Welcome to SteelSense – Tips and Tools for Keeping Sane in the Steel Industry

Welcome to OUR blog!

In SteelSense, we will share our experiences and offer information relevant to those of us in the steel industry. Hopefully our shared thoughts will raise a lantern to help guide us through the fog that often obscures the path to success.

We are not here to share trade secrets or market information. The subject matter should be general and pertinent to the steel industry.

Once again, welcome!

Mark W. Trimble, PE

Steel Benders Unite!

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, for those who have not seen the ABC reality TV show, showcases Jamie’s herculean effort to improve the American diet by encouraging a change from processed foods to cooking with fresh, natural ingredients.  He begins his challenge in Huntington, WV – a town recently characterized as the most unhealthy city in America.

In Episode 4, Jamie visits Huntington Steel where he teaches healthy cooking to the employees.  Jamie is presented with an American eagle decorated hard hat and then leads a cooking class on the shop floor.   As one of  those there when Episode 4 was taped, I was impressed with the effort and detail necessary to produce a  TV show.  From the 4 to 5 hours of takes and retakes, came about 2 minutes of “on air” time.  No wonder TV production is expensive.

You might be wondering why I am writing about the Food Revolution and what it has to do with the steel industry.  Well for one, the show highlights Huntington Steel, the company where I have spent the last 18 years.  Also, being in my early 50′s and realizing that I won’t live for ever, I have been focused on extending my life through healthy habits – better diet and more exercise.

During taping for the show, I was interviewed and said that we wanted our employees to be healthy.   Though it didn’t make the final cut, I also commented that: “Other than the obvious – that we care for our friends at work, one of the benefits of having healthy employees is fewer absences.  Healthy habits result in healthy bodies.  Being at work is the first step in employee productivity”.

Now the reason for this article’s title.  During Jamie’s two visits, he used a phrase that was new to me.  He called our production guys “Steel Benders” and he said that guys like these are the key to the success of the “Revolution”.

If “Steel Benders” are to join and support Jamie’s efforts, we must help.   Let’s take our part and push the industry to support the “Food Revolution”.   We can start with simple things such as offering our employees healthy alternatives to the “lunch wagon” and by nudging our vendor’s salesmen to bring bananas instead of donuts.  In a more serious way,  if your company does not have a wellness program – start one.  There are plenty of educational resources out there that can help you bring a healthier perspective to the lives of your employees.  They and your company will benefit.

Let all the “Steel Benders” unite and join “The Food Revolution”!

HERE’s a link to Episode 4 at ABC’s website.

Share your Vision or Herd Cats

Hopefully you are one of the fortunate who enjoyed  an incredibly funny video popularized in that theater of pop culture, the Super Bowl commercial.  The video shows cowboys on horseback valiantly trying to corral  ever-resisting cats.

If you haven’t watched the video, here is your chance before you read further.

What a hoot (cowboy lingo)!

But now back to the original intent of this post. . .

The “Herding Cats” video could also effectively represent the effort required to get our employees all pulling in the same direction.

Those of us with an optimistic outlook believe that a person, left to his own devices, will do the things and behave in ways that are right – or at least seem right.   But placing a few individuals in a similar situation will often result in several different versions of  ”rightness” – meaning that one person’s right can be someone else’s wrong.

The problem with such individuality comes when the diverse actions of individuals result in inconsistent and ineffective overall results for our companies.

That’s where shared vision comes in to play.   Shared vision begins at the top, with either the singular vision of the company’s leader or the vision that is developed by merging the vision of several broad-thinking leaders.   In either instance, the key to success is for the leaders to share the vision with the employees.   Why? Because as soon an employee understands where the company is heading, he can begin to corral his individuality to the point that his decision-making and his actions are in line with the corporate vision.

Let’s not be cat herders!

Happy Visioning!

SteelDay10

It has been about six months since SteelDay09 – the first annual national event celebrating the impact of steel on our lives.  Huntington Steel will once again host a local event on September 24.   Though the details are not yet finalized, we plan to offer seminars, shop tours and visits from local dignitaries.   Last year, Governor Joe Manchian declared September 18, 2009 as Steel Day in West Virginia and Mayor Kim Wolfe spoke to our employees.

For us steel folks, getting some positive publicity can be really uplifting.   The daily grind of meeting the expectations of our customers can wear us down – as can the effort to host a SteelDay Event.  But to experience the excitement of having visitors come to our facility, reminds us that what we do is kind of special!   Being in a steel shop every day, we can take for granted the atmosphere that steel work creates.   The simple things like;  loud noises, welding flash, the smells, the cold, the heat and the hard work.  But the eyes of our SteelDay visitors reflect the excitement of seeing and learning about something new – and important.

As SteelDay10 approaches, let’s remind ourselves that what we do is important and necessary for the success of our employees, our companies, our communities and our nation!

Let’s have a Happy SteelDay – everyday!

Getting Down to the Basics

During an evening last week Teresa and I participated in, what has become, an anticipated annual event. A young man, formerly from our neighborhood, stopped by our home on his regular summer pilgrimage back to his hometown. A Business Logistics major at Penn State University, Andrew will soon begin his senior year. In addition to the educational and social experiences he has gained while living the college life, he has spent some time as an intern in several businesses.

Listening to Andrew tell of his adventures, it is easy to feel his excitement about the future.

Detailing – We Get What We Tolerate!

Steel fabrication is typically on a project’s critical path, so when steel deliveries are late or when fabrication related field problems cause delays, our industry gets a black eye. To remain competitive with other competing materials, such as concrete, we must work diligently to remove obstacles that cause owners, developers and contractors to question AISC’s mantra that steel is the “Material of Choice”.

As steel is on a project’s critical path, shop drawings are on steel’s critical path. Well prepared, timely shop drawings are a key element of any successful steel fabrication project.