Blog Archives
Amerex Products Spotted at the Dayton Air Show
McWane Ductile Ohio team member Cory Humphreys spotted this Amerex wheeled fire extinguisher in front of a huge Air Force cargo plane at the Dayton Air Show this past weekend. Cory said, “I love seeing the McWane products in different places.” Also pictured is Cory’s daughter, Meagan (both current day and 8 years ago) and his son, Kolby, who is posing behind the Memphis Belle.
The flying show featured performances by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the Tuskegee Airmen P-51 Mustang, the U. S. Army Golden Knights and several other amazing talented groups.
Product Sighting: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Amerex Holds VPP Star Celebration
Celebration was the theme of the day at Amerex yesterday. They held a VPP flag raising and luncheon catered by Jim N Nicks BBQ for the entire Amerex team to celebrate achieving OSHA VPP Star status. The process to become a member of VPP takes years and cannot be done without the commitment of every single team member. McWane president Ruffner Page and OSHA Area Director Ramona Morris congratulated the team on their hard work and dedication to maintaining a safe workplace.
In his address Mayor Buddy Choat said “Amerex is the rock of this community as far as employers. If you’ve been here your name is associated with quality and dedication.”
McWane is proud to now have seven facilities that have achieved VPP status. Amerex joins McWane Ductile Utah, McWane Ductile Ohio, McWane Ductile New Jersey, Tyler Coupling, Clow Valve and Manchester Tank Elkhart as McWane VPP sites.
Congratulations team Amerex!
Pictured L-R: Stephani Riley (Amerex Nurse), Harrison Bishop (Amerex president), Ramona Morris (OSHA Area Director), Ruffner Page (McWane president) and Robert Fisher (Amerex Safety Manager)
Anaco Hosts McWane Group Safety Manager’s Conference
Anaco recently hosted the annual McWane Group Safety Managers’ Conference at their manufacturing facility in Corona, California. Ross Boeker is the Group Safety Director (GSD) for this group which includes, AB&I, Anaco, Tyler Coupling, Bibby Ste Croix, Bibby LaPerle and Amerex. This annual meeting is a great opportunity for GSDs to get together with their entire team of safety managers to share ideas and best practices with each other and discuss current issues and challenges.
This year’s agenda included a 1st quarter safety plan review, a best practice sharing WebEx with Kennedy Valve, an HR segment led by Joe Maziarz (Group HR Director) and Kevin McCarthy (VP HR), and a group tour of the Fender Guitar factory in Corona, California. The team was treated to an in-depth tour of the facility which manufactures the famous Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster guitars, as well as the Fender Precision Bass & Fender Jazz Bass. After the tour, the team met with the Fender safety team to share ideas and best practices. Anaco safety manager Larry Fuscher offered and is looking forward to hosting the Fender safety team for a reciprocal visit in the near future.
Pictured L-R: Rex Blevins (Senior GSD), Ross Boeker (GSD), Larry Fuscher (Anaco Safety Manager), Jonathan Desbiens (BBL Safety Manager), TJ Pinkston (ABI Safety Manager), Nathan Gentges (Tyler Coupling Safety Manager), Francis Dorval (Bibby Ste Croix Safety Manager), Robert Fisher (Amerex Safety Manager)
And the Winners of the 2017 McWane EHS Awards Are…
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 McWane EHS Awards!
Outstanding Environmental Performance-Fabrication: Amerex (Trussville, AL)
Outstanding Environmental Performance-Foundry: Kennedy Valve (Elmira, NY)
Outstanding Environmental Progress-Fabrication: Anaco and Clow Valve Corona (Corona, CA)
Outstanding Environmental Progress-Foundry: Bibby-Ste-Croix
Outstanding Health & Safety Performance: Mcwane Ductile New Jersey (Phillipsburg, NJ)
Quartile Club: (replaced the Most Improved RIR-Fabrication and Most Improved RIR-Foundry Awards): M & H Valve Company, Tyler Union, Clow Valve McWane Ductile New Jersey (Phillipsburg, NJ)
EHS Excellence (Screaming Eagle): Kennedy Valve (Elmira, NY)
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
McWane, Inc. Announces New Executive Leadership at Amerex
Harrison Bishop, formerly president of The Solberg Companies, has been appointed president of Amerex Corporation effective January 1, 2018.
In addition to his responsibilities at Solberg, Bishop has served on the Amerex executive committee as vice president, strategic initiatives. Prior to entering the fire suppression industry, Harrison practiced law for more than a decade, focusing on mergers, acquisitions and general corporate law, as a partner at Maynard, Cooper and Gale, P.C., in Birmingham, Alabama.
Bishop will be working alongside the newly appointed chief executive officer of Amerex, Larry Whitehead, who has served in a variety of capacities within McWane, Inc., including president of Manchester Tank & Equipment Company.
