GA Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) Georgia Tech

Georgia Manufacturers Have a Story to Tell – GaMEP Client Survey

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Ga Manufaturers have a story to tell

During the next month, the Georgia Manufacturing Quarterly Survey will be delivered to companies across the state. This survey is a key benchmark that provides us with critical information on Georgia manufacturers’ problems, needs, and business performance. Through a third-party administered survey, we ask our clients to answer questions that will help evaluate the quality and usefulness of our services and the impact the assistance of GaMEP has had on their business.

By telling their story, companies can showcase the results of our partnership and work, so that we can continue to receive vital funding that helps us provide integral, low-cost services to manufacturers across the state. Companies self-report the results of working with the GaMEP, highlighting the impacts around cost savings, sales, and job creation or savings, that have been a direct result of projects within the plants.

GaMEP knows that these improvements leave a lasting impact, and each year we work with more than 800 manufacturers to advance the state’s economic impact. In the last year we have helped manufacturers reduce operating costs by $121 million, increase new and retained sales by $317 million, created and retained 2,074 jobs, and helped our clients make $159 million in plant investments to improve their operational efficiencies.

Many clients want to share their impacts with the GaMEP.  Through an interview process, we capture their results and create client success stories. These stories are a great way for companies to share their journey and outcomes. We then send the stories to our national sponsor, post on our website and social media channels, promoting the company and GaMEP’s impact. We, as a team, get excited to tell these stories and celebrate the wins, as it helps fulfill our mission of enhancing global competitiveness for Georgia manufacturers.

By showcasing the positive performance of our clients, we can attract more manufacturers to our state, build a reputation as the No. 1 resource for manufacturing excellence, and continue to grow and advance an environment that supports small to mid-size manufacturing companies.

The next survey period is active and runs from July 13 to August 19.

Here are a couple helpful tips for completing the survey:

  • Manufacturers will only need to complete one survey per year. If GaMEP has completed multiple projects, your Regional Manager will work with you to combine the impacts of all completed projects into one survey report.
  • During the survey period, your Regional Manager or Project Manager will be in touch to verify the appropriate contact and share more information about the survey process.
  • On the first day of survey period, the contact will receive a unique survey link via email from: moc.yevrustneilcpemnull@troppus.
  • Only one survey response is allowed by each company.
  • Clients should consider the totality of the impacts they have achieved in working with GaMEP and how those impacts have cumulatively been expressed in the last six-twelve months in results.

If you’d like to see some of the stories shared by other GaMEP clients, please visit the Success Story page on our website. Contact your Regional Manager with any questions, or if you are interested in having a success story written about a project we’ve completed with your team, contact GaMEP’s Marketing Strategist, Raine Hyde.

By Raine Hyde, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

6 Tips for Keeping Your Manufacturing Plant Cool During the Summer

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6 Tips for Keeping Your Manufacturing Plant Cool During the Summer

As temperatures increase in the summer months, so do the risks that are associated with a lack of proper cooling solutions at your manufacturing plant. Keeping the factory floor cool during the hottest part of the year is vital to providing your employees with a safe and comfortable work environment, and can also prevent equipment and machinery failure. However, reducing heat to the necessary level within a manufacturing workspace can prove to be a challenge, especially when you are working towards becoming more energy efficient or do not have the budget for updating or purchasing new cooling systems. For optimum efficiency in cooling the factory floor and the rest of your building without incurring high energy costs, consider implementing some of following best practices at your plant:

  1. Install High Volume Low Speed (HVLS) Fans. Proper air flow is key to reducing stratification. While standard fans may be able to provide some relief to employees, larger HVLS fans will be more effective when it comes to breaking up blocks of hot air and cooling the factory floor. Many HVLS fans are also programmable and can work together with other cooling equipment to lower temperatures. To ensure optimal results at your facility, you’ll need to consider a variety of factors, including blade size, the speed at which it rotates, and even the tilt of the blade. If you’re not sure which direction to go in, you can contact your local GaMEP region manager to help you find a reputable brand that can offer a variety of options and a free estimate.
  1. Change the Color of Your Roof. Generally, darker colors absorb heat, while lighter colors reflect the sun’s rays. If your current roof is a darker color and traps in a lot of heat, consider replacing it with a light colored roof that will deflect more heat and keep the interior cooler, ultimately helping your plant become more energy efficient in the long run. If replacing your roof with new light colored materials is too daunting of a task or not within your budget, you may try applying a reflective roof coating to your existing roof. This type of coating is different from regular paint, but is applied in a similar fashion.
  1. Insulate Your Building, Piping, and Equipment. Proper thermal insulation of your building, piping, and mechanical equipment is critical to managing the heat within your plant and can lead to lower cooling bills during the summer months. Without adequate insulation, the extra heat making its way out into your facility will make the air conditioning system work that much harder to cool things down. Simple devices such as thermal imaging cameras that connect to your phone can help detect energy loss caused by missing or damaged insulation, inefficient HVAC systems, electrical faults, and more.
  1. Practice Preventative Maintenance. Performing regular HVAC maintenance will help your HVAC system run close to peak efficiency, resulting in reduced energy costs and preventing costly breakdowns. While HVAC maintenance may seem like an obvious necessity, small steps in the process can be easily overlooked, or you may assume that a certain noise is normal, or that a particular room may run warmer than others. Even something as simple as changing out the air filters can make a big impact. Ensure your facility is taking preventative steps when it comes to maintaining your HVAC by either recruiting an outside professional or looking to one of your qualified employees to routinely complete this work.
  1. Shift Your Operational Hours. If your plant does not operate 24 hours a day and has some flexibility within its scheduling, you may consider shifting some of the operational hours to avoid using equipment during the hottest part of the day. By transitioning some shifts to overnight or earlier in the morning, your facility will experience less infiltration of heat and your employees will benefit from a cooler work environment.
  1. Invest in Zip Doors. As your employees continuously move throughout the facility every day, the amount of times they open doors and let cold air out or allow warm air in can affect the air flow and contribute to increased temperatures. While you cannot control how every employee opens and closes a door, you can consider replacing your current doors with zip doors. After being opened, zip doors will automatically close – quickly and securely. Some versions may even offer verbal warnings that are triggered if a door is left open for too long. Zip doors also tend to be constructed out of softer materials, allowing them to better absorb any distress that comes their way and resist damage more easily.

If you are a small to medium sized industrial facility that is interested in implementing new or additional cooling solutions, but struggle to determine the best course of action then you may qualify for a no-cost assessment provided by the GaMEP. An IAC assessment will help you to identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste, and save energy. To see if your company is eligible, apply at https://iacgeorgia.org/.

In addition, if you would like to discuss other energy cost savings opportunities or look at ways to improve your preventative maintenance capabilities, contact your local region manager at the GaMEP.

By Megan Johnson, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Two Georgia Manufacturers Partner to Produce Face Shields for COVID-19 First Responders

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Two Georgia Manufacturers Partner to Produce Face Shields for COVID-19 First Responders

Less than 100 miles of interstate and back-roads in Georgia separates one of the largest car manufacturers from an OEM manufacturing supplier. Eight weeks ago, these two manufacturers had never been in contact, let alone imagined they would connect over a product that neither were producing at the time. Fast forward to May of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and not only are they supporting each other, but one of the companies is incorporating this product change into their long-term business strategy.

In late February, Reagan Barksdale, president of TSG Resolute in Americus, Georgia, could see the writing on the wall. Watching what was occurring in Asia and Europe and talking to numerous Fortune 500 clients, Barksdale and his team had the forethought to understand that there was going to be a shortage in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at the hospitals and began putting together a plan to manufacture and distribute face shields. Barksdale said, “The product itself was aligned with what we were already producing in our facility and by getting ahead of the curve not only have we been able to stay open and keep our team working, but we are manufacturing a key item that is helping out in the community and across the country.”

