excellence in the area. The company has mastered its sustainable operations on a principle of leveraging eight key disciplines consisting of engineering, manufacturing, procurement, logistics, customer service, planning, quality and safety. www.unilever.com

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TOP 10

S U P P LY C H A I N S

01

Apple Sector: IT

While Unilever’s dominance in the European supply chain stakes comes as no surprise, neither does Apple’s stranglehold in the global battle.

Being a marked man at the top of the pile inevitably presents its own set of unique challenges, and Apple has come in for criticism in the past, and most recently due to the speed it can get its products to market.

Once again though, Apple has responded accordingly, seeking to increase the control that it has over its supply chain by manufacturing its own components and increasing the size of orders.

Combine this internal control with its already renowned visibility and hands-on approach to the design of its products, and one of the world’s most influential brands is likely to hold on to top spot for many more years to come. www.apple.com

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Bombardier

Bombardier Introduces the C

Bombardier, one of the world’s most prestigious aerospac launches the brand new Challenger 350.

Written by: Abigail Phillips

Produced by: Richard Gentile

Challenger 350

ce manufacturers,

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BOMBARDIER

Canadian multinational aerospace and transportation company Bombardier holds the distinction of being the world’s only manufacturer of both planes and trains. Headquartered in Montreal, the company operates in two segments, Bombardier Aerospace and Bombardier Transportation, and employs over 71,000 people worldwide.

Transportation division In 1941, mechanic JosephArmand Bombardier founded the company—originally aimed to be a snowmobile manufacturer—under 50

July 2014

the name L’Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée. The company centered on snowmobiles until its acquisition of Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of both snowmobiles and tramways, in 1970. This served as Bombardier’s foray into the rail business. Their industry involvement increased in the mid 1990’s due to the light-rail transit boom. Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of Budd Company, Pullman Company, and American Locomotive Company/ Montreal Locomotive Works.

Within Canada, they acquired Hawker Siddeley Canada’s Thunder Bay Facilities and the

M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Urban Transportation Development Corporation, as well as Mexico’s Concarril.

In 2001, Bombardier acquired Adtranz, a manufacturer of trains used throughout Germany and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Bombardier took over part of British Rail’s Research and Development facilities after privatization. With 64 production and engineering sites in 26 countries and 19 service centers across the world, Bombardier Transportation is a global leader in the rail industry.

Aerospace division Bombardier broke into the aerospace business in 1986 upon their acquisition of Canadair, which had just recorded the largest corporate loss in Canadian history.

Soon, de Havilland Canada, Short Brothers, and Learjet operations were also acquired, the three of which now account for over half of the company’s revenue.

The Aerospace division operates under three separate groups: commercial aircraft, business aircraft and customer service. The company offers both long range and ultra long-range aircraft. Among w w w. b o m b a r d i e r. c o m

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The Perfect Fit

Premier supplier to many of the world’s largest Tier 1 and OEM aerospace companies for solid, tapered, laminated and edge-bonded shims and details.

HUGGINS METAL FINISHING INC. DBA SULLIVAN PRECISION METAL FINISHING

FOR THE FINISHING TOUCH SPMF provides NDT, Chem. Processing, and Organic Coating with excellence and quality for our customers.

P: 573-468-8049

F: 573-468-2182

www.spmf.com

Tel: +1 (905) 471-6050 I info@shimco.com I www.shimco.com

Avmax Executive Interiors (AEI), a division of Avmax Aviation Services Inc within the Avmax Group of companies, has a 45,000 sq ft manufacturing facility located 15 minutes west of Montreal; with full VVIP interior cabinetry capability with a custom paint, finishing and upholstery shops, 2 CNC Router machines, sheet metal fabrication and licensed engineering on site. Avmax Executive Interiors has proven it can deliver excellent workmanship with on time delivery, no matter how small or big your program is.

INDUSTRIES TRIDENT INC Since 1976 Trident Industries Inc. has maintained as strong presence as a provider of mechanical products to the aerospace industry driven by a culture of continuous improvement to ensure a service of superior quality.

INFO@TRIDENTINDUSTRIES.CA

WWW.TRIDENTINDUSTRIES.CA

For more information contact us at 450.424.9636 or visit our website at www.avmaxgroup.ca

BOMBARDIER their fleet, the aircraft with the strongest heritage is the Learjet.

Learjet is an American manufacturer of business jets that was founded in 1960 by William Powell Lear and has been a subsidiary of Bombardier since 1990. Bombardier manufactures both the Challenger 300 and the 350. The company launched the 350 in May of 2013 at the EBACE (European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Challenger 350 Bombardier designed the 350 with feedback on the 300 model from owners and operators. The 350 highlights the evolution of the 300, which has been in service since 1999. Many of the same suppliers used in the construction of the 300 were retained for the 350, and the Challenger jets are built primarily at their facility in Montreal.

Rockwell Collins developed an upgraded version of the avionics, installing their Proline 21 system with standard synthetic vision in the cockpit. Honeywell designed new twin engines for the aircraft that release fewer emissions. The jet

M A N U FA C T U R I N G

was engineered to have better fuel efficiency than traditional aircraft and winglets were redesigned to improve aerodynamics. The cabin has been upgraded with new interiors, including leather seating and a spacious divan as well as a new HD management system provided by Lufthansa Technik.

The 350 also has 20 percent larger windows than the 300, allowing for more natural light to enter the cabin.

Passengers conducting business or correspondence on their journey have access to Wi-Fi, and those looking to relax can choose from a wide range of media options.

Because Bombardier’s jets are multi-use, they needed to create an ideal space for passengers to both work and entertain while in flight.

“Either you work or you’re home or sometimes both, so the idea was to offer an environment that could emulate what passengers are used to in their homes and offices,” Aurélie Sabatié, Senior Adviser PR and Communications at Bombardier explained.

The aircraft can comfortably hold up to 10 passengers plus crew. It was designed for transatlantic w w w. b o m b a r d i e r. c o m

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BOMBARDIER

flights, carrying passengers from New York to London or Paris or from New York to Los Angeles nonstop.

It will also connect Paris to Dubai.

At EBACE, The 350 was introduced with Bombardier’s worldwide launch partner, Netjets.

Founded in 1962, Netjets was the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world. A Berkshire Hathaway Company, Netjets offers fractional ownership and rental of private business jets and announced their order of 20 of the Challenger 350’s at the launch event. Bombardier has also sold 20 of the jets to Flexjet 54

July 2014

and 20 to Vistajet. At the 2013 Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) at Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport, Minsheng Financial Leasing— the largest financier of business jets in China—ordered ten of the Challenger 350’s.

Projects in development Bombardier is currently developing several other aircraft options across their platform. They successfully launched the Learjet 75 last year, with an airframe based on the 40 and 45 models. Over the next two years, they will be unveiling two

M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Company Information

new aircrafts: the Global 7000 and 8000, both of which are ultra long-range jets. Of Bombardier’s success, Sabatié said, “Bombardier is a leading business aircraft manufacturer partly because we have the most comprehensive portfolio of products.”

The company’s expanding fleet is versatile enough to accommodate customers whose needs are evolving. “We offer a variety of aircraft, from smaller jets to the long-range jets, so we are able to accommodate our customers throughout their lives. Most of them start with the smaller aircrafts and then grow with the range of products that we offer,” Sabatié said. Bombardier’s client list has grown alongside the company, securing its position as a global business aircraft leader.

We look far ahead to see and shape the future of mobility. Our goal is to continuously find better ways to bridge distances and bring people together.

Across cities, countries and the globe. This is our passion.

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ArtiFlex Manufacturing,

ArtiFlex Manufacturing Chart in Low Volume Tooling and M

ArtiFlex CEO, Erin Hoffmann and Director of Business Dev the rising need for low volume manufacturing and equipme joined forces to fill the demand Written by: Sasha Orman

Produced by: Justin Burkinshaw

LLC

ts a New Course Manufacturing

velopment Steve Delmoro discuss ent, and the two businesses who

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A R T I F L E X M A N U FA C T U R I N G , L L C

In the late 2000s, International Tooling Solutions (ITS) and Worthington Industries subsidiary The Gerstenslager Company saw an opportunity to fill an industry demand that was critically underserved – low volume tooling and manufacturing for the automotive and nonautomotive OEM sectors at a competitive price.

