2012 2nd Quarter

Published by the Employees of the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co.
New Robots
During a demonstration of the Robot last week Mr. Scott Jarvis suggested that Corey Peterson teach it how to
cut hair and shave one of the engineer’s hair. Little did he know that we were WAY ahead of him. Have
you seen the melting department lately? Yep, Richard Simmons
was the first customer. $2 a cut and all you have to do is sign a
waiver. “It’s like an automated Flowbee but more dangerous.”
There’s an idea. The Flowbee tool attachment is in the works.
Engineering will be working on the ride bucket next. Make sure to
come to the PSCIPCO summer party 2012! We sincerely hope to
calculate the landing onto the bounce house correctly. Again $2
and a signed waiver.** Come enjoy PSCIPCO’s “Robot Cut &
Ride!”
Thanks to the Cupola bottom, the fence is down and maintenance is moving fast on the bell robot install a few days
earlier than planned. Come this afternoon
the robot will be in position on the line.
Below is a picture of the robot in its temporary home out in the old machine shop.
After the successful implementation of the
bell grinding robot, we’ll move on to it’s
little brother who is sitting patiently in the
storeroom awaiting the spigot end of the
pipe. That’s it for now. Robots to be continued…
Volume XXVII, Issue 6
2nd
Quarter 2012
Inside this issue:
From the Desk of Kent Brown
2
Bereavement
4
Family Faces
6
New Arrivals
6
Service Achievements
8
Retirements
8
** Note to Sheril Provstgaard: If you forget your money then you may find a kid on a bike following
you down the ski slopes
screaming “I want my two
dollars.“ Actually Corey says your “Robot Cut & Ride” fees are
waived for all your effort on getting the test stand operational in
the old machine shop. Thanks Sheril!
PSCIPCO Sales Meeting
Pacific States held its Sales Meeting in March
of this year. It was the first time in several
years that the entire team has met. It was a
great opportunity for everyone to meet new
members face to face. The meeting was a good
forum to share information about challenges in
each territory and problem solve together. The
gathering was enjoyed by all.
L to R Jason Barnes Sales Office Manager, Paul Diamond Salesperson Northern California, Richard
Brimhall Salesperson Utah, Aaron Loosli Inside Sales Coordinator, Jeff Otterstedt Sr. Vice President
Pipe Division, Carolyn Lopez District Manager Los Angeles, Kim Christensen Inside Sales Customer
Service, Wes Cassiere Salesperson Arizona, Nick Koncar Assistant Sales Manger, Glenn Watkins District Manager Seattle , Jason Harrison Salesperson Seattle, Mike McAllister Sales Manager, Carrie
Stephens Salesperson Portland, Kent Brown General Manager, Dagan Sturdivan Salesperson Los Angeles, Scott Jarvis Plant Manager
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 2
From the Desk of the
General Manager
Down, yes … Out, no
It is no secret that we have had to cut back on production this year. I
know it affects our team members not only financially, but it also has an
impact on morale. The continued slowdown in new home construction
throughout the western U.S. is the main reason for our low sales. When
I think about our current situation, I often find myself thinking about a
song. The song is “That Old Wheel” by Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr., and although it only made it to No. 21 in 1988 when it was
released, it is stuck in my head for some reason (but Mr. Cash will do
that to you sometimes). Anyway, the song’s lyrics say “That old wheel,
is going to roll around once more, and when it does, it will even up the
score.” Our business, for decades, has gone in cycles, and often what we
see on the east coast in our business one year is what we see on the west
coast the next. And what we see on the east coast this year is very promising. Sales have picked up for both of our sister facilities in the eastern
U.S. I believe that old wheel is rolling
around once more. It isn’t rolling as fast
as I would like but as Johnny and Jr.
would say, “Don’t give in, that old wheel
will roll around again.”
In spite of our reduced production we have managed to lower our scrap
rates, contain our cost, control our man hours, and continue to put out
the high quality product our customers have come to expect. These efforts will help to ensure that we are here when that old wheel does “roll
around again.”
I look forward to thinking about another Cash song, “The Ring of Fire,”
when I see iron coming off the trough into the molds on five or more
casting machines in the not too distant future.
Wellness Committee
In 2011 Pacific States formed a Wellness Committee. The purpose of
this committee is to provide active support of and to promote wellness
through healthy life choices for all employees. The current members of
the Committee are (left to right):
has the best participation.
