News & Events
Building Addition Brings Consumable Departments Together
LECO's recent decision to add over 12,000 square feet to its Global Support Center has brought all the company's consumable groups together under one roof for the first time ever.
In 2005, LECO's Global Support Center (GSC) opened across the street from its headquarters building in St. Joseph, Michigan. The new building included not only a state-of-the-art service and support center, but also became home to the packaging and administration areas of LECO's consumables department. Housed for many years in an old warehouse facility north of company headquarters, this portion of the consumables department was temporarily moved several years ago to the Ceramic division south of St. Joseph. Once the consumable group moved into their permanent home, they finally had the space they needed in an area that was easily accessible to and by other departments.
When record instrument sales forced the need for more room in its assembly and manufacturing areas, LECO decided to add 12,500 square feet of space onto the back end of the GSC and move the glass fabrication and consumables manufacturing groups into this new area. Construction on the addition began in February 2007, and in January 2008 the Carbon Room, Copper Oxide Lab, and the Glass Shop moved into this new space—marking the first time that all consumables manufacturing has taken place under one roof.
Carbon Room
The new Carbon Room, where the messy process of carbon crucible manufacturing takes place, is actually a separate building within the addition. The only entrance is from the outside, greatly reducing the chances for cross-contamination. The Carbon Room has its own shipping dock, restrooms, and break area, as there are no doors or windows connecting it to the rest of the building.
Glass Shop
Glass Fabrication, one of LECO's oldest departments, has long needed additional space to replace their once high-tech facility. In the old area, certain pieces of equipment had to be moved around in order to complete a job, and hoods and gas hookups were shared between glassblowers. This made scheduling and planning production extremely difficult. The new Glass Shop is much more user-friendly, with each piece of equipment having its own dedicated space, as well as extra space available for future growth. New, state-of-the-art equipment has replaced outdated equipment, and hoods have been added for all workstations. With only 1000 scientific glass blowers in the United States, LECO's Glass Shop remains a unique component to its consumables department.
Copper Oxide Lab
The third group to move into the addition, the Copper Oxide Lab, is now located in the same area as the Glass Shop. The addition of some new equipment and furniture is quite a step up from the past location inside the Plating area. Many of LECO's consumable reagent products are assembled in the Copper Oxide Lab.
While many of the general layouts for each group's space remain the same as their old spaces, the move has provided the opportunity to make changes that have been necessary for years to better aide production. Since each component of the consumables group works so closely with one another, being located in one building will improve the flow and productivity between each group, enabling LECO to continue providing the best quality consumables for its customers.
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