By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
It's hard to talk about SPX Contech/Metal Forge without mentioning places as far removed from Dowagiac as China, Wales and the University of Kentucky.
SPX Contech is having its first open house in 16 years from 9 a.m. to noon next Saturday, Oct. 29, to explain where its local plant fits in the scope of a more than $4 billion corporation based in Charlotte, N.C.
You're worried about your gas bill going up this winter?
SPX Contech spends about $75,000 a month on natural gas to operate.
Plus, it costs another $55,000 per month for electricity to cast and ship approximately 8 million castings per year.
SPX Contech currently ships approximately 9 million pounds of casting per year made mostly from recycled aluminum alloys.
The plant located five miles north of Dowagiac has 94 fulltime hourly employees totaling about 2,530 years of service - that's a staggering average 27 years of service per employee.
Beard said the open house offers “an opportunity for our employees to show their families and friends what this place is and what they do. And now, for many of them, who 16 years ago brought their kids, they're now probably going to be bringing their grandkids. We want them to have some pride” in improvements that have been made, including new equipment.
SPX Contech's Dowagiac facility began operations in 1950 as Foster Consolidated Products on Division Street in the city.
A 1952 fire destroyed that building, moving the business to its present location. The company then became Consolidated Die Cast Corp. of America.
The building and business expanded several times from 1952 to 1967.
In 1968, Consolidated Die Cast was sold to Sealed Power and operated as a subsidiary still known as Consolidated Die Cast. An addition was added to the building in 1969.
Consolidated Die Cast merged into Sealed Power in 1970 and became its die-cast division. The building grew again in 1976. Plant 3 was built across the parking lot 25 years ago, in 1980.
In 1988, Contech Division of SPX Corp.” was created by the board of directors for the newly-named SPX Corp. (formerly Sealed Power Corp.).
In 1989, Contech became a division of “Sealed Power Technologies, Limited Partnership” (SPTLP).
This new entity is owned 49 percent by SPX Corp., 49 percent by Goldman Sachs Investment Bank in New York City and 2 percent by SPTLP upper management.
SPX Corp. bought all ownership in Sealed Power Technologies, LP, in 1995 and reinstated Contech as a division of SPX using the name SPX Contech.
In 1999, the name changed again, to its current moniker, SPX Contech/Metal Forge, to reflect the combination of Contech with the Metal Forge and Ryken Tube divisions of the old General Signal Corp. SPX Corp. purchased in 1998.
From its beginning in Dowagiac, the business also operates manufacturing facilities throughout the Midwest and in Wales, the United Kingdom, as well as partnerships with other global companies. SPX Contech in January 2005 became ISO/TS 16949-certified.
As part of SPX Corp., a publicly-traded, multi-industry company, Contech's Dowagiac team is committed to producing world-class products through training and an emphasis on SPX leadership standards.
At SPX Contech, the SPX University program drives a strong culture of learning. They focus on training and continual development of their workforce. This investment in human capital helps attract great people to the team and improves the quality of the business. SPX University emphasizes this and is credited as a key to success.
At SPX, one of its six operating initiatives is Lean Manufacturing and its house analogy.
Continuous improvement is the mindset of all team members, even when that team boasts 2,530 years of service.
The ground the house rests on and the foundation of the house are the core of a lean system.
Represented by pillars, the tools of lean are only effectively used and sustained through adoption of a lean business philosophy.
Lean philosophy objectives are to:
Maximize value-added activities through identification and elimination of waste in all forms.
Create an atmosphere in the workplace that will: engage and improve the physical and intellectual productivity of people; foster trust in the workplace where team members at all levels will be empowered to identify opportunities for improvement and implement solutions to all processes of the business in pursuit of perfection.
Contech's lean journey begins with the training programs SPX University offers.
Through these programs, the importance of effective teamwork is emphasized. The lean curriculum is also designed to provide training in the interdependent elements of lean manufacturing.
For example, standardized work and 55 techniques help create stability within a business required for lean transformation.
SPX Contech also integrates the Six Sigma problem-solving methodology, providing discipline for quick, effective results.
More than 10 percent of employees have attended SPX University's Green and Black Belt programs, and the company says this commitment to learning is paying off.
Customer satisfaction increased while projects completed by team members resulted in more than $5 million in annualized savings.
Now lean teams are analyzing and transforming value streams to eliminate waste.
With foundational training in lean philosophy and a continuous improvement mindset, the SPX Contech team has its sights set on creating value for all stakeholders.
SPX's report of second-quarter 2005 results showed revenues up 4 percent, segment income up 16 percent and debt reduced by an additional $617 million.
Second-quarter revenues for Industrial Products and Services were $325.3 million, compared to $321.3 million in 2004's second quarter - an increase of $4 million, or 1.2 percent.
www.spxcontech.com
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