Around the same time, Stuart Countess, chief administrative officer with KIA Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG), out of West Point, was having a similar conversation with his team. Knowing the automobile industry was going to have to slow production to deplete existing inventory, KMMG wanted to give their team a chance to keep working and tie back to their “Accelerate the Good” program. Countess said, “We could use our manufacturing resources to support the needs of the medical industry in a timely manner and make an immediate impact.” The KMMG plant got to work, reconfiguring the materials space for their new production line – setting up glass partitions and work station tables six feet apart. Countess reached out to John Morehouse, Director of the Center of Innovation for Manufacturing at the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Derek Woodham, West Georgia region manager for the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, to gain confirmation that KMMG’s idea of producing face shields was an immediate need in the state.

Morehouse connected KMMG with the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a non-profit 501(c)(3) and affiliate of Georgia Tech, where the groups partnered to prototype and test KMMG’s face shield renderings. While this was occurring Countess was asking Woodham how to get the materials sourced to create the face shields. Woodham reached out to TSG Resolute, a long-time client of the GaMEP. Woodham said, “Reagan has been in our CEO Roundtable for years and has been a very active participant and supporter of the GaMEP, and just knowing that they were already making face shields, the connection seemed perfect.”

During the conversation, the two groups agreed that TSG Resolute would supply KMMG the materials needed to produce face shields. Countess said, “It was great to be able to connect and support a Georgia-based manufacturer.” Barksdale agreed, “We took a chance at the beginning of all of this and since we were one of the first to make this product, we had enough raw material that we were able to supply KMMG so that they could help out with the critical supply efforts as well.” In addition to supplying material, TSG Resolute also got involved in the face shield design, helping GCMI optimize material to keep the cost down.

Two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, KMMG is fulfilling commitments across the United States. The team is providing face shields to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), which are then being distributed to those on the front line. The group is also shipping out product to their regional offices across the country, who are then dispensing the face shields to medical facilities and hot spots in their regions. Countess said, “We have a goal to produce 300,000 face shields by the end of May in order to get our product into the hands of people that need them most.” As for a what’s to come, the KMMG team is continuing to assess the situation and align their future efforts with the needs of those in the field. Countess continued, “KIA and the KMMG family have a strong community relations program and it’s great to be able to give back during such an important time for all of us.”

For TSG Resolute, a 250 person plant in a small town in Southwest Georgia, the short-term goal is similar to KMMG – to supply the medical industry with what they need to stay safe. Barksdale said, “We are currently making up to 65,000 face shields a day and sending them to local hospitals, as well as supplying KIA with 50,000 parts, such as foam and latex straps, per week so they can continue to produce product as well.” For the long-term, however their goal is different than KMMG. Prior to COVID-19, TSG Resolute had sold a few of their products to the medical industry, but had a five-year plan to break into this new-to-them market. Barksdale said, “We had just made a million-dollar capital investment to serve the medical industry, so COVID-19 has sped up our plans and instead of it taking years to make connections in the industry, it’s taken weeks to form important relationships with hospital chains and medical suppliers.” In addition, the company has used this time to complete construction on their clean room, form connections, educate themselves on the industry, and look at economical ways to produce medical industry products in Georgia, but at costs closer to overseas competitors, so they can continue to forge this new path for the future of the company and the growth of jobs in their community.

Prior to COVID-19, Barksdale and Countess had never talked nor was KMMG aware of the manufacturer less than 100 miles away, but for both groups, through their trusted relationship with GaMEP, they have grown to rely on each other and are exploring ways to work together even long after COVID-19 is a distant memory.

By Katie Takacs, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Wendy White Discusses the Importance of Effective Environmental Monitoring Programs to Combat Food Contamination

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Wendy White Discusses the Importance of Effective Environmental Monitoring Programs to Combat Contamination

Wendy White, food safety expert and GaMEP project manager, discusses major pathogenic contamination issues that can surface when food manufacturing plants remain too complacent in their typical sanitation routines and neglect to seek out effective solutions that can identify the root cause of the problem. Best practices and strategies for contamination prevention that White mentions include:

  • Adhering to new guidance from the FDA. Manufacturers have been prompted to create an action plan when pathogen positives are found that encourages them to go above and beyond the old “reclean, retrain, and reswab” mantra that has been the staple of environmental monitoring programs (EMPs) for years.
  • Strategizing your Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) for efficacy. EMP-based recalls, the high cost of testing, and the general litigious nature of our country frequently discourage companies from employing a truly robust EMP. However, this strategy of avoidance can ultimately prove to be disastrous if a company does not attempt to identify negative tendencies and tackle potential issues before they escalate into true problems.
  • Understanding the challenges to developing a robust EMP. Thorough sanitation is among the most important means of preventing contamination from environmental pathogens, but is often not robust enough to properly identify and solve all problems. Lack of management and expertise, inadequate training, and equipment design issues are just some of the common inhibitors to proper sanitation. Getting to the real root of the problem is the best way to truly prevent contamination from taking root inside your facility.

White expands on each of these points in her article, “Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut” in Food Safety Magazine. The article provides valuable guidance and challenges food manufacturers to wake up and rethink their “out of sight, out of mind” approach that can sometimes lead to devastating results, such as pathogen positives, contamination events, recalls, and even outbreaks.

Read the entire Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut article

 

Wendy White helps food companies achieve compliance with regulations and customer expectations. She holds leadership with the Georgia Association of Food Protection (GAFP) and the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) and holds Quality Auditor Certification from the American Society of Quality.

Steps to Take When an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

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Steps to Take if an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19

Over the past month, you have most likely come up with more questions than answers, you’ve accumulated more worries than you’ve ever had before, and are trying to keep yourself and your team afloat, like so many others across the world.

In addition, you’ve probably used phrases that you’d never thought you’d have to say to your adult employees. Things like, “tell your manager if you are running a fever or have a cough; properly wash your hands and disinfect your area multiple times a day; and keep a six-foot distance from your co-workers.” If these steps aren’t followed by your employees, there could be significant repercussions for your team and your manufacturing plant.

As a manager, executive, or owner within a manufacturing facility, a big concern right now is around cash flow and keeping your doors open. One of the most important factors that goes into this is the health of your employees and the questions around what to do if one of your employees tests positive for COVID-19 or has been exposed to someone that has tested positive.

One question the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech staff have repeatedly received is: “How can I afford to shut my plant down for 24 hours to disinfect the workspace?” The answer: “Wouldn’t it be worse if you didn’t shut down to disinfect and then a few weeks later half of your workforce goes down with COVID-19 and you have to shut down longer?”

Put differently: is the small cost at the front end worth the risk of the large price you may have pay on the back end if you don’t sanitize your space properly?

Jenny Houlroyd, senior research scientist with Georgia Tech’s Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) program, developed this guide with 10 steps to take if one of your employees tests positive for COVID-19:

  1. Once an employee has notified their manager that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control says the employee should no longer report to work. The employee should then remain in isolation until at least seven days have passed since the date of their first positive COVID-19 diagnostic test and they have no subsequent illness, followed by seven additional days of quarantine. Employees must follow the direction of their medical providers and/or local health authorities on when to discontinue home isolation. Employees should not return to work until they have tested negative for the virus. If one of your employees comes to you and says they have not tested positive, but have been exposed to someone who has tested positive, that employee should self-quarantine for the 14-day recommendation.
  1. Evacuate and close off the area(s) used by the employee who tested positive for COVID-19. In addition to just shutting down the area that the infected employee worked in, you will need to have a broader understanding of the areas within your facility that they’ve walked through and the shared spaces, such as a break room or rest room that they have been in, and close down those areas as well.
  1. Notify all employees who have been in contact with the positive case so that they can self-monitor. In the case of the workplace, “been in contact” is defined as ALL employees in your plant (regardless of shift), since you cannot say for certain which other employees the infected employee has passed in the hall or been in the break-room with. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to alert your team, but due to privacy laws, you may not let others know who on the team tested positive, just that there was a positive case reported.
  1. Allow for employees in direct contact of the positive case to self-quarantine for 14 days. In the case of the workplace, “direct contact” is defined as people that work within six feet of the infected individual and those who share common work-spaces.

