Posts Tagged ‘Control panels’

Why is UL 508A Certification Important?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2021

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is the largest and best known independent, not-for-profit laboratory in the world that conducts safety and quality testing on a wide range of products. UL is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an audited designator that can designate its standards as American National Standards.

UL 508A panel fabrication
Panel fabrication in Egan’s UL 508A Panel Shop

As the standard for industrial control panels, UL 508A certification demonstrates compliance to national safety standards – this certification ensures the proper design, assembly and wiring methods of components within the control panel. Having the UL 508A mark indicates that all requirements have been met and that the industrial control panel manufacturing facility is subject to inspection at any point to certify that standards (including the National Electric Code & NFPA 79) are being upheld. Electrical inspectors look for this mark as evidence of third-party certification.

For instance, at Egan Company, safety is our number one priority, and we are proud to carry several UL certifications. Our UL 508A Panel Shop designs and builds custom, industrial control panels for customers who depend on quality and system design expertise. With precision assembly, panels of all shapes and sizes come to life under UL code. Customers who rely on panels built at Egan include food & beverage producers, concrete producers, and many other industrial product manufacturers.

For customers, having this UL 508A certification means that Egan is furthering our promise to provide safe products.

Egan’s Panel Shop highlights:

  • 3 separate panel shops under 1 roof totaling 21,000 square-feet of manufacturing space
  • Steinhauer ModCenter – automated hole/cutout machine for enclosures
  • Wire processing
  • Label manufacturing
  • OEM panel manufacturing
  • Custom-engineered panel manufacturing
  • 5S + Safety methodology
  • Certifications – UL 508A, UL 698A, CUL, ETL

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Fire Impact Requires Rapid Response from Egan Trades

Monday, December 28th, 2020

For over 75 years, Egan Company has committed to providing exceptional service and keeping our promises to our customers, no matter the time of day nor the severity of the need. When a fire destroyed part of Burnett Dairy Cooperative’s Grantsburg, Wisc. plant this summer, Egan was consulted immediately to develop a plan to get the plant fully operational as soon as possible. 

UNDER AN ‘AS SOON AS POSSIBLE’ DEADLINE

Known for producing award-winning, high-quality cheese products for over 120 years, and with customers waiting for products in their stores, the need to get the plant fully operational as soon as possible was of utmost importance. Working around the clock, multiple Egan crews comprised of six different trades partnered with Burnett Dairy and additional contractors to demolish and rebuild the infrastructure that was damaged in order to get the production lines back up running.

“We’ve worked with Burnett Dairy for the past few years and have formed a strong relationship,” said Dan Reintjes, Egan Company Project Manager. “When the call came in that we were needed to help after the fire, we were there as fast as possible to get the infrastructure and  production lines in perfect working order again.” 

The fire is believed to have started in the boiler building, which will require a complete rebuild. In the meantime, a temporary operation was conceived and constructed to ensure cheese production and assembly continued.  Egan’s process controls team worked late into the first night getting power to three of the plant’s electrical services and started a complete demolition of the fourth 2000 amp 5-section service gear which was then designed, built, installed and operational in nine days. The ammonia compressors were also powered up with generators on the first day in order to get Burnett Dairy’s warehouse coolers running to save all the products that were  already produced. Egan’s Mechanical team worked to make damaged piping safe and get temporary water piping installed as well as planning for a temporary boiler installation.

Egan was one of the contractors that was onsite within 18 hours of the fire trucks leaving the scene and didn’t leave until the plant was fully operational,” said Dave Gaiser, Burnett Dairy Cooperative CEO.  “With their help, Burnett was able to get our retail store back open within a few days so we were able to open for the weekend after the fire.  Within seven days, they assisted with getting one of our packaging lines operating so we could package cheese from other manufacturers and begin shipping to our customers. Egan worked 24/7 coordinating with other contractors to get Burnett running within two months of a fire impacting all utilities servicing the plant.

Beyond the initial scope of work that was completed to get the plant operational, additional projects were finished in order to restore complete operation to the plant. Egan engineers designed and programmed a new control system for the milk transfer and CIP systems that were lost in the fire, and additional electricians were tasked with installing new power distribution panels and feeders as well as installing the new milk transfer and CIP control panels and interconnect wiring.

Working alongside the controls electricians, Egan’s Mechanical trades were tasked with setting up the temporary, 900 horsepower self-contained boiler.  The team was also responsible for hydro testing and repairing all existing piping to ensure functionality and safety due to the fire.

BACK UP AND OPERATIONAL

The plant was back up and operational in 62 days, processing milk from 150 farms, and bringing 300 people back to work.

Burnett Dairy is currently operating with a temporary boiler trailer in place and due to the work of many contractors working within a tight timeline. Next steps for the plant include the design, engineering, and construction of the new boiler building; Egan’s full-time maintenance presence at the plant will continue, and any additional help the site needs as it starts the process of rebuilding from the fire.  

“Egan is a valuable business partner and the accomplishments of the past couple of months would not have been possible without them,” said Gaiser.

