MARGHEIM, Waldo1, STONE, Robert2, COUNCE, Robert1 & JENDRUCKO, Richard1
1 University of Tennessee Industrial Assessment Center, 310 Perkins Hall, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
2 Federal-Mogul Corporation, 300 Industrial Park Road SE, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060-6699
Abstract: A University of Tennessee Industrial Assessment Center (UTIAC) team performed an industrial assessment of the Federal-Mogul Corporation in Blacksburg, Virginia during June 1998. The relationship developed between the UTIAC and the management personnel of the Federal-Mogul Corporation and the time-tested industrial assessment process used resulted in an industrial assessment report containing recommendations that are expected to help the company with their commitment to manufacturing low cost, high quality products with minimal environmental impact. The assessment included gathering plant waste data prior to a two-day onsite visit by the assessment team. The plant visit focused on the gathering of additional information and a tour and inspection of the manufacturing facilities. With this information, the assessment team began writing a detailed report containing a description of the facility's current operating procedures and developing recommendations concerning energy conservation, waste minimization and productivity enhancement. On a second later visit to the facility, the assessment team gave a presentation to the facility management discussing the recommendations determined after analysis of the plant data and information collected. When determining recommendations for development the assessment team focuses on issues that the plant management feels are high priority, major concerns. The presentation consisted of a detailed analysis of each recommendation including projected costs and potential savings. Discussion following the presentation allowed the assessment team to dispel any problems and concerns associated with the recommendations. Multiple copies of the final assessment report were delivered to the facility upon completion. Thirteen recommendations were presented in the report with the potential to reduce expenditures by $1.5 million annually. Among the key elements leading to the successful completion of this assessment were frequent, continuing communication between the assessment team and facility personnel, a proactive plant engineer and host facility and a presentation and discussion of findings with facility management present.
Keywords: manufacturing, assessment, conservation, minimization
The objective of the University of Tennessee Industrial Assessment Center (UTIAC) Program is to identify and evaluate opportunities for energy conservation, waste minimization and productivity enhancement for small- and medium-sized industrial manufacturers. These industrial assessments are provided at no cost to the clients served. The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Industrial Technologies and is managed by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the University City Science Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as prime contractors.
The Federal-Mogul Corporation, located in Blacksburg, Virginia (corporate headquarters located in Southfield, Michigan), produces several different families of plain bearings used in internal combustion engines for automotive, light truck, heavy duty and off-road heavy equipment vehicles. The company is proactive in testing new ideas to improve production and reduce environmental impacts caused by production operations. The plant managers were very supportive of and enthusiastic about the service rendered by the UTIAC program. Plant management stressed to the UTIAC that they were very interested in any ideas that may help them increase productivity, reduce environmental impact and improve profitability.
The relationship developed between the UTIAC and the management personnel of the Federal-Mogul Corporation and the industrial assessment process used resulted in an industrial assessment report containing several recommendations. These recommendations are expected to help the company with their commitment to customer satisfaction, which focuses on low cost, high quality products produced with minimal environmental impact.
The UTIAC typically conducts one-day site visits of qualifying manufacturing facilities for the performance of an industrial assessment. Within two months after the site visit, a comprehensive report detailing current operating conditions and recommendations for improvements is delivered to facility management. The opportunities described in the assessment reports prepared by the UTIAC are limited in detail and completeness due to the limitations on available time at the plant site. However, during the 1998 contract year, supplemental resources were provided by the U.S. Department of Energy to allow the UTIAC to perform a limited number of extended assessments. These extended assessments allowed the UTIAC team to be onsite for three days instead of the usual one. These extended assessments were designed to allow for a more in-depth analysis of the opportunities available for financial savings associated with energy conservation, waste minimization and productivity enhancement. It was hoped that the extended assessments would lead to improved rates of implementation of the recommended measures.
The UTIAC currently employs one graduate and six undergraduate engineering students. Dr. Richard Jendrucko is the Center Director and Dr. Robert M. Counce is the Associate Center Director. Both are engineering faculty members at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). Assessment teams for each individual industrial assessment consist of one faculty member and two engineering students. The team chosen for the assessment described in this paper was Dr. Counce, Mr. Waldo Margheim, an environmental engineering graduate student, and Mr. Bradley Zimmer, an undergraduate mechanical engineering student.
