Blog Archives
Happy 59th Anniversary to Tyler Pipe’s James Madison!
Tyler Coupling Team Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day
Millions of people around the world donned their best green attire on March 17th to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Did you know that the first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade was actually held in New York in 1762. Today it is the largest and oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Tyler Coupling in Marshfield, Missouri celebrated this year by serving team members green popcorn and punch. Team members were hoping to get a little luck of the Irish.
Pictured R-L top to bottom: David Knight, Ronnie Devault and Melody Krueger
Do You Recognize This Runner?
Do you recognize this runner?
It’s our very own Faye Pettigrew, HR Manager at Tyler Pipe! Every year Tyler Pipe participates in the FRESH 15 race sponsored by Brookshire Grocery Company. It’s a favorite of the Tyler Pipe team and they always have a good turnout on race day.
Brookshire started the event to motivate the community and their employees to become healthier and it grew from there. Unlike any other races, they give 100% of race revenue back to non-profit organizations. Much like us, they firmly believe that motivating someone to get off the couch and move can change their life.
This race is a great way to support the local community and get healthy at the same time. Good luck to this year’s Tyler participants!
Matheson Gas Treats Tyler Team to Some Good Ole Texas BBQ
On Tuesday, October 17, our friends from Matheson Gas treated the Tyler Pipe team to some good ole Texas BBQ. Matheson Gas has been in the Tyler area since 1977 and Tyler Pipe has been purchasing their gas and welding supplies almost from the beginning. To show their appreciation, Luke Porter and his team brought out their BBQ pit, serving tables & trough cooler and fed over 250 hungry Tyler Pipe team members.
As you can see from the pictures their set up is second to none. Luke said that Matheson Gas put the pit trailer together to travel around their supply area for appreciation events like the one at Tyler Pipe.
And the Winners of the 2017 McWane Ergo Competition Are…
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 McWane Ergo Cup Competition:
Most Outstanding Project – 1st Place
Bibby St. Croix, Ladle Demolding Station
1st Place Runner-Up
Tyler Pipe & Coupling, Injection Mold Extruder Tip Puller
Best Risk Reduction
Anaco, No More Manual Loading of Feed Bins on Threaders
Most Innovative Project
McWane Ductile Ohio, Sure Stop Gasket Removal
Congratulations to the winners and to all of the facilities and team members who participated in this year’s competition.
Tyler Coupling hosts KRA event
Do you know what your key result area (KRA) is? It’s the things that you absolutely, positively must do to fulfill your responsibilities and achieve your goals. Tyler Pipe & Coupling in Marshfield, Missouri hosted a KRA event for representatives from AB&I, Bibby Ste-Croix, Anaco, Tyler Pipe and New Jersey this week. Guests spent the day in the plant working with their counterparts. The goal of these events is to make it easier for team members at different facilities to reach out to each other with questions or problems.
When AB&I started the MPG/KRA shared culture about five years ago, Kurt Winter wanted the team to learn more about the culture, processes, best practices, etc. at all of the McWane plumbing group facilities. They started by having the HR Manager’s visit each other’s facility once every quarter. They then expanded to have 2-3 team operational team members visit the facilities once a year with the same objective. Tyler Pipe in Marshfield was the last facility for this round. Next year, they plan to take it to the next level with key hourly team members visiting the facilities once a year.
Guests enjoyed several teambuilding events at the recent event which included a jeep drawn tour of Fantastic Caverns then it was on to the Branson Scenic Railway for a two hour train ride through the rolling hills of Missouri and Arkansas. They ended the day with dinner at the Level 2 Steakhouse near the Landing in Branson, Missouri where they discussed the day’s events and enjoyed a wonderful meal.
All for One and One for All, Our Shared Culture
L of Pipe: Raul Aguirre – Production Foreman, Anaco R of Pipe: Ken Nobriga – Shipping, AB&I Directly behind pipe: Dave Janney – Shipping, AB&I Second row, L to R: Dave Methot – Health & Safety, Bibby Ste Croix / Will Jones – Maintenance Supervisor, Anaco / Enrique Ramirez – Core Room Supervisor, AB&I / Carlos Gonzalez – Engineering, AB&I Third row, L to R: Sylvain Daigle – Production Supervisor, Bibby Ste Croix / Kelly Cheek – Coupling Supervisor, Tyler Coupling / Brian Lowe – Gasket Supervisor, Tyler Coupling / and Billy Ngiraikelau – Maintenance Supervisor
The McWane family of companies is an amazing amalgamation of four pipe facilities, four valve and hydrant facilities, seven soil pipe and utility fittings facilities, seven tank manufacturing facilities, one fire extinguisher facility, and five technology companies. The diversity and variety of product lines and business practices are certainly broad, but we all share an amazing amount of commonalities. Recently, Tyler Pipe had the opportunity to share their practices, culture, and expertise with team members from other McWane facilities in the Plumbing Division.
About three years ago, Alan Boscacci suggested that each of the facilities within the Plumbing Division take turns hosting their sister companies and sharing their knowledge, skills, best practices, and unique cultures. Initially HR team members attended the meeting, but that was eventually expanded to include the production team.
Tyler Pipe was proud to host representatives from Bibby Ste-Croix, Anaco, AB&I, and Tyler Couplings this year for the third annual meeting. Everyone was given a guided tour of Tyler Pipe and the opportunity to visit specific areas of interest that pertained to their every day job duties including Production, Maintenance, Customer Service Representatives, and Shipping.
After the meeting, Rod Burrus said, “We had a wonderful exchange of ideas and everyone left with a broader perspective of how our respective businesses can be improved.”
Tyler Pipe Hosts TSAPI
Tyler Pipe and the McWane Plumbing Group were proud to have the opportunity recently to host a plant tour for attendees at a meeting of the Texas State Association of Plumbing Inspectors (TSAPI). The TSAPI held their annual conference in Tyler, Texas, from June 7-11 which included continuing educational programming and other activities both at the conference center and around town. Inspectors from the around state of Texas attended the conference.
A total of 46 participants signed up for lunch and a tour of the Tyler Pipe facility. The tour started with a brief history about Tyler Pipe and safety instructions for the foundry tour. Everyone seemed impressed with Tyler’s manufacturing processes, stringent testing procedures, and quality standards that help make Tyler Pipe the largest producer of cast iron soil pipe in America.
Tyler also hosted a Med Gas class on-site. This training is required in order to maintain a Plumbing Inspector’s License. The old pattern shop provided a nice area where the instructors could demonstrate techniques around a large table.
Team members from Tyler Pipe and the McWane Plumbing Group also participated in activities after-hours which included the President’s dinner, a raffle, and games. EST Representative Victor Hatcher built a custom set of inclined boards so everyone could play a fun game of corn-hole.
At the end of the day, there were numerous compliments about the foundry and the hospitality shown to the association. Gail Lux, president of the association, presented Tyler with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the TSAPI for their generous time and effort shown.
Knowledge is Power at Tyler Pipe
If you happened to drive by Tyler Pipe on Wednesday, May 27, you may have noticed a very unnerving scene. No worries! Tyler Pipe’s EST Team Member, Troy Johnson, hosted a training day with the East Texas area local firefighters. Troy, one of the Engineering Specification Team (EST) members, invited the firefighters to come out to Tyler Pipe so they could be educated on the positives for installing cast iron pipe in our local and city buildings versus installing PVC.
There were a total of 15 firefighters from Lindale, Tyler, and Longview. The goal was to give them a voice whenever our local city officials are making decisions on the construction of our local schools and public facilities. By educating the firefighters on the positives for installing cast iron versus PVC, they will be able to make better choices.
The day included a demonstration from the Tyler Pipe Rope Rescue Team, a plant tour, and a catered lunch. All in all, the meeting was fantastic and very enlightening!
Team Tyler Pipe Shows Up Big at the 2nd Annual Fresh 15 Run
On Saturday, March 7th, over 30 Tyler Pipe & Tyler Union team members joined together on a very chilly morning to support the local community by participating in the second annual Fresh 15 Fun Run benefiting the Bethesda Health Clinic and The American Heart Association. Last year they had approximately 15 Tyler Pipe team members to register, so they were overjoyed to see that the numbers of those willing to participate had doubled.
Tyler Pipe encourages participation by paying the registration fees for each team member and one guest. This year over $80,000 was raised to support a handful of charitable organizations that provide care and health services to residents in Smith County and surrounding counties.
This year a couple of Tyler Pipe team members hit the mark with their participation. Ross Caldwell, Stationary Machines Supervisor, won 1st place in his age bracket. Running partner David Puckett, Electrical Maintenance Supervisor, won 2nd place in his age bracket, missing 1st place by only 3 seconds. As David said, “I would have pushed a little harder if I would have known I was that close.”
All in all it was a great experience and Tyler Pipe and Tyler Union were glad to be a part of over 3,000 people that participated that day.
Congratulations, Team Tyler Pipe, and many thanks to each of you that participated! A special congrats to Ross and David for their race performances!
McWane, Inc. 