MULTI-TRADE PROJECT TEAM

  • 35 Egan onsite electricians
  • 15 Egan controls and mechanical engineers contributed to the needed design and engineering
  • 31 Egan plumbers, pipefitters, and sheet metal workers were onsite
  • 5 limited energy technicians delivered network installations with all new data cabinets and cabling for the plant
  • 10 control panel technicians built eight U.L. 508A control panels on a tight turnaround

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UNENDING PRACTICE CREATES SAFETY EXCELLENCE CULTURE

Wednesday, June 17th, 2020

Excellence in safety doesn’t just happen. It takes practice and leadership.

At Egan Company, our teams strive to promote safe and healthy working environments and to maintain safe practices at all times. Our safety program is not static—it continually evolves and improves to meet our own standards and those of our customers.

Two consecutive years without an OSHA recordable injury is a milestone we celebrate, and there’s one group at Egan Company that achieved zero injuries in 2018 and 2019– the Industrial Controls team.

A business offering within Egan, the Industrial Controls business unit provides electrical installations, system integration, PLC/HMI programming, engineering, custom-built control panels, and a variety of other specialty controls services.

Last year, this group delivered 135,332 combined hours in the field and in our UL 508A Panel Shop.

KEY CONTRIBUTORS IN SAFETY

When safety is a cultural priority, experience through field practices and leadership become key contributors to reaching success in safety.

Through implemented programs like jobsite audits, safety observations, and safety lunches, a safety mindset is emphasized and it is everyone’s job to make sure these are completed every month. 

“The Industrial Controls leadership team has made safety a top priority. We believe the safety team has implemented these important programs to emphasize the importance of safety. It is our job to make sure these are followed through.” said Mike Tengwall, Egan Company Vice President. “Our experienced project managers and field leaders have a good understanding of our jobsites and the hazards associated with the work they are performing. If there are any questions related to safety, we involve the safety team early to help us execute work in a safe manner.”

COMMITMENT SHOWS

Recently, this team was recognized for an Award of Honor by the Minnesota Safety Council. Recipients of this award have incident rates at least 91% better than the industry average and a score between 91 and 100 on the safety program evaluation scale. 

Significant growth over the last few years has also added to the need for additional safety measures. As new employees have joined the team, additional space has become necessary, and demand for project output has increased, the continued focus on safety has grown as well. 

Terry Fredricks, Egan Company Panel Shop Foreman

Specifically, in the panel shop, there’s a continued commitment to executing work in a safe manner, identifying hazards, and communicating on a daily basis through the daily safety plan to keep everyone aware. This, coupled with the weekly tool box talk and daily stretching, sends a powerful message that safety is at the top of the priority list.

“As leaders, we always follow up on safety concerns or near-misses with employees and customers to understand what can be done going forward to eliminate any future risk to people or property,” adds Terry Fredricks, Egan Company Panel Shop Foreman. “In addition, from a tool and process standpoint, continued investments in leading technologies have assisted in achieving our safety goals.

Safety remains the number one priority at Egan Company – across all business units and teams. The leadership team and dedicated safety team empowers and holds every employee accountable to the highest level of safety possible. Thanks to the many advocates across all levels of our Company that promote safety excellence, safety is a long-standing standard and foundation of our culture.

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Faster, Safer, More Accurate Panel Production

Wednesday, May 17th, 2017

In an increasingly automated world, the construction industry has stayed relatively manual. Machines simply can’t replicate the level of precision and technique required to install building systems; however, Egan Company’s U.L. 508A Panel Shop has found one way to use automation to its advantage.

Precision, speed, and safety are the cornerstones of any successful shop. Whether for an in-house job or a customer, the goal is to deliver a product quickly and correctly – the first time. And that’s why our panel shop implemented the Steinhauer ModCenter, an automated modification tool that provides fast, clean cut holes in each control panel.

Shop professionals previously measured, drew, and cut enclosures by hand – taking up to four hours per panel. Although this is a time honored way of providing a quality panel, it is not efficient and leaves room for human error or injury.

By allowing for multiple clean cut outs and back panel drilling/tapping tasks to be completed all at once, the machine improves the overall quality of each control panel.

Egan’s Panel Shop wiremen program the Steinhauer ModCenter to cut each panel per customer specifications. By eliminating the need for wiremen to manually measure, drill, tap, and process, the time for each panel is reduced to about 30 minutes – 87.5% less than if done manually.

This machine frees up a lot of time for our wiremen to work on other aspects of our projects, and get panels out the door much quicker. We estimate it does the work of nearly two people.

-Tim Blair, Egan Panel Shop Manager

Once specifications are programmed, it can be saved as a template for future use – making repeat orders or modification of standard equipment even faster.  Delays and waste are greatly reduced, and shop personnel are less likely to be injured during the drilling and milling process.

Watch the Steinhauer in Action: bit.ly/EganSteinhauer

“This tool enhances Egan’s already excellent safety program, by reducing the risk associated with cutting and drilling into a panel with power tools,” said Jeff Hawthorne, Egan Company Senior Vice President.  “We appreciate the efficiency of this machine, but we appreciate the increased safety it provides the shop even more.”

With this great new addition to the panel shop, Egan is now able to be more responsive to customer’s needs and produce more consistent products with a promotion of greater safety.

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