Since combining their strengths and expertise under a joint venture in 2011, the newly formed ArtiFlex Manufacturing has led the way in providing a crucial service to the manufacturing industry.

volume tools and equipment is often inefficient, costly, and frustrating for manufacturers. In order to find a way to make low volume production cost effective and even profitable, ArtiFlex Manufacturing had to go back to basics of research and development and completely rethink the process.

“In high volume stamping, the tooling is largely a function of not only what it takes to make the part but also what the production system requires of it – so dies are built in accordance of standards, and those standards are developed in order to facilitate lower cost of the price A Different Approach of the stampings in a high volume Low volume production through high setting,” says ArtiFlex Manufacturing 58

July 2014

USA

CEO Erin Hoffmann. “We took the opposite approach: if you only had to make one part, what would you do? What if you needed a hundred?

A thousand? Ten thousand? We found much of what was driving the cost of the tooling to be the

requirements of a typical production standard – and when we broke those constraints, we were able to cut out a significant amount of cost.”

“Part of the reason those tooling standards are normally so expensive w w w. a r t i f l e x m f g . c o m

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Serving the metal stamping and fabricating needs of OEMs since 1947.

Put our experience to work for you!

Buckley Manufacturing, a registered TS16949/ISO-14001 company, is centrally located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Buckley produces a wide variety of stamped and welded automotive parts for OEMs. Buckley stamps deep draw, progressive and line die stampings.

Mike Strotman Email mike@buckleymfg.com Phone 513-821-4444

A R T I F L E X M A N U FA C T U R I N G , L L C

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is because, for the capital invested in the presses that run high volume parts, every minute of time is important,” says Steve Delmoro, Director of Business Development at ArtiFlex. “Typical tier one manufacturers want to maximize the run time at all costs, and that drives them to put more and more cost into the tooling itself. If you’re only making ten thousand units of something, it’s not as critical for the press to be able to run a thousand parts an hour. That was somewhat unique in thinking compared to the tier ones, where it’s been driven down that it has to be as fast as possible.”

“When you get into really low volume, the rate at which you produce is not as important as the amount of investment that you put into every part – there’s a crossover that takes place, and the

SUPPLIER PROFILE

BUCKLEY MANUFACTURING

Buckley Manufacturing founded in 1947 located in Cincinnati, Ohio is TS-16949 and ISO-14001 registered, producing numerous stamped and welded automotive parts for North American OEMs. Buckley manufactures a wide variety of stampings using progressive dies, line dies, blank dies, toggle dies, air pressure pad, hand transfer, and nitrogen deep draw pressure pad dies.

Please email or visit our web site for further information.

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A R T I F L E X M A N U FA C T U R I N G , L L C traditional approach is no longer the most efficient approach to making a part,” adds Hoffmann .

“We don’t concern ourselves with whether it takes 30 seconds or three to four minutes to make the part or assembly. We look at the lowest cost approach to tooling in order to make a low volume production part successful.”

Growing with Demand Prior to the launch of ArtiFlex Manufacturing as a full on joint venture, ITS and Gerstenslager tested the waters of the market through a trial period of comarketing, where they experienced considerable consumer interest – but even with a

Quality and Service Since 1928 Industrial Robot Supply Inc. is a robotic systems integrator in the Reynolds Industrial Park in Greenville PA. We supply new and refurbished industrial robots from ABB, Fanuc, and Motoman. We specialize in Robotic Welding, Robotic Materials Handling, and Robotic Servo Positioner Systems. We offer Pre-Engineered Robotic Welding Cells, and a complete line of robotic servo positioners from headstock/tailstock systems, Tilt/Rotate and Three-axis systems. We also offer custom engineered robotic welding and material handling systems designed around your process. We manufacture our components in-house with state-of-the-art CNC equipment and utilize the latest 3D modeling CAD/CAM software. We carry a large inventory of refurbished robots, spare parts, and other robotic equipment.

Representing the major manufacturers of the welding industry - Albright Welding Supply is a recognized leader in gas, welding and cutting solutions and gas applications.

Corporate Office & Main Store: Wooster, Ohio Branch Store & Warehouse: Orrville, Ohio Ph: (800) 686-2021 Fax: (330) 263-7484 Email: Albright@albrightwelding.com www.albrightwelding.com

www.industrialrobotix.com 724-646-0245 or 866-968-1208

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positive initial response, the launch of a new business entity always comes with some risk. In the case of ArtiFlex, that risk has paid off: since its launch in 2011, the business has seen what would equate to a 40 percent top line growth for the two original businesses combined.

“On the tooling side of the business, we anticipated that about 25 percent of our tooling would be for lower volume unique niche applications – it turned out that about 70 percent is for lower volume niche applications,” says Hoffmann . “In our production environment, we’ve achieved growth in both our core past-model service business as well as our factory assist and our new low volume niche production.

Going forward, we’re projecting that our growth will continue, and that we will be able to achieve an addition 25 percent over next three to four years.”

Much of that growth can be attributed to ArtiFlex’s ability to meet the demands of industries that are just beginning to hit their stride.

“We’re the number one supplier of stamped metal battery enclosures for the electric vehicle space,” says

Hoffmann . “Those projects are all inherently low volume and they benefit from our capability, and that was a market that didn’t exist five years ago. I think we benefitted from discovering a niche that was growing.”

“Forecasted volume is a big driver for how much you’re going to invest in capital and tooling,” adds Delmoro, explaining the gravitation of the electric vehicle industry toward the skill sets available through ArtiFlex. “If you know you’re going to make 50,000 units of something with high confidence, you can invest heavily in tooling around that – but if you don’t know if it’s going to be 3,000 a year or 10,000 a year, you’re much more sensitive to that upfront investment. That’s where we were able to bring in a solution that allowed them to step slowly into that capital investment instead of all at once.”

A Unique Offering From a Unique Culture ArtiFlex Manufacturing is not like any manufacturer on the market, and that’s an incomparable asset to both the business and its clients. w w w. a r t i f l e x m f g . c o m

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A R T I F L E X M A N U FA C T U R I N G , L L C

“We’re not a traditional stamper, nor do we ever see ourselves being that – we serve a unique aspect of the market, and that’s what we’re good at,” says Hoffmann . “We definitely are managers of complexity – because most of what we produce is low volume, we have to have huge number of current programs ongoing in our environment to support the overall capacity. Juggling that and making it work seamlessly to the customer

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is a huge challenge. But that is one of our greatest strengths and clearly one of the reasons why most people don’t have any intention of competing against us in that space.”

But it’s technology and logistics that would not be possible without the strength of ArtiFlex’s other greatest assets – its people and its culture. “I think one of the keys to our success is the creative innovative passionate spirit that our team members put into these

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Company Information INDUSTRY

Manufacturing HEADQUARTERS

Grand Rapids, MI FOUNDED

2011 EMPLOYEES

884 PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

unique projects,” says Hoffmann . “In the higher volume and traditional space, the key to success is clearly having great equipment and systems in place. But in the low volume space, it’s heavily dependent on the quality of your people and team members. We have an outstanding group of people who are very innovative by their nature and they’re not afraid to try new things, and they’re passionate about their work, they really stand behind what they do. We’re very proud of having that type of a high performance culture, and it’s probably one of the greatest and most important key ingredients to our success.”

Tooling Design, Prototypes, Die Tryout and Repair, Metal Stamping, Assembly, Assembly Automation Design, Robotic Hemming, E-coat, AfterHem Sealing, Packaging

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Delkor Systems

How Delkor Systems has Fo Entrepreneurial Culture

Employee work-life balance sparks wellbeing and creativity at packaging equipment manufacturer Written by: Abigail Phillips

Produced by: Michael Magno

ostered an

y

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DELKOR SYSTEMS

Over the last four decades, Minnesota-based Delkor Systems, Inc. has built a thriving manufacturing business by helping consumer product companies automate the packaging of their products. Listening closely to customer needs and investing heavily in research and development Delkor has introduced a steady stream of inventive machinery – and novel packaging designs – that are making brand owners more productive and profitable.

