Read More - Logan Aluminum

Coil
Connections
The Voice of Logan AluminumOctober 2011
Staying a STEP Ahead!
By Randy Schumaker
On July 29, about 150 Logan
employees attended the 2011
review of Logan’s five-year plan,
also known as the STEP plan which
stands for Strategic Transition
Excellence Plan.
Attendees
included staff, OT’s and GT’s from
each unit. We reviewed Logan’s
successes and accomplishments
and looked ahead at the challenges
facing us as we plan for the next
five years and in fact, the next 25
years.
Logan has had a Vision Statement
since we were founded which is:
“To be recognized as the best in
the world at what we do.” During
2011, a firm which benchmarked all
aluminum rolling mills in the world
ranked Logan as the best! We
have fulfilled our vision, but now we
need to keep that position! Being
the best is what has allowed us to
continue to grow and expand and
allows our owners the advantage
they need to achieve domestic and
export sales. We need to Stay a
Step Ahead.
Logan’s success has been built
on some strong foundations. We
asked everyone attending the
meeting to reflect on the key factors
which have contributed to Logan’s
success over these past 25 years,
the things we need to keep in mind
and treasure as we plot our course
into the future.
Each person submitted five key
factors.
We sorted them by
common theme and found 32 “keys
to our success.” We placed them
in a picture where the size of the
words is proportional to the number
of times that item was noted as a
key. Safety, Team Concept, and
Empowerment were the most noted
keys.
The final result forms a powerful
image that reminds us of our
foundations and the keys to our
success. This, plus the views of the
attendees about new skills needed
to be successful in the future, will
form an integral part of our next
STEP plan.
Each of us holds the key to the future
success of Logan; 1,000 teammates: proactive, engaged, finding
ways to improve, challenging the
old ways of doing things and striving
to be the leader in each aspect of
our business. Together we can
maintain our leadership position.
CI Corner
What is an RIE?
by Rick Jasper
One of the major reasons that Logan has
remained successful since the early days
is the culture of continuous improvement
that drives innovative ideas. Since late
last year, the CI team has facilitated
Rapid Improvement Events (RIEs) to
increase employee engagement and
drive significant improvements through
concentrated efforts on workplace
organization, safety, production or
administrative procedures.
An RIE is normally a 3 – 5 day event with
a small team of focused participants.
The group is guided by “A3 Thinking,” a
problem-solving roadmap that defines
the reason for action and compares
our current conditions to our targeted
outcome. Many different tools can be
used to determine our solution
approach depending on the scope and
nature of the improvements. RIEs
are designed to execute sustainable
changes to a process or problem in a
quick, systematic method rather than
extending project activities over the
course of several weeks or months.
Several of the recent events have
concentrated on separation of mobile
equipment and pedestrians, 5S and
WPO events, Remelt Production
Optimization, and the redesign of
Logan’s Employee Survey.
Through the end of August, more than
175 Logan team members, contractors,
or Associates have participated in
approximately 25 different RIEs this
year.
Thank you to ALL who donated to United Way
during this year’s campaign! We passed our goal
by raising $108,125 for the 2012 calendar year.
Thanks for displaying Logan’s spirit in helping
our community to LIVE UNITED!
2 Coil Connections, May 2011
Benefits, Medical and Wellness
To date this has been an outstanding
year. Logan continues to manage
health care spending in a favorable
manner.
From January through
August,
spending
is
down
approximately 5.8% compared to
the same period in 2010. Logan has
achieved this by employees being
wise consumers of health care,
acting on the medical consultations,
managing their health numbers,
actively engaging in health and
wellness education, and being active
health care business partners. As a
result of the success in 2011, the 2012
Benefit Plan and Wellness Incentive
will remain the same. Shown here is
the Benefit Plan Design for 2012.
