Inside Rubber - 2021 Issue 2

S T R AT E G I E S F O R F U T U R E S U C C E S S

2021 Issue 2

Finding Waste on the Plant Floor f Employee Wellness Programs f EHS and Industrial Stormwater f Rising Healthcare Costs

The Official Publication of the Association of Rubber Products Manufacturers

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CONTENTS 2021 ISSUE 2

FEATURES

6 Strategies

Finding Waste on the Plant Floor

10 View From 30

Improving Health and the Bottom Line: RE Darling Implements Employee Wellness Program

14 Benchmarking

10

Manufacturers Losing the Battle

Against Healthcare Insurance Companies

18 Safety

The Clean Water Act, Industrial Stormwater, and Plastic and Rubber Processing

26 Talent

Investing in Updated Workforce Skills Training

29 Management

Five Reasons Company Leaders Resist Needed Change

30 Outlook

Medical Sector Fueling TPE Growth as Other Sectors Anticipate Post-COVID Market Rebound S T R AT E G I E S

E SUCCESS FOR FUTUR

2021 Issue 1

ots Autonomous Rob ety Increase Plant Saf es of Waste  Eliminating Sourc Closes Skills Gap  Online Training ism for Processors Optim ous Cauti  in 2021

18

26

Departments 4 From the President 16 Member News 25 Industry 33 Technical Standards Update 34 Calendar 34 Ad Index

www.InsideRubber.com s Manufacturers ion of Rubber Product ion of the Associat The Official Publicat

www.arpminc.com 3

FROM THE PRESIDENT

S

pring is finally here. But, just when we thought things should recover and might get back to normal as vaccines for the global COVID-19 pandemic become more available…

Steve Nieto Tahoma Rubber and Plastics

We get deep freezing weather in the south, which shut down production of important feedstocks for our industry and contributed to supply chain disruptions.

Shortages of semiconductors due to a fire disrupted production of automobiles and other industries.

The Suez Canal was blocked for several days and added to the global chaos.

Availability of shipping containers remains an issue.

The supply chain now is more challenging than ever before and may be for an extended period until we make changes. We face rising costs on many fronts, and many of us still struggle to find enough workers. Our challenges will continue, with more surprises to come. As usual, we all are bouncing back – but there is no more “back to normal.” It’s an ever-changing future.

In the March 22 issue of Rubber and Plastics News was an article naming the “5 for 50, Five Industry Associations

7321 Shadeland Station Way, Suite 285 Indianapolis, IN 46256

“

…THERE IS NO “BACK TO NORMAL.” IT’S AN EVER-

”

CHANGING FUTURE.

You Should Know.” Number two on the list is our own Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers. What great recognition! This reflects the growing value and importance of our organization to the industry.

ARPM serves an important role in the industry by offering important training programs for operating and technical staff, a newly released mill operating and rescue video, benchmarking, many opportunities for networking by function and strong work on setting international industry standards for many applications. There also are savings programs available from industry suppliers.

If you are a member, please let other industry participants know the value you see to your membership. Become more active in the organization. Join the board of directors. If you aren’t a member, talk to us so we can explain the value we can bring to your company – particularly in these crazy times and ever-changing economic and political situations.

Networking is more valuable than ever before. More members will bring more value to us all. u

Managing Editor: Dianna Brodine Art Director: Becky Arensdorf Published by:

Phone: 317.863.4072 | Fax: 317.913.2445 info@arpminc.org | www.arpminc.com © Copyright 2021 ARPM Officers and Board of Directors President Steve Nieto, Tahoma Rubber and Plastics Past President Dave Jentzsch, Blair Rubber Vice President Chris Buhlmann, Gates Corporation Treasurer Marel Riley-Ryman, Southern Michigan Rubber Secretary Joe Keglewitsch, Ice Miller LLP

4 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

ARPM Board of Directors Kirk Bowman, The Timken Group Charlie Braun, Custom Rubber Corporation Russ Burgert, MAPLAN USA Joe Colletti, MarshBellofram Randy Dobbs, Sperry & Rice LLC Doug Gilg, Continental ContiTech Donovan Lonsway, BRP Mike Recchio, Zeon Chemicals L.P. Mike Smith, Basic Rubber and Plastics John Stourac, Zochem Travis Turek, Bruckman Rubber Corporation Joe Walker, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies James Wideman, MBL (USA) Corporation

2150 SW Westport Dr., Suite 101 Topeka, KS 66614 Phone: 785.271.5801 ARPM Team

Executive Director Troy Nix – tnix@arpminc.org Managing Director Letha Keslar – lkeslar@arpminc.org Marketing Director Marcella Kates – mkates@arpminc.org Analytics Tony Robinson – trobinson@arpminc.org Director of Publications Susan Denzio – sdenzio@arpminc.org Project Manager Kaitlyn Kroll – kkroll@arpminc.org

al equipment ic s y h p e th in We take pride chniques te e th in d n a y r in our laborato the years. r e v o d e p lo e v we have de finding ways in e id r p e r o m We take stions that e u q w e n e th to answer us what ll e T . y a d y r e v are arising e d we’ll do n a w o n k to t you wan mptly. our best – pro

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STRATEGIES

Finding Waste on the Plant Floor

By Liz Stevens, contributing writer, Inside Rubber

J

edd Smith is the director of quality and operations at EirMed in Menomonie, Wisconsin. EirMed specializes in the design, engineering, manufacturing, assembly and packaging of medical devices. The company serves an array of medical markets, including cardiovascular, dentistry, ear/nose/throat, ophthalmic, orthopedic, spinal medicine and more. Smith spoke recently about applying lean manufacturing solutions to real life at EirMed, specifically about using the gemba walk to identify sources of waste and about techniques for making sources of waste easier to recognize and eliminate.

Gemba

Westerners may associate gemba (or genba) with the quality practices of Japanese automakers like Toyota, but gemba has other connotations in Japan. Though far removed from manufacturing, these other associations illustrate the essence of gemba. To Japanese detectives, gemba is the scene of a crime, and when newscasters in Japan report from gemba, they are reporting directly from the scene. One must be in the thick of things to be in gemba, where the real action is unfolding. And in manufacturing, it’s all happening on the plant floor.

As with the variety of evidence a detective may find at a crime scene or the range of facts a reporter may relay from a news site, taking the gemba walk on a manufacturing plant floor may uncover many instances of waste. To help open one’s eyes and perk up one’s ears to discover waste in 6 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

manufacturing, Smith’s advice is to know what to anticipate.

He said that waste on the plant floor is, by definition, anything that has no added value to it.

Pinpointing waste

In most manufacturing operations, the most obvious source of waste is defects. EirMed has implemented several techniques to address defects, including computerized quality tools like vision systems, instant measurement systems and color spectrometers. “If we have a program where there are multiple components that go into a larger fixed product,” he said, “and there is a Pantone color callout on the print, we cannot rely on our operators’ vision for color matching, because our eyes see different shades and tones.” How, then, can the company get uniform production of a range of parts, molded at different times and on different machines, that will all match when assembly is complete and a batch of products is ready to ship out? “We take the human error element out of it,” said Smith, “by using a spectrometer. By spot checking parts, the spectrometer will show us within three deltas how close we are to our target color.”

EirMed also has implemented eDART systems from RJG – pressure transducers or sensors within mold cavitations.

These allow for live monitoring, giving immediate feedback on what is being produced so that problems are discovered as soon as possible. “The sensors will show activity in real time and tell if you are getting short shots or if something is going on with the process itself,” Smith explained.

Smith also relies on other methods, such as looking at past performance and cumulative data about scrap. “We have a scrap sheet log in every work center,” he said, “which details the scrap code per part, per shift. At the end of each shift, the details are entered into our ERP system, so we have the tracking and the statistics on scrap covering what shift, what day and what we were seeing.” The company also implemented a weekly scrap meeting with subject matter experts from each department. “What we are doing is looking at past performance for future runs of that same part,” Smith said. “What problems did we experience last time? What do we anticipate seeing in the future? And what can we do to correct any problems – whether people, process, tool or something else.”

key, especially when the supply chain might be disrupted because of weather or natural disasters.”

Stay in sync

As another example of decreasing the waste that can stem from nonutilized labor, Smith zeroed in on the regular breaks that operators take and does what is needed to make sure that those operators’ machines are not idle. “We plan coverage for the operators’ regular breaks and lunch periods,” he said.

“We rotate the operators to give coverage so that we have as much machine uptime as possible when an operator might leave their station.”