In a time when many manufacturing companies were cutting back on R&D and marketing, Delkor President and CEO Dale Andersen expanded the engineering staff and committed the company to expanding its product line to satisfy the wider packaging market.

Delkor specializes in machinery that forms, loads and closes secondary packaging, which includes the cases, cartons, trays and shrinkbundled packages. These are used to transport products throughout the supply chain, from manufacturing to retail shelves.

Andersen acquired Delkor in 68

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the late 1990s. Prior to that, the company founder had divested some of its technology and business to other packaging companies.

Andersen took over the Delkor name and the core of the company’s business, which primarily served the packaging needs of the dairy industry. By expanding the number and types of machines available, Delkor is now serving more packaging segments among Fortune 500 companies. As a result, over the last decade the company has experienced average organic growth of 12 percent annually, with revenues growing from $20 million in 2004 to $65 million today.

Delkor recently consolidated its operations in a new 114,000 sq. ft. facility in St. Paul, MN. Andersen says Delkor takes pride in producing high-tech equipment here in the U.S. that can compete globally. He says the company’s location in Minnesota is a strength since the area is a strong packaging center and it provides a highly skilled talen pool.

At Delkor, the entire team of 170 employees is encouraged to find new ways to automate packaging.

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All sales staff are Delkor employees and have a strong engineering background that helps them understand and visualize customer requirements. They are backed by a team of 23 engineers who translate these needs into efficient machines that meet or exceed customers’ requirements. Delkor’s manufacturing staff all have received technical training. Many also double as service technicians, using their extensive experience in building the machines to ensure the equipment is properly installed and is optimized for maximum productivity.

Continuous Improvement Packaging is a product used daily by virtually all consumers.

Changing consumer requirements are driving packaging changes, such as sustainable design, singleservings, flexible pouches, zippered enclosures, microwaveability and other convenience features. These modifications have prompted further developments in secondary packaging. Delkor has anticipated many of these changes and adapted the design of their equipment to take advantage of these transformations.

Mass merchandisers are playing an increasingly important role in w w w. d e l k o r s y s t e m s . c o m

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Keenline designs, engineers and manufactures conveyance systems to convey raw or packaged food products.

(920) 685-0365

Minarik is a proud partner and provider of linear motion to Delkor Systems, a manufacturer of high-quality, innovative end-of-line packaging equipment.

1.888.646.2745 | www.minarik.com

www.keenline.com

DELKOR SYSTEMS the types of packaging used in different retail channels. These range from convenience stores to wholesale club stores, and each has its own shipping, display and size requirements.

For a brand owner or a copacker, this means their machinery must have the flexibility to handle a range of packaging. Until very recently, many packaging lines were dedicated to producing a single type of product. Now, machines must changeover between packaging formats more frequently, and packagers are seeking to minimize the downtime during each change.

An engineering executive at a leading U.S. food company recently said that the old mantra for packaging operations was “Bigger, faster , better.” Now that company’s expectations have changed. They are seeking packaging equipment that is “Adapatable, flexible and efficient.” Delkor has been ahead of the curve in adapting its business model to this new mantra. Examples of its success include designing machines that can changeover in less than three minutes, which prevents lost production time.

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In addition, Delkor has added “intelligence” to much of its packaging equipment that can significantly increase production efficiency. Inspection devices allow the machines to detect and selfcorrect many packaging faults without stopping and requiring aid in removing defects from the machine.

Another factor that separates Delkor from many equipment manufacturers is that it often either designs or helps design new packaging – not just the machines themselves. Packaging must protect and sell the product, but sometimes these goals clash. By working with its customers, Delkor has helped develop packaging that effectively achieves shelf impact while delivering efficient manufacturing.

An example is the patent-pending Delkor Cabrio Case™, which is a shipping case that easily converts to an attractive shelf-ready tray ready for store display.

An Entrepreneurial Culture While engineers are developing new machinery to better accommodate packaging goals, Delkor provides an inclusive, entrepreneurial w w w. d e l k o r s y s t e m s . c o m

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culture that allows each member of the team to contribute creatively and technologically. According to Andersen, “One of the things I am most proud of is that we’ve been able to develop an innovative culture, and it’s not easy to do that.

It means that we have to have a culture in which you hire the right type of person. Innovation presents a lot of challenges. As soon as you accomplish one challenge, you’re on 72

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to the next. You have to be creative, willing to accept failure and use that failure to move on to success.

It takes a special culture to really reach a higher level of innovation.

Management has to be attentive, and you have to have the right team. I think that we’ve been doing that over the last few years, and we need to make sure that we’re bringing the right people on board that fit that role.”

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Delkor also employs a product-strategy team, representing eight departments, that decides the development projects that the company will undertake. Among the departments represented are sales, marketing, engineering, operations, product-line developers, as well as the CEO, to ensure Delkor determines the best approach to fulfilling customer needs and requests.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Packaging Equipment HEADQUARTERS

St. Paul, MN

Employee Wellbeing Employee satisfaction and work-life balance also are primary goals for Delkor. The company aims to minimize staff turnover and create career opportunities for employees to pursue within the company to provide a higher quality of life. Delkor is one of the few companies that provide daily fitness classes, including yoga, in which around 70 employees participate. These classes, held in an on-site fitness center, provide employees the opportunity to meet new people from other departments as Delkor rapidly expands its workforce. The fitness classes also work as a way to promote a healthy, active lifestyle to improve heart health, among various health benefits.

A majority of Delkor’s business is concentrated in the food and beverage industries, where it serves numerous multinational companies.

In planning for the future, Delkor continues to expand its product lines to meet the needs of a growing customer base, primarily based in North America, but expanding into other areas outside the U.S.

FOUNDED

1973 EMPLOYEES

170 REVENUE

$65 million+ PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Automated equipment for forming, loading, closing and inspection of packaging

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Olympus Controls

Offering three levels of solutions to clients

Scott Hendrickson, CEO of Olympus Controls, discusses h the company has evolved to become one of the most succ Automation Technology Center in the US and what strateg employed to keep them ahead of the competition.

Written by: Lindsey Ryan

Produced by: Justin Burkinshaw

how cessful gies are

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O LY M P U S C O N T R O L S

Olympus Controls was created in 1998 when founder and CEO, Scott Hendrickson, was sponsored

by Parker Hannifin to start a new Automation Technology Center in the Pacific North West.

Hendrickson has established the company to be a successful Automation Technology Center that has achieved its success by focusing on making sure the company delivers innovative designs to their clients. In 2001 when the recession hit, the company was small enough to 76

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weather the downturn and nimble enough to grow our business at strategic OEMs. When the economy bounced back, Olympus Controls’ was able to capitalize from their strategic initiatives and most competitors could not react as quickly because they did not make the same levels of investments in their businesses. “For us it was very simple; hire the right people, have them focus on the right accounts, have then engage in the right behavior, and for us that eventually yielded

USA

the right results,� explains Hendrickson.

automation technology. When the engineers are fully educated on each technology, they can Understanding the customer effectively inform the clients of the Olympus Controls employs benefits of the technology. The a unique training program to second leg focuses on industry maintain great customer relations knowledge. Hendrickson wants and ensure that its clients are the engineers to be fully trained receiving the best service possible. on the idiosyncrasies of every Hendrickson explains that he market they work with so that when considers the company’s training they are having conversations program to be a three legged stool, with the clients, they can use the each leg consisting of a valuable same industry lexicon and are area of knowledge. The first is leg already familiar with anything of the stool focuses on machine the client may wish to discuss. w w w. o l y m p u s - c o n t r o l s . c o m

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CCS has been the lighting experts for more than (20) years.