We are pleased to offer to retirees,
and employees on disability leave,
the opportunity to participate in the
wellness incentive program. The
program components will be the same
for everyone and the incentive money
will be deposited directly into each
individual’s health reimbursement
account or health savings account
as applicable. The amount of money
than can be earned is up to $1,100
for employee only, up to $1,600 for
employee plus two or more. In order
to participate in the wellness incentive
program, employees, retirees, and
spouses must all complete the
health assessment on-line through
Anthem. The purpose of the health
assessment is to identify health risks
that can be modified by lifestyle
changes. Bloodwork with specific
results within range is also part of
the incentive as you can see on the
chart. Additionally, up to $40 can be
earned for having a blood pressure
reading below 135/85, having a BMI
(Body Mass Index) less than 28,
and completing six hours of health
education classes through the LED
system. Each participant can also
earn $220 for being tobacco free for
one year and having a
BMI less than 40. To encourage
individuals to maintain good health
habits, there are additional dollars
awarded at three, five, and 10
years for continuing to achieve the
maximum wellness incentives each
year. An extra $100 (one time only)
can be earned by tobacco users who
quit using tobacco for a minimum of
one year. For more information on
maximizing your incentive, please
contact the BMW department.
In February of this year, the BMW
Department introduced a Nurse
Practitioner to the department and
brought Ms. Brianah Doeden to Logan
to be a part of the medical team.
Brianah brings experience from the
industry setting and also in general
practice. Initially only employees
were treated, but during the summer,
employees were permitted to bring
in their children for school physicals
and sports physicals. On October 3,
we will expand service again to begin
seeing spouses. Brianah will be
treating minor illnesses such as those
seen at Urgent Care or Quick Care
settings. She will not be filling the
role of a primary care provider. She
will see patients by appointment only
so please call the BMW Department
at 755-6625 for scheduling.
welcome Brianah to Logan!
We
The recent Spouse Fair was our largest
to date! There were 386 spouses
and retirees who participated in the
fair this year. There were numerous
vendors from the community who set
up booths in the main hallway with
great information and a good time
was had by everyone.
Coil Connections, October 2011
3
New Robot in Remelt
By John Zeh
130,000 samples each year and
during peak times 450 per day.
The Remelt Lab is a state-of-the-art
facility designed to analyze aluminum
samples and report chemical analysis for
use in the casting and rolling operations.
The lab is staffed by 4 lab techs (David
Camplin, Tony Fuller, Judy Parker, Jim
Polacheck) and the lab coordinator
(Tracy Herron). Various staff members
support the lab operations.
A spectrometer is an instrument
that measures the amount of
light produced when an electrical
discharge is focused on an aluminum
sample. Using a set of calibration
standards and computer software,
the spectrometer can convert the
light measurement into chemistry
information. Knowing the chemistry
of our inputs and molten metal makes
it possible for us to cast ingots to the
target chemistry.
In 1998, a capital project to install
an automated spectrometer system
was initiated. This consisted of an
automated sample processing system,
Herzog milling machine, a Mitsubishi
desktop laboratory robot and an ARL4460 spectrometer fitted with an
automated analysis stand. Benefits of
the automated system were fast and
accurate analysis, quick data transfer
to melting and casting operations and
analysis of all recycled scrap ingot
samples sent to Logan. The ARL3460 spectrometer then became the
backup instrument. The automated
lab was a great success.
In 2010, after determining that the
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Coil Connections, October 2011
aging original spectrometer and robot
were obsolete, a capital project was
initiated to install a new generation
ARL-4460 Pin Electrode Spectrometer,
a Fanuc M-10iA Industrial Robot and
an upgrade of the existing ARL-4460
Spectrometer with a pin electrode.
Both instruments can analyze the
same aluminum alloys at the same
time or independently, either manually
or automatically. The new system
has already proven to be much more
flexible and reliable than the first
robotic system and has significantly
shortened sample analysis time. Both
spectrometers, with their state-of-theart pin electrode technology, have
already proven to be more stable than
the previous system. This system is
the alpha site in North America for
Thermo Fisher ARL automation using
the Fanuc robot.