In identifying and tackling instances of another source of waste – overproduction – at the plant, Smith pointed to two separate but similar people-centric ideas, one centered around when an order is placed with the company and the other revolving around the company’s suppliers. At the start of a new program, in the order receipt phase, Smith and the team at EirMed review the status of three sets of company players. “We call them the scheduling, sourcing, customer service trident,” he explained. “We look to see whether all of these people are working together in sync. When the order comes through for customer service, does the scheduler also know that this job needs to be scheduled? Do the sourcing people know how much raw material inventory we currently have? Are we good, or do we need to order some more? If we need raw material, what does the lead time look like?”

Keeping this trident of players in sync makes for much less waste as new programs are kicked off.

In relation to suppliers, EirMed strives to always be in sync with its suppliers. Smith calls it practicing strategic sourcing.

“We want to know whether the supplier is a company that operates on a just-in-time basis, and whether there is dual sourcing or multiple sourcing of vendors. We need to identify our critical suppliers.”

Smith noted that having ISO certification can be crucial for the company’s jobs, and that doing work for the medical industry brings increased responsibility. Keeping an eye on the financial health of one’s critical suppliers and the risks to the supply chain have become commonplace for some manufacturers. “We look to see if there is a risk of a supplier’s processes being tightened up,” said Smith. He recommended assessing and documenting all of the risks, while continuing to cultivate good relationships with suppliers.

“It is really important to control and maintain that level of relationship with your critical suppliers,” he said. “That is

Nonutilized labor

For discovering waste in nonutilized labor, Smith checks on EirMed’s profit and loss – every day. “We have a daily P&L,” he said. “Every morning, we look back at yesterday; did we make money that day? If we didn’t, was it due to something that we could control or influence? Did we anticipate the problem that hampered profitability? If we anticipated it, then we should see it in the pipeline and would recognize the return within the day’s performance, and any difference helps us understand that we need to investigate where the gaps lie.”

More sources of waste

Transportation is another big area where waste can creep in, especially with operations that are spread out among multiple buildings. “We have two independent buildings at EirMed,” Smith explained. “They are not connected; in fact, they are a fifth of a mile apart. So how do we efficiently get the items that we need from one warehouse location to the other?” Smith looked at how often various tools are used and how often gaylords were needed. He then reviewed what this meant in terms of daily transportation back and forth between buildings and how that transportation pattern affected the molds. This review pointed to an opportunity.

“We only had a cleaning station and an actual tool room in the other building, so we were constantly going back and forth between buildings for tool maintenance,” he said. “We added the ability to perform tool maintenance here in the main building, and now we keep the frequently running molds over here.”

Another common source of waste is inventory waste. Having personnel trained on tracking and managing inventory is big at Eir Med. “We do continuous training on product identification, traceability and disposition,” he said. “We can never have enough training around that. You want to make sure that you know where your products are going and that you can track them and trace them, otherwise you end up with wrong counts.”

Wrong counts lead to ordering raw materials or components that are not actually needed, along with adding in the wait page 8 u

www.arpminc.com 7

STRATEGIES t page 7

time for deliveries. EirMed uses a box truck dedicated to inventory transportation for rapid movement of inventory back and forth between buildings. “Having two warehouses and an ERP/MRP system that allows us to identify exact locations of products gives EirMed the chance to build ahead for our customers so that we have confirmed, certified product on-hand for immediate delivery if there is an urgent order. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen swings in orders based on the type of product and the customer’s urgent need for the product.”

A final area of waste that Smith assesses is overprocessing, and he described the situation at EirMed when he began working there. “When I first arrived,” he said, “we had a dedicated quality inspector technician who was doing Acceptance Quality Limits (AQLs) on every shipment that went out the door. To me, it didn’t make sense; you want to put the inspection of part quality upfront and save on the scrap costs.”

To Smith, the setup at EirMed was wasting a full-time position by paying somebody to identify the mistakes on the back end rather than catching the problem on the front end that was causing those mistakes. “So, we really focused

on putting the part quality inspection upfront. Then, during any finishing services, inspectors only need to look for scrap stemming from the finishing service, as opposed to scrap created by the mold components.”

Be ready to walk

With some of the typical areas of waste identified and some techniques for uncovering and eliminating waste detailed, Smith described his gemba walk at EirMed and the tools he relies upon to uncover waste. “We use the shift production reports, the daily profit and loss, and our throughput metric,” he explained. “We also use real-time monitors and the production board.”

Smith’s real-time monitors cover all of the company’s machines. He quickly can see if the machines are up, and if they are running at the average cycle or behind the average time. If a machine is down, monitors can sense the reason.

At EirMed, the real-time monitor information is visible on the plant floor so that everyone can view the activity in every part of the plant. The company’s production board shows all the presses and all the work centers for each shift. The total potential output is calculated and specified at the beginning of every shift. The number of good parts is recorded, along with the number of rejects for each work center.

But monitors can’t replace time in the plant. “Prepare for walking the floor,” he said. “Know what you are looking for and what you should be looking for. Think about what you have seen in the past that may be repeating itself.”

Smith stressed the practice of consistently looking for ways to improve and then monitoring the effectiveness of any changes made. “It is easy to come up with a new idea or to tell people that we decided that there is a different way of doing something,” he said, “but is it going to be effective?

Time will tell, and so we look for concrete evidence that our changes were effective.”

Before implementing changes, Smith emphasized the importance of asking questions at all levels and remembering that operators are the experts of the floor. “I tell them that all the time,” he said. “Operators are the ones who know what is going on; they have their fingers on the pulse out there.”

Smith’s final bit of advice? “Follow your instincts when you see a pattern. You walk the floor every day. You see patterns on the floor, whether they are good or bad. If something doesn’t look quite right, dig in and do some more investigation. And always look for ways to improve.” n

8 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

WE’RE BRINGING THE INDUSTRY BACK TOGETHER!

October 4 - 7, 2021

David L. Lawrence Convention Center • Pittsburgh, PA USA The International Elastomer Conference is the premier place where educators, customers, manufacturers and suppliers of materials, equipment, tools and services come together. This event is the one place, one time of year, where you find the best of our industry all under one roof. It is an event where connections are made, knowledge is shared, new products, new technology and new ideas are introduced, business is conducted, developed and gained, fun is had, encouragement and empowerment happen, and the future is embraced.

The Expo Over 200 companies/organizations will be exhibiting! A wide variety of companies will be represented, such as equipment manufacturers, injection molders, extruders, custom mixers, processing equipment, hydraulic presses, vacuum molding, testing labs, testing equipment, distributors, suppliers and many more in the industry.

Visit rubberiec.org to view the floor plan/exhibitor list and learn about exhibiting!

Other Events

• Student Symposium • Women’s Workshop • Career Fair • Experience Elastomers High School Student Program • Special Events, including a 5K Walk/Run, Young Professionals Forum, 25-Year Club Luncheon and Awards Ceremony • Networking Opportunities and Events • Welcome Reception

Brought to you by:

200th Technical Meeting To celebrate our 200th Technical Meeting we are featuring a special ‘Frontiers’ symposia to address the past, present and future of key areas in rubber science – Rubber Synthesis, Reinforcement of Rubber and Additives & Applications. Over 100 presenters will also be sharing their knowledge on these topics: • • • • • • • • •

Characterization of Elastomers & Raw Materials Sustainability & Renewable Materials Non-pneumatic Tires Elastomers for Healthcare Advances in Materials & Processes for Tires Modelling & Simulation Connectivity, Robotics & AI in the Rubber Industry New Commercial Developments Science & Technology Award Winner Presentations

Educational Symposium We have developed a great educational symposium featuring these courses: • • • • • • • • • • •

Introduction to Compounding Compounding Fluorelastomers Dynamic Viscoelastic Properties Essentials of Rubber Technology Essentials of Silicone Rubber Technology Mixing & Testing for Compound Consistency Scientific Rubber Molding Using Augmented Reality in the Rubber Industry Compound Development Rubber Explained Soft Skills & Communication

Interested in attending or exhibiting? Visit rubberiec.org.

VIEW FROM 30

Improving Health and the Bottom Line: RE Darling Implements Employee Wellness Program

By Lara Copeland, contributing writer, Inside Rubber

M

lasering for high-risk employees, which was creating some risks that we didn’t want to have to take,” Cosgrove noted.

“So, we wanted to jump ship and become a fully insured plan, but nobody would take us.”

Self-funded health insurance vs. fully insured plan

Not wanting to pay the one-million-dollar quote offered, the company started investigating the best way to help employees become healthier – a crucial step toward becoming fully insured. Very quickly, RE Darling learned what so many other companies have learned: Unhealthy behaviors lead to health risks, those health risks can morph into chronic conditions and employees with chronic conditions increase healthcare costs. For RE Darling, the bottom line was simple: Healthy employees cost less money. And, with that understanding, the company knew an employee wellness program (EWP) would significantly reduce health insurance costs and help it transition to a fully insured plan.

ore than a decade ago, Tucson, Arizona-based rubber manufacturer RE Darling set out on a mission to prevent an impending catastrophe. “In 2009, we had an opportunity to run a little analysis and found that we were headed for disaster; we’d be out of business based on healthcare inflation by 2016,” Human Resource Manager Lynn Cosgrove explained. “And that just wasn’t acceptable.” So, the company launched into rectifying the situation and determining how to reduce its healthcare costs.

At the time, RE Darling had a self-funded health insurance plan with claims nearing one million dollars. Many employees had been working for the company for more than 25 years, creating an aging workforce. Additionally, “we had really low premiums, no deductibles at that point and 80/20 coinsurance. We were approaching the stop-loss insurance 10 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

The company wanted to create a win-win situation. “We wanted to improve the quality of life for our employees, not just physically, but we wanted the holistic view, including physical, mental and financial wellbeing,” said Cosgrove. She added, “We also needed to actively manage and control the cost of our healthcare benefit by improving our employees’ health.” Having happier, healthier employees means having employees miss less work. Additionally, they spend less of their money on healthcare simply because they are healthier and can avoid going to the doctor, and employees are more engaged.

Cosgrove emphasized that there is no one single action that helps a company shift its focus to wellness, but rather it is a series of several small steps. “We found that what we started with snowballed into this great, robust wellness program, and it is our culture. We think about wellness in everything we do,” she said. RE Darling’s approach includes on-site engagement, results-oriented incentives and active help for promotion throughout the year.

Building the EWP

RE Darling has used the six pillars of the best EWPs, according to Harvard Business Review, to guide its process in creating its own EWP. The six pillars include multilevel leadership; alignment to the company strategy; scope, relevance and quality; accessibility; partnership and communication.

“We have buy-in from the top down – our executives and managers participate in all our programs, we support them at our quarterly management meetings, we talk about it with employees at all levels and we have a wellness committee,”

Cosgrove said to demonstrate the company’s adherence to the first pillar.

For the second pillar – alignment – the company drafted a wellness vision and mission that are aligned with the organization’s vision and mission and support a happy and healthy workforce, “which is something we really desire to have,” emphasized Cosgrove.

As for scope, relevance and quality, Cosgrove explained: “We, at the very onset of this, decided we couldn’t dabble our feet in the water; we need to go big or go home, otherwise people weren’t going to buy into it or believe it. Employees will not participate if things are subpar quality.” So, as Cosgrove put it, they “jumped in with both feet.”

For the accessibility pillar, RE Darling decided that convenience is incredibly important; thus, on-site classes and wellness coaching, web-based education and health screenings are offered. Measured walking paths are included to encourage exercise, and the sugar-laden treats in the vending machine were replaced with all healthy foods.

Partnerships strengthen the EWP, so RE Darling has partnered with the Wellness Council of America and more closely with the Wellness Council of Arizona, CBIZ – its insurance broker, CIGNA and United Concordia Smile for Health. “We also have an internal wellness committee, and we partner with a couple local entities, including Walgreens and Northwest Hospital, for some help and for screenings,” Cosgrove added. page 12 u

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Finally, as for the communications pillar, the company continuously is discussing the topic. “Wellness is something we do every day,” said Cosgrove. It comes up in quarterly meetings, there are payroll stuffers and flyers, and people stay motivated with the two contests the company offers each year that come with prizes and money simply for participating. These measures help people stay on the path to good health.

Defining and finding success

To measure success, the company focuses on – and seeks to lower – six risk factors: high blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, body weight and body fat. When these numbers are high, there is a higher risk of having a chronic condition at some point, “so that is why we choose to work on them,” said Cosgrove. Chronic conditions are a major contributor to healthcare costs, and most of these conditions are preventable. For instance, smoking and obesity costs employers more money, so RE Darling puts its focus on addressing these behaviors and conditions.

“We have found that having on-site health coaching is fundamental to the success of our program because it holds employees accountable,” she said. The one-on-one coach offers help for setting goals and accountability for those

goals, ultimately resulting in a greater chance of obtaining better health outcomes.

In addition to the coaching, daily and monthly wellness events are offered to keep people motivated, such as fitness classes (not during COVID-19) offered during the lunch break. Furthermore, the company holds monthly lunch and learns, provides a newsletter, pays for employee participation in community walks and runs, offers screenings on-site all throughout the year and runs wellness challenges to keep people motivated. “We have found that you can’t repeat the same wellness challenges over and over, so we have created many over the years,” mentioned Cosgrove. The challenges were designed to be relevant to the employees, so they coincide with football, fantasy football, basketball and even the show Survivor. She said the Survivor challenge was a huge success, remarking, “I’ve never seen so many people run around our facility, but they had a great time, and it was all supported throughout the organization.”

Wellness is a multifaceted journey, and RE Darling recognizes this by including spiritual wellness – encouraging employees in giving back to the community. This supports employees’ emotional wellbeing. “We have partnered with many organizations,” said Cosgrove, “by either having drives to collect items they need or funds through charity events.” The company also matches donations.

In 2011, the company spent just under $700,000 on healthcare.

“We applied the trend percentage to those healthcare dollars, and we would’ve hit one million dollars by 2016,” Cosgrove explained. “Our actual trend dollars over that time did not keep pace with that.” In fact, the company spent almost oneand-a-half million dollars less than trend over those years.

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“It took us two years from the time we started the program, and we did shift during this time to a high deductible health plan because we thought that was a better shift to keep the premiums low,” she continued. “The net change with our shift to the high deductible health plan and funding HSAs as a driver and incentive was a -1.5% increase of our dollars spent per person on healthcare.”

Though creating and implementing EWPs cost time and money, effective programs truly make good business sense by positively affecting the company’s bottom line. Aside from the business aspect, people are working toward a healthy lifestyle and ultimately gaining better health. This win-win situation has benefited everyone even as the COVID-19 crisis has played out over the past year. As Cosgrove pointed out, it has been instrumental in keeping RE Darling’s employees educated and healthy. Most importantly, the programs implemented remind employees to “Take care of your body; it’s the only place you have to live.” u

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BENCHMARKING

Manufacturers Losing the Battle Against Healthcare Insurance Companies

By Troy Nix, executive director, ARPM

H

ealthcare costs result in billions and billions of dollars in profit for America’s insurance company giants, yet the cost of providing health insurance continues to challenge US manufacturers both large and small – and the impact of the pandemic has only added fuel and complete confusion to the fire.

According to the most recent 2021 study conducted by the Association of Rubber Products Manufacturers (ARPM), eight out of 10 executives reported that their health insurance rates increased in 2020, with 38% reporting a rise that ranged from 6% to more than 30% (chart 1). More frightening, however, is the fact that nearly one in two executives in the polymer industry are experiencing or anticipate experiencing an increase of this same range. And, if one assumes size matters, assume again since large companies were just as prone to increases as smaller companies.

The recent survey conducted by ARPM, which combined forces with two other national manufacturing associations – the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA) and the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors (MAPP) – collected data from more than 200 companies covering nearly 27,000 employees in manufacturing. The 2021 Health and Benefits Report found that 99% of the surveyed population provides health insurance options to their employees.

According to an article published on Manufacturing.Net, the cause of rising costs is price, not utilization. Not only are there fewer physicians in the United States than in other industrialized countries, but there are fewer hospitals available and higher administrative costs. Also, the US has higher diagnostic costs and procedure costs – and the US does more MRI and CT scans than any other country. Other contributing factors include the amount the US spends per capita on pharmaceuticals (this number is nearly double what other industrialized countries spend).

The most recent study conducted in 2020 by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on national health issues, reported last year’s average annual premium for single health coverage was $7,470; the average annual 14 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

Chart 1.

family premium was $21,342. ARPM’s report revealed that the average annual premium per employee is $10,141.

To combat escalating changes in healthcare costs, executives are exploring a wide variety of options (chart 2); however, 50% of the survey respondents have no real strategy for dealing with the variables affecting their most inflationary expenditures. In fact, the majority of the tactics being used today are ones that have been used and reused by employers for the last two decades and truly do not address the longterm viability or the core issues that impact the ability to provide insurance benefits to employees over the long term.

