a park for employees on their breaks. Mohs emphasized the company’s
turnover reduction to below 20%. “Te workers we retain have been here longer, and quality has been improving as a result.” Te current management’s receptiveness to new ideas, ongoing training and commu- nity building efforts are key factors that help maintain Sivyer’s quality standards, which he noted keep its customers coming back. “Tat puts castings on the dock,” he said. Trough an agreement with the
labor union signed last October, Sivyer Steel kept all of its workers despite increasing automation and streamlining production, by doubling its capacity. “We can produce the castings, but
The small flaskless molding line produces five or six molds per hour for castings up to 1,000 lbs., a process that previously ran less efficiently on Sivyer’s medium-size mold making line.
“In this industry, the turnover
among the workforce is quite high,” Mohs said. “Tese are not easy jobs. What you don’t want to do is train a grinder how to grind a specific part, with tolerance and touch, and six months later that worker is unhappy and leaves. We want to retain those skilled workers.” Training is treated as an investment in Sivyer’s employees. “Tis business historically has
excluded people without foundry experience,” Kramer said. “So, we started bringing in some people from outside the industry.” An engineering student from
Western Illinois University (WIU), Derek Bloomfield, did his senior project at Sivyer. After graduation, he was hired full-time as plant engineer, an outcome the leadership team views as positive feedback on its staffing efforts. Sivyer also hired a marketing coordinator to boost the company’s visibility via email and social media, as well as through employee engage- ment and local community outreach. “We want to be part of the com-
munity and be more than just a steel foundry,” Mohs said. Te company has begun to host blood drives, AFS group tours and programs such as Toys for Tots. Employees provide some of the
executives’ best feedback. In addition to a “Going Green” recycling program led by vice president Tonya Burgess, the
An enterprise resource planning system eliminates paperwork as job information is communicated electronically via touchscreens.
company has improved its landscaping, cleaned up the perimeter and painted its name on the side of the facility, an employee’s suggestion. As part of an annual gardening competition, workers planted flowers outside the facility in boxes made from recycled pallets. In January 2012, the company
launched an environmental policy stat- ing it will comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, and employ a documented environ- mental management program. Fol- lowing the implementation of onsite sand reclamation, seven acres between the south end of the building and the Mississippi River became available. Te space used to hold an 80-ft.-high pile of 400,000 tons of spent sand. Now, there is a small retention pond, trees and
we still have some work to do to gain efficiency and productivity,” Mohs noted.
Streamlining and Improving Communication
Te paperless ERP systems pulls shop-floor data via touchscreens at work areas throughout plant, and the operation is positioned to become completely integrated in the future. “Te backbone is there, and now it’s a matter of closing the loop,” Mohs said. Mold production is configured
in three primary lines, each of which handles a specific range of sizes. Its updated staging area for large castings has a new controller that automatically runs the 2,000 lb./minute mixer and electromagnetic compaction tables. Te operator also has manual controls for new molds. Once the team determines how to optimally fill a mold, the data is stored for future use. Each mold’s cope and drag has a separate barcode, which is scanned from a card at the controller, and the computer tells the equipment what to do, in terms of determining what type of sand to use, mixing the sand and determining the binder quantities. “All the mixer operator has to do, at the station on the deck, is use a joystick to move the head back and forth as the mold is filled,” Mohs said. Te two electromagnetic compac-
tion tables work well for large molds, contrary to popular opinion, according to Mohs. “We’ll get anywhere from an 8-10% drop in the sand level as it compacts the mold,” he said. Te tables
March 2013 MODERN CASTING | 29
Ford Photography—
JoshuaFord.com
Photo: Denise Kapel
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