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We recently had the pleasure of hosting engineering students from the University of Wisconsin-Stout at our foundry in St. Cloud, Minnesota! They toured the facility and learned about our innovations, technology, and career opportunities. We're happy to provide hands-on experiences and learning opportunities to future engineers in our local communities. š
Susan Bear, Our Chief Technology Officer, was recognized with SMEās Albert M. Sargent Progress Award at the SMEās International Awards Gala in Detroit. This award is one of SMEās seven International Honor Awards and recognizes significant accomplishments in manufacturing processes, methods, and systems. SME, also known as the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, is a nonprofit dedicated to adopting manufacturing technologies and building North America's talent and capabilities in manufacturing and engineering. Susan Bear is responsible for leading engineering, quality, program management, and IT functions at Grede. She achieved this award for driving Industry 4.0 initiatives to optimize business and operational performance. Grede is journeying through AI and creating a smart foundry, similar to a smart home. Susan has been instrumental in enabling Grede to move from the art of foundry to the science of metalcastingā¢. Grede has already seen a 30% improvement in the cost of returns and a 10% improvement in scrap after implementing our Industry 4.0 strategy and IoT solution, Monitizer. Weāre lucky to have Susan leading this vital initiative, and we canāt wait to see where it takes us later this year as we roll out the next phase of Industry 4.0, which focuses on the AI piece for sand through Norican Groupās Monitizer | Prescribe technology.
In April, we implemented an 8D Problem Solving Training for over 80 team members, enabling growth for our team and casting excellence for our customers. šš§© The 8D problem-solving method is a structured, team-based approach to solving problems in manufacturing and quality management. It involves eight disciplines to identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and prevent recurrence. One of the top opportunities identified in our last employee engagement survey was the need for more training and growth opportunities. To address this feedback and improve the quality of our castings, we implemented the 8D training to develop our workforce and support continuous improvement. This eight-hour training was offered to every department, including quality, engineering, maintenance, and more, across Gredeās 10 plants. The virtual training was divided into two webinars, facilitated and administered by Tommy Moore from Key Performance Consulting, and Grede team members, Training Coordinator Jeff Rasmusson, and Quality Director Marc Gattoni. āItās not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.ā ~W. Edwards Deming. By investing in our team's skills and knowledge, weāre enabling innovation and commercial excellence. #GrowWithGrede
Did you know that Grede is a military-friendly employer? At Grede, we actively recruit military veterans to join our team. Their values of discipline and commitment seamlessly integrate into our work environment. In honor of Military Appreciation Month, weāre spotlighting Mario Ortega ā a past Lieutenant Colonel of the Marine Corps with 30 years of military service. Straight out of the military, he joined Grede, where he quickly got promoted from Maintenance Planner to Maintenance Supervisor at our Liberty foundry in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. In this video, he talks about embracing conflict, the three pillars of the Marine Corpsāhonor, courage, and commitmentā and why he likes working at Grede. Watch the video to learn more about Mario's journey and how Grede supports our veterans. ā
Congratulations to our first set of maintenance training program graduates! š§āš§š ļøš These maintenance team members from St. Cloud, Minnesota, are now considered either Master Mechanics or Master Electricians by completing all five levels of the mechanic training or all six levels of the electrician training program. Graduates of the program not only received a wage increase for each level they passed, but they also received a new tool bag after completing the entire program. Our skilled trades team members are vital in keeping our equipment running and enabling operational excellence. The training structureāhosted in Casting College, Gredeās eLearning platformāwas designed to expand their proficiency, increase their earnings, and attract and retain our maintenance technicians. Do you know someone looking for a rewarding maintenance career with plenty of growth opportunities? We're hiring maintenance technicians! Tell them to visit www.grede.com/careers to apply today.