The photo at the top of the page is
a panoramic view of the lab with
spectrometers on the left, robot in the
middle and sample machining on the
right. The lab analyzes approximately
The Remelt lab offers other support
services for ingot production such
as LiMCA (Liquid Metal Cleanliness
Analyzer), Prefil (takes metal samples
that are sectioned so that impurities
can be identified), sample mold
maintenance, AlSCAN (measures the
level of gas in molten aluminum) as
well as other services. The support
services of the Remelt lab are focused
on the critical output variables of
chemistry and metal cleanliness. The
Remelt lab is a benchmark in our
industry.
Big and Blue and All About You
By Pat Sikora
Logan has something
new going on and it
is big and blue. No, it
doesn’t have anything
to do with UK. Logan is
putting in a new fume
exhaust system on
its Hot Mill Finishing
Mills equipment. You
have probably noticed
that over the course of
this year a number of
sections of ductwork
for the new system
have been put in place.
These components are
part of the 5.1 million
dollars being invested
to increase the air
quality of our working
environment. Although
this will not increase
production, Logan sees
the need to make the
health and welfare of its
employees a priority.
This project will almost
double the capacity
of the existing fume
exhaust system. An
advantage of the new
system is that it will have
variable speed drives on the motors
which will allow us to speed them
up or slow them down depending
on production needs in the future. It
will also have two CSEs (Centrifugal
Separator Equipment) like the
current system, but the new and
larger CSEs will be down streamed
from the fans. This change in design
will increase Logan’s ability to collect
fugitive emissions prior to going into
the stack. Another new feature is the
second stage mist eliminator. This
device will be located in the lower half
of the stack and is designed to aid
in capturing fugitive emissions. The
fire system is also being updated to
greatly reduce the need for cardox to
be used as a fire protection system.
The project team is a combination of
former, current, and brand new Hot Mill
employees. It is great to see Logan’s
teams (Purchasing, Operational,
Finance, ESM, Reliability, and Staff)
come together to make this project a
success.
The new system is scheduled to be
commissioned after the Fall outage
later this year.
The owners of Logan Aluminum are
committed to improving the safety
and environmental conditions for
their employees.
Go
Big
Blue!
Coil Connections, October 2011
5
Shop Talk
REMELT
Remelt sends best wishes to Dave Davis as he begins
his new role in Greensboro and welcomes Paul Banks as
our new Remelt Unit Manager.
Congratulations to Karen Ashby on birth of another
granddaughter on August 11 and to Tony Phelps on the
birth of his grandson. Charlie Stuckwisch is also a proud
new grandfather to a girl born on August 9th.
Congratulations to Miles Propp on the birth of his son on
April 10th.
Congratulations also to Jerry Jernigan on the birth of twin
boys born on June 30!
Welcome to the following new team members: Jason
Fowler to MPC-B Team, Brandon Stratton to Melt-B
team, Kevin Peay to Cast-B team.
Remelt would like to recognize the following safety
achievements. Remelt GTs have worked over 600 days
without an incident. Recycle A and Recycle C teams
have worked over 2 years without injury. Other safety
accomplishments: MPC-A, Cast-C, over 4 years without
in injury. Recycle-A and Recycle-C over 3 years injuryfree. MPC-D, MELT-A, Recycle-B over 2 years injury
free. Cast-D and Recycle Receiving both 1 year injury
free. GREAT JOB!!!
COLD MILL
Congratulations to lots of Cold Mill employees who have
new additions to their families. Join us in wishing these
new parents all the best!
Jesse & Heather Williams on the birth of their son, Jacob
Emerson on December 29th, 2010. Jacob weighted 7 lbs
5oz & was 21.5” long.
Janzen & Stephanie Dunn on the birth of their son,
Alexander Gabriel Roy Dunn on January 28th! Alexander
weighted 7 lbs 7oz & was 19 3/4” long.
Shane & Brandy Hargis on the birth of their son, Mace
Ryder Hargis on April 12th! He weighed 7 lbs 2oz and
was 20 1/2” long.
Miss
Kaedyn
Dakotah
Parlier,
daughter
of
Dempsey “DeBow” & Kelly Parlier
was born on
May 30th weighing 7 lbs 2oz and is 20 inches long.