The UTIAC serves manufacturing facilities located in an approximate 150-mile radius from Knoxville, Tennessee. Typically, prospective clients are identified using state manufacturing directories and solicited through phone contact from UTIAC employees. Occasionally, clients who have learned about the program through other means will contact the UTIAC directly. For this particular assessment, Dr. Robert Stone, Principal Engineer of the Federal-Mogul Corporation Blacksburg, Virginia, facility, requested an assessment due to his previous work with Professor Counce.
Among the 25 clients served by the UTIAC during the 1998 contract year, two clients were selected for extended assessments. The Federal-Mogul Corporation facility was chosen as one of two facilities receiving an extended assessment based on the following criteria:
Dr. Stone realized that the UTIAC assessment would require a substantial investment of his time. Having completed a previous engineering project with Professor Counce involving engineering students at UTK, he knew that the student team would be highly motivated and have an excellent leader in Professor Counce. Dr. Stone believed that Professor Counce could effectively set the framework for the student work and make certain that the task at hand would provide real-world work experience for the students and a beneficial outcome for the industrial partner involved in the project. Therefore, there were no reservations concerning the fact that two of the three assessment team members were engineering students.
In addition, it was believed that the Federal-Mogul Corporation would gain additional benefits by having the work done by a university-based organization. University team members have ready access to state-of-the-art technology and usually have greater latitude than professional industrial consultants when considering technical solutions to problems. Consultants must optimize profits; therefore, a satisfactory result with limited client contact is desired. Aside from business considerations, Dr. Stone was interested in the potential teaching and learning aspect of this project and the connection with a university-based investigation would provide this opportunity.
The Federal-Mogul Corporation management personnel defined clear objectives at the onset of this project. The management felt that not enough information was known about the facility's current use of energy and raw materials and that becoming more proactive in obtaining and analyzing this information would be beneficial to future operations. They wanted assistance in understanding their historical energy and raw material usage and how to better utilize these resources in the future. This objective was intentionally left open for suggestions and recommendations. This broad objective spawned the assimilation of information that was not initially thought to be important, but proved to be beneficial at the end of the assessment in that plant managers were provided with more useful information and insight than anticipated.
The UTIAC is required by DOE-sponsor contract to collect historical energy-use data prior to the actual plant visit. This historical energy billing information is prepared in tabular and graphical forms prior to the plant visit. Additional information concerning facility operations is gathered using an extensive questionnaire that has evolved over the most recent 15 years that the UTIAC has been conducting industrial assessments. This questionnaire, which contains questions concerning all facets of production, is sent to a new client after the site visit has been scheduled. Although some plant personnel have reported feeling overwhelmed by the comprehensive multi-page questionnaire, past experience has shown that an improved assessment is achieved if the questionnaire is completed prior to the site visit. The more information that is gathered prior to the plant visit, the more in-plant time is available to focus on key issues and questions that stem from answers provided in the questionnaire and on observations of plant operations.
For this extended assessment, the assessment team felt it was necessary to gather more information than usual prior to the assessment plant visit. This would allow the assessment team to more fully understand the production process, begin researching potential recommendation ideas and begin the preparation of the body of the assessment report that describes current operating conditions.
Dr. Stone reported that the data collection required for completion of the questionnaire was a rather long, meticulous part of his involvement with the project. Personal plant survey methods as well as the enlisting of facility experts within the plant was used to collect the needed plant data. Among the local experts who were asked to help complete portions of the questionnaire were Orville Sluss, Maintenance Supervisor, Jack Nunes, Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator, John Johnson, Electrochemist, and Wayne Shaver, Materials Control Supervisor. The task of data gathering by facility personnel took approximately two person-weeks at the outset with additional time required to answer follow-up questions.
Dr. Stone agreed with the UTIAC team that the more information that was provided "up front", the more precise and far ranging the assessment recommendations would be. Due to this belief, the Federal-Mogul management allowed Dr. Stone to invest substantial amounts of time in this project.