Currently, the most popular tactic used by 42% of executives pertains to the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSA). The utilization of high-deductible health plans is a close second at 41%. Other notable tactics being implemented to offset rising costs include the use of flexible spending accounts by 32%, Section 125 Plans used by 30%, wellness plans used by 27% and dropping dependent coverage used by 5% of the surveyed population.

Unfortunately, nearly one in four executives are cost-shifting premiums to their employees. In other words, leaders are moving more of the expense of insurance to the employment base; an approach that is estimated to negatively impact employee retention as the battle for talent continues to be the number one challenge of the US-based business community.

Strategies addressing the core issue

This report does reveal that a small segment of organizational leaders are using true strategies to insulate themselves

reduce the opportunity for the insurance companies to make profits and recapture profits on the dollars spent.

Chart 2.

against health insurance premium escalation. A total of 9% of the population now is using captive funding arrangements to buffer themselves against market fluxuations. Although insurance captives have been in use for decades, it is very important to note that nearly every insurance captive operates differently. However, a basic principle of insurance captives is to control the insurance dollars and to either eliminate or

The second strategy being used by approximately 6% of the population pertains to the use of on-site and near-site clincs. This concept is contrary to most insurance business models and consists of providing free medical care and free commonly used generic medication to the employees. The reason the use of clinics is growing in popularity is that the model reduces the use of highly marked-up services and prescription drugs and makes it easier and more affordable for people to be proactive in their own personal care. Early detection and a quick move to address health issues can be keys to significantly reducing long-term cost to address catastrophic issues. u The ARPM 2021 Health and Benefits Report covers a vast array of topics, including significant details on health insurance, the process of managing insurance, ancillary insurance benefits, prescription drugs, 401K plans and more. Access to ARPM’s full report can be found online at www.arpminc.com.

Healthcare Trends to Influence 2021 Insurance Rates

By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, Inside Rubber

P

redicting health insurance rates for 2021 is a difficult task. In some ways, the pandemic has resulted in declining healthcare costs in the current year: Individuals have reduced nonemergency visits to physicians and hospitals, and telehealth appointments have become more prevalent. On the other side of the coin, treatments and hospitalizations for COVID-19 and related illnesses have driven costs higher, and mental health treatment frequency has increased as the pandemic stretches on.

As insurers submitted their 2021 rates ahead of the October 15 deadline for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplace, the Kaiser Family Foundation (a nonprofit organization focused on national health issues) found most insurers intend a modest increase or decrease in premium costs in the upcoming year.

“The most common factors that insurers cited as driving up health costs in 2021 were the continued cost of COVID-19 testing, the potential for widespread vaccination, the rebounding of medical services delayed from 2020 and morbidity from deferred or foregone care. At the same time, many insurers expect healthcare utilization to remain lower than usual next year as people continue to observe social distancing measures and avoid routine care, especially … in the event of future waves of the virus,” KFF explained.1

However, insurance costs remain a major financial factor for both employer and employee. KFF’s annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, released in October 2020, showed, “Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $21,342 this year, up 4% from last year, with workers on average paying $5,588 toward the cost of their coverage.”2 The report also pointed out that, “Since 2010, average family premiums have increased 55%, at least twice as fast as wages (27%) and inflation (19%).”

Businesses continue the fight to find ways to reduce healthcare costs, employing strategies that range from incentives for healthy habits to in-house wellness visits.

See ARPM’s 2021 Health and Benefits Report for more information.

References 1. 2021 Premium Changes on ACA Exchanges and the Impact of COVID-19 on Rates, accessed Nov. 18, 2020, https://www.kff. org/private-insurance/issue-brief/2021-premium-changes-onaca-exchanges-and-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-rates/ 2. Average Family Premiums Rose 4% to $21,342 in 2020, Benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefit Survey Finds, accessed Nov. 18, 2020, https://www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/ average-family-premiums-rose-4-to-21342-in-2020-benchmarkkff-employer-health-benefit-survey-finds/

www.arpminc.com 15

MEMBER NEWS

2021 EHS Summit

The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Summit is designed to share best leadership and safety practices with industry professionals hoping to achieve world-class safety within their companies. This one-of-a-kind learning and networking conference will focus on uniting manufacturing executives from across the United States. Attendees will focus on best practices in environment, health and safety, along with becoming a better leader.

This summit promises to provide high-level safety professionals with implementable ideas they can take back to their facilities to improve their operations and achieve world-class safety. Featuring: • • • • • • • • •

•

The Safety Ninja: Regina McMichael, The Learning Company Peer Networking Understanding Your Environmental Responsibilities: Salvatore Caccavale From the Legal Perspective: PPE and Vaccinations in the Workplace: Nelva Smith and Bill Wahoff, Steptoe-Johnson Mill Safety Panel How to Establish an Emergency Action Plan: Scott Lowry, StrataSite How to Conduct a Cyber Risk Assessment: Duane Dunston, Champlain College Federal OSHA Standards and the Biden Administration: Peter Kirsanow, Benesch The Looming Safety Crisis: Mental Health in the Workplace: Laurence Pearlman, Marsh Risk Consulting EHS Safety Awards

NEW! Mill Safety Video from ARPM

ARPM is pleased to announce its newly created Mill Safety Video. Mills have and continue to present a serious danger in the rubber and plastics industries. Fortunately, through changes in work practices, safety engineering controls – such as pressure-sensitive body bars – and worker training, the incidents of mill nip point accidents have decreased greatly.

This informative video, produced by the Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers (ARPM), addresses: •

the basics of a mill,

16 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

• • • • • • • •

mill safety at the point of operation in plants, best practices in mill rescue preparation, various sized mills and auxiliary equipment, mill safety equipment, mill reversal, post-accident actions, safety teams and examples of mill safety drills.

Find more online at arpminc.com/publications.

Virtual Plant Tour Event at Member Company Lake Erie Rubber

June 10 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT Lake Erie Rubber is a custom rubber molding and manufacturing company with a history that spans six decades. Lake Erie uses lean guiding principles to drive continuous improvement in safety, quality, delivery and cost for its customers. The Lake Erie team is a small group of employees who all play a vital role in the day-to-day operations and is dedicated to speed, quality and technical solutions to support the company’s customers.

President and Owner Jon Meighan will walk attendees through his LEAN journey and take them on a virtual tour of the facility. Lake Erie embarked on its LEAN journey in 2018. The journey began with a focus on Transactional Lean to streamline processes, including the Quality Management System, customer service, quoting and manufacturing cost data analysis. In 2020, the shift moved to more traditional lean manufacturing improvements, with a focus on 5S, the foundation of a lean facility.

Quality Forum Series

Today’s manufacturers face an array of disruptions from emerging technologies, agile manufacturing and supply chain localization. The 2021 Quality Forum Series will take place on Tuesday, June 8; and Tuesday, July 13 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT. This series will focus on all facets of organizational excellence and will provide actionable strategies and deep insights into disruptive technologies, leadership and change management, and quality fundamentals. Attendees will come away with vital tools and tactics to affect change, increase value and drive their organizations toward quality goals. More information and registration can be found at arpminc.com/events.

Training Modules with 180 Skills

Get your staff ready for 2021 with 180 Skills training. ARPM has added newly designed content for rubber manufacturing training. This curriculum, designed to train the rubber processor, is the first of its kind in the rubber industry.

Users now can take a training course related to Job Setup and Production Flow and more.

The job setup process involves installing the mold into a press and other tasks to prepare the press for molding a specific part.

The job setup process is closely related to the production process, during which parts are made. Other topics included in the ARPM training library are Orientation to Rubber Manufacturing, Introduction to Nonmolding Operations, Quality, Pyrometers and more.

ARPM Members who sign up for ARPM training through 180 Skills also will gain access to the 180 Skills’ library of more than 700 online, competency-based courses.

This library covers everything from baseline to advanced manufacturing content, all in an engaging format promoting mastery in each skill set.

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The new training program is open to all ARPM members at a significant discount. For more information on the program, visit arpminc.com/resources/training or email info@arpminc.org. u

RUBBER IN MOTION

www.arpminc.com 17

SAFETY

The Clean Water Act, Industrial Stormwater, and Plastic and Rubber Processing

By Liz Stevens, contributing writer, Inside Rubber

T

he Clean Water Act, the common name for a series of United States federal acts starting in 1948, is the nation’s primary law addressing water pollution.

The law and its regulations are administered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in coordination with state governments to safeguard the integrity of US water and waterways.

Kevin Weaver and Seth Jacobson know a thing or two about the EPA, the act and industrial stormwater. Between the two of them – co-workers at U.S. Compliance – they have more than 36 years of experience in environmental regulations and compliance. They recently shared information geared for plastics manufacturers and rubber processors.

