Survey Finds Small Businesses Lack Adequate Safety Training
When you think about businesses in the United States, the first companies that might come to mind are likely “big business” giants, like automobile manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, or other behemoths that employ thousands upon thousands of workers.
The reality, however, is that small businesses—those with 500 or fewer employees—far outnumber large businesses. In fact, small businesses in many ways power the U.S. economy and provide the jobs that keep food on the table for millions of Americans.
While small businesses may outnumber big businesses, they rarely compete on a level playing field. In fact, most small business owners would tell you that their resources pale in comparison to their larger counterparts.
Unfortunately, scarce resource allocation may lead some small businesses to avoid investing in necessary areas. A recent survey has revealed that one of those areas in which small businesses may be lacking can have a significant impact: safety training.
According to a recent Safety+Health Magazine article, “[n]early 60% of small-business employees have witnessed a workplace injury in the past year, and almost half of those injuries were considered preventable.” Why so many?
That’s what Pie Insurance, “a commercial insurance provider for small businesses,” wanted to learn when it “commissioned a survey of more than 1,000 full- or part-time workers at businesses with 500 or fewer employees.”
The results of that survey were quite concerning, especially regarding important safety training:
- “Only 29% of workers said they regularly receive safety training, even though 63% of employers say they provide structured training.”
- “28% said they’ve never received formal safety training.”
In a press release, Pie Insurance senior vice president of claims Carla Woodard said, “What I find most meaningful about this data is that it shows the gap between what employers think they’re providing and what employees actually experience, and that’s where the real opportunity lies.”
So, what can small businesses do to provide adequate safety training for employees? Fortunately, they don’t need to recreate the wheel. Instead, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time can help ensure the continued safety of the workforce.
For example, DAC Worldwide offers two safety training systems specifically designed to give employees the hands-on experience they need to master lock-out/tag-out skills:
- DAC Worldwide Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
- DAC Worldwide Electrical Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
Be sure to check out these training systems and contact a DAC Worldwide representative to learn how you can improve your training today!
- Published in News
Staying Alive: How a Wisconsin Company Bridges the Skills Gap
If there’s a sign that accurately sums up the state of running a manufacturing business over the course of the last couple of decades, it’s got to be “Now Hiring!” Industry, as a whole, and manufacturing, in particular, have long suffered from a challenge known as the “skills gap.”
Without treading familiar ground too thoroughly, the “skills gap” describes the fact that demand for highly-skilled workers far outweighs the supply of such workers, leading to hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs that go unfilled year after year.
The “skills gap” is a well-known problem that manufacturers have been battling for decades now. While there have been many attempts to solve the problem, an all-encompassing solution still eludes manufacturers. Nonetheless, there have been some efforts that have been more successful than others.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Sentry Equipment, a Wisconsin manufacturer of process and sampling equipment. Despite the challenges posed by the “skills gap,” the leaders of Sentry Equipment have used a combination of techniques that have helped them successfully fill all their open positions.
In an Industry Week article, author Laura Putre discusses the history of Sentry Equipment, revealing that “[b]eing steady and respected in the market you’re in, but always having another angle in your back pocket, is a secret to business longevity.”
Sentry Equipment began over a century ago as a manufacturer of “boiler sanitizing equipment for the dairy industry.” As “dairy plants joined the electric grid and did away with boilers,” the company pivoted successfully as “the processing technology also had applications for the electric power industry.”
For years, Sentry Equipment has served both “coal-fired power plants” and “oil and gas refineries.” However, the ever-changing energy market has forced the company to continue to diversify. Over the last decade, Sentry Equipment “has acquired a couple of smaller companies in an adjacent market, wastewater treatment sampling and processing, while adding a service component for power plant equipment.”
Throughout these changes, Sentry Equipment has felt “the pain of smaller manufacturers that have trouble filling roles.” Currently, though, “no roles go unfilled, and the turnover rate is under 15%, thanks in part to investment in high-tech equipment like robotic machining centers and [its CEO’s] involvement in state and local organizations.”
These industry-education partnerships have been important in helping Sentry Equipment meet the challenge of the “skills gap.” For example, its CEO is “on the board of the Waukesha County Business Alliance, which runs a Schools2Skills program that has been bringing groups of high school students to tour Sentry’s Wisconsin facility for a dozen years, while also cultivating additional partnerships with high schools and colleges.”
When asked how he’s able to recruit and retain skilled workers, Sentry Equipment’s CEO gives examples of their targeted efforts to establish a talent pipeline. For example, the company “work[s] with GPS Partners, a nonprofit that was started by several Milwaukee manufacturers to build a high school pipeline. It targets students that are, say, juniors in high school, who might do better in a technical path than an academic path…We’ve been part of that for more than a dozen years. At any given time, we have three or four GPS students that are working in our plant.”
