Archive for the 'Weco International' Category

The people factor?

October 14, 2011 by Frank Wilson

I read something entertaining recently about ‘your best company salesman….He may not be a closer on many or any deals – but he never leaves his post. He’s always available on a 365; 24/7 basis. He’s always very well turned out – has great visibility and profile at all times and manages to get to the most far-flung locations with great effectiveness and minimal cost.’

Who could that be? The riddle about this paragon refers to the company website of course. At Ceramicx we believe it to be true and we therefore back our top sales resource to the full with ongoing investment and quality support.

Great competence in one area such as this pushes the envelope; raises the bar and asks questions of other parts of the business. And rather than levelling down, there is a tendency for other areas to rise to the challenge – in production; in service and in people skills.

This has certainly been happening for Weco International, our US friends and distributors. The current autumn edition of Heat Works magazine contains the full story of our partnership developments stateside.

In a nutshell – and against a background of US industrial uncertainty – Weco has this year managed to expand both its sales activities and to further grow its US territories through the forging of skilful partnerships in the infrared heating industry.

How has it done this? According to owner Brett Wehner, through some powerful core principles and through working with and through the right people. The Weco manifesto is based upon Persistence – Determination – Integrity – and via these guiding lights the company has this year opened up fresh markets in the New England states and also – looking Southward -  in Tennessee.

This is a remarkable achievement: What it tells me is that in an era of unlimited information and seemingly endless online time there are, in addition,  some special challenges and rewards for those that are able to raise their person-to-person game in the way that Brett and his team have managed.

It is essential of course that your best sales guy stays at his post 24/7 in the manner already described. But creativity; deal making; relationships; innovation – all these other things have been greatly liberated in recent years. Pay equal attention to these factors and business success can be greatly assured.

Posted in ceramicx, Heatworks, Infrared, Infrared Heating Experts, Infrared Heating Solutions, Infrared Heating Technology, Plastics Thermoforming, Thermoforming, Weco International | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Follow the food chain – infrared heating makes thermoforming profitable

August 16, 2011 by Frank Wilson

The USA this week may be reeling from its exhausting political and economic wranglings but our friends and associates at Weco International go from strength to strength in servicing that country’s large and sophisticated thermoforming industry.

The land that invented fast food, food service packaging, and many other innovations in packaging has extensive and accompanying needs for volumes of thermoformed goods. Many thermoforming operations in the US are therefore both large scale and demanding in terms of quality. And as the world economy shifts we will undoubtedly see similar operations of scale and sophistication emerging  – in China, India, Russia and other areas of large population.

Meantime, Brett Wehner and the team at Weco in the US are growing the infrared network throughout all the states in America.  One recent job saw Weco doing great work for a leading international producer of disposable packaging with sites around the world. Weco’s client in this case needed a complete upgrade on one of its principal thermoforming lines for beverage food service.

The Weco team was required to upgrade the existing heating arrangements and ovens and to replace them with a more effective infrared-based solution. Ceramicx were in attendance through the project from start to finish in the design and supply of infrared thermoforming platens.

Thermoforming

As part of its work, Weco engineers succeeded in halving the overall oven length at the client – a move that resulted in immediate energy savings. And cycle times – shots per minute – were also increased by a substantial 15.2 to 23.4.  Weco’s Client  Line 1 became the fastest; not only within the factory but also within the client organisation as a whole. Substantial engineering work was also carried out in the machine control area – including ethernet communications; automation work and computing interfaces.

As Brett said to me after the job completion – ‘Imagine the ability to make over 50% improvements in your productivity and run it on just half the energy of previous!’ Most plastics thermoformers would take that, wouldn’t they?

However, it takes more than a shot of courage to truly innovate; to commit to those first steps in plant design and improvements – to take a step back and see the future in a new way. Successful thermoformers are doing just that – and unsuccessful thermoformers, however, are not. The latter group continue to ignore the signs; continue not to measure their energy useage or  their equipment performance – until it’s too late.

By the skin of its teeth, the US Government has lately stepped back from an avoidable conflict and disaster. At Ceramicx, we believe that good science, engineering and technology can help many companies do the same. A little foresight and cool reflection can go a mighty long way.

* Weco International features in the latest edition of Ceramicx HeatWorks magazine. Contact Ceramicx direct for your free copy of the magazine.

Posted in ceramicx, Frankly Speaking, Infrared, Infrared Heating Experts, Plastics Thermoforming, Thermoforming, Weco International | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Infrared heaters manufacturer Ceramicx and Weco work for Santa Fe Custom Skylights

August 26, 2010 by Ceramicx
A view of the new Weco/Ceramicx oven platen at santa fe custom skylights

A view of the new Weco/Ceramicx oven platen at santa fe custom skylights

Leading US building products manufacturer Santa Fe Custom Skylights has been reaping the benefit of a successful changeover to infrared-heating thanks to expertise supplied by Weco International and infrared heating manufacturer Ceramicx.

