Maintenance Technology September 2016 - 12

PLANT PROFILE 1 3 2 4 1. Field-tech specialist David Herman and operations manager Tom Hassell coordinate on maintenance projects after daily morning production meetings. 2. An Alpen worker assembles fiberglass frames, adding additional sealant in the corners and reinforcing the edges. 3. Miter saws cut the fiberglass framing strips. A sophisticated piping system redirects all of the dust and particles out of the saw room to keep the environment safe and control the air quality. 4. Denver facilities manager Robert Bush checks on the insulating-glass-unit line. Niwot facility, located about 10 miles north of Boulder. In Niwot, the glass units are baked to stretch/tension the special film coating, filled with inert gases, inserted into insulated fiberglass casings, packed and shrink wrapped, and then shipped directly to the customer. Every Alpen order is custom made. There is no mass manufacturing and no inventory of any finished products. Alpen works with a broad range of customers on projects large and small, from single-family houses to multi-million-dollar estates. Alpen's customized work can also be found in commercial buildings of all kinds, including McDonalds' PlayPlaces, museums, university campuses, and even the Empire State Building. The products help designers and planners successfully meet the requirements of virtually any high-performance building-certification program, including Net Zero Energy, Passive House, LEED, and Living Building Challenge. Old-school maintenance process Because of the customized nature of Alpen's business, the old-school 12 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY approach translates to many of its processes. "I use the philosophy, 'Keep it Simple Stupid,'" Herman said. "Usually, if you just go to the heart of the problem, it becomes pretty easy to fix. I am not afraid to take anything apart. I figure, it's already broken. I can't break it more. But maybe I can fix it." Herman is responsible for everything from the maintenance of sophisticated equipment to building cabinets to driving the truck to make customer deliveries. He even built the lunchroom at the Niwot facility. "My first priority is keeping all the machines running," he said. "Downtime means no money. In my spare time, I help with field work, maybe I need to re-wire one of our ovens, or I'll run the cut room. I help with anything that needs to get done." This approach makes a difference. There are only 38 employees at the Niwot facility and seven at the Denver plant. Still, the company manages to produce about 40 completed window units every day, while an average of 55 to 75 IGUs are delivered daily from the Denver facility. Alpen's preventive-maintenance program is robust. It includes regular lubrication of all machines, including gears and motors; calibration of the fiberglass-cutting saws; and constant attention to all equipment. "Because everything we do here is custom, everything that goes through the machines is a different size, so they are constantly having to be adjusted and checked," Herman stated. "Every window is cut to a different size so the saw parameters are moving constantly. Saw blades need to be changed every six months. The drilling CNC machines that cut holes for the hardware latches need constant attention." For bigger projects, Herman solicits help from Robert Bush, the facilities manager who maintains the equipment at the Denver facility. That equipment includes glass cutters, bending machines, an edge-deletion machine, grinding wheels, washers, presses, and a polyurethane pump. Herman and Bush work closely with operations manager Tom Hassell. Each day begins with a production meeting. Issues that need attention are reported to Herman and Hassell and placed on a schedule. While Alpen uses an MRP system, a tried-and-true scheduling board is used to track each maintenance project. "With each issue we address whether SEPTEMBER 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology September 2016