AlphaGarage
Well-known member
Last week I was on the road taking care of some business. Like a lot of guys on this forum I really like checking out garages, warehouses, and all sorts of interesting work environments. And the more machines they got – the better!
On this trip I had the opportunity to get a behind the scenes tour of the epitome of work shops – an amazing pharmaceutical manufacturing facility larger than a few football fields. After signing in and putting on protective gear, we were guided into a bit of hell on earth.
Day in, day out, 7 days a week about 2,100 employees at this 30 plus acre facility crank out an extremely precise and regulated product. All around pallet tractors (some manned, others robotic) continuously zip around, loaded with a hundreds of pounds of precious life-saving cargo stacked in heavy metal cages.
Basic ingredients are combined and then transported to one of several production lines where it’s measured and ever so carefully metered into special containers, also manufactured on site. The containers are then loaded into the wheeled cages and delivered into huge autoclaves where they’re subject to immense pressure at temperatures of hundreds of degrees. Eventually they’re unceremoniously yanked out of their carriers, packed into shipping containers, and moved via robotic platforms to gargantuan storage areas before being shipped out across the country.
The end product is so seemingly uncomplicated, yet its production is surprisingly complex, and its birthplace unexpectedly harsh. Don’t get me wrong, for such a huge factory it’s amazingly clean, antiseptic beyond most facilities, public or private. There’s a lot going on there, from production to packaging - things move fast, things are heavy, there’s impact shock, wild temperature changes, heavy traffic and lots of sharp things being dragged and dropped. All of this happening at near light speed in an environment that needs to be kept as clean as possible. The bottom line? It is simply a brutal place for floors.
As I mentioned earlier, the place never sleeps. There are few substitutes for the product and lives depend on it. This was a problem because the plant operators were forced to schedule down time to replace floor products that just kept failing. Some of the biggest names in the surface coating business, names you know, and many others who won’t sell to the public, have tried to protect the floors, but they failed - time after time. Many were worthless in less than 30 days, and most of the rest failed in less than 90 days.
A little over a year ago, a new facilities manager set out to solve the problem. Because of the many different situations present in the plant, there were many challenges. Wolverine Coatings knew their epoxies could do the job and asked to be considered, but the facility’s manager was a bit reluctant to give ‘em a shot. He couldn’t help but wonder – “If the big guys failed time after time, what could this smaller company offer?” But they were desperate for solutions, so eventually they put down about 1,000 square feet of Wolverine Coatings in one of the tougher spots.
What happened next? The pharmaceutical company threw everything they had at the test patch. Chemicals, steam, dropped containers, forklifts, abrasion, impact. But the Wolverine epoxies survived. Four weeks later they called Wolverine and placed a large order. Since then, they’ve installed it in their most critical zones, as well as on assembly floors, hallways, and warehouse areas. Wolverine Coatings are everywhere.
This coming Memorial day they’ll be putting down even more, and then over the July 4th shutdown, they’ll be installing Wolverine coatings on their largest and most demanding area.
It’s pretty clear they’re huge Wolverine Coatings Epoxy fans. The manager even joked that he wanted to wear a shirt with “BondTite Believer” emblazed on it. That would be BondTite 1101, the same stuff you can have in your garage. Of course I asked if I could quote him and publish a few pictures. But no go. It seems they figure that the quality and durability of Wolverine Coatings give them a distinct and valuable competitive advantage. Really can’t blame ‘em… they’re in business to win. Let the other guys have the downtime, the added expense, the headaches, and the additional production costs associated with failing floor systems.
The facility was huge; we didn’t even get to see all of it. But it was a great experience, thanks Eric and Scott! On my next trip I’m hoping we’ll have the time to tour a nearby German automobile manufacturing plant. They’re another Wolverine Coatings believer. And early word is… they might allow photos.
On this trip I had the opportunity to get a behind the scenes tour of the epitome of work shops – an amazing pharmaceutical manufacturing facility larger than a few football fields. After signing in and putting on protective gear, we were guided into a bit of hell on earth.
Day in, day out, 7 days a week about 2,100 employees at this 30 plus acre facility crank out an extremely precise and regulated product. All around pallet tractors (some manned, others robotic) continuously zip around, loaded with a hundreds of pounds of precious life-saving cargo stacked in heavy metal cages.
Basic ingredients are combined and then transported to one of several production lines where it’s measured and ever so carefully metered into special containers, also manufactured on site. The containers are then loaded into the wheeled cages and delivered into huge autoclaves where they’re subject to immense pressure at temperatures of hundreds of degrees. Eventually they’re unceremoniously yanked out of their carriers, packed into shipping containers, and moved via robotic platforms to gargantuan storage areas before being shipped out across the country.
The end product is so seemingly uncomplicated, yet its production is surprisingly complex, and its birthplace unexpectedly harsh. Don’t get me wrong, for such a huge factory it’s amazingly clean, antiseptic beyond most facilities, public or private. There’s a lot going on there, from production to packaging - things move fast, things are heavy, there’s impact shock, wild temperature changes, heavy traffic and lots of sharp things being dragged and dropped. All of this happening at near light speed in an environment that needs to be kept as clean as possible. The bottom line? It is simply a brutal place for floors.
As I mentioned earlier, the place never sleeps. There are few substitutes for the product and lives depend on it. This was a problem because the plant operators were forced to schedule down time to replace floor products that just kept failing. Some of the biggest names in the surface coating business, names you know, and many others who won’t sell to the public, have tried to protect the floors, but they failed - time after time. Many were worthless in less than 30 days, and most of the rest failed in less than 90 days.
A little over a year ago, a new facilities manager set out to solve the problem. Because of the many different situations present in the plant, there were many challenges. Wolverine Coatings knew their epoxies could do the job and asked to be considered, but the facility’s manager was a bit reluctant to give ‘em a shot. He couldn’t help but wonder – “If the big guys failed time after time, what could this smaller company offer?” But they were desperate for solutions, so eventually they put down about 1,000 square feet of Wolverine Coatings in one of the tougher spots.
What happened next? The pharmaceutical company threw everything they had at the test patch. Chemicals, steam, dropped containers, forklifts, abrasion, impact. But the Wolverine epoxies survived. Four weeks later they called Wolverine and placed a large order. Since then, they’ve installed it in their most critical zones, as well as on assembly floors, hallways, and warehouse areas. Wolverine Coatings are everywhere.
This coming Memorial day they’ll be putting down even more, and then over the July 4th shutdown, they’ll be installing Wolverine coatings on their largest and most demanding area.
It’s pretty clear they’re huge Wolverine Coatings Epoxy fans. The manager even joked that he wanted to wear a shirt with “BondTite Believer” emblazed on it. That would be BondTite 1101, the same stuff you can have in your garage. Of course I asked if I could quote him and publish a few pictures. But no go. It seems they figure that the quality and durability of Wolverine Coatings give them a distinct and valuable competitive advantage. Really can’t blame ‘em… they’re in business to win. Let the other guys have the downtime, the added expense, the headaches, and the additional production costs associated with failing floor systems.
The facility was huge; we didn’t even get to see all of it. But it was a great experience, thanks Eric and Scott! On my next trip I’m hoping we’ll have the time to tour a nearby German automobile manufacturing plant. They’re another Wolverine Coatings believer. And early word is… they might allow photos.
