Zochem Podcast Episode 3: Muffle Furnaces, Material Flow, and Convenience

Jill: Welcome back to the Zochem podcast. I’m Jill. In our previous episodes, we talked about the big picture strategy and the science of the zinc molecule. Today, we’re going where the heat is. We are on the factory floor and we are joined by Jimmy Kight. He is the plant manager in Dixon, Tennessee, and he makes sure the promise certainty starts here is kept 24 hours a day. Welcome to the show, Jimmy. 

Jimmy: Thank you, Jill. 

Jill: How are you doing today?

Jimmy: I am doing great.

Jill: Amazing. You’re the plant manager in Dixon, Tennessee. For those who haven’t visited, what’s the vibe like on the floor at that facility?

Jimmy: Well, Jill, we like to have fun. A lots of it, but we also know that safety’s number one. That’s going to be the number one thing when they come in the door.And also we understand that we’ve got to get the material to the customers with 100% certainty and that’s serious business there.

Jill: Yeah, you can definitely tell there’s a lot of fun being had. I feel like when I came in the door, everyone’s making jokes. Everyone’s having fun with one another and that makes for a great atmosphere.

Jimmy: Yes, it does for sure.

Jill: How did you get started in plant management? Have you always been drawn to the heavy lifting side of manufacturing?

Jimmy: No. I actually started when I was 19 years old. I worked my way up from the floor. I had a great mentor. I would call him the goat of the zinc oxide business. We uh I’ve always wanted to know the business as I was growing. And here I am, plant manager.

Jill: Amazing. Look at you go. So, managing a 247 operation is intense. When you finally clock out, how do you like to spend your time in Tennessee? Do you have any local spots you like to go to or any hobbies?

Jimmy: Well, family, my wife, my kids, my grandkids. I enjoy a good home project. Also, I enjoy working on my old car.

Jill: Nice. What kind of home projects are you working on?

Jimmy: Currently my man/glam cave. So we’re working on that and just about to completion.

Jill: Very nice. Very cool. So let’s talk about the heart of the plant, the muffle furnace. Zochem is famous for its muffle furnaces. For someone who isn’t an engineer, how is a muffle furnace different from the way the rest of the world makes zinc oxide?

Jimmy: The muffle furnace is different because it’s indirect flame. The crucables the retorts they have direct flame. So with that being said that the other the latter part the cruel and the pretor they they burn off at a different rate. So as they burn off they have to refill and it causes inconsistency in the product. Ours runs 24 hours a day at the same temperature and we keep a constant flow going to it and we meter it in so that we ensure that we get consistency.

Jill: Amazing. So you have both consistent results and it’s predictable for your company and your workers as well. 

Jimmy: Very much so.

Jill: Amazing. You often talk about indirect heating. Why is it so important to keep the combustion gases separate from the zinc vapor? 

Jimmy: If the combustion gases gets in contact with the vapor chamber, it will cause instability in the product. It also will cause you to have emissions and it’s not a favorable result you’ll get out of the material.

Jill: Okay. How does this specific furnace design contribute to that specialty chemical purity we’ve talked about in previous episodes?

Jimmy: With the retorts and the crucibles the inconsistency and the material is from the hard particulate and different things that come through that’s uncontrollable. We’re able to control the product at a very consistent rate and we’re able to measure that and add the additives that is needed to be able to get a consistent product.

Jill: Right. So, keeping that consistency as opposed to having a bunch of variables. 

Jimmy: Yes. Super important. 

Jill: We’ve heard these furnaces are state-of-the-art. What kinds of controls or automation are you using now that weren’t possible 10 years ago?

Jimmy: We run our furnaces off of PLC. We have monitors throughout the facility that we’re able to watch the controls and be able to react to them quickly with the alarms and different things. Every key aspect of the process of making zinc oxide is automated to be able to not only see what we’re doing now, but it also helps us for research and development in the future, right? Okay. And that’s what keeps it going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 24/7.

Jill: Amazing. Material flow sounds like a logistics term. But on your floor, can you explain to a non-zinc oxide expert? How has Zochem modernized that process to keep it safe?

Jimmy: Yes. Whenever we’re talking about material flow, we’re thinking about how we get it in the door and out the door. So all the in between is what really matters. So, when we put it in the furnace, we make sure that it’s able to go into the furnace with low effort. The flow of the the metal, we’ve designed it to where it flows real nicely, and we’re not able to have plugs or anything like that causes resistance. Also, we have one of the state-of-the-art collector. It’s proprietary and we’ve built it in-house. We’re very proud of of our collector system and getting it to the packing stations in a where you’re not working on it and and costly down. So in the middle of all that we got to pack it out and then get it to the shipping and shipping to the customer. So during all of that we’ve put in automation PLC’s we’ve got P controls we have robots, we have different things that we put into place to make sure all this flows effortlessly.

Jill: Amazing. Mo mentioned ergonomics in the pilot episode. How does the design of a modern Zochem furnace make life easier for the operators on the floor?

Jimmy: For the operators on the floor. When I think about ergonomics, it’s all inclusive. So the it’s not only the furnaces, it’s all the way till it reaches the customer. So ergonomics of loading the furnace, we do not have to use our hands or our backs for any of that process. All the way to packaging, we’ve reduced any kind of risks. We’re constantly looking for ways and opportunities to improve to reduce safety risks and getting it out the door in a certain manner.

Jill: Amazing. So that automation keeping things safe and also consistent and reliable as well. Keep it moving.

Jimmy: Yeah.

Jill: Amazing. You manage the dream team in Dixon. How does having a more efficient material flow help your team stay focused on quality rather than just fighting with the machinery?

Jimmy: Well, if they’re not fighting with the machinery and they’re not constantly in maintenance mode and taking care of things that are constantly breaking, keeping up with good maintenance and the flow of the material, they’re able to do other things, more focused towards safety, more focused toward innovation moving forward, and continue our certainty guide.

Jill: Amazing. If a furnace has less downtime, how does that translate to certainty for the customer waiting on an order?

Jimmy: Well, the certainty part of it is one of these furnaces takes quite some time to bring down and back up. It’s just not a turn of the switch. That’s the reason we’re 247 operation. So, to reduce that downtime and keeping it going and keeping it consistent and not constantly having ebbs and flows in your process, it’s going to make your product more consistent. You’re able to dial it in better and you’re able to get the product out of here without any kind of non-conformance, right? And on probably more of a schedule where you can guarantee it’s going to get to your customer or whoever in time. On time delivery is very important.

Jill: Amazing. Convenience isn’t a word you often hear in heavy manufacturing. What does convenience mean when you’re shipping tons of zinc oxide?

Jimmy: Convenience means to getting the the product to the customer without the customer having to make any changes and that’s bar none.

Jill: Perfect. I’m sure as a customer they appreciate that. How does Zochem tailor packaging like super sacks or bulk tankers to fit the specific flow of a customer’s factory?

Jimmy: Well, the C every customer is different. Some takes 50s, some takes bulk, some takes different different types of packaging. And we tailor to whatever they need. If they in the event that we’re not able to, we will work with them to be able to get the packaging they need to be able to fit their process.

Jill: Amazing. Again, going back to keeping it convenient for them, if the packaging works for them, it makes their flow that much better as well. 

Jimmy: True.

Jill: Amazing. Does the Dixon location give you a strategic advantage when it comes to convenience and lead times for North American customers?

Jimmy: Being in Tennessee, we’re within a day’s drive from most North American manufacturers. So, we feel that we’re in a pretty good position of delivering the to the customer.

Jill: Yeah, it’s a good location to get to everywhere around. 

Jimmy: Yes.

JIll: How do you handle custom requests? If a customer needs a specific grade or a specific packaging style, how does the Dixon plant respond?

Jimmy: With our modern equipment, we’ve got PLC’s, we monitor our gas flows, our air flows, anything that’s involved with making the product. So that gives our customer certainty that their quad their product, their custom product is going to be made properly.

Jill: Right? Exactly what they want and in a reliable form as well. 

Jimmy: Yes.

Jill: Yeah. Consistency. We know the energy costs are a huge factor in manufacturing. How do the muffle furnaces help Zochem stay green in terms of natural gas usage?

Jimmy: Wow. With gas prices right now, that’s something that’s very heavily monitored. We have recuperation on our furnaces that we put the hot air back into the furnace to be able to heat. We also use some of the heat from our boiler and our melter to be able to help melt the product. With that being said, we’re constantly monitoring making sure gas air ratios which is all in our PLC’s and being able to monitor it on our screens and stuff like that. So that’s a heavy heavy point that we’re in right now.

Jill: Yeah, especially right now. But that’s good. You’re able to recycle some of that heat and that energy and reuse it. 

Jimmy: Yes.

Jill: Are there systems in Dixon that recover heat or reduce emissions that listeners might be surprised to hear about?

Jimmy: Well, the one thing I spoke of earlier is called the recuperator. The recuperator literally takes the heat that’s been exhausted out of the furnace and we’re using that heat to put back into the furnace to be able to utilize it in the recuperation of the heat. Also our arches which is our that separates our gas zone from our vapor zone are highly conductive. So we’re able to get as much heat through those and to the product as possible and not wasting it. So that’s a couple of things that we do and we are very proud of around here.

Jill: It really is a state-of-the-art facility.

Jimmy: State-of-the-art. 

Jill: How does the certainty starts here mantra manifest when looking at a maintenance schedule or a new equipment install?

Jimmy: The new equipment install we’re constantly looking at improving what we’re doing efficiencies and the number one thing is making sure that it’s not going to affect the customer in a negative manner. So, with that being said, we’re constantly checking, making sure doing what it’s supposed to, and it doesn’t affect the product itself.

Jill: Right? So, the customer gets its product in time, same as always, keeping that certainty. Looking ahead, what is the next big innovation you’re excited to bring to the Dixon plant?

Jimmy: That will be AGV, autonomous guided vehicles. We’ve started this mantra about 5 years ago when I thought that this could never happen. But we’ve made baby steps putting in robots and and our equipment to be able to accept the AGVs. So at right now we’re working on the quoting and the process of putting those into our facility.

Jill: Amazing. Can you explain to non manufacturing people what an AGV is? 

Jimmy: AGV is autonomous guided vehicle. It’s got radars and different things that’s pinging off the building and showing you where product goes and picking up product moving it autonomously. So we feel that the employees won’t have to get on and off forklifts which exhaust them and the risk of a safety incident. So the certainty of the product getting where you ask it to go it will increase and the perspective of the employees we feel that’s going to be in a better manner.

Jill: Yeah. Much safer for them. So it’s basically an automated forklift?

Jimmy: Right. Automated forklift.

Jill: Finally, Jimmy, if a customer is touring your plant, what is the one thing you see them get most impressed by? 

Jimmy: Safety. It’s not only having a record that counts, it’s showing that your facility is acting in a safe manner. And they’re mostly impressed that we’re able to run this facility with as few amount of people we have and keep it clean, orderly, and in a safe manner.

Jill: Well, I love being able to come and see for myself. So, thank you for having me here today and thanks for chatting. 

Jimmy: Thank you, Jill.

Jill: And we’ll see you next time. And thank you for listening to the Zochem podcast. We’ve seen that the certainty certainly starts in the furnace. Join us next time for more on the Zinc Advantage.