For more high-level positions, such as engineers, the company has “an engineering co-op program with Marquette University in Milwaukee. We always have about three or four co-op engineers working in our business.”
Together, these industry-education partnerships continue to help Sentry Equipment fill positions with skilled workers. They may also be helping to improve the overall view of manufacturing held by students and parents. As Sentry Equipment’s CEO notes, “[s]tudents, parents, educators, all can see the great benefit of having some sort of technical trade.”
What can also help bridge the skills gap—both on the industry side and the education side—is partnering with a proven expert to train current and prospective workers with the hands-on skills necessary to succeed on the job.
Fortunately, manufacturers don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to effective training. Partnering with a training solutions provider with a proven track record can help any manufacturer or educational institution train workers with the hands-on skills they’ll need to hit the ground running in the workplace. For example, DAC Worldwide offers a wide variety of training systems that teach basic to advanced skills in a wide variety of areas relevant to manufacturing. From basic electrical and mechanical to advanced process control and instrumentation, DAC Worldwide offers training solutions that work. Visit DAC Worldwide online to learn more about its many training systems!
- Published in News
SHIPS for America Act Seeks to Revitalize U.S. Shipbuilding Industry
When it comes to navigating our way around (and out of) this world of ours, much of the focus rightly goes to the latest and greatest advanced technologies. Robotaxis, hypersonic trains, self-driving automobiles, manned missions to Mars, celebrities flying to the edge of space, SpaceX rockets…all these exciting, futuristic conveyances inspire modern explorers and ignite the imagination.
But what about the high seas? The world’s oceans and rivers seem to have gotten lost in the midst of technological innovation. Whether it’s the wreckage of the Titanic or the latest installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, our naval gazing seems to be stuck in the past.
That may soon change, though, if a group of bipartisan legislators get their way. While divided on so many topics, parties from both sides of the aisle are joining forces to craft new legislation driven by the need to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
In an article published on The War Zone website, author Geoff Ziezulewicz calls the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act (“the Act”) an “ambitious bill [that] seeks to overhaul and restore America’s military and civilian maritime capacity and capabilities.”
According to Ziezulewicz, America’s shipbuilding industry has “increasingly fallen behind over the decades, and concerns have grown urgent as China’s shipbuilding capacity continues to dwarf America’s in many respects.” For example, “[i]n terms of shipbuilding…China has 46.59 percent of the global market and is the largest builder, with South Korea second at 29.24 percent, and Japan third with 17.25 percent. The United States has a relative insignificant capacity at 0.13 percent.”
These concerns are echoed by one of the bills co-sponsors. In an opinion piece published in the Daily Journal, Senator Todd Young (R—Ind.) explains that “for too long, we have ignored the importance of ships to our economic and national security. Today, the American shipbuilding sector has eroded, our shipyards are few and far between, and the vessels built in the U.S. are often ill-equipped to cross oceans.”
According to Young, “[t]he result is Chinese dominance of the world’s sea lanes. China now possesses the world’s largest commercial fleet — 5,500 vessels strong, with over a thousand more built annually. And the United States? Our fleet currently numbers 80 with, at most, five ships added a year.”
Anyone familiar with the skills gap issue that plagues manufacturing and other industries across the country will immediately spot a major obstacle to reviving the ailing U.S. shipbuilding industry: finding enough skilled workers to fill the thousands of open positions revitalized ports will require.
Young notes that the Act “would help train a pipeline of new workers, encourage domestic and foreign investment in maritime infrastructure, and provide the permitting reform and deregulation that is essential for timely construction of new shipyards.”
Expanding upon the workforce development aspect of the Act in greater detail, a Holland & Knight article notes that “the Act establishes Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education. These centers would train and educate workers launching careers in the maritime industry and play a vital role in preparing the next generation of maritime professionals. The Act also creates and tasks the Maritime Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee with identifying new training opportunities for maritime workers to equip the workforce with the skills most needed by the maritime industry.”
As individuals and organizations seek to establish a pipeline of new maritime talent, it will be necessary to seek out training partners that understand the foundational skills maritime workers will need to be successful. For example, DAC Worldwide has worked extensively in the past with the U.S. Navy to provide training tools in a wide variety of disciplines, from basic electrical to advanced pumps, compressors, and valves. Be sure to check out DAC Worldwide’s variety of hands-on training systems and tools, like cutaways, dissectibles, and models, that feature the real-world components workers will encounter in the field!
- Published in News
LOTO Training Essential for Worker Safety
For a 25-year-old manufacturing worker in Bellefontaine, Ohio, June 22, 2023, probably started like any other day. However, that ordinary day would end with the worker in the hospital with, according to an OSHA News Release, “severe crushing injuries” that included “contusions and fractures.”
The rubber hose manufacturer in question, HBD/Thermoid Inc., has “a long history of federal workplace safety issues.” In this instance, OSHA inspectors “learned the worker suffered injuries due to the company’s failure to follow lockout/tagout procedures. Powered belts were still energized and unguarded, pulling the worker into the machine causing the injuries.”
OSHA Area Director Todd Jensen noted that “[t]his employee suffered preventable injuries because their employer continues to ignore its responsibility to protect their workers. We cited the company for safety violations on the very same machine in March 2023, and they still failed to protect their employees. It’s time for HBD/Thermoid Inc. to make the safety of their employees a priority.”
The violation resulted in “$389,534 in proposed penalties,” but the serious injuries to the worker can’t be adequately quantified. That’s why following proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures is a critical part of industrial safety.
Despite the importance of LOTO procedures, LOTO violations “consistently ranks among OSHA’s top 10 most frequently cited standards each year,” according to a recent EHS Today article by Herbert Post. This is both frustrating and puzzling, since Post notes that “[m]ost facilities cited for LOTO violations would claim to have the right equipment, procedures and safety protocols in place.”
So, what’s going on? According to Post, the answer is as simple as the weakest part of the chain: the humans involved in this set of basic safety procedures. Before we look at those human elements, though, let’s quickly review why LOTO is so essential to workplace safety.
As anyone who has ever worked in manufacturing knows, LOTO “is designed to prevent the unexpected startup or release of stored energy in machinery.” Post details “OSHA’s standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) (29 CFR 1910.147),” which “outlines the specific actions employers must take: isolate all potential energy sources, apply the correct locks and tags, and verify that the machinery truly can’t be re-energized before any maintenance or servicing begins.”
LOTO plays such a key role, because “uncontrolled energy can pose fatal risks.” When dealing with powerful industrial machines daily, workers need to understand that their failure to follow proper LOTO procedures can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Unfortunately, “even well-designed LOTO procedures can fail because of several human factors.” A couple of these factors—productivity demands and complacency—are easy to understand. As Post points out, “[w]hen production quotas and deadlines pressure workers, lockout/tagout procedures can be viewed as inconvenient, time-consuming steps that hinder operations.”
Furthermore, “[w]orkers who have serviced the same equipment for months, or even years, may feel like they know every inch of the process, making them more inclined to overlook or dismiss crucial safety steps.” This complacency can have deadly consequences.
The third human factor discussed by Post is inadequate training. For example, “OSHA frequently cites inadequate training as a leading cause of LOTO violations, including failing to establish or communicate an energy control procedure and neglecting to conduct periodic evaluations.”
According to Post, “gaps in training create a disconnect between policy and practice. When employees either do not understand or undervalue the significance of LOTO, they are more likely to take shortcuts and ignore established procedures. Without thorough instruction and regular reinforcement of safe practices, workers may view LOTO as a cumbersome compliance checkbox rather than a life-saving protocol.”
Post recommends LOTO training that includes “ongoing instruction, frequent refreshers, and practical, hands-on drills.” Does your company have effective LOTO training tools in place to ensure your employees understand, not only the proper procedures, but why they’re so important?
For companies looking to improve their safety training, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure the continued safety of the workforce.
For example, DAC Worldwide offers two safety training systems specifically designed to give employees the hands-on experience they need to master lock-out/tag-out skills:
- DAC Worldwide Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
- DAC Worldwide Electrical Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
Be sure to check out these training systems and contact a DAC Worldwide representative to learn how you can improve your training today!
- Published in News
AI Driving Investments by Energy Giant
What comes to mind when you think about utility companies? For many people around the country, images of coal-fired power plants and tall wooden poles strung with long wires might be top of mind. What likely doesn’t come to mind is advanced technology, like artificial intelligence (AI).
However, it’s technologies like AI that are top of mind for many leaders in the energy and public utility sectors. Why? The data centers being built to expand the powers and capabilities of AI use tremendous amounts of power that threaten to undermine the security and stability of already-overburdened electrical grids in many areas.
Those tasked with ensuring the future of our energy supply must adjust their focus and priorities to align with the changes being wrought by new technologies like AI. For example, in an article in The Dallas Morning News, author Lana Ferguson notes that energy giant Schneider Electric recently announced “plans to invest more than $700 million in its U.S. operations through 2027.”
This huge investment will “support the country’s focus on bolstering the nation’s energy infrastructure to power AI growth, boost domestic manufacturing, and strengthen energy security.” Specifically, “[t]he money will go toward manufacturing expansions and creating more than 1,000 new jobs, with roles such as next-generation manufacturing professionals, engineers, developers and technical analysts.”
Schneider Electric expects its investment to “bolster ‘smart factory transformation’ across several states that include Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Missouri.” Officials are hopeful that other key players will follow suit with their own investments.
According to Aamir Paul, president of North America Operations for Schneider Electric, “[w]e stand at an inflection point for the technology and industrial sectors in the U.S., driven by incredible AI growth and unprecedented energy demand. To lead the transformation ahead, we must be agile and act now to advance ambitious digitalization and efficiency goals to make an impact for generations to come.”
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons lauded these plans: “Schneider Electric’s significant investment is a clear sign that manufacturing in America is moving forward — driving economic growth, innovation and job creation across the country. By expanding their operations with a focus on energy security, automation and AI, Schneider Electric is not only strengthening America’s competitiveness but also creating new opportunities and powering our nation’s future.”
As energy giants like Schneider Electric invest and expand, there’s one challenge they’re sure to encounter immediately: a shortage of highly skilled workers with advanced electrical and automation skills. How do companies and schools train the next generation of professionals with the electrical skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace?Top of Form
Bottom of Form A thorough review of training systems is a great place to start. Do employees and students have access to hands-on training with actual components they’ll encounter on the job? If not, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure a competent workforce. Be sure to check out DAC Worldwide’s variety of hands-on electrical training systems that feature the real-world components workers will encounter in the field!
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Will Geothermal Save Oil and Gas Jobs?
If someone asked you what the opposite of a fossil fuel is, what would you say? Some might say solar power, while others would point to wind. Either answer could be correct, since any form of renewable energy could be considered the opposite of our finite supply of fossil fuels like oil and gas.
Wouldn’t it be ironic then if a form of renewable energy ended up being the savior of a large chunk of oil and gas jobs? That seemingly impossible scenario is playing out right now in areas of Texas and New Mexico thanks to a resurgence of interest in geothermal energy.
In a recent article on The Hill website by Saul Elbein, the author notes that, despite the last several years representing “the height of the largest oil and gas boom in American history,” “the expansion in production has come with a sharp and protracted decline in both the number of rigs and rig workers…due to the pace of drilling and the declining need for workers amid the rise of high-tech forms of extraction.”
That’s right. Many of today’s oil and gas workers have literally drilled themselves out of a job. However, some are now learning they could be using “some of the same skills and technology used to extract fossil fuels for the production of renewable energy.”
The Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico has recently been “the heart of the oil and gas boom.” A growing number of companies are now looking at the same area as a source of renewable energy. As Elbein points out, “beneath its bones lies another resource central to the new movement in the region’s energy industry: heat that…companies…hope to tap for clean power.”
Although “geothermal energy has long been a niche one in the renewables sector because of its reliance on a very particular set of underground conditions: accessible, superheated pools of underground water, like those found beneath pockets of California, the Pacific’s Ring of Fire and the nation of Iceland,” a growing number of companies are now “seeking to develop methods that could be used to generate geothermal power virtually anywhere in the country.”
Developing support for geothermal in the heart of oil and gas country might seem like a challenge, but investors have found proponents who see geothermal as additional security for the increasingly burdened power grid. As population, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and cryptocurrency mining facilities grow in number and size, geothermal sites represent the potential for “secure power sources not subject to extreme weather or alleged market manipulation by oil and gas companies.”
Perhaps more importantly for the oil and gas workforce, proponents “see geothermal as a long-term life raft for oil and gas workers increasingly idled as layoffs beset the industry.” Geothermal companies are using “oil and gas-based technologies to create the precise underground conditions needed to tap the heat beneath the region’s surface — either for electricity, industrial power or heating and cooling.”
Fortunately for oil and gas workers, geothermal has the opposite problem as traditional oil and gas, which has too many staff and rigs compared to available work. Geothermal companies have more available jobs than they have staff to support them. For oil and gas workers, the future appears to be one in which they may need a hybrid of traditional oil and gas skills mixed with geothermal expertise.
For Texas, New Mexico, and any other states navigating the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, Amatrol, along with its sister companies, DAC Worldwide and Bayport Technical, offer a wide variety of training tools and systems to teach workers the skills they need to succeed.
For example, both DAC Worldwide and Bayport Technical manufacture oil and gas training tools and systems that teach hands-on technical skills with real industrial equipment they’ll encounter on the job. Here are a couple of samples of the types of training aids these companies produce:
- DAC Worldwide’s Extended Wellhead Assembly Cutaway (295-795E) depicts the complete assembly of components used in creating a wellhead, which are used in oil & gas production operations. The full-size, fully detailed example of a high-pressure wellhead assembly gives learners a first-hand view into a component that is found in oilfield applications worldwide.