6
Coil Connections, October 2011
Congratulations!Congratulations to Randy & Lisa Stokes
(CM) and Roger Mayes (Materials) on the birth of their
granddaughter, Ava Kristin Dawn Mayes who was born
on June 2, 2011.
Elyse Brooks also welcomes a new granddaughter, Avery
Nicole Owen born on April 12th.
Miss Audrey “Blake” Nash, granddaughter of Bobby
Nash, was born July 2nd, 2011. Congratulations to all
our new grandparents too.
Mr. Max Wilhite was dually blessed this year with two new
grandbabies! Ellyson Rae Wilhite, also the daughter of
Matt Wilhite (Finishing), was born April 1st and they also
welcomed daughter Abby’s new son, John Patrick on
July 20. Congratulations Max & family!
During the first half of the year, the Cold Mill has seen
many changes in personnel. We would like to recognize
Debra McIntosh, who has been promoted to the role of
Manufacturing Specialist in our unit. In this process role
she will continue to focus on the application and added
enhancements of the Surface Inspection System (SIS) at
CM3 while offering her expertise to the other units within
Logan.
Matt Seibert, Paul Lancette, and Dean Cross were
promoted to Engineer III.
We also bid farewell to Kevin Johnson as CM3 Engineering
Leader. Kevin is now Business Unit Manager of ESM.
Congratulations and Best Wishes Kevin!
Braden Engler, son of
Troy & Ashley Engler,
had the honor recently of
throwing out the first pitch
for the Bowling Green
Hot Rods. Braden sold
65 tickets to the game,
making him the top seller
for his league. Awesome
Job Braden!
The Cold Mill took three
of the top four spots in the
“Roll Back the Pounds”
contest, losing a total of
over 72 lbs between the
three of them!
Shop Talk
Congratulations to: Edward Taylor (Lou Ferrigno) CM2
11st place winner 24.2 lbs lost 10.5
Lisa Farley (Ray) 1st place winner Female 19.5 lbs lost
13.0%
Greg Grise (Gerg) RSB - 2nd place winner 24.2 lbs lost
10.5%
Christy Mann (Jenny Craig) CM1 - 2nd place winner
Female 23.7 lbs lost 10.3%
HOT MILL
Congratulations to Justin and Megan Gates on the birth of
their baby girl. Ella Raye was born on May 11th weighing
7 lbs and 7 oz and was 19 ½ “ long.
Congratulations to Randy and Lisa Crawford on the birth
of granddaughter. Mya Isabella Settle was born on May
29th weighing 5 lbs and 12 ozs.
We welcome the following new employees to the Hot Mill
Department:
Somsy Manavong was hired on June 13th as an Electrical
Engineer.
Richard Jarvis was hired on June 13th as a HMGT,
however, has been in the department for approximately
12 years.
Thomas Avery was hired on June 13th and will be working
with the HM Red Team.
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
The Supply Management team would like to welcome
two new team members to the Purchasing Department,
Carl Knight-Analyst Expeditor and Ryan Dickinson as
our Supply Chain Sourcing Specialist.
Congratulations to the Mudd River Union Band on
winning the Battle of the Bands during the Big O music
festival held recently in Owensboro. After winning the
contest, they got to open for Dierks Bentley and hang
out back stage.
We have another celebrity in our midst, Andy Woodall.
Andy has been married to Laura for 24 years; they have
two children Zack and Drew, along with an adorable
grandson Asher who is 19 months old. Andy has worked
at Logan since 1996 on the Tension Level Line and
Coating Line. He moved into a rotating Quality process
position from 2006 to 2009, went back to the Coating Line
through early 2011 and now is in a temporary technical
position.
Andy has always been involved in sports. During his high
school days, he went to two football state championships
with the Russellville Panthers. He then got involved with
the Logan County Cougars when his son Zack started
playing football in high school.
Due to Andy’s passion for football and his background,
Jim Turner gave his name to Gibb Son to consider for
a spot on his radio show. Andy was then asked to do
football caller commentary on 610 WRUS radio and
worked with Gibb for two years. When Lon Sosh became
ill and unable to call games, Andy was asked to fill in playby-play for Russellville Panthers Basketball. Now Andy
does play-by-play for Logan County Cougars Football,
Russellville Panthers Basketball and his son Zack does
caller commentary. Zack also does play-by-play for the
Cougars basketball.
We can hear Andy, along with co-host John Brett
Reynolds, at Roy’s Bar-B-Que every Thursday from 6:007:00 p.m. for the Coach’s show. Friday night’s pre-game
show begins at 6:30 and Kick-off at 7:00. Join Andy on
610 WRUS and on the internet at www.wrusam.com for
“All the Cougar Action A to Z”.
FINISHING
We would like to welcome all of our new hires: Matt
Burchett was hired on Pack 1 June 13th 2011, Matt
Willhite on A South on June 13th 2011 and Kevin Saunders
on Alpha 2 on August 8th 2011. Welcome to our new
Unit Manager, Stan Stokowski who moved to Finishing
on August 1st.Also a very warm welcome to Riley Ann
Moore born August 9th 2011 at 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches
long to Jamie and Barry Moore.
Coil Connections, October 2011
7
Lunker Tournament Continues Fun Tradition
8
Coil Connections, October 2011
Senator McConnell Visits Logan
On Monday, August 15, 2011, Logan
Aluminum had the distinct privilege
to welcome Senator Mitch McConnell
to our plant. Mr. McConnell had
requested this visit through his staff
in order to meet our teams and
understand the issues facing our
industry.
Senator
McConnell
had
the
opportunity to meet with the
leadership
teams
of
Logan
Aluminum as well as representatives
of the owners, Novelis Inc. and TriArrows Aluminum.
The Senator
expressed a keen interest in the
issues impacting Logan Aluminum
with a view toward creating policy
and decisions in support of American
manufacturing. After a brief tour, the
Senator addressed a large group of
Logan Aluminum employees who
had gathered in the Roll Shop area
of the Cold Mill. Upon completion of
his remarks, the Senator remained
on the floor to shake hands and greet
each individual who had attended.
Following his tour of Logan Aluminum,
the Senator addressed a luncheon
hosted by the Logan County Chamber
of Commerce at the UK Agricultural
Extension Office.
Coil Connections, October 2011
9
Power Talk
By Stephanie Coffman
The POWER Process – Protecting Our
Workforce by Eliminating Risk – is one
of the many ways we work to improve
safety at Logan Aluminum and is managed
by a Steering Committee made up of
members from every unit, including
operators, GT’s, Team Leaders, and
Staff. This process is intended to
complement other safety programs such
as Lockout/Tagout, Confined Space
Entry, and Machine Guarding and
utilizes the principles of Behavior Based
Safety to identify barriers which get
in the way of employees working
safely.
The foundation of this process is
the Critical Behavior Inventory (CBI)
which is a list of behaviors that have
been proven to reduce exposure.
Some examples of these behaviors
include using the handrail when on stairs,
utilizing horns and warning sirens on
equipment, and being focused on the
direction of travel when walking,
driving,
or
operating
equipment.
Employees are trained to use this list
of behaviors to perform observations
on each other and then to provide
feedback based upon what they see.
Feedback is given for each safe behavior
to reinforce those behaviors and,
if any at-risk behaviors are noted, the
employees discuss how to change the
behavior and reduce exposure. Some
behaviors can be easy to change and are
taken care of during the observation
while others are more difficult and
require additional help or resources.
This information is captured during
the observation and is then used by
employees during barrier removal
activities.
All employees at Logan make up
the engine that drives this process by
performing observations, by being
observed, and by participating in barrier
removal
activities.
Without
their
efforts, none of this would be possible.
The Steering Committee’s role in
the process is to provide assistance,
offer
guidance,
and
identify
opportunities for improvement. Current
activities are centered around improving
observation,
effectiveness,
and
efficiency through the use of observer
rotation plans and increasing the
effectiveness of observer coaching.
