BEALL NEWS, March 2009
East Alton, IL.

Ergonomic-minded Installation Improves Reliability and Efficiency

Beall Mfg. recently completed the installation of a major piece of equipment that improves reliability and efficiency on one of its three major heat-treat lines. The completely rebuilt 250 ton press has the needed bed-size and shut-height to handle the large implements that are common today.

A major feature of the installation was to improve operator ergonomics, with careful attention being paid to the height at which operators load and unload the heavy steel bars. A deeper pit was created to optimize the height of the bed.

Special care was also used to minimize disruption to the manufacturing schedule of this busy line. The previous press was moved, the roof raised and the new pit dug and installed with no loss of production time. Only four working days were lost to allow the riggers to bring in the heavy equipment, install the press, connect all the mechanicals, and install the die set.

Employees "Excel" with Training By Lewis & Clark College

A group of Beall Mfg. employees spent part of the third week of March taking a training course in Excel 2007. The course was designed by Lewis & Clark College, Godfrey, IL, to provide basic knowledge and skill sets so each person using this software has the same baseline of competency. This software has become deeply ingrained into our everyday business practices and this training will help our employees to use it more efficiently.

Among those attending were:

• Greg Pollard, Assistant Plant 
   Manager
• Jo Ann Haywood,
   Administrative Assistant and
   Inside Sales Coordinator
• Rita Teague, Purchasing and
   Inside Sales
• Nancy Burgoyne, Accounting
• Sally Speciale, Accounts
   Receivable