Published by HARRISON STEEL CASTINGS COMPANY, ATTICA, INDIANA

www.hscast.com

Volume 81 November—December 2014 Number 6

Tapping Out

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your Tapping Out staff. It is hard to be-lieve it has been a year since Mike Buckley passed the T.O. responsibilities on to us green horns! We have learned a lot over the year, from working with unfamiliar computer programs to operat-ing cantankerous machines. We appreciate the positive feedback we have received in regards to the new format and we welcome any sugges-tions for improvement! Originally the staff consist-ed of Tammy Gates, Lori McAdams and myself, Ken-na Reynolds. Lori left last month to enjoy her grand-children, and even though I miss working with her very much, I want to wish her nothing but the very best! Jackie Holtkamp will take on Lori’s duty of editing with this issue. For many years now I have been a writer for T.O. and I know from experience it can become a very daunting task to sometimes come up with news, so speaking from expe-rience, I want to thank all the reporters for hanging in there and writing for their department. Great job report-ers! Blessings to you all, Tammy Gates Jackie Holtkamp Kenna Reynolds

We take great pleasure in announcing that both Eric Carroll and Derek Hughes were hon-ored with awards at the 68

th Annual Steel Founders’ Society of America Technical and Op-

era%ng Conferences on December 12th

in downtown Chicago. Derek and Eric both pre-

sented papers last year at the conference and out of the 50 or so entries they were select-

ed as the winners. Eric received the dis%nguished Robert G Shepherd award for his paper on the Harrison Produc%on System (HPS). The focus of his paper was on lean manufactur-

ing, the produc%on system, and how HPS is changing the HS culture. Derek was presented

the First Time Author award for his paper focusing on Thermal Reclama%on. Congratula-%ons Eric and Derek!

At this years conference, Anoop Balakrishnan (Environmental) and Kyle Long (Engineering) presented a paper on Energy Savings and Sustainability in the Foundry, and Shawn Mar%n

(Met Lab) presented a paper on Data Analy�cs for Foundries with R.

The last Quality Systems ar%cle closed with the statement,

“It is very likely that addi�onal changes will be made that

will affect the HS Quality Management System as new cus-

tomers are pursued in different fields.” That has proved to

be true.

We are awai%ng the cer%ficate of approval from

ABS for the Oerlikon Fairfield work, and now it appears that, just around the corner, we will need

to qualify our system and processes to the requirements of a business rival of ABS named DNV

(Det Norske Veritas)..

Harrison Steel Cas%ng Co. has been a supplier of highly engineered structural cas%ngs for

over 100 years; however, we are fast ge>ng into the pressure-retaining cas%ng business.

Suppliers of pressure-retaining cas%ngs, such as pump and valve components, have to walk to the

beat of a different drummer. Such cas%ngs have to be rigged so there is no leakage or other failure

when they are tested at pressures that exceed the designed opera%ng pressure. Procedures for

nondestruc%ve examina%on (radiographic, magne%c par%cle, ultrasonic, and liquid penetrant

tes%ng) have to meet the requirements of different codes and standards such as the ASME Boiler

and Pressure Vessel Code Sec%on V. The acceptance criteria are described in any of several docu-

ments such as the ASME Code Sec%on VIII. HS is currently draBing new work instruc%ons based on

the ASME Code to submit to a new customer for approval.

Other possibili%es:

Working to API (American Petroleum Ins%tute) specifica%ons.

We also understand that ABS and DNV have about twelve other business rivals, each with

their own set of [similar] requirements.

Some of our newer customers are asking HS to make stainless steel cas%ngs – very different

from the manufacture of carbon and low alloy cas%ngs.

It’s an exci%ng %me to be in the steel cas%ng business.

More Changes that will affect the

Quality Management System Dave Hollander

Steel Founders’ Society of America

Technical & Opera%ons

Eric Carroll Derek Hughes

EMTs visit Harrison Steel Bunny Jordan and Jim Murphy re-

cently invited the local EMS from

both Warren and Fountain coun�es

to come to the plant for a Harri-

son’s, “Who We Are / What We

Do” presenta�on and facility tour.