- Bayport Technical’s Cooling Tower Working Demonstrator (142-CT2) is a scaled, acrylic replica of a forced draft cooling tower used in oil refineries and petrochemical plants. This working demonstrator allows a full view of how water is filtered through the tower to cool it off and then return it the factory. This tabletop system includes a water basin and distribution system, heater assembly, pump, fan, splash bars, air intake louvers, draft eliminators, and temperature gauges.
When it comes to teaching the geothermal skills workers will need, Amatrol’s geothermal training system combines in-depth curriculum with real industrial equipment:
- Amatrol’s 950-GEO2D Geothermal Troubleshooting Learning System with Desuperheater uses an exposed component layout so that learners can see each component’s role in a geothermal system. Learners can easily observe, monitor, and test each component mounted and labeled on a vertical panel. Sight glasses installed in the 950-GEO2D allow the learner to see the refrigerant’s changing state as it passes through the system. Amatrol also includes pressure and temperature gauges at key points to show the system’s performance at a glance. Additionally, the system includes a custom designed, temperature-controlled ground simulator so the system can run continuously.
Reach out to an expert training consultant with Amatrol today to get started on the path to training the next generation of workers!
- Published in News
Biomanufacturing Plays Larger Role in Chemical Production
Have you noticed how technology continues to change nearly every aspect of our lives? Or are you so used to it by now that new technological developments don’t even register anymore?
One area where you might take notice of new technology is at work. When you must adapt to new processes related to new technologies, it’s hard to ignore. Manufacturers everywhere adopt new technologies for a variety of reasons.
Often, new technologies bridge the gap left by having too few skilled workers to fill open positions. At other times, manufacturers seek a boost in productivity and efficiency that automating processes can provide.
Increasingly, though, research and development of new manufacturing technologies comes as a result of the pursuit of sustainability. The importance of fossil fuels and related products in manufacturing cannot be overstated. However, these products and their negative impact on the environment have led many manufacturers to search for alternatives that are sustainable and less harmful.
In a Chemistry World article, author Sarah Houlton discusses the companies exploring the use of biotech processes to manufacture chemicals. She gives several examples of manufacturers who “use bio-based raw materials, captured CO2 and recycled plastics as raw materials for new chemicals.”
For example, Houlton points out that German manufacturer Covestro makes “aniline from biomass via a fermentation process.” Doing so could “offer a more sustainable alternative to traditional petrochemical processing, and be more amenable to biobased raw materials.”
Not all biomanufacturing is new, though. Houlton notes that “BASF…has been working on industrial biotechnology for more than three decades, first for the animal feed enzyme phytase, and then shifting vitamin B2 production from a chemical to a biotech process more than 20 years ago.”
Biotech processes in chemical manufacturing are particularly attractive because “[t]aking a biotechnology approach also allows a much wider range of starting materials to be tapped into.” For example, Houlton notes that many “products are made by fungal or microbial fermentation processes, with renewable raw materials like sugars and vegetable oil that are rarely suitable for traditional chemical processes.”
Indeed, biomanufacturing represents “a promising alternative to petrochemical-based manufacturing,” because “using fermentation to produce chemicals is reducing the reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels.”
In addition, “[f]ermentation also presents a safe, lower energy consumption alternative. Unlike many chemical manufacturing processes that require high heat or pressure, fermentation typically operates at lower temperatures and pressures. Biomanufacturing also allows for the manufacture of complex biomolecules such as proteins, which are not readily made by chemical synthesis processes.”
While these new technologies present exciting alternatives for the future, those involved in hiring workers for the chemical manufacturing industry probably wonder where the workers for these advanced facilities will come from.
As always, the need for workers with advanced process control and instrumentation skills remains great. Proactive manufacturers will look to establish a pipeline of fresh talent from local schools while also seeking to upskill current workers.
Fortunately, manufacturers don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to effective process control and instrumentation training. Partnering with a training solutions provider with a proven track record can help any manufacturer or educational institution train workers with the hands-on skills they’ll need to hit the ground running in the workplace.
For example, DAC Worldwide offers a wide variety of training systems that teach basic to advanced process control and instrumentation skills. Its newest flagship process control and instrumentation trainer, the Smart Process Plant Training System (603-SP), is a fully-functional, industrial-quality fluid process system that provides hands-on training in the measurement and control of five of the most common process variables: level, pressure, temperature, flow, and pH.
The system groups these process control elements into one complete piping system, which allows it to teach multiple configurations of flow loops, controls, and communications. The system incorporates both new and legacy technologies so that users are prepared for anything they might encounter on the job.
The Smart Process Plant Training System features a wide variety of common, industrial-quality components and instruments to provide learners with a realistic training experience that will build skills that translate easily to the workplace. The Smart Process Plant also includes multiple experiments, which simulate both continuous and batch process control loops that are widely used in many process industries. The Smart Process Plant Training System is only one of DAC Worldwide’s many process control and instrumentation training systems. Visit DAC Worldwide online to learn more about its many other training systems, as well as advanced chemical engineering training systems from its partner, Pignat SAS!
- Published in News
New Consortium Seeks to Advance Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
If the nation’s manufacturers ever hope to bridge the ongoing skills gap that prevents them from filling the hundreds of thousands of open manufacturing positions across the country, they’re going to have to get creative in terms of building partnerships with the educators preparing the next generation of workers.
Who else is better positioned to advise today’s educators about the skills workers need than the very companies that will be hiring students upon graduation? Yet, too few companies reach out to the educators in their area to build relationships with them and their students. Fortunately, some educational institutions are taking the lead in building the very important partnerships that will allow manufacturers to thrive for years to come.
For example, in a recent Contract Pharma article, author Kristin Brooks reports that “Purdue University, in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. and Merck & Co. Inc., launched the Young Institute Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Consortium, a collaborative effort to pioneer advances in pharmaceutical manufacturing.”
Brooks notes that “[o]perating within Purdue’s William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals, consortium partners aim to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing with a focus on sterile injectables and innovative aseptic manufacturing technology to ensure quality, safety and compliance.”
Karen Plaut, Purdue’s executive vice president for research, explains: “We’re on the frontier of Pharma 4.0 — autonomous experimentation, advanced robotics, big data, smart factories, AI and machine learning. Through this partnership, we will have a global impact in solving complex problems in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.”
Brooks points out that “[t]he consortium will rely on the research strengths of Purdue, Lilly and Merck, leveraging the organizations’ collaborative research relationship and workforce development programs…together with industrially relevant education and training for the next generation of scientific leaders and researchers.”
When it comes to training the next generation of advanced manufacturing workers, educators and industry partners alike would do well to partner with experts in technical training, such as DAC Worldwide. For example, consortium members could benefit from DAC Worldwide’s Smart Process Plant Training System (603-SP), a fully-functional, industrial-quality fluid process system that provides hands-on training in the measurement and control of five of the most common process variables: level, pressure, temperature, flow, and pH.
The system groups these process control elements into one complete piping system, which allows it to teach multiple configurations of flow loops, controls, and communications. The system incorporates both new and legacy technologies so that users are prepared for anything they might encounter on the job. These technologies work together to form a 3-level communication architecture:
- Device Level: Smart sensors monitor Level, Flow, Temperature, Pressure, and pH. They are connected via either IO-Link and Ethernet communication or HART communication.
- Control Level: A DCS and various PLCs and PIDs allow for operation and control of the system’s components.
- Enterprise Level: The DCS software provides Supervisory Control with data analytics for monitoring smart production, smart maintenance, etc.
The Smart Process Plant uses a Distributed Control System (DCS) that features Supervisory Control software. This software is Rockwell Automation’s PlantPAx, and it acts as the backbone of the system. It gathers and organizes data and creates dashboards that represent the real-time status of the processes being carried out by the system.
The Smart Process Plant Training System features a wide variety of common, industrial-quality components and instruments to provide learners with a realistic training experience that will build skills that translate easily to the workplace. The Smart Process Plant also includes multiple experiments, which simulate both continuous and batch process control loops that are widely used in many process industries. These experiments include:
- Basic and Advanced Bioreactor Applications
- Clean-In-Place (CIP) Skid Application
- Boiler Drum Level Application
- Wastewater Treatment Application
With these experiments, learners will explore a wide variety of fundamental process control topics, including: temperature, level, flow, pressure, and pH ratio control; agitation; sequence control; continuous control; 3-element control; feed forward/cascade control; and pump lead/lag demand. The Smart Process Plant Training System is only one of DAC Worldwide’s many process control and instrumentation training systems. Visit DAC Worldwide online to learn more about its many other training systems, as well as advanced chemical engineering training systems from its partner, Pignat SAS!
- Published in News
Room for Improvement in Workplace Safety
“Safety first!” If you work in the manufacturing sector, you’ve probably seen and heard that phrase a million times. And there’s nothing wrong with that. No one wants to work in a facility that puts them at risk of serious injury or even death.
Unfortunately, too many workers do suffer workplace injuries every year. The number and severity of these injuries remain a constant reminder that there’s always room for improvement when it comes to workplace safety.
In a recent EHS Today article, author Adrienne Selko notes that “US businesses need to ‘do significantly better’ in supporting workplace safety, according to a recent survey from BSI.” BSI’s Xavier Alcaraz notes that “[w]e’ve normalized a culture where…’safety first’ is promoted but supervisors look the other way when deadlines are at risk.”
Things don’t have to stay that way, however. Workers deserve better. BSI offers some practical advice for manufacturers seeking to improve workplace safety:
- “Safety culture: Foster an environment where safety is a systems-driven core value, encouraging reporting of potential hazards and near-misses without fear of reprisal. This contributes to both physical safety as well as psychological safety.”
- “Adopt a management systems approach for health and safety that emphasizes continuous improvement.”
- “Align safety goals with business goals.”
- “Safety training: Provide comprehensive safety training, including proper use of equipment, emergency procedures, and hazard recognition.”
That last suggestion is an important one that too many companies ignore. Of course, not all companies prioritize safety like they should, but even those wanting to improve don’t always know how to go about adequately training workers.
For companies looking to improve their safety training, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure the continued safety of the workforce.
For example, DAC Worldwide offers two safety training systems specifically designed to give employees the hands-on experience they need to master lock-out/tag-out skills:
- DAC Worldwide Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
- DAC Worldwide Electrical Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System
Be sure to check out these training systems and contact a DAC Worldwide representative to learn how you can improve your training today!
- Published in News
Turning Trash into Treasure
If the future has a color, it’s surely green. From alternative energy to renewable resources to green technology, the idea that we must reduce, reuse, and recycle is far from a new one. However, it’s not always about abandoning the way we’ve always done things. Sometimes it’s a matter of combining the old with the new.
According to a recent Interesting Engineering article by Mrigakshi Dixit, “Phoenix Tailings, a company founded by MIT alumni…is developing a method to recover rare earth metals and nickel from mining waste.”
The Woburn, Massachusetts, company discovered that “[r]are earth elements, essential for the magnets in wind turbines and electric vehicles…are often locked away in mining waste.” While China currently leads the world in production of these high-demand elements, Phoenix Tailings believes it can become a significant source of these elements in the near future.
“Their innovative process uses water and recyclable solvents to extract rare earth metals from mining waste. The metals are then purified using a unique electrochemical process that’s both efficient and environmentally friendly.”
The company’s process “eliminates toxic byproducts and reduces carbon emissions, making it a sustainable solution for the future.” The company believes it can “produce over 3,000 tons of these critical metals by 2026.”
Phoenix Tailings expects to supply “customers with several rare earth elements, including neodymium and dysprosium, which are crucial components in magnet production.” With the help of “over $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy,” the company’s materials will benefit a variety of industries, including “wind energy, electric vehicles, and defense technology.”
Fortunately, the company’s “process can handle various ore types and mining waste. Moreover, the company has access to abundant resources as the U.S. mining industry generates approximately 1.8 billion tons of waste each year.”
As Phoneix Tailings expands and other companies mimic their processes, there is great potential for growth in turning mining waste into valuable rare earth elements needed for the technologies driving the future. What these companies will need more of is a supply of skilled workers to fill open positions as expansion takes place. That’s why DAC Worldwide offers a variety of hands-on training tools designed to teach the industrial skills workers need in the modern workplace. For example, be sure to check out DAC Worldwide’s Process Control and Instrumentation training tools and contact a DAC Worldwide representative to learn how you can improve your training today!
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Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Replacing Stainless Steel in Industrial Strainers
Industrial strainers play a critical role in a wide variety of process control applications. According to a recent New Equipment Digest article by Del Williams, “from desalination, wastewater treatment, and irrigation to power generation and the production of food, pharmaceuticals, consumer, and industrial products,” “[i]ndustrial strainers are essential for screening out debris and large particulates to protect crucial downstream equipment and processes.”
For many applications, strainers constructed of standard carbon steel are perfectly fine. However, experts note that “corrosive environments such as those involving seawater, erosive slurries, or aggressive chemicals can quickly corrode conventional equipment. This can lead to potential issues in safety, quality, and compliance as well as production downtime, requiring premature strainer component replacement.”
For these harsh environments, “duplex or super duplex stainless-steel construction is used to resist corrosion, but at considerable cost.” That’s why many industries have been searching for “a more economic, durable alternative,” and they may have found it in fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP).
Robert Presser, Vice President of Acme Engineering Prod., Inc., a North American manufacturer of industrial self-cleaning strainers, claims that “[t]oday, a much more cost-effective option is to use Fiber-Reinforced Plastic (FRP) strainers that are specifically designed to be resistant to corrosive environments at a fraction of the cost of duplex or super duplex stainless steels.”
So what exactly is FRP? According to Williams, “FRP is a composite material made up of polymer and supported with fibers for added strength. FRP is already widely used for applications such as the power plant piping used to carry seawater for once-through process cooling.”
Williams notes that “[w]ithin industrial markets, OEMs are now using FRP in various applications where superior corrosion resistance is required at lower cost…Industries can save approximately half the cost or more when the strainer’s intake vessels and piping are built with FRP, and only the internals are constructed with super duplex.”
Regardless of what materials they’re made of, industrial strainers remain an important piece of many different types of process applications. Maintenance technicians must be familiar with different types of strainers, including how to keep them operating at peak efficiency.
That’s why DAC Worldwide offers several training tools designed to help industrial maintenance technicians become familiar with industrial strainers:
- DAC Worldwide’s Dual Basket Straining System Cutaway (273-330) is a realistic sectioned example of a duplex basket strainer commonly found in petro-chemical plants, refineries, and other similar industrial environments. Often used in process applications where significant debris is encountered, these easily-maintained devices dependably protect downstream equipment, such as centrifugal pumps, meters, valves, and spray nozzles from damage.
- DAC Worldwide’s Single Basket Straining System Cutaway (273-320) is a realistic sectioned example of a simplex basket strainer.
- DAC Worldwide’s Y-Type Straining System Cutaway (273-310) is a realistic, sectioned example of a y-type strainer. It supports training relating to industrial, commercial, and domestic process systems. Y-type strainers mechanically remove solids from flowing liquids and gases by incorporating a removable wire mesh or perforated straining element. Capable of withstanding significant pressures, the device is commonly used to protect heat exchangers, pumps, valves, and other valuable process equipment.
Be sure to check out DAC Worldwide’s other Process Control and Instrumentation training tools and contact a DAC Worldwide representative to learn how you can improve your training today!
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Indiana Building a Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Talent Pipeline
What comes to mind when you think about Indiana? Fields of corn? The Indy 500? If educational institutions and industry partners have their way, you might soon be adding another thing to that list: biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
According to a recent Inside INdiana Business article, author Alex Brown notes that the federal Economic Development Administration has designated Indiana consortium Heartland BioWorks as “a regional technology and innovation hub.”
As such, Heartland BioWorks “has established BioTrain, a training institute designed to prepare talent for entry-level biomanufacturing roles.” The overall goal is to “help build a talent pipeline in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.”
How important is it to increase the number of skilled workers in biomanufacturing? According to Vince Wong, CEO of Indianapolis-based BioCrossroads, the sector needs “about 2,400 to 3,700 employees in biopharma manufacturing every year for the next 10 years.”
To meet such a huge demand for biomanufacturing workers, companies and educational institutions must work together “to develop an infrastructure of training to make sure that we have have a robust workforce to meet that.”
That’s why BioTrain “aims to address the specific skills and qualifications needed to tackle workforce shortages in the life sciences.” In Indiana, what that looks like is a partnership with “BioCrossroads, Purdue University, and Ivy Tech Community College,” among others.
The BioTrain facility “will feature a combination of classroom and hands-on training on state-of-the art equipment that will allow participants to earn stackable credentials that will help them earn entry-level biomanufacturing roles that can feed into existing higher credentials for technician, engineer, or scientist positions.”
The facility will be able to train “college students, industry workers looking to upskill, as well as those coming from other industries.” Users will have access to some of the best training equipment and curriculum available, such as DAC Worldwide’s Smart Process Plant Training System (603-SP), a fully-functional, industrial-quality fluid process system that provides hands-on training in the measurement and control of five of the most common process variables: level, pressure, temperature, flow, and pH.
The system groups these process control elements into one complete piping system, which allows it to teach multiple configurations of flow loops, controls, and communications. The system incorporates both new and legacy technologies so that users are prepared for anything they might encounter on the job. These technologies work together to form a 3-level communication architecture:
- Device Level: Smart sensors monitor Level, Flow, Temperature, Pressure, and pH. They are connected via either IO-Link and Ethernet communication or HART communication.
- Control Level: A DCS and various PLCs and PIDs allow for operation and control of the system’s components.
- Enterprise Level: The DCS software provides Supervisory Control with data analytics for monitoring smart production, smart maintenance, etc.
The Smart Process Plant uses a Distributed Control System (DCS) that features Supervisory Control software. This software is Rockwell Automation’s PlantPAx, and it acts as the backbone of the system. It gathers and organizes data and creates dashboards that represent the real-time status of the processes being carried out by the system.
The Smart Process Plant Training System features a wide variety of common, industrial-quality components and instruments to provide learners with a realistic training experience that will build skills that translate easily to the workplace. The Smart Process Plant also includes multiple experiments, which simulate both continuous and batch process control loops that are widely used in many process industries. These experiments include:
- Basic and Advanced Bioreactor Applications
- Clean-In-Place (CIP) Skid Application
- Boiler Drum Level Application
- Wastewater Treatment Application
With these experiments, learners will explore a wide variety of fundamental process control topics, including: temperature, level, flow, pressure, and pH ratio control; agitation; sequence control; continuous control; 3-element control; feed forward/cascade control; and pump lead/lag demand. The Smart Process Plant Training System is only one of DAC Worldwide’s many process control and instrumentation training systems. Visit DAC Worldwide online to learn more about its many other training systems!
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