For manufacturers of rubber and plastic products, the EPA and the Clean Water Act focus on industrial stormwater and stormwater runoff, which can pick up pollutants from manufacturing plants and adversely impact downstream users and water systems.

For industrial facilities, the most common permit is the General Industrial Stormwater Permit, which is applicable to 29 industrial and commercial sectors. With this permit, the EPA implements requirements to eliminate non-point sources of water pollution.

18 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

The General Industrial Stormwater Permit

Weaver drilled down to rubber and plastics processing. “For facilities that manufacture rubber and plastic products,” he said, “their operations are subject to stormwater permitting under Sector Y of the EPA’s Multi-Sector General Permit.” (see sidebar on page 24). “If your facility’s operations are included,” said Weaver, “you will need to confirm that the stormwater permit required in your state has been obtained for your facility.”

“The rubber manufacturing industry,” Weaver continued, “is an industry that is commonly permitted and that routinely has the potential to pollute stormwater.” He explained that while raw rubber is being processed, stormwater can be exposed to potential pollutants during the handling of a facility’s raw materials, via the equipment used at the facility and through the routine washes in use. Potential pollutants typically are tied to raw materials – anything from pellets to fine powders – which contain pollutants like zinc and other total-suspended solids. “Both of these can negatively impact stormwater runoff,” said Weaver, “such as when an excessive amount of suspended solids and heavy metals accumulates in lakes and rivers.”

Facilities in plastic product manufacturing also are frequently permitted, including extrusion molding, injection molding and blow molding. With these processes, the raw materials are resin pellets, solvents, plasticizers and other chemicals.

The potential pollutants from plastics manufacturing can include organic solvents, suspended solids, oil and grease, and heavy metals, all of which can negatively impact stormwater runoff.

Jacobson drilled down further into plastic and rubber manufacturing. “When most of a facility’s equipment,

“

...WHILE RAW RUBBER IS BEING PROCESSED, STORMWATER CAN BE EXPOSED TO POTENTIAL POLLUTANTS DURING THE HANDLING OF A FACILITY’S RAW MATERIALS, VIA THE EQUIPMENT USED AT THE FACILITY AND THROUGH THE ROUTINE WASHES IN USE.

”

processes and materials are located indoors,” he said, “a no exposure certification (NEC) is appropriate and can be maintained.” But when these processes or items occasionally are found outdoors, operating under an NEC can become very challenging, and it may trigger noncompliance issues. If a stormwater pollution exposure does occur at a facility that is covered by an NEC, the exposure triggers an automatic requirement for full permit coverage. “In situations like this,” said Jacobson, “most facilities choose to start off with full permit coverage vs. an NEC to allow flexibility with their outdoor storage and operations.”

Jacobson advised against trying to slide by with just an NEC. “State agencies have come up with clever and efficient strategies to inspect facilities. Some states are simply reviewing aerial photos that are available online, or they may drive by a facility to verify an NEC. Some states require an on-site inspection after each NEC permit application is submitted.” Jacobson advised to only apply for an NEC if the plant’s “no exposure” status can be guaranteed and maintained.

In summary, the industrial stormwater permit is applicable to a facility if the following conditions apply: The plant’s SIC code is listed in the state permit; the facility cannot claim a no-exposure certification; there are no wastewaters being discharged outdoors.

Once a permit is obtained

As Weaver explained, once a facility obtains a permit, there are compliance tasks to be done. He laid out strategies for staying on top of compliance, including identifying potential sources of pollution, performing initial assessments, carrying out facility inspections, and conducting sampling and testing.

Weaver cited uncovered trash dumpsters and compactors as common pollution culprits, especially if stormwater comes in contact with the waste or if the containers are leaky.

“More specifically, in the rubber and plastics industries,” he said, “waste plastic resin pellets can be thrown into dumpsters. If the dumpsters are not lined or if they leak, the resin pellets likely will be released and will migrate toward the nearest storm drain.” To preclude this, facilities should make sure that containers are covered and not leaky. Plant owners can schedule more frequent waste pickups to prevent the possibility of overflowing dumpsters. They also can train employees in general housekeeping, scheduling a periodic cleanup around dumpsters to corral any waste that may have escaped.

“Loading and unloading of materials, especially by bulk,” continued Weaver, “is another activity that commonly leads to pollution. Leaks and spills can accumulate on the ground page 20 u

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SAFETY t page 19

and release significant amounts of materials into nearby storm drains.” Conveyance systems used for loading and unloading pellets also can release pollutants if connections have failed, if equipment is not being maintained or if pellets spill when hoses are disconnected. When raw materials are delivered in totes, the loading activities at dock doors also can be problem areas. “To avoid these types of potential releases,” Weaver said, “these areas should be routinely inspected, and the loading/unloading process should be routinely inspected to make sure spills are cleaned up and people are following procedure. Train your employees and inspect what they do.”

Outdoor storage of chemicals, raw materials and wastes also can be a problem source. Weaver noted that, whenever possible, indoor storage is preferred, but he stated that outdoor storage is manageable. Silos and bulk tanks should be regularly inspected for integrity issues that may lead to unnoticed leaks.

In the case of equipment and parts stored outdoors, equipment with hydraulic fluids, greases and oils may develop leaks.

Other equipment that may have been in contact with raw materials still can contain residues and, when stored outdoors, they easily can release material to be washed away with stormwater during rains.

20 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

After pollution sources are identified, routine inspections and monitoring are required, including visual assessments, facility inspections and sampling with analytical testing.

Jacobson explained that visual assessment can be done by collecting stormwater samples in clean glass jars, at outfall sites where stormwater runoff reaches a drainage area. If signs of pollution are seen in the water, the upstream source should be located, and corrective action should take place within the plant’s permit timelines.

Next comes the facility inspection, during which the outdoor grounds are reviewed along with the facility’s stormwater plan. The inspection focuses on finding any new sources of pollution, on identifying signs of spills or leaks and on ensuring that best practices are being maintained. If issues or new sources of pollution are discovered they must be documented along with the corrective actions to be implemented. The inspection document is filed with the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWIP), and the SWIP must be updated with any new plans or procedures.

Sampling and testing are the final monitoring requirements.

“This is commonly referred to as benchmark monitoring,” said Jacobson “It is a requirement that is fairly new in most states. For this monitoring requirement, a sample is taken at page 23 u

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22 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

SAFETY t page 20

the facility’s outfall or at designated sampling locations, but this sample is shipped to a lab to be analyzed.” If any new pollutant sources have been identified, corrective actions – also called best management practices or BMPs – are implemented.

Best management practices

Weaver and Jacobson detailed several pollution-busting BMPs that can be used at rubber and plastic manufacturing facilities. These best practices can be nonstructural, such as an inspection, or structural practices like using a tarp to cover a dumpster.

For shipping and receiving areas where the incidence of material spills often is high and stormwater then is easily affected, the compliance experts suggested setting up regular inspections, doing frequent training for employees on this issue and installing backup containment equipment to keep material from being washed away. Weaver noted that for facilities that have continuing resin pellet spills, a common BMP is to install screens in the nearby stormwater drains, either temporarily or permanently. If this BMP is implemented, regular cleaning of the screens is required to

clear out the captured material and keep the drain flowing properly.

To mitigate problems stemming from spills at hose connection points, adding a containment bin can be a solution. Adding a similar containment backup around storage areas can be the answer for keeping runaway pellets from escaping during loading/unloading. For cleaning up material spills, a dry cleaning method is advised – a broom, vacuum or a squeegee – rather than using water-based cleaning.

In rubber manufacturing, the experts noted that zinc releases are a common problem. To reduce spills during handling, rubber manufacturers can buy chemicals in pre-weighed amounts that come in sealed polyethylene bags to be thrown directly into the mixer. Another BMP is to use automatic dispensing and weighing equipment. To eliminate problems with zinc stearate, employees should be thoroughly trained on how to handle and empty the bags of zinc. Empty zinc bags always should be stored indoors. Additionally, plants can use alternative compounds to replace zinc stearate. page 24 u

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SAFETY t page 23

A BMP for the mixing and grinding operations in rubber manufacturing is to use dust collection systems and keep those systems in top condition so that they are effective. Another BMP is to make sure that full waste containers are sealed and covered to avoid spills when the containers are placed in trash dumpsters.

See Sector Y on pages N-41 through N-49 of the 2021 MSGP Appendix N – List of SIC and NAICS Codes, at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/ files/2021-01/documents/2021_msgp_-_appendix_n_-_list_of_sic_and_ naics_codes.pdf.)