Once Dr. Stone completed the questionnaire, it was sent back to the UTIAC. From this information the assessment team was able to prepare follow-up questions based on the data provided in the questionnaire. Several communications between assessment team members and Federal-Mogul personnel took place during the four weeks prior to the initial plant visit date. Frequent fax, email messages and telephone conversations between Dr. Stone and the assessment team members prior to the initial visit were employed to answer follow-up questions and to clarify information and understanding. This communication process was also continued following the plant visit and until the report was completed. Continuing communication during the assessment process allowed all parties to remain focused on the salient issues and devise a working list of issues for discussion during the plant visits. This method proved to be a very effective way of making in-plant time as productive as possible.
The UTIAC is required to take steps to ensure that client proprietary information is protected when analyzing and reporting facility data. Confidentiality of the provided information was handled in two ways. The Federal-Mogul Corporation has a uniform Confidential Disclosure Agreement that is signed by all institutions with which the Corporation works closely with and shares data with. This agreement was signed by the assessment team prior to any data release. Second, Dr. Stone contacted various business managers within the Corporation during the progression of the project to discover if there was any corporate sensitivity to certain subjects and to develop answers to survey questions which would provide functional information while not revealing important business secrets. As with a majority of UTIAC clients, product pricing and profit reporting were sensitive issues for the Federal-Mogul Corporation, and thus these questions were referred to an accounting manager. After due consideration, time average and typical industry performance results were used in specifying this information for inclusion in the assessment report.
The morning of a typical UTIAC plant visit begins with the assessment team consulting with the plant manager and other support personnel using the questionnaire as a discussion guide. Even if the questionnaire has already been completed, the team still talks through the question sequence asking follow-up questions and gathering more complete information to complement the answers provided initially. This process typically requires the entire morning of a site visit. The afternoon is spent inspecting the facility and observing manufacturing operations. The plant manager or his technical representative walks the assessment team through the production facilities, describing the observed processes and answering related questions. Experience has shown that the gaining of a good understanding of the production process through discussion prior to facility inspection is more beneficial to the assessment team than inspecting the facility first.
The first visit to the Federal-Mogul facility consisted of two days on-site. It was desired to approach this assessment somewhat differently than the usual one-day assessments. Since the entire questionnaire had been completed prior to the visit, the morning of the first day was spent asking follow-up questions and focusing on the concerns of the plant personnel. Throughout the interview process, a number of employees were consulted concerning their areas of expertise within the facility. Their insight was very beneficial to the assessment team and proved informative to other Federal-Mogul personnel as well.
As indicated above, the afternoon of day one was spent touring the manufacturing facility. Dr. Stone led the assessment team through the facility from the location where raw materials arrive, through the production process, to the final product storage area. Understanding of the production processes was critical to the resolution of the technical problems and concerns that the facility had. Thus, it was deemed responsible and imperative to give a true picture of the operation so that the plant could get the maximum benefit from the assessment. In addition, it was known that the assessment team would not be familiar with specific processes performed in the facility. Therefore, the presentation of the manufacturing process was provided in a logical and ”linear” fashion from raw materials to final product packaging. This form of presentation proved to be very helpful to the students and resulted in a much more thorough assessment.
The entire facility was inspected and information was gathered from various personnel within the production area concerning their particular roles in the production process and concerns that they had in the production process. Some of the personnel were a source of ideas for possible improvements and recommendations.
The second day of the first visit was similar to the first day. The morning was spent asking additional questions that had arisen and been discussed the night before by the assessment team after leaving the facility. The afternoon was again spent further inspecting the production process and ancillary operations.
Throughout the assessment visit, any questions asked by the assessment team that could not be answered adequately by Dr. Stone were directed towards local experts in the facility who were also involved in collecting data prior to the visit. The assessment team was able to interact with many employees of the Federal-Mogul Corporation who all gladly provided answers and insights. These employees are very proud of their facility and obviously expend significant effort in maintaining the facility. These employees were enthusiastic in participating in the assessment and were interested in how their operations may be improved.