GOAL: have the highest percentage of employees attend the
Relay For Life event
PRIZE: lunch for your department provided by the Company
To sign up for our team go to www.neborelayforlife.org (look for Pacific
States Cast Iron Pipe Company Team) or contact HR.
Stroke Detection - July 10th and 11th
A Stroke Screening uses ultrasound visualization of the carotid
arteries. 75% of strokes are caused when this artery is blocked.
They look for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm also using Ultra Sound
visualization of the abdominal aorta. Abdominal aortic aneurysms often do not have symptoms. An Ultra Sound is 98%
accurate in detecting and measuring the size of the aneurysm.
Brad Olson (Maintenance), Miguel Munoz, Vice Chairperson (Finishing), Emily Bailey,
Scribe (HR), Davy Crockett (Purchasing), Jessica Stones, Chairperson (HR), Sara Courtney
(Administration), and Gary Wood (Casting).
To date, the Wellness Committee has helped put together a walking
program as well as a biggest loser competition. There
are several more activities planned this year including:
Relay For Life (in memory of John Balian) starting
on June 29th at 6:00 PM
The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life is
an overnight event involving teams of walkers who are committed to raising awareness and money in the
fight against cancer. We need volunteers who will help at the
site on event day with food, games and walking.
We are hoping to get as many employees and their families to the event
as possible and are having a COMPETITION to see which department
Peripheral Vascular Disease can be detected through an ankle brachial index test that measures the blood flow through peripheral arteries. These blockages can also lead to heart attack or
stroke.
Bone density is measured through an Achilles screening test to
assess T-Score and Z-Score. The screening will identify bone
mass density and is proven to be very accurate when compared
to more invasive testing performed in a hospital setting.
Health and Wellness Fair
Blood Pressure Screening and Education
Body Fat Analysis and Education
Cholesterol and Glucose Screening
General Wellness Coaching
Sugar and Fat Content Displays
If you have any suggestions or questions about wellness activities please
feel free to contact any member of the committee.
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 3
40 Years of Service
Vern Cook
Randy Hanks
Quality Supervisor
Hired 4/6/1972
Vern’s extensive experience in the foundry over the years gives him
the ability to provide remarkable insight into quality issues. Vern is
able to dig down and find the root cause of pipe defects. He is a great
asset to the Quality Department. Vern’s rule of thumb is “Quality is
everyone’s job”. Vern started his career here in 1972 working as an
Iron Pourer in the Casting Department. Vern has held many titles over
the years including Foundry Supervisor, Shipping Assistant General
Supervisor and Casting General Supervisor. Everyone knew that
Vern’s job was always important to him. Vern wanted his employees
to be the very best they could be and was always very understanding
of his employee’s personal issues. Vern currently works as a Supervisor in our Quality Control Department. Vern is very dependable and
catches a lot of issues with pipe in the yard.
Vern is a very devoted Grandpa to his nine grandchildren. Vern devotes many of his non-working hours doting and spending time with
them. Vern has always had a good sense of humor and can be quite a
prankster at times. Just ask Doug Creer about the bottle rocket and
Larry White about his messy desk. Thank you for all your hard work
and knowledge shared during your years of service at Pacific States.
Casting General Supervisor
Hired 4/7/1972
Randy Hanks is a perfectionist! He works to make things perfect
and then continues to work on them even more. Randy loves to
solve problems and has a TON of energy. Randy started his career
here in 1972 and spent most of his time in Casting, Finishing and
Shipping. Randy’s titles include Foundry Supervisor, Assistant
General Supervisor Shipping, General Supervisor Shipping and he
is currently the Casting General Supervisor. When Randy was a
Foreman in Casting he optimized and improved many operations in
the Department. When given the task, Randy figured out how to
cast Eddy Bell and Stand Pipe for the first time here at Pacific
States. When Randy worked in the Shipping Department he implemented a lot of good things we are still using today. He cleaned up
the yard, labeled the bays and pioneered how we handle our railcar
shipments at a time when we were shipping over 50 trucks a day. If
Randy has a problem, he is not afraid to tell you what he thinks, but
at the end of the day he is still your friend.
