Materion Continuous Improvement Awards

Announcing the 2013 Materion Advanced Materials Group Continuous Improvement Award winners! Don Klimkowicz, President, Materion Advanced Materials Group, commented, “Congratulations to all the Award winners on their excellent project achievements. All the nominees demonstrated a commitment to excellence and a dedicated effort that created value for our customers.”

To qualify for this Award, a nominated project must provide measurable positive results and achieve sustainability through the implementation of controls. From a pool of 24 nominations, the following three teams were honored.

First Place: Zinc Arsenide Combustible Dust Improvement

This team from our Milwaukee, WI facility, implemented engineering solutions to remediate the risk of fire resulting from combustible dust, and improved overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in the zinc arsenide (ZA) production area.
Team 1_Zinc Arsenide
The team from left to right: Brian Weber, Eric Meekma, Jaya Pillai, Nate Robinson, Ray Lumsden, GJ Schneider, Jenner Dye, Alan Lett, Scott Ulfig (Leader), Jim Bartaczewicz and Nat Blaz.

Second Place: Alternate Chemistry Shield Kit Cleaning

This team from our Wheatfield, NY facility working with a key customer, validated an alternative chemistry for cleaning all their shield kits. The project resulted in less damage to parts and a more precise method of platinum recovery and maximizing customer settlement.
Team 2_Shield Kit Cleaning
Team From left to right: Casey Clauss, John Sherman, Jack Stechenfinger, Ron Henri, Matthew Noble (Leader & Champion), and Jim McMullen.

Third Place: Cleanliness Improvements to Evaporation Slugs

This team from our Buffalo, NY facility, developed an improved cleaning procedure for tin (Sn) and palladium (Pd) slugs. This solution includes cleaning, safe handling, and packaging processes which result in improved cleanliness and reduced spitting.
Team 3_Evaporation Slugs
From left to right: Derek Steele, Larry Chruscial (Leader),Tom Sirgey and Alan Duckham.

Materion Quality

Materion prides itself on a personal commitment to exceeding our customers’ requirements. The Continous Approvement Awards is one means that our employees are recognized for demonstrating their dedication to that goal.