Weaver offered a final thought on best management practices.

“Once a facility selects their best management practices, it is critical to ensure all techniques are followed going forward,” he said. To set the expectations, some companies make their BMPs company policy and then train their employees on the BMP policies to ensure compliance with permit requirements. “Similar to how you train on OSHA requirements,” said Weaver, “training and adherence to stormwater BMPs should be incorporated as a necessary part of company policy for the people involved.”

Common permit violations

Jacobson and Weaver also shared some of the most common violations related to facilities with stormwater permits.

Number one: failure to do routine inspections. Number two: failure to do routine sampling.

To avoid these violations, they suggested having a dedicated employee with a set schedule for these tasks and training other employees as backups. Another common violation involves SWIPs, the stormwater pollution prevention plans.

In addition to being updated whenever facility changes are made, SWIPs usually have a required timeline for regular updates. Failure to update and to document that update can lead to a violation.

Jacobson had some final words of warning about stormwater permits, specifically about no exposure certifications or no permit at all. “If a facility is claiming a no exposure certification,” he advised, “ensure that the no exposure status always can be maintained. If not, full permit coverage should be obtained to avoid potential violations and to allow flexibility at the site. If a facility is discharging wastewaters outdoors, the correct permit needs to be in place for this to be allowed. If a permit cannot be obtained, the wastewaters need to be rerouted or disposed of offsite to avoid potential violations.”

24 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

On having no permit at all, Jacobson was blunt. “If your facility has never been assessed, be sure to determine your facility’s applicability as soon as possible. Unpermitted facilities can result in significant violations.” u Kevin Weaver, MS, CHMM is the executive director of EHS strategy for US Compliance, having spent more than 25 years supporting manufacturing clients in the environmental field.

He has worked in all 50 states and several countries globally and is uniquely qualified to assess and develop systems to manage programs across organizations and geographies.

Contact him at kweaver@uscompliance.com.

Seth Jacobson is a senior manager of environmental compliance for US Compliance with primary responsibility over water issues. Jacobson has more than 19 years of permitting experience in the industrial sector and is keenly aware of water issues and the potential impacts that organizations face. Contact him at sjacobson@ uscompliance.com.

This article stemmed from Jacobson and Weaver’s November 2020 EHS Summit presentation, “Plastic and Rubber Processing and Industrial Stormwater.” The 2021 EHS Summit is scheduled for May 26-27. More information is available at www.arpminc.com/ehs/.

INDUSTRY Rahco Rubber Invests in New Equipment

Rahco Rubber, Inc., a precision rubber components molder and custom materials formulator located in Des Plaines, Illinois, has added a new Pan Stone 350-ton injection press with advanced technology to the production floor, enabling greater production of precision molded rubber components.

Shawn Durbin, Rahco Rubber’s director of manufacturing, stated that the F.I.F.O. injection on the new Pan Stone press is fully retractable for easy cleanout and is built with great strength that offers full stroke ram, zero deflection and constant clamp to clamp consistency. The hydraulic smart pump is very quiet and energy efficient, and multiple heat zones provide optimum control for mold temperatures and recovery time. It offers advanced control for precision molding, easy drag and drop sequencing, remote troubleshooting and diagnostics. For more information, visit www.rahco-rubber.com.

Smithers Opens New Lab for Testing of Medical Devices, Promotes Staff

Smithers, Akron, Ohio, a provider of testing, consulting, information and compliance services, has opened its new medical device testing laboratory in Akron, an extension of the company’s global medical device testing services in the US and the UK. The laboratory is fully operational to qualify medical devices and products. In-house testing capabilities include drug delivery device testing, general device and materials testing, and packaging assessments. Michael Kelly has been appointed as lead testing engineer. He joined Smithers in 2015 and spent four years on the product testing team and one year in materials testing. Alison Schweda has been promoted from principal scientist to laboratory manager at the analytical services laboratory in Akron, Ohio.

Schweda first joined Smithers in 2017 as a principal scientist and was one of the first staff members of the laboratory in Akron when it opened in 2017. For more information, visit www.smithers.com

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Receives Supplier Award

Festo, a manufacturer of pneumatic and electric automation technology, honors its top suppliers every year with the Supplier Elite Award. Evaluation focuses on quality of goods, delivery reliability, service in the event of issues and communication between Festo and the supplier. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, with headquarters in Sweden, was chosen as a recipient of the award for 2020. Even in challenging times, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has been a proven partner, Festo says. Carsten Stehle, Chairman of

the Management Board of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in Germany, commented: “We are proud of this recognition.

Festo demands the highest standards of quality, delivery reliability and price - this fits in well with our philosophy. We would like to thank the tireless efforts of our employees and look forward to many more years of partnership with Festo.”

EVCO Adds Space for LSR

EVCO Plastics, a leading custom plastics manufacturer headquartered in DeForest, Wisconsin, recently purchased a new facility near its existing plant in Calhoun, Georgia.

The facility adds 40,000 square feet to EVCO’s Calhoun footprint, bringing EVCO to over one million square feet of space across 10 plants globally. The new facility allows the company to introduce white room and LSR molding opportunities to meet the demand for its medical and commercial lighting customers. It has room for 20 injection molding machines up to 500 tons, and there will be a separate room for new LSR machines. Other features include four material silos, a 22,000-square-foot white room, a 2,100-squarefoot LSR production room and a 725-square-foot metrology room. The facility will be fully operational in the fall. For more information, visit www.evcoplastics.com. u

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www.arpminc.com 25

TALENT

Investing in Updated Safety Training

By Whitney Messervy, marketing & communications, 180Skills.com

T

he rubber manufacturing industry is not immune to the same hiccups that face every other industry when it comes to implementation and recall of health and safety standards.

Imagine a scenario where an employee is injured as the result of a manufacturing malfunction, and potentially toxic materials are continuing to spread.

Nearby employees may have learned once upon a time what the proper steps were and the order in which those steps should be executed to get control over the situation and render first aid to their teammate.

But that was two years ago.

Now everyone is in a scramble trying to figure out what steps were recommended for managing the toxic leak, turning off the malfunctioning machine and treating the injured employee.

If your organization is lucky, someone might have the presence of mind to look for a nearby OSHA poster that offers instruction. More likely though, no immediate action will be taken because no one can remember exactly what to do, and the injuries – and your company liability – get worse with every passing second.

Continually refreshing employee awareness for safety standards by way of annual training programs can circumvent these disasters. Online certifications and classes can ensure your employees know exactly what to do in this situation and dozens of others.

OSHA safety training

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the primary federal agency that enforces legislation for safety and health in the workplace, and the regulations from OSHA dictate that organizations remain up-to-date on operational procedures and regularly train employees to follow any necessary health and safety requirements.

26 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

Safety information and training has to be delivered in a way that employees can understand easily without compromising the safety in question. Online training provides an opportunity to do just that by creating a safe environment in which applicable OSHA standards can be digested in an easily understood capacity.

Workplace conditions must meet OSHA standards1 applicable to the rubber industry. While most organizations are happy to prominently display the OSHA poster2 in the workplace containing information about individual rights and responsibilities, and to post appropriate signs or posters to warn of potential hazards, these posters fall short of providing regular short-term workforce skills training.

In the previous example, having recently completed skills refresher courses would have proved much more useful in the moment than trying to find the nearest OSHA poster.

Safety should remain the cornerstone of a workplace culture, which can go a long way toward enhancing worker participation in preventative safety efforts and encouraging better safety training and prevention control.

Addressing ongoing risks in the rubber industry

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a hazard review3 in accordance with OSHA standards. These special reviews contain up-to-date hazards, particularly for the rubber industry. The production of rubber products includes subjecting workers to hundreds of chemicals throughout the manufacturing process, resulting in a workplace environment that can become contaminated easily with chemical by-products, dust, fumes or gases.

Workers are at risk for exposure to these hazards not just through inhalation but through skin absorption. Moreover, the regular physical hazards of repetitive motions, lifting incorrectly and excessive noise necessitate ongoing training.

Studies take place regularly in academic environments and are conducted by government organizations to review the rubber industry segments and summarize the health effects therein. Findings include the following: • Regular skills training enables individuals to identify potential causes of health effects from rubber products and take necessary precautions. It also provides companies with the ability to identify repeated trauma disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome – the result of repeated pressure, vibration or motion – as well as hearing loss common among rubber and plastics employees. Identifying the source of these repeated traumas, especially with the integration of new technology or machinery for a given industry, diminishes the rate of injuries per full-time worker.