In addition, Andy Payant has been appointed as the executive vice president-finance for Amerex Corporation with the same effective date. Andy has served as vice president and international controller of McWane, Inc. since 2012. Previously, Payant served as McWane’s vice president and controller from 1998 until 2012. Prior to joining McWane, Inc. Payant held senior management positions at Compass Bank and Molton, Allen & Williams.
Posted from: http://www.trussvilletribune.com/2018/01/04/new-executive-leadership-team-at-amerex-announced/
McWane Concludes Another Successful P2C Competition
Every year McWane conducts a Pollution Prevention Challenge (P2C) where employees from around the world submit projects that decrease the company’s environmental footprint. This year 32 entries were received corporate wide. Finalists presented their projects on October 12, 2017 before a panel of judges and McWane Ductile Ohio was awarded first place. Their project eliminated almost 90 tons of greenhouse gases per year, 30 tons of landfill waste, and over 850 hours of labor per year not to mention increased worker safety and morale.
Amerex came in second place with a project on compressed air monitoring and McWane Ductile Utah came in third with a building station paint mat project. The winners of the Why Didn’t’ I Think of That award this year for their innovative, simple and low cost solutions that produced relatively small but important environmental benefits were Manchester Tank Elkhart for a lubricant reduction project and McWane Ductile Utah for a project that reduced wood dunnage.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Pictured MDO team from L-R: Terry Crozier, Cortes Poland, Jim Wright, Nick Garrett, Anthony West, Jim Finton, Jan Ickes
Head of Defense Contract Management Agency visits Amerex
Lt. General Wendy M. Masiello, director of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), toured Amerex on January 6. DCMA manages more than $223 billion in Department of Defense contracts.
Last year Colonel David Hosna, commander of the DCMA southeast region in Huntsville, Alabama, toured Amerex and was impressed with its technology and Lean Manufacturing program. When Lt. General Masiello asked to tour a leading manufacturer in the Southeast, rather than suggest Boeing or Lockheed, Colonel Hosna recommended Amerex as an example of a relatively small but growing contractor with an innovative manufacturing program.
Amerex has been selected as the sole fire protection system provider to prime contractor Oshkosh on the Army’s new JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle) program. Oshkosh was awarded a $6.75 billion initial contract to procure the first 16,901 vehicles for both the Army and Marines. Amerex will provide fire protection to the engine compartment and crew cab of the new vehicle.
The winner of 6th Annual McWane Ergo Cup Competition is . . .
L to R: Dale Schmelzle, Claudiu Lungo, Andrew Perkins, and Pat Tyson
The 6th Annual McWane Ergo-Cup competition was held on October 21, and once again, the McWane family of companies raised the bar! This year, 169 team members completed 24 projects from 17 different locations, which surpassed our previous years involvement and number of projects.
The judges for this year’s competition were Dale Schmelzle (McWane Ductile-New Jersey General Manager), Claudiu Lungo, PhD (Associate Professor at the UAB School of Public Health and Director of the Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety), Andrew Perkins, M.S., CIH, CSP, Senior Industrial Hygienist, Alabama Power Company Corporate Safety & Health Department, and Pat Tyson, OSHA attorney and partner in the Atlanta based law firm of Constangy, Brooks & Smith.
The winners of the 6th Annual McWane Ergo Cup Competition are:
- McWane Outstanding Project – 1st Place
Clow Corona (Wet Barrel Hydrant) - 1st Place Runner Up
Manchester Tank Quincy (Low Impact Weld Removal Tab) - Best Risk Reduction
Amerex (Charge Station) - Most Innovative Project
Manchester Tank – Elkhart (Auto Brushing)
Clow Corona will now move on to represent McWane at the National Ergo Cup competition which will be held in Orlando, Florida, on March 21, 2016.
Congratulations to everyone that participated in this year’s competition. Each year, we are amazed at how many great projects are submitted and every project is a winner as each project reduces the risk of injury to McWane team members. We appreciate your on-going participation in the Ergo Cup as well as your teamwork, creativity, enthusiasm, and drive for continuous improvement.
Now keep those ideas coming! Who knows, you may have the next Ergo-Cup winner!
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor and Emergency Management Administrator Visit Solberg Company
Lt. Governor Kleefisch (center left), Steve Hansen/General Manager (center), and Brian Satula/Administrator WEM (center right) with Solberg team members.
Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Administrator Brian Satula (Wisconsin Emergency Management) stopped by for a tour of our Solberg facility in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Monday, June 29. Solberg is the firefighting foam division of Amerex Corporation.
Lt. Governor Kleefisch thanked team members for their dedication and support to public safety in Wisconsin and discussed the establishment of a public/private partnership on firefighting foam between Solberg and the Wisconsin Emergency Management. Under the cooperative agreement, the state will have access to a supply of firefighting foam in emergency situations such as a crude oil fire or other large scale industrial fire incidents.
“This is a great partnership between the Solberg Company and the State of Wisconsin,” said Wisconsin Emergency Management Administrator Brian Satula. “Having foam ready to be deployed is important as we have increased rail transportation of crude oil in the state.”
McWane, Inc. 