The group was impressed with eve-

rything we do and all of our emer-

gency procedures. There was some

good discussion on specific proce-

dures and a number of “What If”

scenarios that will come in handy

the next �me an emergency call goes

out to them.

Confined Space

High Level Rescue

Drill

2014201420142014 •

Another Safety Year Jim Murphy, Safety Manager

!

Profit Sharing Elec"on Results On December 2nd, by secret ballot, HS employees wrote in two names for whom they thought would be a good Profit Shar-ing Commi1ee member. A2er the elec�on, all the names were compiled in a list and then on December 9th another elec�on was held to vote from the list. A term of four years is served by the elected Com-mi1ee member.

The Profit Sharing Advisory Commi1ee consists of five members, they are appointed by the Board of Directors and two are elected by the employees. The next elec�on will be held December 2016. The winner of this elec�on is Tim Walters (Cleaning Room).

Todd Freeman (Engineering) entering

the vo�ng booth to cast his ballot.

I just want to take this �me to congratulate all Harrison Steel Cas�ng employees on

another safe year in 2014. We are in the process of planning our 2015 goals and

safety ac�vi�es and will be sharing them soon. Below are a few of the highlights

and accomplishments we can all be very proud of.

• Worked over ½ million work hours without a Lost Time Injury

• As of December 1, 2014 we had only 16 Recordable Injuries, a 35%

reduc�on from 2013 and a 82% reduc�on from 2012

• Our DART (Days Away, Restricted or Transferred) rate was 1.9 as of

December 1, 2014, a 27 % reduc�on from 2013 and a 67% reduc�on

from 2012

• We held 12 Safety Commi1ee mee�ngs

• Safety Audits were conducted in every department with 247 safety

items iden�fied and 94% of those items have been corrected

• Safety Talks have occurred each month with a 97% rate of return on

a1endance sheets

• 5 Safety Alerts were generated from injuries or near misses that oc-

curred through-out the year

• 6 Supervisors were sent to Train-the-Trainer Fork Li2 seminars and

can now train employees within their own groups

• 20 Opera�ons Supervisors volunteered to be trained in hoist inspec-

�on procedures, conducted by the Engineering / Maintenance group,

to be able to assist in the OSHA required monthly inspec�on program

• Conducted plant-wide Tornado Drills in the Spring and Fire Drills in the

Fall

• Conducted an Emergency High-Li2 rescue drill with the AEca Fire

Department

• Conducted an In-Service Presenta�on / Tour for the local EMS

A2er weeks of pre-

planning, a well or-

ganized confined

space/high level res-

cue drill was con-

ducted on October 20th, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.

The simula�on was of a maintenance person

having a heart a1ack that had to be rescued

from the sand silo (confined space), placed

and secured in a basket, a1ached to the fire

truck ladder and lowered down safely.

Following the opera�on, a cri�que was done

and shared with all involved.

The en�re scenario was accomplished in 24

minutes by 10 AEca Fire Department fire

fighters, 7 Harrison Steel employees, and 1

Crawfordsville High Level Rescue Trainer.

Thanks to all who par�cipated and made this

a successful drill!

Tim Walters

Energy Star Kyle Long

OUTOUTOUTOUT

When someone misses a punch (38%

of the �me it is around lunch �me) it

is due to them clocking IN when they

should have clocked OUT.

First and foremost, I would like to thank all employees for their support and dedica�on in our con�nued effort to reduce our plant’s energy usage. Decreasing our energy usage and elimina�ng waste is more important now than ever. We need each and every one of you to con-�nue to iden�fy/report energy saving opportuni�es, ensure that equipment and ligh�ng are turned off properly at the end of your shi*s, and con�nue to make smart choices while using the facili�es energy.

The following details a number of projects that were completed this year. The es�mated annual energy savings achieved from all ener-gy projects/audits completed this year is $339,423.00. We have decreased our annual energy intensity by 10.22% this year, which far surpassed our goal of 4% savings set last December. Our goal for next year (2015) will be a 6% decrease in annual energy intensity. Energy Team Members

include Derek Hughes, David Wi8enmyer, Blaine Gretencord, Levi Knowlton, Brad Brooks, Tom Anderson, Jim Murphy, Jack Foster, Anoop Bala-krishnan, K.C. Smith, and Gavin Gilmore. Ligh�ng Upgrades: A number of ligh�ng upgrades were com-pleted this year, including the Truck Garage, Metlab, and a number of restrooms and offices across the plant. In total, the ligh�ng projects implemented this year are expected to pro-duce an annual energy savings of $20,349.27. In addi�on to these savings, we received $11,502.00 in rebate checks through the Energizing Indiana program for comple�ng the upgrades.