CCS is the leading supplier of LED light solutions for the Machine Vision market. In addition, CCS strives for quality and continuity and offers all our customers a total lighting solution.

bgagnon@ccsamerica.com I www.ccsamerica.com

Hendrickson states, “We spend a lot of time on educating our engineers about the specific key points of each industry that we’re calling on. Really studying those industries to understand what today’s challenges are and what tomorrow’s solutions must look like. Thoroughly understanding these trends allows us to better support our clients.” The third leg of the training stool focuses on account knowledge. In order for Olympus Controls to configure a game plan to capture more market

share for each client, they must first have a full understanding of what that company does, who the key people are, what technology they use and what the client’s annual spend is. By instilling these three training techniques in each employee, Olympus Controls has established itself as a valuable resource for both their client and supplier partners.

Disruptive technology Olympus Controls takes on a different approach towards

O LY M P U S C O N T R O L S technology, which makes the company stand apart from its competitors. While many companies focus on sustainable technologies (small incremental improvements to existing technology), Olympus Control focuses on disruptive technologies which are unexpected technological breakthroughs that require organizations to significantly re-evaluate their current way of doing business.

“We focus on new and creative ways of looking at our client’s business and making sure we have the technology portfolio that’s going to support them doing business very different from the way that everyone else is doing it,” states Hendrickson. The company must invest a significant amount of time and money to demonstrate how to employ these future technologies today rather than waiting five years when everyone to start using them.

Hendrickson explains that the challenges with disruptive technologies lie in using judgment and intuition to determine which technologies are going to be truly

USA

successful and which ones only have immediate attention upon release because of the hype about them. However, in all of their decision making towards new technology, Olympus Controls ensures that they are introducing technology to their clients has been fully vetted so that what the client is not adopting anything before it has had all the kinks worked out.

Some of the recent technologies that Olympus Controls has been focusing on are intelligence conveyance systems, 3D vision, and collaborative robots. The collaborative robots demonstrate innovative technology that enables the robots to work side by side with employees without the safety risk that has existed in the past. Previously, robots were programmed to make moves as fast which resulted in very high forces and no way to detect if something interrupted the motion along the programmed path.

Because of this, they had to be separated from employees with the use of safety cages. These new collaborative robots, or “cobots”, w w w. o l y m p u s - c o n t r o l s . c o m

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have dual feedback systems that can detect when something gets in its path and consequently lowers the power of the robot, thus creating a workplace safe for cobots and people to work together.

Offering three levels of solutions Olympus Controls initially began as a company that offered only Component level solutions, drop shipping products from their supplier partners to their clients for them to assemble. Over the last several years many companies have downsized their own Technician and Engineering teams to the point they no longer 80

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have the ability to assemble these components themselves and have begun requesting that Olympus Controls provide that value-add service. The company shifted from just offering components to offering Sub-Systems where we assembled everything together for the clients that requested it. Even more recently, the clients began requesting that Olympus Controls provide all the design, build services to deliver complete Systems for their unique applications. “What separates us from other integrators is we will only provide these Systems services as an extension of our Components and Sub-Systems business. The

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one thing that makes us very unique is that we can offer three levels of solutions,” explains Hendrickson. Not only does the company offer three levels of solutions, but they let the client decide how involved they would like Olympus Controls to become in their design process.

This option is very unlike most other companies who only offer one level of solution, Olympus Controls offers all three. Hendrickson states, “It’s not one size fits all; we listen to our client then morph into what they want.”

Olympus Controls engages in an annual strategic planning process where they dissect their business into 6 different elements and takes a close look at each element to determine how they can improve upon them.

Additionally, they also utilizes both LEAN and Kaizen processes as part of their continuous improvement and quality initiatives. “Typically when you look at process flow you look at it from start to finish. We have found it helpful to flip the process upside-down and look at the process backwards. With this approach if forces you to break the paradigm and find many creative ways to eliminate waste out of the process.” Hendrickson continues, “When you go through a LEAN process backwards and it’s a unique way of solving old problems” It is this variety and quality of solutions Olympus Controls offers to its clients has had a huge impact on separating them from other companies in the industry.

Company Information It takes more than good products to effectively solve an application; it takes good engineers. Olympus Controls understands the importance of having qualified engineers assisting you in the design and implementation of machine automation products. That is why all of our Automation Engineers are seasoned professionals with engineering degrees and considerable experience in the automation industry.

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Hartness International

How Hartness International provides full system integration solutions to clients Scott Smith, vice-president of global marketing and business development, discusses the technology and processes Hartness International employs to reach its success and explains how being acquired by a fortune 200 company has contributed to the company’s growth.

Written by: Lindsey Ryan

Produced by: Jason Wright 83

H A R T N E S S I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Hartness International started in 1940 as a small company in Greenville, South Carolina, when Tom Hartness purchased the Pepsi bottling rights to manufacture the case packing equipment for the area. Since then, the company has grown tremendously and has made a name for itself by now offering a full range of system integration solutions to its customers. Scott Smith, vice president of global marketing and business development at Hartness International, has worked with the company for 17 years, starting in sales for the western USA and Asia.

He then transitioned to director of 84

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sales in North America sales before he eventually earned his title as vice president of global marketing and business development. Smith has witnessed the company’s growth over the years and looks forward to Hartness International’s continued success in the manufacturing industry.

Innovative Technology One way that Hartness Intl. stands apart from the competition is in its use of innovative technology. In 1998, the company developed the DYNAC, which is a buffering and accumulation system that ensures

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a production line will continue to run even if one of the functions stop. The DYNAC offers customers the ability to increase their operating efficiency and has become one of Hartness Intl.’s most famous products, with over 4000 installed in businesses around the world. Currently, the company is working to evolve the DYNAC even further so that it may benefit companies in industries that Hartness Intl. has not yet become involved with.

The company has been taking a new approach to technological innovation by reaching out to its customers directly to understand what their unmet needs are currently and looking forward three to five years to determine specifically what the unmet needs will be and then use that data to guide the innovation process. “We are actually

“At the end of the day, that’s our strategy. We want to be the company that our customers come to that can provide the entire back end of their supply chain, with the financial backing of the 15 billion dollar fortune 200 company” – Scott Smith

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H A R T N E S S I N T E R N AT I O N A L going in on the front end of projects and helping our clients develop those projects and I think were seen today as more relevant than we’ve ever been. If you had to lay out the core competencies of the business it would be customer satisfaction and innovation,� states Smith. Hartness Intl. strives to make sure their innovation dollars spent are meeting customer needs. It is how the company determines how to invest and what areas to develop next.

One of the company’s most recent investments in technology has been in laser technology. The use of lasers to cut the stainless steel to form the company machines in the warehouse allows the

Manufacturing of custom machinery , Welding of specialty metals, sandblasting and industrial paint stripping.

Monte Beasley

Steven Garver

Monte@mandrmetalfabrication.com

Steven@mandrmetalfabrication.com

Phone: 864-226-9529

USA

warehouse to run “lights out”. This means that the lasers are operating even when there is no one in the building. The precision and accuracy of the lasers enables the company to utilize a higher percentage of stainless steels on the sheets, saving money while also providing a more sustainable operation. Hartness Intl. invests significantly in lasers and prides itself in being best in class in laser cutting.

Sustainable Operations In addition to the lasers that are used in the warehouses which increase sustainability, in 2008 Hartness Intl. developed a vertically

integrated process for painting glass bottles that is a substitute for the common process known as Applied Ceramic Labels (ACL). The ACL process applies ink on bottles in a way that provides superior adhesion. This method involves painting bottles which are then fired to 2000 degrees for several hours to bake the paint onto the bottle, thus emitting chemicals and metal solvents into the environment.

Hartness’s unique process, using Hartness Inks, involves UV curable binding technology which has superior adhesion but is much more environmentally safe than ACL. “We’ve developed a UV ink that w w w. h a r t n e s s . c o m

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adheres as well as the ACL process without having to go through the whole curing process that ACL does that consumes a lot of energy and puts things into the air. There are no hard metals in our ink. Also, as opposed to a 3-4 hour curing time in an oven, we apply UV light to the ink and it cures immediately; in less than a second,” Smith explains.

The sustainability movement has had an effect on the company in other ways as well because now customers are requesting for a more gentile way of handling the products.

Hartness Intl. has implemented robotics to assist in the process.

Smith states, “Our customers are trying to do more with less so when you do that from a packaging and manufacturing standpoint, you have 88

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to be able to handle the packages a little differently. Robotics offers us the ability to handle packages very gently so that it enables our customers to, what we call, ‘Light Weight’ their products. The sustainability movement has certainly impacted us from R&D and innovation standpoint without question.”

Strategic Acquisitions In 2009, Hartness International was acquired by Illinois Tool Works, ITW, which has proven to be a wise move for Hartness Itnl. ITW is an international company with about fifteen billion in annual revenue, fifty thousand employees and locations in over fifty countries.

Because of ITW’s global presence

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and standing, Smith reflects that “The acquisition has enabled us to invest more significantly in things like innovation in the development in new products. It’s made it easier for us to expand the business internationally because of their global footprint.” With the quality service and great reputation that Hartness Intl. had already achieved through its many years of operation in the industry, this union with ITW provides Hartness Intl. with the financial support needed to continue growing. ITW enables the company to build multiple pieces of equipment, such as case packing, robotics and buffering systems, rather than building just one piece of equipment. The company’s division of ITW offers solutions for the full back end of its clients’ supply chain. Hartness Intl. does everything from designing packaging lines to providing innovative consumer products multipacks, all throughout the warehouse. “At the end of the day, that’s our strategy. We want to be the company that our customers come to that can provide the entire back end of their supply chain, with the financial backing of the 15 billion dollar fortune 200 company,” states Smith.

Though the company has been acquired by ITW, it still maintains the Hartness family culture that made the experience of doing business with the company enjoyable and memorable.

It still has the core family values but is now backed with the financial standing to be more than a manufacturer and provide the full system integration solutions to its clients.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Manufacturing HEADQUARTERS

Greenville, SC FOUNDED

1940 EMPLOYEES

around 450 PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Packaging Equipment

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Orthman Conveying

Family-oriented business

With a strong company culture, continuous improvements Manufacturing is changing the way conveying equipment i Written by: Robert Spence

Produced by: Justin Burkinshaw

and new initiatives, Orthman is done

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Founded in 1970, Orthman Manufacturing is a family-owned business specializing in five divisions – Agricultural; Industrial; Energy; Logistics; and Conveying.

The company is headquartered in Lexington, NE. and oversees the delivery of its wide array of products through its own logistics division.

Over time, the company’s conveying sector has evolved into one of its most prized assets. The division is comprised of Screw Conveyors, Bucket Elevators and Belt Conveyors for a wide variety of markets. The division provides custom conveying equipment for 92

July 2014

both multi-million dollar construction projects as well as parts for the distribution industry.

Orthman Manufacturing is changing the way conveying equipment is manufactured by implementing a strong company culture, continuous improvement and brand new initiatives.

Services Orthman Conveying specializes in manufacturing customized equipment for specific projects.

Through a broad selection of screw conveyors and components, the company provides bulk

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material handling and processing applications for foods, chemicals, power, light and heavy manufacturing, and agriculture.

The company’s vast experience allows them the capability to engineer bulk material and handling systems of any size and scope. Along with manufacturing components in compliance with CEMA standards, the company implements its own quality assurance program to ensure all products are made to their strict standards. Components are factory tested to the highest standards before shipment and the proof lies

in their field-proven testimonies.

Orthman’s number one goal is to produce conveyor equipment that stand the test of time.

Employees Orthman is a hands-on, familyoriented business. The company believes employees come first and are the life-blood to their success.

“We believe if you’re going to grow a company you start with the employees first,” says Doug Hampton, Business Unit Manager.

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ORTHMAN CONVEYING Being located in Nebraska, the company is avidly involved in its community. In addition to donating money to local events and projects, the company works with local schools to promote education and develop new skills.

“We work with a lot of local universities and community colleges,” says Hampton. “We have intern programs that attract a lot of students from around the United States. At the end of our program, we have interns give a presentation to the entire company to showcase what they learned.”

Orthman believes training is vital to their success. The company prides itself as being a “hands-on business” and they work to ensure

Advance Sales and Engineering

Engineering the gap between needs and solutions

Advance Sales and Engineering represents quality manufacturers of Mechanical and Electrical Power Transmission products in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and western Wisconsin providing professional product selection, recommendation, engineering assistance and product support.

We proudly represent Orthman Conveying Systems in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Bill Sloneker Advance Sales and Engineering P: 763.536.3977 I www.advancesales.net

USA

employees are constantly striving to improve efficiencies as well stay updated on safety precautions.

“Whether it’s on safety or product knowledge, we’re constantly training our employees to be better informed and up-to-date,” says Hampton.

“We believe our training programs show our employees we care and that we want to make their life as smooth as possible.”

Continuous improvements Orthman Conveying works to continuously improve in everything it does. The company has recently implemented a new lean process

into its manufacturing line with hopes of becoming more efficient.

“We’re working to make sure employees stay within their work zones as much as possible and have the tools and products to be successful at the end of the day,” says Hampton. “We’re also looking at our products to see if we can make them more efficient with less time and parts.”

“It’s not just a temporary thing – it’s every day, 365 days a year.”

Cultivating and nurturing vendor relationships are a big part of what Orthman does best. With over 40 w w w. c o n v e y u s a . c o m

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years in the industry, the company has found the perfect formula for quality relationships.

According to Hampton, the company treats its supply chain relationships as personal as possible. “We don’t try and find the lowest price. We base our 96

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relationships on delivery and honesty as well as years of service.

We also do supplier audits and visit their facilities to make sure companies are following our guidelines. We’re not always adding suppliers but we’re making sure the ones we have are honest.”

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Company Information Orthman Conveying Systems engineers and designs screw conveyors and other bulk material handling equipment for a wide variety of markets.

We currently provide custom conveying equipment for both multi-million dollar construction projects, as well as parts to the distributor industry. We maintain clients on five continents representing a wide spectrum of industries.

As for the future, the company is currently engaged in building a new facility to streamline its manufacturing.

“We’re building a new 150,000-square-foot facility that will include lean manufacturing,” says Hampton. “The new facility should be down by this time next year.”

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RMD Industries Pty Ltd

Productivity Solutions with Great Results

Focused on solutions to help solve productivity and efficiency issues in manufacturing Written by: Andrew Rossillo

Produced by: Bryan Giles

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Long Neck Quad Spigot

RMD Industries embodies four manufacturing and distribution businesses – Brio, Downee, Pratco and Ductware – built on a strong and proud history that dates back to 1953.

Ductware is a new division of RMD Industries and has already established itself as a leader with longevity.

Brio is based in Sydney with sales offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, 100

July 2014

Adelaide and Perth. This division designs and manufactures architectural sliding and folding door hardware for Australian and overseas markets including America, Europe and Asia. Brio previously traded as Henderson RMD. Downee, which previously traded as RMD Metal Products has a high speed metal pressing manufacturing

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facility at Sunshine and sales and warehouse operations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland.The Downee product range includes gate automation systems, fence fittings and sliding door and track systems for the commercial, domestic and rural markets. New product ranges include stainless steel

fittings for glass fencing and balustrading and modular glass fencing and balustrade systems.

Pratco manufactures sugar cane harvester blades, lawn cutting blades and trencher teeth for mining equipment. Pratco has manufacturing facilities in Brisbane, Queensland and is a significant exporter and OEM supplier of cane w w w. r m d i n d u s t r i e s . c o m . a u

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R M D I N D U S T R I E S P T Y LT D harvester blades worldwide.

Ductware Ductware supplies the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry in all Australian States with hardware for the manufacture and installation of ducting systems.

Ductware manufactures some product locally and is the exclusive distributor for industry leaders, Ductmate, Gripnail, Shurtape and Rossi.