The objective of the assessment report is twofold. First, the assessment report contains information concerning the current operating procedures in the facility. Annual energy consumption is categorized by equipment type and class such that the amount of energy each piece of equipment consumes can be analyzed. A mass balance of process inputs (raw materials) and outputs (products and waste streams) is performed. The amount of waste generated in the facility is presented along with the associated costs of related raw material replacement, handling labor and record-keeping costs and offsite removal costs for each waste stream. Also for this assessment, a plant water balance was performed describing the amount of water used in each component process throughout the facility since water consumption was a major concern of plant management.
Breaking down the energy consumption of each piece of equipment, the costs associated with each waste stream and the amount of water used in each process allows the plant personnel and the assessment team to view the production process in a new and comprehensive perspective. This information is typically not collected by the plant personnel or outlined in a convenient format such as that done in UTIAC reporting. The presentation of information allows both the assessment team and the plant management to realize where major costs are being incurred and where improvement may be needed. Quantifying this type of information also allows the prioritization of measures being considered for recommendation.
The second portion of the report is the most important; it contains the assessment recommendations. The UTIAC is required by contract to develop a minimum of five recommendations for each client served with a minimum estimated potential savings of $25,000/yr. The five recommendations must contain at least two recommendations concerning energy consumption reduction, one concerning waste minimization and one concerning productivity enhancement and an additional one in either of the last two categories.
Based on the information gathered during the site visit, the assessment team was able to focus on high priority issues. For this assessment, as is the case in all assessments, the assessment team focused on issues that the plant management feels are the major concerns. High energy-consuming operations and high cost waste streams were the first items analyzed. For this Blacksburg facility, the 80 million gallons of water used annually was a major concern. Consequently, many of the recommendations presented by the UTIAC addressed reductions in water consumption.
The sources of assessment recommendations are varied. Some recommendations that have been applied to many of the over 600 industrial facilities visited by the UTIAC can be applied to facilities performing similar operations. Many recommendations derived from studying the problems in the plant and then conducting follow-up information searches. Technical journals, equipment vendors, university professors, experts in the field and more recently, the World Wide Web, are all potential sources of information for developing recommendations.
The third and final plant visit occurred approximately three months after the initial visit. By this time the main body of the assessment report had been completed and most of the recommendation write-ups were near completion. During this third day, Mr. Margheim gave a presentation to the following members of the Federal-Mogul Corporation: Dr. Robert Stone, Principal Engineer, Rick Sparks, Technical Services (Plant Engineering) Manager, Hank Schneider, Heavy Duty Bearing Products-Focus Factory Manager, Jack Nunes, Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator, John Johnson, Electrochemist, and John Leake, Manufacturing Engineer. Also in attendance were the remaining members of the UTIAC team, including an additional member, Ms. Leigh Outten, an undergraduate mechanical engineering student.
Dr. Stone suggested a presentation to the plant staff early in the assessment process. The UTIAC had never been involved in a presentation of preliminary findings of this sort; however, the idea was well received by the assessment team. The goal of the presentation was twofold: First, the assessment team wanted to discuss the recommendations that were being considered to obtain feedback from plant management concerning potential problems and concerns before completion of the final report. Secondly, it was felt that explaining the potential recommendations along with supporting concepts to plant management would result in management buy-in and increased rates of implementation of the proposed recommendations. It was believed that to fully implement measures of the types recommended would require the strong support of upper management.
The presentation lasted approximately 90 minutes and included some summary information concerning the annual plant consumption of energy and water and the amount of waste currently disposed and treated. This information included quantification of the potential importance of the issues being discussed. For each of thirteen proposed recommendations, the current operating situation was initially discussed. Then, the actual proposed recommendations and supporting logic was presented. Finally, the potential savings and projected costs of each recommendation were presented. Discussion among the assessment team and plant personnel followed each of the presented recommendations.
Dr. Stone reported that the presentation was well received by the management staff. It accomplished his initial goal of showing members of the management staff and other contributing engineers that much work had been done and that the expenditure of time and energy would likely result in beneficial results. Furthermore, it signaled the character of the forthcoming recommendations. The presentation familiarized the attendees with the project and demonstrated in a concrete way what had already been done with the data collected.