Larry Murray
Machinist
Hired 4/12/1972
Larry is always here on time and
does quality work in a very timely manner. Having an employee
like Larry makes life easier for
those that work with him. Larry started his career here in 1972 as an
Iron Pourer in the Casting Department for just a few months. Larry
spent over the next 20 years working in the Finishing Department and
performed most jobs in that Department. After working in the Finishing Department, he served 5 years as an Environmental Tech with the
Environmental Department. In 1998, he started school and his career in
the Maintenance Department, and he has been a great asset to that department ever since. Larry is always willing to help however needed
and has the desire to learn and improve his job.
Larry has a great ability to sense when someone needs a good joke or
something funny. Everyone always leaves Larry’s work station with a
smile on their face. It’s not uncommon to hear Larry singing while
working. He is very musically talented and enjoys playing guitar in a
band which he has done for many years. Thank you for your abundant
honesty and humor during your 40 years of service here.
Randy always has a smile on his face whether at work or in his
personal life. I’m sure his yard, house and garden are as immaculate as he keeps his department here. Thank you for all
the energy you have spent on
us over the years. We are
grateful to you for all the improvements you have made
here at Pacific States.
Randy Nielsen
Iron Yard Crane Operator
Hired 4/24/1972
Randy’s many years working in
Melting and Casting have made
him very knowledgeable. Randy
is always willing to share his knowledge with co-workers and Supervisors to help improve Melting operations. Randy started here
on April 24, 1972. He has spent his time working in Casting, Melting and Storeroom. Randy is one of the few people here that is
happy and willing to work the graveyard shift without complaint.
Randy is very clean, organized and methodical about the way he
prepares his work station in the morning. When Randy started in
the storeroom in 2007 he jumped right in and was willing to learn
everything; even the computer (which he had no experience with).
He picked it all up and did a great job tracking inventory while in
the storeroom.
Randy enjoys a variety of hunting in his spare time, especially when
he goes with his sons. He is a very dependable and consistent person from the overalls he wears to reading his daily newspaper and
getting his job done well. In Randy’s 40 years of service here he
has had a nearly perfect attendance record. He is punctual to a tee.
Thank you Randy, Ole Boy, for your dedication to the Company.
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 4
McWane Scholarship Winner – 2011
It Runs in the Family
Each year McWane awards ten scholarships in the amount of $2,000
to assist the children of our employees in obtaining a college education. Each scholarship is renewable for
up to three years, with verification of
enrollment and at least a 2.0 grade point
average.
This year one of the winners was from
Pacific States.
Esmerelda Lopez, is the daughter of Miguel (Casting) and Nora Lopez, and is the
middle of three siblings. She is currently
a Senior attending Provo High School and participates in the Upward
Bound program there. She is planning to attend Utah Valley University in the Fall and would like to pursue a degree in Nursing. Her
favorite classes in school are anatomy, sports medicine and physiology. She has already completed her CNA and is participating in an
internship at Utah Valley Hospital in
Physical Therapy.
Miguel’s older daughter Maria was also a
McWane Scholarship winner in 2009.
Maria has been attending Utah Valley
University. She has worked hard in her
schooling and has become a wife and
mother in the process of achieving her
goal of receiving a teaching degree. In
May of this year (after only three years) Maria received her Bachelor’s degree in Education, and is looking forward to being a Teacher.
We want to congratulate Miguel and Nora and their two accomplished
daughters! We are so proud to have been and be able to assist them in
their educational pursuits!
5-S Initiative Begins
Sort
Set in Order Standardize Shine Sustain
We would like to extend our sympathy to the following employees whose loved ones passed away:
Why do 5S?
Apakasi Unufe
Brother
Uili Makai
Mother-in-Law
Tom Whaley
Mother
Joy Judd
Mother
Eliminates Waste
Makes your job Safer, Cleaner and More Pleasant
Don’t have to look for things
Area is more ergonomic
Less wasted movement
Work is easier
Improves Productivity
Improves Product Quality
Improves Customer Relations
Increases the likelihood of us keeping our jobs
This translates into more Sales for PSCIPCO
and a more Secure Work Environment for all of
Us!
The following current and former employees passed away this
quarter and our sympathy goes out to their families.
Garth Killpack
Larry Simmons
James Hathaway
Levi Ames
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 5
ABCD Awards
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
Bob Arms
Chad Monson
Duane Novak
During the last week of September, Bob
went above and beyond in helping the Safety Department. The Maintenance Department still had a lot of safety training to
complete for the month and there was much
preparation that still needed to be done for
the OSHA tour. With Donnie and Ron both
out, his plate was very full, yet he worked
diligently with us to get all the action items
completed for the tour and to get all the
training completed as well. We would not
have been able to do it without him. Excellent job Bob. We appreciate your support!
Chad helped out with our PM scheduling
system. He entered all the information for
the equipment tree and has been setting up
the vibration routes for all the critical equipment. He was very proactive at finding
solutions to any problems that came up. He
worked many late hours so he could help
make the system work for all who were
involved.
Duane was very helpful with setting up our
PM scheduling system. Duane has set up
all the charts and KPI for the Maintenance
Department. He made sure that all the ideas
we came up with for the system were quickly implemented. He was willing to stay late
in order to communicate with all shifts in
order to make the system work.
MR. Incredible “JOHN JENSEN”
Brent Noel
Scott Jarvis
Sara Courtney
He is like a duck on a pond because he is so mellow and cool and
you know that his feet are going a
mile a minute under water. With
all the changes with the Mas upgrade John has been very quick to
help everybody out in a timely
manner. Even when he is busy he
will drop everything to tend to
your individual emergency so you
can get back to work.
Most of all, he never makes you
feel that you are interrupting his
work or irritating him to no end (I
am positive that we all do at
times). Despite this, he is always
happy to help in a positive manner
and makes you feel comfortable
even when most of us are so naive
when it comes to IT matters.
Brent was the project manager on
the 92” cupola installation project
and did an excellent job. This
project would have been a challenge for someone with years of
experience at Pacific States, yet
Brent had only been with the company for six months when the installation began. Brent dove in to
find out the necessary info to make
the project a success. He coordinated the many contractors required, made adjustments during
the shutdown, and was able to
have the cupola start up on time.
In the many months that John
Balian was ill, and after he passed
away, Scott took on the extra responsibilities of the acting GM.
He worked many extra hours and
fulfilled those responsibilities and
assignments while keeping the
plant operations running smoothly.
Scott didn’t allow the added responsibilities to affect his demeanor or influence his rapport with
others.
While John Balian was sick and
after John passed away, Sara
showed extreme care and concern
for both John and his family. She
visited him in the hospital, took
things to him and-or his wife, and
worked very hard to ensure that
the family’s needs were met as
much as possible. Because of the
extra time that these things were
taking, she came into work on a
Sunday so that she could stay
caught up with the normal duties
of her job. Her care and compassion demonstrate character traits
that help make Pacific States a
great place to work.
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 6
Please submit items of interest to Sara
Courtney in the General office for the
next quarterly publication.
Due Date August 31st 2012
Mariah Catherine— Born to James and Julie Walker
(Finishing) on April 27,2012
Born to Nathan and Sheree Thayne (Melting) on May 22,2012
PSCIPCO
Family Faces
Arturo Lugo
Congratulations to the newlyweds
Rick and Kim Garcia (Maintenance)
Josey and Holly Turpin (Casting)
Brent Noel
Chad Monson
Eyes are priceless,
eye protection is cheap
Moises Nunez
Shaun Barrios
Josh Moffitt
Richard Brimhall
Emily Bailey
Matt Fenn
Volume XXVI1, Issue 6
Page 7
PACIFIC STATES SHOOTS FOR STAR…
Management Leadership
It wasn’t all that long ago (but it
Employee Involvement
sure was several Safety Directors ago!!!) that our facility was working
Worksite Analysis
diligently to obtain VPP Star status for our Health & Safety Program
Hazard Prevention and Control
here at Pacific States. In 2009, after an extensive audit from UOSH, our
Safety & Health Training
facility was approved for VPP Merit status, which, as you all know,
means we fell just a little short of VPP Star. VPP Merit is one step below
and is the stepping stone to the VPP Star status, leaving us with a few
In addition, we need to have met our Merit goals given to us at the time
items to work on. UOSH gives three years to progress from Merit to
of the 2009 audit. As a reminder, those goals are as follows:
Star and our time will be up in October 2012. Since then we have had
Continue to increase the number of meaningful and active
some significant changes in our staff and our business. Our commitment
ways employees may be involved with the safety and
to Health & Safety has continued to improve and we feel we are ready to
health program.
officially move towards our VPP Star audit. With that said, now is a
Programs may include:
good time to remind everyone about VPP, what our Merit goals were,
Promote and encourage participation (e.g. Inand our schedule going forward.
centive Program)
What is VPP?