Ductware’s focus is on providing

We Sell Performance

Wholesale Chemical Company supplies a range of Zinc Rich coatings, in bulk 20lt drums, and aerosol cans. Colours are Silver, Black, Yellow, White & Blue. We also stock Cold Galv, and a top coat of Silver Galv.

2/ 25 Dividend Street Mansfield, Qld 4122 Email: wccaust@bigpond.net.au

Phone: 07 3343 4700 Fax: 07 3349 4199 Mob: 0438 418 987

www.wccaustralia.com.au

productivity solutions that have green results for the HVAC duct manufacturing and installation industries. “Our aim is to provide the HVAC market with a range of hardware and accessory products that are focused very clearly on solutions to help solve the productivity issues in manufacturing – getting more manufactured duct out the door and then getting the ducting installed,” says Ductware’s General Manager Michael Hadley.

“We also want to address some of

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the contemporary environmental issues and contribute a greater degree of energy efficiency, particularly preventing leakage in ducts, thereby providing green results when possible.”

finding out what customers actually want and developing products that suit those needs.”

Intense Focus on Client-based Needs RMD and Ductware use various forms of market research, ‘trade Competitive Advantage Ductware has established a different focus,’ where the Company focuses on the specific needs of the trade approach to duct manufacturing, customers. “We ask them what they providing innovative solutions want in terms of price and product that improve productivity through and processes and what they labour savings, whilst also offering want to buy and then figure out pragmatic, cost-neutral green ways to get it to them, a win-win,” building options. A new supplier explains Hadley. to the HVAC market, Ductware This trade focus helped make it sells an innovative range of ducting possible for Ductware to develop hardware and accessory products designed to optimise productivity in Australia’s first 50mm-deep access panel. This panel provides the manufacturing of the duct. access to a duct for inspection of “The products we represent are from manufacturers who really lead certain aspects. A 50mm-deep access panel, which the Company the world in innovation, developed developed the tooling for, enables though research and development activity”, says Hadley. “The evolution up to a 50mm external or internal has been the growth of our product insulation to be neatly fitted up against the panel without any range. Most of it has been on the interference or disturbance of basis of innovation and responding the air stream, thereby reducing to market or customer needs and turbulence in the air flow. It also also geographic footprint. We’re enables a higher “R-value” for trying to be innovative, to be very the access panel itself, which is focused on development and to w w w. r m d i n d u s t r i e s . c o m . a u

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a thermal insulation issue. “Our panels can achieve a higher R-value than any other access panel on the market, addressing a key issues that customers are now concerned about - which is why we developed it,” says Hadley. “The design of the tooling is something we were closely involved with, a product that we’ve only just recently released as a result of research and development and a very detailed trade-focus campaign.”

Powerful New Opportunities Through continued trade focus, 104

July 2014

research and development, Ductware has some exciting new opportunities, including a newly innovated range of “LongNeck” Bellmouth Spigots which the Company has developed, again through extensive trade focused market research.

“Another new innovation is that we now supply Erico/Caddy duct installation hardware,” says Hadley.

“It’s widening the offer in the product sense but also in market sense because the customers for these types of products are primarily on-site mechanical

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contractors. There is some serious potential here to assist on-sire contractors to get duct installed much quicker. In addition, we have introduced the Shurtape Green-Star rated duct-tape.”

“Probably the major product range that contractors will be interested in is effectively a revolutionary new way to duct. The GreenSeam Snap Lock ducting system is an incredibly simple, self-sealing round duct system that has transformed many projects in the USA over the recent year since its introduction. We were lucky enough to have early access to this system and launched it on the Australian market just last year,” says Hadley.

Furthermore, Ductware is also building towards increased success through its capacitor discharge (CD) weld pins for fixing insulation to ducts. The Company has a wide-range of resistance, dielectric coated and capacitor-discharge (CD) Weld Pins for affixing duct insulation.

Hadley addressed a vital point that highlights why RMD and its companies continue to move forward in this industry: “We don’t get distracted by competition – we really just hope to focus more on our customers’ needs, which enables us to keep ahead of competition by simply listening to our customers, hopefully better than others.

And we try to continually keep our customers’ costs down through tangible productivity improvements, while maintaining high quality.”

Company Information INDUSTRY

Construction, Manufacturing HEADQUARTERS

Victoria, Australia FOUNDED

1953 EMPLOYEES

200 REVENUE

$50 million plus PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

diversified manufacturer & distributor of metal products to building industries worldwide, HVAC, sugar cane machines, gate & fence fittings, furniture

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The Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SM

e g MF) 107

T H E S I N G A P O R E M A N U FA C T U R I N G F E D E R AT I O N

• History of the SMF The Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), formerly known as the Singapore Manufacturers’ Association (SMa), was first established in 1932. It grew from 17 founding members to 3,000 members currently. The change of name reflects the Federation’s dedication transform itself for the future, and its current status as the national organisation embracing the entire supply chain of manufacturing. The SMF has built up a strong tri-partite relationship 108

July 2014

with the government and the manufacturing industry.

• The goals and role of the SMF in today’s industry As the champion the Singapore manufacturing sector, our mission is to represent the interests of the Singapore manufacturing community and to drive its competitiveness and sustainable growth through serving industryspecific needs.

SMF is supported by 10 industry groups to serve diverse industry-

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specific needs, as well as 6 Centres of Excellence to offer our members a holistic approach towards improving competitiveness.

• Industry developments and investment The manufacturing sector in Singapore, which contributes towards approximately 20% of the country’s GDP, is doing relatively well compared to other countries, and has been going strong since the beginning of this year. There are also more SMEs venturing overseas and expanding their businesses. SMF launched the Business Expansion Programme last year to specially help companies looking to expand to Iskandar Malaysia and Riau Islands Indonesia.

The industry has also seen a shift from traditional manufacturing to manu-services which have been on the increase over the years.

• Benefits of membership SMF members enjoy a great variety of benefits: o Up to 50% off seminars, conferences, workshops, networking and business matching events

o Exclusive rates for SMF-AIA welfare benefits packages for member companies and employees o Up to 77.5% on trade exhibition administration fees and reimbursements of up to 50% for participation by eligible members under the International Marketing Assistance Programme (iMAP) from IE Singapore o Up to 25% off the endorsement fees of manual Certificate of Origin (CO) o Up to 50% off seminar marketing services o Up to 10% discount on advertisements in SMF Connect magazine o Up to 20% off rental rate for training rooms at SMF o Up to 15% discount for selected workshops and training courses o Up to 10% rebates on academic programmes from SMF Institute of Higher Learning o Receive complimentary business advisory service o Receive SMF’s annual Tradelink Directory and quarterly Connect magazine.

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• Latest news and Industry ‘Hot’ topics One of the key challenges facing the Singapore manufacturing industry is productivity. With the recent tightening of government policy on foreign manpower, productivity has, now more than ever, become pivotal in propelling 110

July 2014

economic growth.

The manufacturing sector now is gravitating towards increasing productivity and leveraging on technologies and innovation to transform their businesses in order to keep up with the changing economy. SMF offers a great variety of productivity-driven programmes

AUSTRALIA

catered to companies to ‘upskill’ themselves.

In particular, SMF is focussing on Business Model Innovation (BMI) as a possible approach to help companies achieve sustainable growth.

In line with this vision, SMF will be organising the Singapore Innovation and Productivity Conference (SIPC) 2014 that will promote BMI and focus on using BMI for sustained business growth. Research findings on BMI in Singapore will be shared and deliberated. In October 2014, an inaugural SMF Awards would be presented to inspire the community on transformational growth, and to raise awareness of the importance of innovation and productivity.

Playing its part to assist businesses to seek and adopt productivity solutions, SMF will be organising the Manufacturing Solutions Expo (MSE) from 8-10 October 2014. The event is targeted at manufacturing professionals, policy makers and business decision makers. MSE 2014 aims to showcase the best ideas, innovative technologies and cost effective manufacturing solutions to meet the growing needs of manufacturing companies.