Mo�on Sensor Implementa�on: Mo�on sensors have been installed in many low traffic areas across the plant this year. The truck garage parts storage area and restroom are now com-pletely under the control of mo�on sensors. Many restrooms and break areas have also been retrofi8ed with mo�on sensors. The annual savings achieved from these projects has been ac-

counted for in the ligh�ng upgrades total. Controls Projects: A number of controls projects were complet-ed this year. One project involved solving an issue with an air compressor in the power house that has been running unloaded since the ini�al installa�on. The programming adjustment made will save an es�mated $25,000.00 annually in energy costs. This project could not have been completed without the knowledge and assistance provided by Sco8 Talbo8. Another controls project involved adjus�ng the melt schedule and demand controller seBngs. A savings of approximately $12,000.00 a month in demand charges is expected. This project could not have been completed without the support and coopera�on from the melt department employees and supervisors. Energy Team Walk-throughs: The Energy Team performed a total of (8) walk-throughs of the facility this year, with most of them occurring over the shutdown periods. These walk-throughs involved turning off ligh�ng and equipment in unoccupied areas, iden�fying and correc�ng com-pressed air leaks, and iden�fying opportuni�es for energy savings (i.e. iden�fying areas with poor/inefficient ligh�ng, low traffic areas for mo�on sensor implementa�on, VFD installa�on opportuni�es, etc.). These walk-throughs allowed the Energy Team to iden�fy and implement opportu-ni�es for improvement.

Weekend Maintenance Department Walk-throughs: An energy saving ini�a�ve that was started in June 2013 was the weekend maintenance walk-through. Each weekend, the maintenance department performs a facility walk-through to shut off ligh�ng and equipment in unoccupied areas. This ensures that ligh�ng and equipment that is le* on accidently a*er a shi* does not remain ON for an en�re weekend period. This also is used to iden�fy the areas in the plant where equipment and ligh�ng is not being turned off at the end of shi*s. These weekend walk-throughs have saved an es�mated $37,484.35 in energy savings this year. These savings could not have been achieved without the effort of the mainte-nance department supervisors (John Holler, Terry Epperson, Jody Alenduff, Rick Beedle, and Randy Cushman).

May you and your families have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Year in Review 2014

Spanning the Thanksgiving shutdown HS maintenance person-

nel and Alltherm Services undertook a complete reline of the

Li� Top heat treat furnace. The new lining is pre-compressed

modules designed for reduced maintenance and less heat loss. I

would like to extend a thank you to everyone who helped on

this project. Levi Knowlton

Li� Top Oven

Projects

T hanksgiving

hutdown S OfficeOfficeOfficeOffice...by Ed Bowen

Hunter Jean Brier arrived on

October 10th, 2014, weigh-

ing 7 pounds 8 ounces and

was 19 inches long. Hunter

almost has enough hair to

braid! Parents are Chelsey

(Valley Insurance) and Bran-

don Brier. Big brother Aus5n

was very excited to meet

her and has become one of

her biggest fans. Proud

grandparents are Sandy

Swi� (Payroll) and Kim and

Brad Gayler (Sales).

Sandy Swi� tangled with a raccoon recently. Sandy won, but her spar-

ring partner did a number on her car.

Pa7y Abernathy (Sales) celebrated Black Friday with some Holiday shop-

ping. Her husband, Monty, then celebrated “Read ‘em and Weep Satur-

day”, looking over all the store receipts. Their grandson, Jayce, has en-

joyed looking for Sco7y, the elf, in unusual places each morning.

Our Accoun5ng Department claims their office is haunted, but we sus-

pect they are hallucina5ng due to an overindulgence in yellow twizzle

candy. Some in the office have even been smoking turkeys.