Spread responsibilities concerning health and
safety
The Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) promotes effective worksiteDevelop a process to effectively relay safety goals, progress,
based safety and health. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA
and success stories to employees.
establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented
Continue to strengthen contract employee coverage program.
a comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into
Program may include:
VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of emEnsuring that safety and health considerations
ployers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safeare addressed during the process of selectty and health.
ing contractors.
How does VPP work?
Implement a documented oversight system for
In practice, VPP sets performance-based criteria for a managed safety
contractors
and health system, invites sites to apply, and then assesses applicants
Continue improvement of hazard identification and analysis
against these criteria. OSHA’s verification includes an application resystem.
view and a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and
May include:
health experts.
Evaluate the consistency and clarity of pre-task
OSHA approves qualified sites to one of three programs, which again,
hazard evaluations (AR review checklist)
we are currently Merit:
Verification of effectiveness of Hazard Identification training.
Star: Recognition for employers and employees who demonMedgate
appears to be a great tool. Full use of
strate exemplary achievement in the prevention and control of
its
features
will greatly aid in trend analyoccupational safety and health hazards and the development,
sis.
implementation and continuous improvement of their safety
and health management system.
Merit: Recognition for employers and employees who have
developed and implemented good safety and health management systems but who must take additional steps to
reach Star quality.
Demonstration: Recognition for employers and employees
who operate effective safety and health management systems
that differ from current VPP requirements. This program enables OSHA to test the efficacy of different approaches.
What do we need to do to get to VPP Star?
First of all, we need to show that we have continued to show excellence
in the five main criteria of VPP, as we did in our 2009 Audit to obtain
VPP Merit:
Have we met these goals??? Well, we believe so, and hopefully you do
too. We have certainly improved our incentive systems and have gotten
more people involved in training, committees, inspections, etc. Our
Contractor Program has been drastically improved through the use of
Enterprise. Finally, our AR checklists, use of Medgate, and our safety
kaizen system show our ability to recognized hazards in the workplace.
So what is next?
Over the next few months we will focus on preparing for our VPP Star
audit. UOSH is tentatively planning on the week of September 17th,
2012. Remember, VPP is about us being a team, management and employees, working towards world class health and safety. We rely on all
of you to help our organization reach this prestigious honor. Thanks you
all for your support!!!
Pacific States
Cast Iron Pipe Co.
PSCIPCO
Division of McWane Inc.
PO Box 1219
Provo, UT 84603
Phone: 801-373-6910
Fax: 801-377-0338
Relay for Life
Armando Salcedo
4-1-2012
5 Years Service
Armando was hired at Pacific States on November 12th, 2007, and has been the safety
trainer for the entire time he has been here.
Armando has a dry sense of humor and loves a
good prank.
He served under four safety directors and
served as interim safety director twice.
He enjoys being able to translate and help many
of our Hispanic employees.
Armando and his wife Claudia have been married for eleven years and have one child, Armando.
Armando also has five grandchildren.
He enjoys traveling and hopes to do a lot more
of it in his retirement.
His best memory here at Pacific States is the
day that we received the VPP award from
OSHA.
April
Larry Murray– Casting—40 Years
Randy Nielsen-Melting-40 Years
Service Achievements
May
Miguel Orenday-Finishing-5 Years
June
Jim Gabbitas-Maintenance-25 Years
Ricky Eastman-Maintenance-10 Years
Vern Cook– Quality Control-40 Years
Maka Taueli-Finishing-10 Years
Randy Hanks– Melting-40 Years
Miguel Lopez-Casting-10 Years
Layne Draper-Shipping-35 Years
Kim Hansen-Maintenance-10 Years
Uili Makai-Finishing-20 Years
Roman Oropeza-Melting– 5 Years
Apakasi Unufe-Casting-15 Years
David Gates– Accounting– 5 Years
Will Warren-Casting-15 Years
Jerry Kester-Casting-10 Years
Nathan Thayne-Finishing-5 Years