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Wayne Metals — Committed to Excellence and Safety

On a brisk February morning, AWMA (Adams Wells Manufacturing Alliance) members were invited to meet with the management and engineering team with Wayne Metals, LLC. located in Markle, Indiana. Initially, we were greeted by John Berish, the Director of Safety Training and Project Management with Wayne Metals, and shortly after, we began to tour their 135,000 square-foot facility.

About Wayne Metals

Wayne Metals is an innovative leader in stamping, fabrication, welding, and finishing. Their customers range from transportation, industrial equipment, and consumer product industries serving enterprises in the United States and worldwide. This 17-acre facility has state-of-the-art laser and plasma cutters, punch presses, robotic welding, and a high-volume powder coat facility.

This company utilizes ultra-modern information system technologies to take their customer’s initial designs and create these parts from raw materials to stamp, fabricate, paint, and complete these products all in the same complex. Some notable products they serve are material handling, industrial equipment in the construction and agricultural areas, as well as essential parts for heavy trucks, buses, and trains.

Touring the Facility

Our tour began with the laser cutter machines designed for lower volume product production. This innovative technology utilizes 90% raw materials, meaning less than 10% are scrap. These scrap pieces are recycled — so nothing is wasted. Next, we moved on to the punch presses, focusing on high-volume stamping. As we were in this area, many of us noticed that the lighting was brighter. Berish explained that the Wayne Metals facility is in the midst of improving the lighting conditions to LED, which creates a safer working environment while reducing energy costs by 60%.

Next, we watched the precision of the workers in the material handling area, followed by robotic welding and assembly sections. Once these products were completed, they were moved to the powder coat facility, where they were packaged and shipped to their customers.

It’s exciting to see what were once raw metal materials being transformed into vital parts for a forklift or heavy truck in a matter of hours. Throughout this process, every step has a quality bar code to ensure that each phase is done correctly.

Safety Is Vital

Once we completed our tour, AWMA members sat down with Rollyn Coverdale, Chief Operating Officer with Wayne Metals. We talked about how safety is the company’s number one priority for their 175 employees. With the implementation of the blue light safety areas, the new LED lighting systems, and numerous updates of equipment safety features throughout their facility, Wayne Metals shows that their commitment to safety is paramount. In 2021, Wayne Metals reported a rate of 1.7 cases per 100 employees involving an incident with workers. When you look at the last five years, these cases are currently around the same rate (ranging from 2.4 to 1.5) — very impressive.

Employment and Future Outlook

After talking about safety, we transitioned our conversation to discuss employment and the future of Wayne Metals. Rollyn Coverdale explained that employees working for Wayne Metals have ample opportunities to grow in their current and future positions. The company will help employees get certified to expand their skillset and knowledge. Also, Wayne Metals is looking for employment to increase their team, and they want to hire additional supervisors to lead their divisions.

As technology evolves, Wayne Metals understands that they too must adapt and continually reinvent themselves by upgrading to modern equipment while adhering to the latest manufacturing practices. Although this is nothing new for this company, staying static and complacent is simply not in their vocabulary. Wayne Metals has and continues to be at the forefront of innovation while delivering excellence to its customers worldwide.

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