Company Information he Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), formerly known as the Singapore Manufacturers’ Association, was first established in 1932.

Its main aim is to champion the Singapore manufacturing sector.

Our mission is to represent the interest of the Singapore manufacturing community and to drive its competitiveness and sustainable growth through serving industry-specific needs.

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Treger Plastics recapitalisation takes it to the cutting edge The Zimbabwean manufacturer has long been a domestic leader, but a $3.5 million investment in the latest machinery will boost its range and push it into new international markets Written by: Joel Levy Produced by: Kiron Chavda

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“Treger wanted to bring in modern, world class technology that allows it to compete with the outside world” – Craig Lowe, General Manager

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Z

imbabwean manufacturer Treger Plastics is in the midst of a complete recapitalisation, the culmination of which in August will see the company push into new territories with the aid of significantly upgraded technical capabilities.

Bulawayo-based Treger Products headhunted new General Manager Craig Lowe, who was working as Chief Operating Officer for South African packaging company Astrapak, to spearhead the $3.5m investment strategy in its plastics division and modernise processes across its manufacturing facilities.

AFRICA

Vision Statement Our vision is to become the leading manufacturer for our range of quality products and to build our brands so that they are known and respected throughout the Comesa/SADC region.

Our vision is to be known for reliability, flexibility, responsiveness, innovative products and services.

With new optimised heavy equipment from Germany, alongside a parallel IT upgrade that will drive down administrative costs, Lowe believes Treger Plastics now has the tools to effectively compete with international rivals and ultimately export its quality products to additional states.

He said: “Treger wanted to bring in modern, world class technology that allows it to compete with the outside world; that’s really the bottom line. It had fallen behind the curve quite a bit, and the duty was not fully implemented for imports that were starting to get taken up by South Africa

We will achieve this vision by working together in an environment of trust, co-operation and mutual respect.

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Treger brands showcased

and other surrounding countries including India.�

That the company’s technology was becoming dated meant such competitors had been able to produce goods faster and more cheaply than Treger, consequently limiting its exports to Zambia and Botswana.

Conduit pipe

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Unrivalled products With this investment, Treger Plastics will combine the expertise of its staff with the best tools for the job, and build upon its reputation as a producer

M A N U FA C T U R I N G D I G I TA L

of market-leading products, which has been solidified during a long history in Zimbabwe.

A comprehensive range of the latest high-end machinery from Germany, Italy and China will take production to the next level, and allow the company to enter new lines including high-end sheeting.

The multi-million-dollar investments include a three-layer excluder, an eight-colour gearless printer for high-quality labelling, a brand new recycler to tap into ongoing sustainability

“We’ve partnered with our equipment suppliers, and all staff will be trained in the country of the equipment’s origin” – Craig Lowe

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5 layer POD film coextrusion line A technology definitely here to stay Macchi S.p.A. • 21040 Venegono Inferiore (VA) Italy21040 Venegono Inferiore (VA) Italy via Papa Paolo VI, 5 • +39 0331 827 717 • macchi@macchi.it • www.macchi.it

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TREGER PLASTICS

AFRICA

initiatives, several high-speed bag makers, and a poly-part machine to gain ground in the anticipated Zimbabwean infrastructure boom by providing parts for irrigation and similar activities.

Importantly, the Treger Plastics staff will also receive the best possible training in the use of their new equipment, ensuring a fast and efficient return on the investment.

Lowe said: “We’ve partnered with our equipment suppliers, and all staff will be trained in the country of the equipment’s origin. When we buy from Germany the staff will be trained by on-site specialist engineers in Germany, and the same for Italy and China.”

Treger plastic bag

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Treger Plastic’s bags on display

“We are giving Zimbabwe world-class manufacturing on its doorstep” – Craig Lowe

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The company has always prided itself on bringing international standards to its homenation, providing not just domestically but internationally accredited plastic products that its Zimbabwean rivals cannot match.

This has allowed it to dominate the bread bag and carrier bag markets, (both virgin and recycled), and excel in high-density HDPE pipes, PVC pipes and Rollfilm.

“There are not many competitors that can produce a bread bag or carrier bag at the quality that the market requires, so in selected markets we provide the customer with what they could get from anywhere in the world,” said Lowe.

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Treger Products As a division of Treger Products, Africa’s largest manufacturer of household, cookware and appliances, access to the parent company’s purchasing division facilitates good lines of credit, allowing the plastics arm to purchase necessary raw materials and operate the financial end of the business even more effectively.

It also benefits from access to a wellestablished supply chain via Treger Products’ construction and steel businesses, as well as its own transport division. Long-standing relationships with suppliers in South Africa have been complemented by Lowe’s own contacts, and once orders are placed, the transport company swiftly takes the materials across the border, ensuring a seamless operation.

Lowe said: “We are probably the longestestablished firm in the market, and we’ve been doing it for many years so you’ve got staff that are well-trained, and also through our buying arm we get exposure to what the rest of the world is doing, which has helped us to bring in the right equipment to ensure we continue to give a world class benefit.

“We are the largest in the country and we have companies in South Africa bringing in expertise. We are giving Zimbabwe world class manufacturing on its doorstep.”

This Zimbabwean success story also aims to give back in other ways, and the entire Treger Goup endeavours to operate in a manner that not

Rollfilm product

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C&C FLEXO from Milan, is a manufacturer steeped in the European tradition of making the very best flexo presses to meet a customer’s requirement.

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The company makes a wide range of flexo models from narrow to wide web, in line units, U.V. applications and also indirect gravure.

“Today, the flexo process is equal to and frankly has finally managed to reach and surpass gravure in most areas and this is thanks to higher definition plates. We have customers printing at 78 lines per cm, which is gravure quality.”

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TREGER PLASTICS

AFRICA

only benefits itself, but the country too.

Lowe explained: “Our mission is to be socially responsible. Anything we can source locally, for example inks, we do. We want to put money into Zimbabwe. Coupled with that we take on staff with social issues, and are also driving into recycling; that’s one way to keep the carbon footprint down and at the same time provide the populous with a cheap bag.”

Treger Plastic’s hosepipe product

Long-term vision The General Manager also foresees more money coming into the country, and a bright future for

At Zimbabwe International Trade Fair w w w. t r e g e r p r o d u c t s . c o . z w

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TREGER PLASTICS

Treger Plastics is a division of Treger Products, Africa’s largest manufacturer of household, cookware and appliances

“I think those that take a long-term view and hang in through the hard times will succeed.

Once the political issues are ironed out in the future, the potential will be exercised” – Craig Lowe

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business in Zimbabwe as it bounces back from a challenging year marred by limited credit access, with a relaxation of indigenisation policy set to spur on business and provide opportunities for far-sighted companies like Treger that have invested for the future in a difficult current climate.

Lowe said: “I think those that take a long-term view and hang in through the hard times will succeed. Once the political issues are ironed out in the future, the potential will be exercised.

“The Tregers have been around for so many years now and they’ve seen it come and go and they are very confident that things are going to get better, so they are forging ahead with this investment at great expense to themselves.”

AFRICA

Company Information INDUSTRY

Plastics manufacturing HEADQUARTERS

Bulawayo FOUNDED

Not disclosed EMPLOYEES

Not disclosed REVENUE

The completion in August of the recapitalisation will represent the conclusion of Lowe’s short-term strategy to bring Treger Plastics to the forefront as a modern, efficient manufacturer, more than justifying this considerable outlay and paving the way for the company to bring more products to more customers.

But it is in fact only the beginning of a longer game. Lowe concluded: “My vision in the medium-term is to solidify our position as the premier plastics supplier in the region, and the longer-term vision for three to five years is to take it beyond the borders because we’ve bought the right equipment to do this and provide a premium offering at the right price.”

Not disclosed PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Virgin and recycled bags and pouches, Rollfilm, PVC Compound, Hose pipes, conduit pipes, poly pipes

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Chamber of Ecuadorian Automotive Industry: (CINAE) Written by: (CINAE) Produced by: Korinna Barrera

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C H A M B E R O F E C U A D O R I A N A U T O M O T I V E I N D U S T RY

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he auto industry has been present in Ecuador for 40 years, and the Chamber of Ecuadorian Automotive Industry (CINAE), has accompanied this journey for 34 years, through a high commitment behind every activity in the industry.

The role that we maintain as CINAE, is to cooperate with public and private agencies in all matters relating to industry, supporting businesses and the entirevalue chain in steps related to their activity.

The Ecuadorian automotive industry is made up of four companies that assemble vehicles from Chevrolet, Mazda, Kia and Hyundai brands and about 40 companies producing auto parts and other materials for assembly.

More than $182 millions in industry investments in the last four years, out of which 61.5 percent were assemblers and 38.5 percent at autoparts companies.

The automotive sector development is based upon a policy of import substitution and change of the productive matrix. In this sense, we have set quotas for the import of CKD materials and vehicles; there are regulations that set minimum percentages of local content simultaneously with governing rules

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of origin for trade in vehicles between the countries of the Andean Community; also is soon to leave on a new technical regulation “minimum security features in motor vehicles� driven by the Ecuadorian government, with UN standards applied in Europe.

The benefits that members receive for being part of the CINAE are service advice and representation for the implementation of national and international legislation related to the industry on the implementation of national and international legislation affecting the sector; turn, updated the industry on production, export, import of vehicles and auto parts provides statistical information.

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C O M PA N Y N A M E

Itaque consed quam aspero et modite

Itaque consed quam aspero et modite

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We invite all readers who wish to know more and be updated with the Ecuadorian automotive industry information, follow us on our social networks on Twitter @CinaeEc and Facebook as Cinae Ecuador.

Company Information INDUSTRY

“More than $182 millions in industry investments in the last four years”

Automotive HEADQUARTERS

Quito, Ecuador FOUNDED

October 18, 1978 EMPLOYEES

30 KEY PEOPLE

Patricio Sanchez (president), Marcelo Ruiz (executive director) SERVICES

Advice and representation in the automotive industry in Ecuador W E B PA G E

www.cinae.org.ec

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Maresa

Ensambladora: Assembling Excellence from Ecuador Certified quality in the production of vehicles

Written by: Rebecca Castrejon Produced by: Korinna Barrera Interviewee: Juan Carlos Ordonez, Operations Director of Maresa Ensambladora

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MARESA ENSAMBLADORA

O Juan Carlos Ordoñez, operations director of Maresa Ensambladora

“We bring the assembling experience of four decades and highly reliable processes” – Juan Carlos Ordóñez, operations director of Maresa Ensambladora

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ver the past thirty years, brands such as Mazda, Fiat, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Ford have all relied on the productive engagement of Maresa Ensambladora.

The company has manufactured vehicles for these brands; reaching, in many cases, direct concession and commercialization of units due to their high-quality standards and product performance.

Maresa follows corporate patterns and automobile specifications in detail. In addition, they have incorporated local parts of national suppliers and have the latest technology in the automation process.

“Excellence in processes” is a key element that governs Maresa Ensambladora. The assembly company has international certificates such as ISO 9001:2008 (Quality Management System), OHSAS 18001:2007 (Health and Safety at Work), ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental Management System), and in their processes they apply Six Sigma, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing and Ideas in Action methodologies.

“If you have a system that integrates three certificates, it means that the company is on another level; therefore, a third party audits our operations annually in compliance with global standards,” says Juan Carlos Ordonez, Operations Director of Maresa Ensambladora.

Mazda is their main focus nowadays; they have worked with this brand for the past 27 years and

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are looking to supplement foreign parts in their next vehicle.

Optimal Direction Juan Carlos Ordonez, current Operations Director of Maresa Ensambladora, started his professional relationship with the manufacturing company 23 years ago. Ordonez is a Process Engineer who graduated from EPN in Ecuador with a Masters in Business Administration from the University Francisco de Vitoria in Spain.

Since his incorporation into Maresa, he performed various managerial tasks in the production-planning department and as manager of quality control. After obtaining ISO 9001:2002 certification, he took over the management position in manufacturing until acquiring the post Parts with local and international suppliers under global standards

Maresa Ensambladora Headquarters in Ecuador

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MARESA ENSAMBLADORA

Quality in the manufacture of vehicles

of Operations Director in early 2014. “My greatest satisfaction has been working in conjunction with our team here in Maresa, being a director and having their support,� says Ordonez.

Specialized human resources and automation

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Industrial Challenges The automotive industry is known for being a competitive business, where challenges are permanent and trade policies are constantly changing. However, Maresa has followed a guideline of government regulations in Ecuador since their foundation 30 years ago.

Being a highly productive and internationally renowned Ecuadorian company, one of their main objectives is to work with local suppliers in developing new parts for the production of vehicles.

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Competitive Differentiators The following features demonstrate Maresa Ensambladora’s industrial characteristics: 1) Working with renowned brands: Onean example is the assembly of Mazda vehicles with CKD parts (high-quality parts from abroad).

2) Quality components and detailed engineering in the assembly process: Maresa Enambladora has developed products for international brands at a local and regional level in the automotive industry, all while complying with requirements from the parent company.

3) Reliability: By positioning themselves as the second largest players in the truck category in Ecuador.

“We bring the assembling experience of four decades and highly reliable processes,” says Ordonez.

Certified Employees “We are pioneers in certifying workers,” says Ordonez, given that all employees attended training sessions on the best practices in quality assurance, manufacturing, environmental protection, occupational health and in cost management.

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MARESA ENSAMBLADORA qualifications, the employee obtains a production lines diploma, adding value to their professional level of expertise and raising their manufacturing readiness level.

Following brand specifications

Advances in Automation In March 2013, they implemented the latest EDCOAT system as part of their global standards, upgrading the assembly plant with a technology that stationed Maresa Ensambladora at the same level as their global competitors. The project took two years to complete and had a final investment of eight million dollars.

www.metaltronic.com.eca info@metaltronic.com.ec

www.crilamyt.com | mproanio@crilamyt.com

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Sustainable Development Maresa Corporation has gone beyond government regulations to protect the environment and has engaged in green activities as a commitment to Ecuador, such as the integration of a wastewater treatment plant and a complete corporate recycling system in collaboration with a third party company.

Social Responsibility With an investment of $150,000 and in partnership with regional universities and specialized colleges, Maresa will support technical education in the automotive industry. The program will include financial aid and exchange internships for students.

Verification of quality in the production process

Providing Success The responsibility of producing a vehicle to perfection lies in the engineering department of Maresa Ensambladora.

The company ensures production by meeting strict specifications and safety requirements.

Components are the essential basis for a proper performance, and suppliers are key members in providing such parts.

Production Goals for 2015 Maresa Ensambladora seeks to strengthen the domestic manufacturing industry after achieving the following objectives:

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Maresa talent

- Increasing the participation of national suppliers to develop the local industry.

- Integrating at least two brands in their manufacturing portfolio.

Automation in the manufacturing process

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Manufacturing the Future in Latin America With a drive for continuous improvements and strategic management, Maresa Ensambladora continues to expand.

In conclusion, Ordonez mentioned his projections for the next five years: “We see a company consolidated with the manufacturing of new brands, a Maresa Ensamabladora that will contribute in the national development. We want to stay in this market, develop more suppliers, train more people and improve technically.�

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Company Infomation INDUSTRY

Manufacturing and commercialization HEADQUARTERS

Quito, Ecuador FOUNDED

1976 EMPLOYEES

1,100 KEY PEOPLE

“My greatest satisfaction has been working in conjunction with our team here in Maresa, being a director and having their support”

Juan Carlos Ordonez (Operations Director), Gabriela Valarezo (Submanager of Corporate Communication), Patricio Sanchez (Supply Chain Manager) SERVICES

Assembly of vehicles for renowned brands REVENUE

USD $258 million W E B PA G E

www.corpmaresa.com.ec

– Juan Carlos Ordóñez, operations director of Maresa Ensambladora www.facebook.com/pages/Corporación-Maresa/378166975598528

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