Approximately one month after the presentation, the assessment report was completed by the assessment team. After the discussion during the presentation, the assessment team focused on concerns raised by plant personnel concerning the recommendations. It was desired to dispel any problems and concerns that management had with each of the recommendations presented and to strengthen the methods and concepts behind each recommendation. Some recommendations were eliminated after being discussed with the plant management while a few new ones were added. Thus, the input of the management and key personnel guided which recommendations were presented and the level of detail of the justification provided.
Five copies of the assessment report were mailed to the facility, including an unbound, easily reproducible copy, approximately four months after the initial visit. It was believed that the more plant personnel who read the report, the higher the percentage of recommendations implemented would be.
Dr. Stone delivered copies of the assessment report to members of the management staff including the Plant Engineering Manager, Mr. Rick Sparks. As Dr. Stone's supervisor, Mr. Sparks had a big stake in this assessment project. The two must work as partners to assign the resources necessary (manpower, materials and money) for implementation of any of the assessment recommendations. Staff members received summaries of the report and copies of the recommendations since they would be integrally involved with actual implementation of any recommendations.
Thirteen recommendations were presented in the assessment report and considered independently, had the potential to reduce expenditures or produce new income totaling an estimated $1,500,000 annually. Of the thirteen recommendations, one dealt with productivity enhancement, five dealt with energy conservation and seven dealt with waste minimization. Sixteen additional measures considered were briefly presented. These sixteen recommendations were not fully documented due to low perceived priority, projected minimal savings, projected lengthy payback period or insufficient time available for adequate analysis.
The assessment team was proud of this assessment report and believed that the Federal-Mogul Corporation would implement several of the recommendations made. Indeed, the company is currently planning on implementing eight of the thirteen provided recommendations that can be most easily implemented. Each of these recommendations has an acceptable payback period, low initial investment and fits into the Federal-Mogul Corporation environmental commitment. The remaining recommendations are currently being discussed for possible implementation at a later date.
Dr. Stone felt that the assessment was extremely beneficial because it revealed many aspects of plant operations that were unknown and reinforced some aspects that were already known. The company now has a large body of information concerning their production that they had not previously compiled in the useful manner presented in the assessment report. This information will provide an important baseline and a basis for the company to keep more complete records, establish targets for improvement and set the standard for continuous improvement. The plant manager and staff were equally impressed with the final report and understand that this project had a great return on investment even considering the substantial amount of energy and time that was invested.
The UTIAC assessment team and Dr. Stone determined that many factors of this assessment project were vital to its success. Frequent, non-threatening contacts with the key industrial partner are crucial. The personal relationship and continuous communication between Dr. Stone and the UTIAC team enhanced the effectiveness of this project.
The plant engineer and plant manager are consumed with day-to-day activities and can be swamped by additional work; however, he/she must be involved with the project and willing to do the necessary data gathering work. Dr. Stone stressed that an assessment of this magnitude absolutely requires a proactive industrial partner to be successful. Facility managers cannot be passive and wait to be provided meaningful recommendations that can benefit their facility to any appreciable degree. Completion of the questionnaire prior to the plant visit is essential in two respects. First, it ensures that the plant management is willing to devote the necessary resources needed to complete the project. Secondly, given a chance to study the completed questionnaire in advance of the assessment visit allows the assessment team to conduct additional research to prepare for the visit.
Employees should be eager to participate in the assessment and be interested in how their operations may be improved. They should not feel threatened by the assessment team and should give a true picture of the facility’s operations. The assessment team in this project was able to develop thirteen wide-ranging recommendations, thus Dr. Stone reported that he was glad that he did not "hold the team's feet to the fire on a single subject."
The presentation of preliminary findings was also very important in the success of this assessment. The presentation provided a way to get the ”drift of the politics” in the plant and corporation, be sure that the recommendations are understood and determine which recommendations may have significant impact. Providing potential cost savings in the presentation is also important so the management staff will determine what benefit they are receiving while not having to read an entire report.
Obviously, the final resting place of the delivered assessment reports will vary according to the facility and management style. It is imperative that the plant manager or plant engineering manager reviews the final report. This person should be an integral part of the project; otherwise, the level and complexity of work, the creativity and analysis required for the project will not be adequately understood and the assessment will be significantly limited in utility.