Newsletter - Summer 2005
President's Message | QA
News & Notes: PED Re-Certification | Customer
Profile - Graham Engineering Answers | The
Lost Wax Method
A Message from Our President, Richard L. Miller,
Jr.
As I write this article for the Summer 2005 Newsletter, we have
just been informed that under our contract with Met-Ed, we are being
curtailed for the seventh day in a row. Summer has arrived with
very little warning this year. Allow me to thank each of you who
work in the hot areas of the shop for your efforts when the temperatures
are so high.
Some of you may wonder why the Electric Company can call us and
we reduce our power load. This is the result of agreeing to a contract
for our electricity that designates us as a “CURTAILABLE CUSTOMER”.
Based on this agreement we receive a credit each month of the year
with the understanding that when the overall power demand gets high
enough, we can be called with a two-hour notice to reduce our load,
which in turn reduces the need to purchase higher-priced power that
is produced by less efficient methods during these peak-demand periods.
Over the years we have felt that the benefits provided by being
a curtailable customer are worth the frustrations caused on our
curtailment days.
On another subject, we are just beginning a new project that we
feel will have positive long-term benefits for PPCP and its employees.
We are adding new modules to our current production control and
scheduling system to allow us to collect the actual cost to produce
each job as it goes through the shop.
I am sure that, at first, this will seem like it is more trouble
than it is worth, as each employee will need to log on and off jobs
as they travel through the operation, but in the end, will have
a much better handle on which jobs are contributing positively to
our financial success. With this knowledge in hand, we will be able
to look for ways to be able to make sure we optimize the process
in order to improve the profitability on each job, or, when necessary,
work directly with the customer to change prices on individual jobs.
After the program runs full-circle for a period of time, we will
be able to use our history to establish standards for all jobs we
run and evaluate our performance against these standards. With these
standards in place, we will be able to calculate labor requirements
in each department based on the work scheduled to be processed in
the following days/weeks and plan accordingly.
Again, the process of implementing a job-costing system will cause
some frustrations in the beginning, but we all believe that the
long-term benefits are worth the effort.
I am looking forward to seeing you and your family at our annual
picnic
that will be held at Hersheypark on July 30th.
Dick Miller
Back to Top
|
•
Newsletter Archives
"We are just beginning a new project that we feel will
have positive long-term benefits for PPCP and its employees"
|
QA News
& Notes: PED Re-Certification
It is hard to believe that three years have passed since PPCP was
first PED Certified. PED is an acronym for Pressure Equipment Directive,
which is a quality standard set for any pressure containing vessels
or equipment that will ultimately enter the European Union. Since
we were first certified, many of our customers have enjoyed the
relationship they have with us because it allows them to capture
work that requires castings to be made by a PED certified foundry.
The PED was up for renewal this year. As a result, our Quality Department
was put through a rigorous audit. This audit was designed to determine
if our quality system lives up to the standards that allow pressure
bearing components to be sent into the European Union. Sandra Gingrich,
our QA Manager, and Paul Pfautz, our Director of Technical Services,
spent two full days providing documentation and answering the questions
posed by the
auditor.
On June 2, 2005, Dixon Blystone (the auditor) accepted PPCP as a
PED-worthy foundry. We were accepted with no deficiencies or corrective
actions! We are excited by this news and are looking forward to
another three years of PED.
PPCP is certified by Hartford Steam Boiler International. Click
on the link to the right of this article to view a copy of our PED
certificate.
Back to Top
|
Click here to view the PED certificate
|
Customer
Profile - Graham Engineering Answers
PPCP has been making castings for Graham since the early 90s. Since
that time, we have enjoyed a great relationship. Recently, several
members of the PPCP staff traveled to Batavia, NY to visit Graham
and work on some process improvement measures.
It was wonderful to meet the staff at Graham, as there were some
new faces that we had never met before.
A little information about Graham…
Graham Corporation designs and builds vacuum and heat-transfer equipment
for process industries throughout the world and is a worldwide leader
in vacuum technology. Principal markets served include the chemical,
petrochemical, petroleum refining and electric power generating
industries, including cogeneration and geothermal plants. Other
markets for Graham equipment are metal refining, pulp and paper,
shipbuilding, water heating, refrigeration, desalination, food processing,
pharmaceuticals, heating, ventilating and air conditioning.
Graham ejectors, liquid ring vacuum pumps, condensers, heat exchangers
and other products – sold either as components or complete
systems – are used by our customers to produce synthetic fibers,
chemicals, petroleum products (including gasoline), electric power,
processed food (including canned, frozen, and dairy products), pharmaceutical
products, paper, steel, fertilizers and numerous other products
used every day by people throughout the world.
Back to Top
|
"Recently, several members of the PPCP staff traveled to Batavia,
NY to visit Graham and work on some process improvement measures."
|
The Lost
Wax Method
The lost wax method of casting has roots that date back thousands
of years. The modern method used at PPCP involves the creation of
a wax pattern that will ultimately be replicated in cast steel.
Read More...
Back to Top
|
|
|
