Page 14 - 2019 Sustainability Report

‘EFFICIENCY WAS A

SECONDARY BENEFIT’

EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND SAFETY LIES AT CENTER
OF MAGNESIA SPECIALTIES AUTOMATION PROJECT

Many of our efforts to improve our sustainability also result To many, the idea of a machine doing the work of a
in operational efficiencies — and cost savings. Our Magnesia human immediately calls to mind images of lost jobs.
Specialties business recently achieved this in an automation Jesberg and Magnesia Specialties’ leadership, however,
project. see things differently.
Carlos Hernandez is sitting in a cushioned chair, using
®
his steel-toed feet to load sack after sack of MagShield S
magnesium hydroxide powder. Six months ago, he’d take “Our operators are still a vital part of this
the same seat, knowing all the while that he’d soon have to process. We’ve simply eliminated the most
step away from the pedal-controlled load system to do a lot physically demanding part of their work.”
of bending, lifting and straining before he could call it a day.
“This used to be quite a workout,” the Manistee, Michigan,
packhouse operator said. “We were stacking 55-pound “Decreasing our headcount was never the intent of this
sacks on pallets and moving about 15-20 pallets a day. project — not in any way, shape or form,” Jesberg said.
You definitely felt it by the end of your shift.” “Our operators are still a vital part of this process. They
fill the sacks and prepare the stacked pallets for shipment.
Daily, packhouse operators were moving more than We’ve simply eliminated the most physically demanding
26,000 pounds of product by hand. part of their work.”
In typical Martin Marietta fashion, the entire unit is built
with safety in mind. The cell and its stacking area are
“That line of thought fails to consider guarded from foot and equipment traffic. If the guard’s
that our people are our most precious gate were to open for any reason during the stacking
resource.” process, the cell would come to a controlled stop within
a matter of milliseconds. Jesberg said the emergency stop
“Our team is tough and works hard, so we could has been programmed to prevent the cell or the sacks
have continued on that way and been successful from from toppling unexpectedly, which could cause injury
a production perspective,” said Manistee’s Maintenance or equipment damage.
Services Manager Shawn Mortensen. “But that line of
thought fails to consider that our people are our most
precious resource.” “This is making our lives much easier. It’s a
good investment that I know will pay for
Driven primarily by the desire to prevent muscle strains itself in no time at all.”
and overuse injuries to the shoulders, backs, hips and
knees of their packhouse operators, Magnesia Specialties
leadership began to investigate how automation could
alleviate the potential hazards of their workflow. It wasn’t Near the pallet space, a series of electronic sensors serves
long before they realized they needed “the cell.” as yet another safety measure. If the beam between the
pair of sensors is broken during the stacking process for any
Operational since January, the cell (also known as reason, the entire unit again comes to a controlled stop.
“the robot”) has automated the process of palletizing
MagShield S and given Manistee’s packhouse operators Hernandez, the packhouse operator, said working with
®
a much-needed physical break. the cell is nothing short of amazing.
Senior Project Engineer Randy Jesberg came to “You couldn’t ask for anything better than this,” he
Martin Marietta in March 2018. A former auto industry said. “For us, it’s as simple as sitting here and getting it
professional with experience designing automated programmed. Then, it just takes off. This is making our
processes, one of his first tasks was to conceptualize lives much easier. It’s a good investment that I know will
the cell and how it would function at Manistee. pay for itself in no time at all.”

14 / MARTIN MARIETTA / SUSTAINABILITY REPORT / 2019