The Santa Fe, New Mexico-based plastics thermoformer has recouped all of its infrared investment within a twelve month period and at a rate of 30% savings on energy. Over this period cycle times have been reduced, energy bills and scrap rates have been lowered as has downtime. Moreover, the retrofit design of new heating system -  control design, zone layout and ceramic emitter selection – has been done in modular fashion and has allowed Custom Skylights to use multiple tools and material types within a single thermoforming line.

Custom Skylights owner Jeff Apodaca says ‘we bought a gas oven a year before switching to Infrared technology via Ceramicx and Weco. We put  a lot of money into it and it didn’t work: we had hot and cold spots, there was no way to control the temperature,  as we needed to continually use it throughout the day. The oven simply kept getting hotter and hotter and we therefore ended up burning a lot of plastic. In addition there was no way to adjust the temperature for heavier gauge acrylic. After a year and day of burn outs, replacement parts and an expired warranty we decided that enough was enough’

Apodaca says that Custom Skylights needed to make a radical change in its heat sourcing.  ‘We knew that we needed a new oven and so we decided to attend a thermoforming conference organised by the Society of Plastics Engineers Continue reading →

Posted in Infrared Heater Manufacturer, infrared heaters, Infrared Heating, Sante Fe Custom skylights, Thermoforming, Weco International | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ceramicx works in the US for Weco International

March 2, 2010 by Granite Consulting

International heating systems specialist and manufacturer Ceramicx has fulfilled a number of demanding US-based projects in infrared technology and ceramic heaters for US partner WECO International, based in Clio, Michigan.

WECO specialises in the engineering and supply of infrared ovens and control solutions for a variety of clients and industries in the US. Since 1972 WECO has been building its expertise in industrial heating and control – with superior service and attention to customer detail.

Brett Wehner, Weco International owner and president says that ‘here at Weco we are delighted to be a part of all the new product developments and quality systems coming out of Ceramicx. The latest investments at Ceramicx – in new QA procedures and equipment; in metal fabrication and milling – are all of great service to us in Michigan and to the US infrared market generally.

Ceramicx works for Weco International

Ceramicx works in the US for Weco International

Wehner adds, ‘throughout the world, in fact, all users not only demand a great product – they also demand a great service life for that product – with QA and documentation to match. Ceramicx has more than stepped up to the plate for us in that regard. We applaud the Ceramicx infrared brand and all the hard work behind it.’

The distance of the Atlantic Ocean has proved to be no issue between the two companies. Ceramicx founder and director Frank Wilson says that ‘Brett and Weco International have been key to our success in the US. It’s a large, distinct and complex market and the expertise at Weco has been key to us – in having the right kind of partner with technical understanding and also the commercial skills necessary to get our infrared technology into the 52 states of the market.’

In addition to its portfolio of systems build and hardware supply, Weco also supplies a variety of infrared and oven testing services for its clients.

These Weco services include:

• Material testing with all emitter types to determine best wavelength to achieve fastest heat up time/forming temperature
• Data table and graphical reports similar to charts shown below
• Determine fastest cycle time on single product (material specific) “dedicated” machines
• Determine fastest cycle times across a variety of products on multiple product code machines

Meanwhile, at Ceramicx, the semi-automated validation system for product marking and quality assurance -  and with closed-loop process-control for product manufacture – has now been passed as fit for use.

Over the course of the next few months, and via the resources of the Internet, Ceramicx will be able to put this QA database online – for the benefit of all its customers, present and future. The data – numerical and graphical – will be available to any buyer or user of Ceramicx product who wishes to know the exact performance parameters of any and every item of purchase.

Brett Wehner comments that ‘this kind of supplier back-up gives us an incalculable edge in our work for the customer and in Weco’s quality assurance. We look forward to joint work together in these areas.’

Ceramicx and the University of Limerick research teams are collaborating closely on the project this year. The development of the project has been aided by Enterprise Ireland as part of the Innovation partnership program and has provided ‘win-win’ outcomes for both organisations. The University has been enabled to take its research and project expertise into the manufacturing and commercial marketplace. Ceramicx has been able to leverage the University’s in-house competencies to research, identify and measure current process variations.

All further details from Frank Wilson, Ceramicx Managing Director.
Web: www.Ceramicx.com 
Tel: +353 2837510
Fax: + 353 2837509
Email: frank@ceramicx.com

Posted in ceramicx, Infrared Heating, Weco International | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment