January Technology Tour
McLean Thermal manufactures cooling products for electrical cabinets and is
located in Champlin, MN.
It is part of Pentair Inc.
In this facility of approx. 140,000 sq. ft. there are two powder paint systems
.
Paint line features:
Each system is nearly identical to the other and therefore, can run any sheet metal part produced at the facility
Two main paint colors and approx. 18 special colors
CRS, Galvanized steel, Aluminum, Stainless Steel are painted
2-5 stage pre-treatment wash systems and a chrome conversion line
DI water process with backflow of rinses
Stage 1 filter systems
One automatic booth and one spray-to waste booth in each system
Iontech RAM gun movers
Rotary sieves
Parker Ionic controllers
Parker Ionic manual guns
The systems run 2 - 8 hour shifts, 5 days per week Average 3500 parts per day
Where: McLean Thermal 11611 Business Park Blvd N Champlin, MN
Directions: North of Hwy 694 on Hwy 169. Go east on 117th St
Time: Registration: 12:30 PM
Tour: 1:00PM
Note: Please
bring your safety glasses.
Tour limited to 50 attendees.
This is a plant tour;
we’ll have pizza & pop after the tour during our wrap up discussion and Q & A
period.
Cost: Members $10.00 Non-member $25.00
McLEAN THERMAL PLANT TOUR
On Thursday, January 17th, 35 people associated with our chapter
toured McLean Thermal in
Champlin, MN which is a sister company of Hoffman Enclosures (both companies
are Pentair subsidiaries). McLean Thermal actually
had 13 well informed company personnel dedicated to putting on the tour
and we experienced an exceptionally clean and orderly
plant operation. The t our was outstanding and the after tour Q & A was
very informative.
Among the product
mix at McLean Thermal are various sized air conditioners and heat exchangers
made especially for electrical
enclosures. At one tour station we saw six units that were actually set up
on display just for our tour viewing.
Our tour
consisted of visits to five specific stops at the Chromate Line (fully
automated), Paint Line (two separate powder lines),
Metal Fabrication, Air Conditioning Assembly and the R & D Department.
There was much
discussion on a special ceramic type liquid coating that McLean had applied to
their cure ovens that has resulted
in significant energy savings. Also discussed was the success that McLean
Thermal has experienced as they have entered
the arena of Lean Manufacturing.
Overall the tour
was an outstanding success. Many thanks to McLean Thermal for the tour of their
facility and the hospitality
that was extended to our TC Chapter group. Also thanks to Chapter Board member
Jim Docken for initiating the tour to begin with.
POT of MONEY
DRAWING The Pot of Money drawing had reached $100.00
for this January tour event. We were due for a
winner and Membership Chairman; Jim Henningsen drew the name of Chapter member
Erik Tverberg who is a Sr. Plastics
Laboratory Technician at Honeywell won the $100.00. Congratulations to Erik.
Note that once
again we will start filling the Pot of Money up with $25.00 and if the member
whose name is drawn is not present,
we will put in an additional
$25.00 each time.
Erik Tverberg of Honeywell receives a $100 check from Membership Chairman Jim
Henningsen. Erik's name was drawn at the January 17th plant tour. As a current
Chapter
member and being present, Erik left the tour event $100 richer.
Ron
Hicks the Manufacturing Engineering Mgr of McLean Thermal conducts the Q & A
session after our January 17th plant tour.
Shown above are the 13 members of the McLean Thermal staff who took part in
conducting
our January 17th tour of their facility. The photo was taken shortly after a
plaque of
appreciation was presented to McLean Thermal by the TC-CCAI Chapter.
NEW
MEMBER
David Smith representing
WRR Environmental Services joined our
Chapter at the Jan 17th tour meeting.