•

Regular training provides employees with a better understanding of common injuries and how to avoid them. Businesses that invest in this training can reduce the injury incidence rates and lost workday cases, according to the BLS annual survey4.

Providing a one-day seminar at the office where a team lead repeats everything that was taught when employees first joined the company can prove not only mundane but hazardous for the health and safety of your employees.

Updating otherwise stale information can not only protect your company against examples like an injured employee who no one knows how to treat, but also can go a long way toward preventative workplace health and safety.

For example, emergency action plans and emergency escape plans can change in the event one area of your manufacturing or operational plant is under construction or simply not in use. New parking lots or facilities on the grounds might require new emergency action plans or escape routes, about which every employee needs to be made aware in the event an emergency takes place when they are meeting in another department or building. Failure to include the most up-todate training can leave your employees and your company at risk for serious injuries and subsequent liabilities.

Why invest in online training?

The manufacturing industry relied heavily on physical, onthe-job training in the past. While hands-on learning remains relevant, online training can supplement the skillset of your team with manufacturing and workforce skills training that is customized for each industry, providing high-quality, short-term manufacturing and workforce skills training in a flexible and responsive manner. Some benefits of online training include: • Online training ensures employees can cultivate the skills they need with a faster, more streamlined process – increasing production, decreasing the number of hours spent with on-the-job learning and improving group dynamics.

•

Online training provides a more convenient and flexible solution. These methods not only prove more cost effective for employers but give employees a chance to complete their training from anywhere, at a time that is convenient for workers who have overlapping schedules.

•

Online training can be personalized and integrate individual sessions with live group training to customize course content to the individual needs of each job within the rubber industry – or the precise type of training necessary after an emergency, a workplace incident or an injury. If you consider either of the examples above, personalized training can be replicated in the event someone sustains injuries because of a malfunction so that everyone knows precisely how to respond in that type of emergency in the future. page 28 u

The importance of continually updating your training

OSHA training requirements5 include a range of topics, such as: • emergency action plans, • building maintenance, • occupational health and environmental control • hazardous materials storage, handling and disposal • personal protective equipment • general environmental controls • medical services and first aid • fire protection • materials handling and storage • electrical safety • toxic and hazardous substances

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TALENT t page 27

•

Online training is a way for companies to invest in their most valuable asset: their employees. Employees whose companies invest in continuing education or workplace training are more likely to receive job satisfaction and remain with the organization.

Final notes

Regularly addressing safety concerns should remain at the top of any organizational list. By implementing proper OSHA standards and adding an injury and illness prevention program to complement regular, high-quality skills training, workplace safety can remain a priority. Investing in regular training protects the most important components to any business: the employees and the bottom line. u

180 Skills has been delivering skills training to manufacturing workers for over a decade. The organization has the world’s most extensive library for skills training and has curated courses exclusively to benefit ARPM members. 180 Skills’ innovative strategic partnership with ARPM offers various training modules that are exclusively available to ARPM members, including Quality in Rubber Manufacturing, Material Mixing Operator Tasks and others. Registering for ARPM training through 180 Skills also grants members access to more than 700 online competency-based courses.

Finally, the partnership with ARPM extends to ARPM members an exclusive discount on training. For more information, visit www.180skills.com.

References: 1. https://www.osha.gov/law-regs.html 2. https://www.osha.gov/Publications/poster.html 3. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/93-106/default.html 4. https://www.bls.gov/iif/soii-overview.htm 5. https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ osha2254.pdf

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MANAGEMENT

Five Reasons Company Leaders Resist Needed Change

By Edwin Bosso, founder/CEO, Myrtle Consulting Group

T

he thought of change can be scary, even more so during the type of crisis we’ve been experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there are business leaders who are already implementing change in response to the challenging economic and operational landscape, many others are not.

Sometimes the writing is on the wall and organizations are triggered to change. In fact, members of the organization often are keenly aware that something needs to be done.

Despite that, management does not act, and the cost of inertia can be high.

There are five reasons why leaders resist change and, as a consequence, struggle to move their company forward:

1.

They confuse important vs. urgent.

Leaders sometimes confuse the terms important and urgent. Important issues are those that do not necessarily have an explicit deadline, like urgent issues, but can effectively have some impact, large or small, on a business. The confusion sets in when owners and managers spend too much time putting out fires rather than planning. For example, the company may know that it is important to upgrade its operations. But it doesn’t become urgent until later on when the company looks at the output of its competitors that have completed transformation projects and have become a lot more cost competitive.

2.

They lack courage/leadership abilities.

Successfully initiating and executing a change process involves numerous leadership skills. It can be intimidating taking on such a challenge that, to some leaders, may seem like moving a mountain.

Others are better prepared to take risks, confront reality, envision a better way, make plans and then act on those plans to lead a change.

3.

They misalign the incentives.

The incentive to change or transform organizations can be misaligned with the incentives of people who are in charge of leading those transformations.

Misalignment of personal incentives can cause us not to act, even when we know it’s the best thing for the company. When we are in line for a promotion and higher pay, we certainly don’t want to take on risks that can potentially work against us.

4.

They lack support and/or resources.

Not being afforded the requisite tools or the consensus for necessary transformation can leave a leader feeling powerless. This is a set of obstacles that many leaders run into – the powerlessness can come from the lack of company means, organizational backing, human capital and resources to support the cost of a transformation.

After a while, they run out of energy, or time, to make the case.

5.

They lack a method.

It’s not uncommon for leaders to know the difference between where their company is and where it could be, but they don’t know how to proceed. In such situations, leaders often freeze up and put off the impending need to change, or they approach it through trial and error. Having a methodology is beneficial when taking on such an effort. Some leaders take the time and effort to learn what needs to be done, while others bring in experienced people to provide a method for leading a smooth and successful transformation.

Leaders must understand that there will never be a perfect time for change – but also that often the right change only happens if they force the issue. u Edwin Bosso, the ForbesBooks author of 6,000 Dreams: The Leader’s Guide to a Successful Business Transformation Journey, is the founder/CEO of Myrtle Consulting Group.

Bosso specializes in operations improvement and change management, and his project history includes work for major brands such as Heineken, Texas Petrochemicals, T-Mobile, Anheuser-Busch, Rohm and Haas, Campbells Soup Company, Kellogg’s and Morton Salt. For more information, visit www.myrtlegroup.com.

www.arpminc.com 29

OUTLOOK

Medical Sector Fueling TPE Growth as Other Sectors Anticipate Post-COVID Market Rebound

By Patrick Ellis, Smithers

I

n 2020, the world faced an upheaval like no other seen since World War II. Every aspect of life across the globe has been affected

by COVID-19, and the challenges continue in 2021, including those taking place in the thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) market. The current TPE market, outlined in The Future of Thermoplastic Elastomers to 2026 report from Smithers, is estimated at 3.84 million tonnes.

It is expected to grow to 5.55 million tonnes by 2026.

All of the situations created by the pandemic are having an effect on the markets for TPEs. The global TPE market consists of a very wide range of different companies, each reacting differently to the pandemic situation.

8.3%

Appliances and housewares

5.8%

3.8%

Automotive Building and construction

4.1%

Footwear Medical

9.2%

44.4%

Packaging Sports/leisure/toys

6.8%

Wire & cable 10.7%

Other applications

Source: Smithers

Chart 1: The Global Market for TPE by Application, 2026 (%)

The main effect of the COVID-19 virus is the loss of business due to the imposed manufacturing shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. Reduced overall demand has taken place in a number of critical markets, such as the automotive industry, which in some cases has seen demand drop as much as 30% and in rare cases as much as 40%.

The booming medical sector

On the positive side of the COVID-19 equation is the medical sector, which has experienced robust growth, favoring TPEs and especially thermoplastic styrenic elastomers (TPS). The main medical growth has been for masks, syringe stoppers, vial closures and IV sets. The medical sector also is likely to expand at the highest compound average growth rate of all other applications, including automotive. The combination of the COVID-19 virus and the long-awaited replacement of plasticised PVC will be the main driving forces for the growth of medical TPE applications.

The new European Union (EU) regulations regarding medical devices and food contact packaging are one of 30 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

6.9%

the most important forces for change. Continued doubts are being expressed by certain governing authorities as to the long-term safety of certain so-called safe plasticisers.

Questions are arising about the validity of PVC in medical devices, such as IV sets and bags in particular.

Both TPEs and silicone elastomers are waiting in the wings to participate in these changes; both presenting valid arguments for their case. Medical tubing, one of the largest consumers of plasticised PVC, easily can be replaced by both TPEs and silicone elastomers.

Automotive, a dominant TPE market

Despite the fact that the automotive industry has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains the dominant TPE market by a long way. In 2021, the automotive end-use market for TPEs is estimated to be 1.69 million tonnes. In 2026, the market will continue to lead with an estimated use of 2.46 million tonnes, according to Smithers’ research.

theory, should help to stabilize the cost of TPE raw materials. The likely outcome will be larger petrochemical companies investing in refinery retrofitting to convert to the use of plastics and other organic materials waste streams.

1.7%

18.0% Europe North America Central and South America Asia/Pacific

50.1% 26.0%

ROW

Mechanical recycling has no chance to keep pace with the need for recycling plastics and elastomers. Chemical recycling is the only process worth considering. While depolymerisation and solution recycling are showing great promise, it is with the thermal chemical recycling systems that the future lies.

This is, of course, not specific to TPEs, but as thermal chemical recycling takes off, TPEs will benefit enormously from the new raw material Chart 2: The Global Market for TPE by region, 2026 (%) sources which thermal chemical recycling offers.

The inability to satisfactorily recycle plasticised Drivers for future growth as identified in The Future of PVC will add to its replacement chances.

Thermoplastic Elastomers to 2026 include increased use of TPEs in electric vehicles. The shift to electrically powered Regional leaders in vehicles has presented the TPE industry with new challenges TPE production and opportunities. By 2026, automotive applications are In 2021, Asia-Pacific had the largest share of the market at expected to occupy nearly 45% of the TPE market.

49.63%, and this is expected to increase to just over 50% by 2026, according to data developed for the new report.

Increasing demand for the more sustainable electric vehicles The Asia-Pacific growth primarily is due to the dominance offers an opportunity for increased use of TPEs to contribute of the region by China, which will remain the largest world to vehicle technologies as well as weight reduction. In economy for a long time to come. China also is growing general, for the automotive market, TPEs will help to relatively fast in TPE investments. improve performance – principally in noise, harshness and vibration (NHV) applications.

In general, the world’s larger economies will continue to be better suited to take advantage of the opportunities that are There is impetus to develop newer, better-performing TPEs being offered to TPE markets. The United States, Japan and to answer the global automotive industry’s challenges. TPE Germany are the leaders at the world’s economic table. producers with adequate finance and R&D resources will benefit from this trend.

These three countries have the largest investments in petrochemical production and technologies and also are Chemical recycling technologies the largest producers of TPE raw materials. They also are When looking at related technologies, the TPE market will the major suppliers of innovative raw material production benefit from the growing chemical-recycling trend that, in technologies. All three are growing fast, and it is highly unlikely that any other nation will match their overall performance in the immediate future. u 4.2%

Source: Smithers

“

MEDICAL TUBING, ONE OF THE LARGEST CONSUMERS OF PLASTICISED PVC, EASILY CAN BE REPLACED BY BOTH TPES AND SILICONE ELASTOMERS.

”

Patrick Ellis has spent more than 50 years in the European plastics industry, in a variety of technical, marketing and management roles. He has worked for a number of multinational organizations, including Shell, Borg-Warner, Monsanto, Hercules, Himont, Neste and the RTP Company.

He also has written articles on a wide range of subjects, including PP metallocene catalysts and technologies and alternative sources of lower-alpha olefins. To learn more about the report, visit www.smithers.com.

www.arpminc.com 31

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TECHNICAL STANDARDS UPDATE

A Standard is More Than a Standard

N

ot everything is a standard. I know that is hard for some to hear, but even we standardizers have gray areas. There are standards, technical specifications, technical reports, handbooks and guides – all a little different. On top of that, there is a layer of government regulation (also called standards) based on Greg Vassmer the industry standards – but not ARPM exactly synchronized with them. And Technical standardization does not happen fast.

Coordinator After all, it takes two years to make a standard, and it will certainly take a government agency another two years to get public input and update regulations to match. For the moment, let’s separate voluntary standards (like ISO) from government regulations (like OSHA).

OSHA standard 1910.216 – “Mills and Calenders in the Rubber and Plastics Industries” – contains the requirements that US mill operators legally must do to ensure the operator at the mill is protected. This standard is taken from portions of ANSI B28.1-2017 – “Safety Specifications for Mills and Calenders in the Rubber Industry” – which is a US consensus standard written by a group chaired by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (now US Tire Manufacturers Association). The OSHA standard is a legal requirement, the ANSI standard is not – but one is written around the other. Similarly, portions of ISO standards – the international consensus standards – can be incorporated into US regulations.

At their core, all non-regulatory standards are voluntary and built by a consensus of industry experts, their associations and other interested parties. It is the industry’s customers that make consensus standards compulsory.

What about all the other types of documents these organizations issue? Technical specification standards normally cover the preferred sizes, tolerances, mechanical properties and qualification testing. Technical reports or bulletins give advisory information about maintenance, handling and perhaps inspection of the product. Handbooks are a convenient catch-all intended to collect all the information together. They are most helpful to point out a direction to more specific information an engineer may need.

Since ISO and ARPM have similar standards on a topic, do we need both? Maybe. The ARPM OS Standards pre-date the

relatively new ISO 6194 seal standards and, not surprisingly, are sometimes word-for-word identical. The first versions of the ISO standard were based on the ARPM OS standards because the RMA (now ARPM) proposed the standard to ISO. This also is true for the ARPM Hose and Belt Standards.

As time passed and participation in standards-making changed. The ARPM standards and ISO equivalents began to vary, so today there is some difference in content.

When will a company need both? If your company serves an international market requesting products to a standard, it will likely be an ISO standard. If you serve a US market or the technology is US-centric for some reason, the US standard could be needed. For example, OSHA requirements for welding hose (1910.253) follow ANSI Z49.1, chaired by the American Welding Institute. That document calls out our very own ARPM IP-7 – “Specification for Rubber Welding Hose” – not ISO 3821, the ISO equivalent.

The result is that standards committees end up managing both: the US interests in ISO standards, which are strongly influenced by the needs of other countries, and the US-centric standards which drive US regulation.

Once everything has been standardized, are we done? Ha! Our problem-solving minds never met an issue that didn’t need a solution, and ultimately a standard, to ensure a consistent result. For rubber belting, new applications in synchronous belts have driven a series of new standards over the last five years while older-style friction and conveyor belts continue to refine and add new test methods and profile variations to their standards.

Hoses and seals are even more dynamic. Every change in application condition (like higher pressure or more aggressive fluid) changes the design or specification of the hose.

Introduce a significant new material or material variation (like thermoplastic elastomer – TPE) and whole categories of standards need to be created; for example, ISO 16589 represents five new standards specifically for TPE seals that historically were rubber (ISO 6194). And unfortunately, when there is a pandemic, we get updates to pandemic-related items like single-use rubber surgical gloves (ISO 10282).

A Standard is a compilation of knowledge about a product at a snapshot in time – very valuable, always changing. u www.arpminc.com 33

AD INDEX

EVENTS CALENDAR MAY 12 ARPM & Thayer: Building Leaders of Character 25 Webinar: Skills Training in a New Era – Manufacturing Catches Up With the Rest of the World 26-27 Environmental Health and Safety Summit

JUNE 8 Quality Forum Series, Part 1 10 Lake Erie Rubber Plant Tour 16-17 Sales and Marketing Forum

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AUGUST 4-5 Human Resources Summit For the most up-to-date information and to register for events, visit www.arpminc.com/ events.

34 Inside Rubber // 2021 Issue 2

ACE Products & Consulting LLC................................. 8 www.aceprodcon.com Akron Rubber Development Laboratory, Inc. (ARDL)............................................28 www.ardl.com ARPM........................................................................35 www.arpminc.com ARPM Events............................................................21 www.arpminc.com/events ARPM 180 Skills........................................................22 www.180skills.com/ARPM ARPM Rubber Industry Publications......................... 32 www.arpminc.com Blair Rubber Company..............................................13 www.blairrubber.com Chardon Custom Polymers.......................................20 www.chardoncp.com ChemTrend...............................................................25 www.chemtrend.com Eagle Elastomer, Inc.................................................23 www.eagleelastomer.com Grainger......................................................................2 www.grainger.com IceMiller.....................................................................12 www.icemiller.com PartnerShip...............................................................17 www.partnership.com/ARPM REP Corp..................................................................17 www.repinjection.com Rubber Division, ACS..................................................9 www.rubberiec.org Sigmasoft................................................... Back Cover www.sigmasoftvm.com Smithers......................................................................5 www.smithers.com

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