Finance Rolls Out New Systems
By Connie Pearson
Budgeting/Forecasting
One of our department’s key activities
for 2011 has been to install a new
budget/forecast software program
developed by Prophix. The project
team, led by Mark Dilliha, has been
working diligently for almost a year to
identify and implement a replacement
for our existing Oracle Financial
Analyzer product, which has become
obsolete.
The Prophix solution
provides significantly improved cost
reporting and analysis functionality
and is more user friendly than our
previous tool.
We were able to “go live” with
Prophix in July and will be expanding
its use to others outside the Finance
department in the coming months.
Other project team members
include Roseann Thomas, Brandy
Robinson, Toby Hawkins, Connie
Pearson, Linda Foster, Steve Harris,
Lisa Gilliam and Chad Hardison. In
addition, Donna Johnson continues
to provide support for Mark to enable
him to focus on the project.
On-Line Expense Reporting
Another key activity for 2011
has been to install a new on-line
expense reporting system, Expense
Anywhere. The effort, led by Jeanne
Coursey, has been on the Finance
wish list for a long time but began,
in earnest, in 2010 with an extensive
search for the software. The main
driver was Logan’s need for improved
technology that would include ease of
use, the ability to complete expense
reports on-line at any time, and
enhanced travel expense reporting.
Team Leader, Shari Adams, believes
the new system will provide better
visibility of travel data to assist with
possible cost reductions.
Installation efforts were completed
in August, 2011 and training began
immediately afterward. Training for
a core group of 170 employees will
continue through September, 2011
and all expense reports should be
created in the Expense Anywhere
system after October 1. Ongoing
classes will be available in the LED
system.
Congratulations New GTT’s for 2012!
Casey Holloway - Remelt
10 Coil Connections, October 2011
Alan Klein - Remelt
John Rosser, Jr. - Finishing
Logan Support
Appreciated by Scouts
Cub Scout Louis Scott presents Norman
Rockwell’s Scout Print “We Too Have a Job to
Do” to Randy Schumaker in appreciation of Logan
Aluminum’s support of the Boy Scouts of America.
The Boy Scouts of America have four cub packs
and one boy scout troop in Logan County. The Boy
Scout Camp, Wildcat Hollow, is also located in Logan
County.
Louis is the son of Dave (Hot Mill) and Ann
Scott.
Fallen Heroes Ride Again
Coil Connections, October 2011 11
Logan Aluminum Inc.
“An Equal Opportunity Employer”
We will not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion,
age, national origin, disability, or veteran status in any employee
relations activities or action.
Coil
P.O. Box 3000
Russellville, KY 42276
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Staff
Dorinda White, Editor...................................................... Management
Nichole Ross.......................................................................... Cold Mill
Jernaine Morrow..................................................................... Cold Mill
Liz Rogers....................................................................... Maintenance
Connie Pearson....................................................................... Finance
Sherry Nash...........................................................................Finishing
Connie Shifflett......................................................................... Hot Mill
Jill Brown............................................................. Information Services
Jerald Harper......................................................................... Materials
Fred Carter, Natasha Fatkin......................................................Remelt
Kelley Steenbergen............................................................... Technical
Deedee Proctor................................................... Supply Management
Randi Embry..................................................................................EHS
Jennifer Freeman................................................... Human Resources
Shane Paul............................................................. Human Resources
Coil Connections
Published for Logan Aluminum employees and their families.
Comments are welcome. Write Dorinda White, Logan Aluminum Inc.,
P.O. Box 3000, Russellville, KY 42276, or telephone (270) 755-6596.
LAST Team October Luncheon on Lake Malone
The LAST Team for retirees, spouses and employees
with 25 or more years of service will be hosting an
October luncheon on Friday, October 14th, from
11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Shady Cliff Restaurant
and Marina. Logan Aluminum’s CEO Randy
Schumaker will be our guest speaker for the event.
In order to reserve the necessary tables, we ask
that members and potential members either call or
e-mail with name and number of attendees.
We hope that you’ll enjoy the fall scenery on the
drive to and from and will be able to attend!
Phone Number: (270)726-2633
E-Mail: lastteamorg@yahoo.com