Halloween sure brought out the ghoul in everyone. Volunteers put to-

gether a lunch-break party, complete with a mummy wrapping contest,

photo booth and other fun.

The holidays are

upon us. We hope

yours bring you the

best

Palmer Pit

ews ews ews ews from the from the from the from the reakroom...reakroom...reakroom...reakroom... N B

Thank you all for

Jobs Well Done!

In last month’s issue of Tapping Out we wrote about the need

to expand the Palmer mixer pit due to molding larger cas5ngs.

The pit has been completed and is now back in produc5on.

EngineeringEngineeringEngineeringEngineering...by Kenna Reynolds

“Over the past year or so, dozens

of produc�on supervisors

throughout the plant have

voluntarily accepted new TPM

and hoist PM work order responsibili�es. This

amounts to a significant amount of addi�onal

work for them to complete, but it is a tremen-

dous help to the maintenance department. It is

also a great example of how Harrison Steel em-

ployees will work together across departments

to get the job done. We in the maintenance department

are extremely apprecia�ve of all your help. Thank you.”

- Derek Hughes

This li+le cu�e is Rick Beedle’s

(Maintenance supervisor) grand-

son, Remy. Remy was born Octo-

ber 20th, weighing in at 8

pounds 9 ounces. Remy’s par-

ents are Dusty (Foundry super-

visor) and Jessica Beedle. Re-

my’s proud sister is Peyton.

Congratu-

la�on to Sue Anderson’s

son, J.D. Green, for ge:ng

this big ‘o buck this sea-

son.

My son, Toby Reynolds

(Truck Garage/

Environmental) FINALLY

got married on Octo-

ber 18th. Toby and Jill Stone

had been da�ng for more than 9 years! Jill’s father is

Rex Stone (Machine Shop). The 1938 Dodge truck in the

background may look familiar to some of you because

Toby’s grandpa, Kenny Hawn, drove it to Harrison Steel

for 40 years.

HousingHousingHousingHousing...by Mary Hardaway

Congratula�ons to Cyndy and Leonard Briles

on the birth of their first great grand-

daughter. Cyndy is em-

ployed in our housing

department. Harper

Ellio+ Waters was born

to Elizabeth “Darby”

Waters Monday, No-

vember 17th at 4:52

p.m. at Methodist

Hospital in Indian-

apolis. Harper

weighed in at 6 pounds 5

ounces and was 20 inches long.

Joe Collison (Housing) got a 10 point buck. Congrats

Joe!!

FoundryFoundryFoundryFoundry...by Drema Wood

Hey to all out there in HS land. Here is hoping each of you has a great holiday season. I would like to share a quirky li+le thing. “Almost “is the longest word in the English language with all the le+ers in alphabe�cal order. Who knew? It is interes�ng though.

Breakroom news continued...

We are on the hunt to find some news or interes�ng items for the next

issue of Tapping Out. If you have something you would like to share

please send to Kenna Reynolds in Engineering at reynolkj@hscast.com.

• Do you have some favorite recipes ?

If we print a 2015 cookbook your recipe will be included!

• Cute snowman photos?

• Valentine stories?

Open enrollment for Medical, Dental, Vision, Short and

Long-term disability insurance begins December 1, 2014 and ends on December 31, 2014. Benefit-eligible employ-

ees, who want to make a change to these benefits, must complete a new applica'on in Human Resources no later

than December 31st

.

A+er December 31

st employees cannot make a change to

their benefit selec'ons un'l next year in December, 2015,

unless they have a qualifying event (i.e. divorce or birth)

If you need to make changes, please make sure that you contact the Human Resources Department ext. 9012 to find

out what paperwork you will need.

I have been busy adjus'ng to my Profit Sharing du'es, but if you have any ques-'ons in regards to Profit Sharing please

don’t hesitate to ask! I am here to help!

Leslie Fletcher—HR Department Phone: 762-9013

The

RULERULERULERULE If you have a medical, dental, or vision insurance qualify-ing event (i.e. baby, divorce), you have 30 days from the date that it occurs to add or remove dependents from your plan. If you have any questions, please come and see Leslie or Kathy in Human Resources.

We are here to help! We are here to help! We are here to help! We are here to help!

It’s that time of the year! Please make sure the information on your pay-roll check is correct. If you have changes to your address please contact the Human Resource Office at extension 9012.

Bright and early on Thanks-

giving morning, with the

temperature in the 20’s and

snow flurries swirling

around, several Harrison

employees joined in on the

Turkey Trot. The Turkey Trot is a 5k

(3.1 mile) run or walk through the

streets of A?ca, open to everybody.

Kids, families, and even re'rees can

join in the group fes'vity. Not only is it a

great way to burn some calories before overea'ng on

Thanksgiving, but all proceeds benefit the A?ca Food

Pantry. A couple of employees were even caught on

camera! - Eric Carroll

T urkey T rot

5 k

Pictured L to R: Gavin Gilmore, Eric Carroll, Robert Harrison, Ed Bowen

Congratulaons

Joseph Mediate & Vickie Sandlin Each won $500 on the quarter aHendance drawing!

HSHSHSHS Blood DriveBlood DriveBlood DriveBlood Drive

December 18thDecember 18thDecember 18thDecember 18th

Submissions are subject to management review and approval and, if approved, may be edited for clarity and grammatical accuracy.

During inclement weather conditions, please call

762-9199

for HS work schedules and cancellations.

762-6789 We just finished Thanksgiving, and Christmas and New Years are

upon us. We tend to throw all healthy ea$ng habits out the win-

dow during this $me. There are work and family par$es, which are

generally centered around a lot of food. The end result is gaining

extra unwanted pounds during the holidays. Here are 5 $ps to try

to eat healthier over the holidays.

Eat smaller por�ons - Eat smaller por$ons

throughout the day. Don't starve yourself all day

in an$cipa$on of a big dinner/party that you will

be going to that night. You will end up over-

indulging at the party which will bring on feelings

of guilt, bloa$ng, and you will feel miserable.

Exercise-You will burn off extra calories con-

sumed during this $me, feel be0er, have more

energy, and have a head start on your New Year's

resolu$ons.

Eat healthy snacks-

Stock up on healthy

snacks when going

shopping so as not

to be tempted with the unhealthy

snacks offered at the mall. You can

pack some carrots and/or celery to

take with you on longer ou$ngs. If

you add peanut bu0er to the celery it will add some protein.

Limit alcohol-Alcohol is loaded with calories. This adds many emp-

ty calories on top of the foods we are already consuming. We

some$mes can drink all of our allo0ed calories for the day during

Christmas par$es. Limi$ng the amount you drink will help with that

plus you won't do anything embarrassing you will need to apolo-

gize for later.

Eat un�l you are sa�sfied- Most of us have been taught to “clean

our plates” ...just eat un$l you are sa$sfied. You will consume a lot

less calories and feel be0er. Try not to put too much on your plate

to begin with.

Monika

Remender

Back in the March/April issue of T.O. we did a feature on Jenn

McMurtrie and the “Jenn Strong Fight like a Girl!” campaign

regarding her fight with cancer. Last month on November 21st

Jennifer traveled to Los Angeles, California along with

her sis- ter, Paula Bixler, to meet Chef Gor-

don Ramsey and visit the set of

Hell’s Kitchen. While there, she and

her sister were able to dine at

Hell’s

Kitchen, watch the taping

of an episode and meet

Gordon Ramsey, which has

always been a dream of

Jennifer.

She has a passion for cooking and has been a loy-

al viewer of the show since its incep$on. While in L.A., Jennifer

and Paula also visited Universal Studios, stayed on Hollywood

Boulevard, and did some sight-seeing. All of this was made pos-

sible through the Dream Founda$on. The Dream Founda$on

grants wishes for breast cancer pa$ents. She had the $me of

her life and said that Chef Ramsey was a really nice man!

What’s Jenn up to?

Eric Carroll found these interes$ng and informa$ve weather

descrip$ons from AccuWeather.com

Winter Storm Watch Possible Storm

24—48 Hours Away

Winter Storm Warning Hazardous Winter Weather

Within 12—24 hours

Blizzard Warning 6”+ of snow; winds over 35 mph; Temperature 20’s or lower Merry Christmas