Sustainability is in our roots ā it isn't new to Grede. š± Focusing on sustainability isnāt just the right thing to do; itās good business. And in honor of Earth Day, weāre spotlighting one of our environmental sustainability projects involving beneficial reuse for spent foundry sand. ā³ Last year, our foundry in St. Cloud, Minnesota, received approval from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Stearns County MN Government to reuse spent sand from our sand molds as fill for closing animal feed lot manure pits. Over 1,000 tons of sand were hauled to two farms in Stearns County, reducing both diesel fuel consumption and costs due to the shorter hauling distance. Grede St. Cloud is Minnesota's first foundry to implement this beneficial reuse of foundry waste. š An animal feedlot manure pit is a special storage area where animal manure is managed. It serves as a temporary holding area for manure before itās treated and used. Grede has prioritized eco-friendly innovations like this one since day one. Weāre proud of our creativity and imagination in reusing spent foundry sand, which has enabled us to reduce our environmental footprint and associated costs. šŖ“š”
In anticipation of Earth Day, join us by making your energy choices count both at work and at home. šš Grede is a proud ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. Using energy wisely is not only the right thing to do for our planet, but it makes a lot of "cents" as well. Visit energystar.gov/earthday to learn about everything you need to save energy, money, and the planet. #EnergyChoicesCount
Thank you to the American Foundry Society for hosting another fantastic CastExpo & Metalcasting Congress. Grede was the only company to win a safety award during CastExpo! CEO Cary Wood, along with Susan and Stephanie, accepted Grede Reedsburgās Millionaires Safety Award. Our Reedsburg foundry received this award by achieving one million working hours without a lost-time incident in 2024! Sr. Manager of Communications & Branding and AFS Marketing Division Chair Stephanie Frazho co-presented a session with AFS Sr. Director of Communications & Marketing John Belmont on Safety as a Brand Attribute: Internal Buy-In and External Recognition for Your Foundry. Grede has won safety awards at AFS conferences for the last three years in a row. Grede CTO and AFS Board member Susan Bear co-presented with Derek Yesmunt from Norican Group on Journeying Through AI: Real-time Discoveries in Data Analytics with Industry 4.0. Sr. Product Engineer Patrick Kluesner also taught technical sessions about Metalcasting Basics and the 10-step Method to Corrective Action. Grede was a proud gold sponsor of the event, and we sponsored the Young Professionals reception on Monday night. Grede Grads also attended the conference and took advantage of the many technical and Young Professionals sessions. Grede Grads is our two-year rotational program for recent graduates and part of our early career talent development strategy, Grow with Grede. Thank you again to AFS for having us. See you next year!
Our CAO Matt Hladki recently spoke at SMEās Fusion Conferenceā focused on workforce development for the manufacturing industry. During the conference, Matt spoke on a panel with Becca O'Toole, Partnership Development Director for Ready to Hireāa global education company that builds talent pipelines for the most in-demand jobs, in a discussion led by Denise Cowburn, Senior Corporate Client Executive from SMEās Tooling U training program. Not only has Grede taken advantage of Tooling U-SMEās training programs for our maintenance team members, but we have also partnered with Ready to Hire to attract and retain maintenance technicians. By partnering with Ready to Hire, weāre counteracting the high turnover and vacancy rate for maintenance jobs. This selective training and recruitment system widens the initial talent pool by identifying exceptional candidates for a more successful retention rate. Grede is certainly leading the way in the manufacturing industry when it comes to employee recruitment and retention, training, and early career talent development strategies such as internships and post-graduate programs. We were happy to attend for the second year to connect and learn from our peers in the industry. Thank you, SME, for a great conference!
Congratulations to our EHS Flag recipients! šš During our annual Safety Summit in March, we award EHS flags annually to plants for exceeding their environmental, health, and safety goals. This year, eight flags were awarded compared to five last year. Congratulations to our gold flag winners ā New Castle, Indiana; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Iron Mountain, Michigan; and Browntown, Wisconsin. Gold flags are the highest honor given to plants that consistently demonstrate best practices in EHS. š A round of applause to our blue flag recipientsā Biscoe, North Carolina; Reedsburg, Wisconsin; and Meadville, Pennsylvania. Blue flags are awarded to plants for achieving above-average results in EHS. And great work to our green flag recipient, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, for meeting their EHS requirements! Grede facilities need to meet these goals to achieve flags: š TRIR Rate (Total Recordable Incident Rate) š DART Rate (Days Away Restricted Time) š EMS Internal Audit Score š SHMS Internal Audit Score ā±ļø Training Hours Completed š Observations Completed š Weekly EHS Audits š Environmental Inspections š ļø EHS Steering Committee Meetings š Consecutive Days Without a Lost Time Incident š§ EHS Continuous Improvement Projects Fantastic work, and thank you to these teams for demonstrating their commitment to environmental, health, and safety in 2024! š
