Company, workers invest in Valley plant

The British owner of Indalex Aluminum is making many plant improvements.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
GIRARD -- Matt Novosel makes his living running an aluminum extrusion press, so he's noticed how manufacturing plants are struggling.
He knows Werner Co. is moving ladder-making operations from Greenville, Pa., to Mexico, and Huffy has shifted bicycle production from Celina, Ohio, to Mexico.
The list goes on, but so far, closings don't include Novosel's plant -- Indalex Aluminum Solutions in Girard.
As president of United Steelworkers of America Local 4564, Novosel has worried that the Girard plant, which used to be owned by Easco, would close as well.
Now, however, new owners are starting to invest in the plant, and it seems to Novosel that they are preparing it for the future.
Indalex has spent $625,000 on a variety of smaller improvements this year but just recently approved spending $300,000 for new equipment to heat aluminum billets.
The plant also is waiting for approval to spend $1.3 million to upgrade its paint line and packaging area and hopes to secure $700,000 next year for improvements to its presses, said Jim Piperato, Indalex general manager for the area.
The talk of investments is a relief for Novosel.
"If we don't have the capital to invest, we'll become a dinosaur like the steel mills," said Novosel, who represents about 300 of the plant's 389 workers.
Novosel said he was worried when Caradon of England bought Girard-based Easco in 1999 and merged it into Indalex, which has 16 extrusion plants in this country and Canada. Caradon has since changed its name to Novar.
Despite his worn boots, colorful bandana and pro-union T-shirt, Novosel worries a bit like a businessman.
He became concerned as the nation's economy slumped, demand for aluminum fell and companies sent manufacturing to low-cost countries.
"We have to be competitive because globalization is taking over," he said.
Piperato, who was named general manager in January, likes it when hourly workers talk that way.
A former Alcoa executive, Piperato said the Girard plant was in "dire straits" when he arrived last year to work in production scheduling. The plant was not operating well enough to receive critical corporate investment, he said.
Motivating workers
His first goals were to encourage workers to see the global picture and empower them to improve the plant so it would become more competitive.
Workers have responded eagerly at the chance to take more of a role in the plant, he said.
"It's been the easiest job I've ever had," said Piperato, 44, who has worked 12 years in the industry. "I just came in here and took the handcuffs off [plant workers]."
Workers are doing a better job of keeping the plant clean and safe, finding ways to reduce scrap and producing quality products, he said.
The plant's on-time deliveries to customers have increased from 57 percent in 2000 to 85 percent this year. Work days lost because of accidents have fallen from 40 to zero during that time.
"It's quite a change from the old days," Novosel said.
When he came to the plant 10 years ago, Novosel said workers were lackadaisical about safety procedures and weren't able to give input on improving operations.
Now, they aren't working harder, just smarter.
Accountability
"You have to be accountable. You have to be ready," he said.
Piperato makes sure everyone is accountable. Each month, production information is posted in the plant that is so detailed that it allows machine operators to be compared. It shows the production of each piece of equipment on each shift.
A little bit of peer pressure among workers is a good thing, Piperato said.
Each quarter, he has a meeting over coffee and doughnuts for all plant workers to review the plant's progress.
Piperato's method is more than financial reports, however. Livening up the plant each week is the presentation of the Dirty Mop Award and Gold Mop Award.
The department that does the best in keeping its area clean and safe that week gets a gold mop. The department that's most lacking gets the dirty mop.
Piperato said the competition has become so spirited that he is rewarding departments with hats and shirts if they win the gold mop five times in a row.
The awards are made by the housekeeping committee, which has hourly and salaried workers. It is one of the committees that provide hourly workers with ways to improve the plant, Piperato said.
Customer satisfaction
Workers also have been finding ways to better match the plant's production schedules to customers' needs, which has increased the number of on-time deliveries, he said.
Customer satisfaction has helped the plant to keep its orders flat, even though the aluminum extrusion market is down, he said. Other extrusion plants are working four or five days a week, while the Girard plant is working six, he said.
Operating costs also have been cut, he said. One example of this is the shipping department, which has improved its product flow. The shipping department is packing 358 pounds per employee hour this year, compared with 283 last year.
Piperato said the two capital improvement requests that are pending are key to the plant continuing its improvements.
One would allow aluminum to be packaged for shipping right from one paint line, which would eliminate a bottleneck that occurs in the shipping department. Another would make the press operation more efficient.
Piperato said the plant already has moved up from one of the worst-performing Indalex plants to the middle of the pack. With the new equipment, he's confident that his management staff and production workers will make it the best plant in the company.
He said he's working hard to make sure that happens because he doesn't want to uproot his family as he has done several times in his career.
"This is the job I want. I'm going to be here a long time," he said.
shilling@vindy.com