Examples to differentiate between points three and four include:

  • A person in shipping and receiving tests positive for COVID-19:
    • “Been in contact” is everyone within your manufacturing facility
    • “Direct contact” is everyone that works or has been in the shipping and receiving department and/or came in contact with in a communal area of the plant (example – had lunch or coffee with the person)
  • A person on a manufacturing line tests positive for COVID-19:
    • “Been in contact” is everyone within your manufacturing facility
    • “Direct contact” is everyone that works in close proximity to that person on the line or the leaders/others that have gathered the team on the line to discuss the day’s work, or and/or came in contact with in a communal area of the plant (example – had lunch or coffee with the person)
  1. Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the affected area. Doing this will create an unstable environment for the virus to persist, meaning that the change in temperature or the breeze now coming in through the open windows will help flush out any potential virus in the air.
  1. Wait at least 24 hours before you clean or disinfect the compromised area(s). The virus lasts for three hours in the air hour before it breaks down and is no longer airborne, but there are differing opinions on how long the virus lasts on each type of surface. Our recommendation is to wait at least 24 hours before going into the affected area to disinfect it. However, the longer you wait to send others back in, the better the chances are that the virus will have dissipated on each different surface, thus making it safer for your employees. Follow the CDC guidelines on how to clean and disinfect an area. Information can be found at:  cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/cleaning-disinfection.html.
  1. Clean and disinfect all areas used by the person who is sick. Do not just clean their workspace(s). Clean areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment such as tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATMs. Consult the Environmental Protection Agency’s registered list of disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, which can be found at: epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2
  1. The only exception to the above additional cleaning and disinfection, is if it’s been more than seven days since their positive test that the infected employee visited or used the facility, additional cleaning and disinfection is not necessary. If an employee notifies you that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19, but they hadn’t been in your facility for at least seven days, the virus most likely would have already expired on all surfaces.
  1. Continue routine cleaning and disinfection. Even if you don’t have any positive cases at your facility, it is still important to take preventative measures. Remember that although these same employees are social distancing, they are still around family members and have most likely been in some other public place such as a grocery store or hardware store. It’s important to educate your entire workforce on how to disinfect their workspace, as well as the facility being responsible for disinfecting common surfaces and wiping down common work areas such as break rooms, lunch rooms, and office areas, much more frequently than under normal circumstances.
  1. Determine if a positive COVID-19 case is work-related for compliance with OSHA 1904 Record keeping standards. If the infected person contracted the COVID-19 virus as a direct results of exposure on the job, then it would be considered work related and have to be recorded as an on the job work-related injury/illness. For more information visit: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html

As an employer, it is your employees’ responsibility to make sure they don’t come to work sick and that if they are exposed or test positive that they report it to you, their employer, as soon as possible. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to keep your employees separated, communicate regularly to your team, frequently sanitize your facility, and take appropriate and immediate action, should one of your team members test positive for COVID-19. Remember, shutting down for 24-hours to prevent further spread is a lot more cost-effective than having to shut down for weeks for an outbreak you could have prevented.

About the Georgia Tech Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) Program

Georgia Tech’s Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) program is comprised of safety and health professionals who are trained in pandemic preparedness and are experts in public health. We are committed to ensuring that manufacturing businesses in the state of Georgia get the assistance they need during this difficult time. Each meeting will cover how to develop an Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan, strategies for business continuity, guidance on effective disinfection strategies for manufacturing plants, and recommended resources. The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech is partnering with SHES to provide free, virtual meetings with companies to discuss strategies to create and implement an Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response Plan.

To learn more about SHES’ safety and health consultation offering, please visit: ohainfo.gatech.edu/.

To request a virtual meeting, fill out this form: oshainfo.gatech.edu/virtual-compliance-assistance-form/.

By Katie Takacs, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership