admin, Author at Polydeck

The future (and fate) of the coal industry hinges on constant innovation and the adoption of smarter, more efficient ways of doing business. Industry Expert, Ron Bennett, talks about the most effective measures needed to adapt to coming changes.

Ron Bennett has spent most of his life around coal. After working in the magnetite industry for 25 years he joined Polydeck 17 years ago in a sales position. Today, he is a Senior Industry Expert with the company, where he puts his depth of knowledge and years of experience to use as the lead application advisor for their entire coal division.

In addition to overseeing fleet and safety responsibilities, Ron works closely with Polydeck’s customers in the energy and industrial industry to help develop groundbreaking solutions to their production challenges. His advice is critical in helping both Polydeck and its customers decide on the most effective courses of action to take in response to new trends and shifts in the industry.

Lately, he’s been keeping his eye on the plummeting price of coal and thinking about what it might mean for the future of energy production in the US—particularly the costs of doing business for coal processors.

“Demand is at a near all-time low,” Ron notes grimly, “The price has bounced back a bit from the record warm winter we saw last year, but there’s still lots of stockpile on the ground and parts of the country saw a mild winter again this year. The price is currently around $40 a ton for steam coal and $85 a ton for metallurgical coal—and that’s not good. We’ve already had two major coal companies go bankrupt as a result, so the domestic industry today faces a huge challenge.”

Despite the downward trends, Ron sees opportunity for processing plants to shift their cost burden in a positive direction by making operational changes that reduce their processing costs. These costs include a variety of production factors, such as planned or unplanned downtime, screen efficiency, proper sizing, magnetite recovery, and maintenance. Every point of improvement has some effect on an operator’s overall costs; collectively, however, they can have a tremendous impact on the bottom-line.

The energy and industrial team at Polydeck has over 150 years of industry experience and they understand the difficulties operators face in bringing production costs under control. As Ron puts it, “If someone has a coal issue, you can be sure we’ve dealt with it before.”

Polydeck relies on the team’s combined knowledge and their strong relationships with its customers to help the company design and manufacture innovative products that drive those costs down.

Reducing Costs on the Scalping Screen

Raw coal scalping can be a problem when there is a high presence of clay in the run, which makes the coal “sticky.” As the coal passes through the screen deck, the clay adheres to the screen and clogs up the apertures, slowing the production flow and creating inefficiency. Eventually, the run has to be paused while a crew clears the screen deck of clay—a costly work stoppage by any measure.

“I’ve seen an operator have to shut down three times in a single shift to clean their deck,” Ron recalls, “That makes the run really expensive to clean, process, and put in a car. These days, that just won’t cut it.”

To address these types of applications, Polydeck developed specialty rubber products. Because the rubber panels are extremely flexible, they shed the clay and maintain the screen’s efficiency. Not only does the pass-through volume stay consistent, but by not having to shut down the screen to clean off the clay, the operator also saves a lot of downtime and labor costs.

Polydeck’s polyurethane products for raw energy and industrial applications similarly reduce maintenance and downtime costs by providing superior wear life and fast, easy change out. These products are a direct result of Ron and his team working closely with customers to understand what they need their equipment to do.

Reducing Costs in Drain-and-Rinse Applications

Drain-and-rinse applications wash magnetite off coal and allow operators to recover the material, which is important because magnetite prices are at an all-time high. Just a few years ago, magnetite sold for around $90 per ton. Now, because magnetite is no longer domestically produced, the import and shipping costs—along with a lack of competition—have driven up the price to over $300 per ton.

This makes magnetite recovery a profitable task, but it also presents a completely different challenge for processors. In this case, particularly, getting the correct size distribution on the screens is critical to ensuring that the maximum amount of magnetite product is recovered.

To ensure proper sizing and drain rates, Ron advises clients to adopt a solution that incorporates Polydeck VR panels on the top deck with continuous slot panels or profile wire panels on the bottom decks: “The easy change out can dramatically lower an operator’s maintenance costs and decrease their downtime.”

Reducing Costs in Recovery Applications

Consistency is key in any business, but it’s of extreme importance in the fine coal circuit, where recovery can come down to a mere .02 mm difference in size. Ensuring consistency gives the operator the confidence that they’re putting 100 percent of their product on the ground and not throwing away valuable product due to inefficiency.

“Producing consistently sized panels is one of Polydeck’s core competencies, and it’s a strong selling point for our products” Ron explains, “All of our rubber and urethane panels are manufactured with an injection-molding process that produces a consistent aperture size from panel to panel. We even back it up with a product performance guarantee: If our panels are ever not to the customer’s spec, we’ll replace them at no cost.”

Reducing Costs in the Supply Chain

An often overlooked area in which an operator can reduce their operational costs is in the ordering and fulfillment phase of supply inventory. An operator who partners with a supplier that has sufficient warehousing and logistics can keep less stock on site and instead rely on rapid delivery of replacement stock to maintain profitable production levels.

Again, Ron points to Polydeck as a good example of the type of partner an operator can leverage to help reduce their costs: “[Polydeck’s] products are manufactured in Spartanburg, SC and stored in three distribution centers strategically-located in the eastern US coal fields—in Morgantown, WV; Chapmanville, WV; and Ridgeway, IL. Additionally, Polydeck has strategic partners in Eastern and Western Canada who store product for customers so that they are on hand when needed. This means that we can guarantee availability of product and fast delivery to the customer—usually by the next day. It also means the customer can save more money by reducing their stocked product levels.”

The Future of Cost-Savings

Ron regularly sees the benefits of greater efficiency when dealing with customers. “The maintenance savings alone with a modular deck is substantial,” he explains, “I was working with a processing operation to help them transition to a new modular Polydeck screen. While I was there, the supervisor and I watched his crew change out their old metal screen. It took four guys with torches and impact tools several hours to do the work.”

This kind of downtime and labor-intensive maintenance was killing the client, but with a new Polydeck screen, it would only take a single team member a few minutes to swap out a 1x1 panel. After installing the Polydeck screen, the customer saw a dramatic improvement in the entire plant.

“When I went back,” Ron says proudly, “the supervisor told me to walk the plant and report back what I found. The facility was the cleanest I had ever seen, and the entire production was running smoothly. When I told him so, he said, ‘That’s exactly what I wanted you to see; my guys have more time to take care of other things instead of constantly replacing screens.’”

This is the sort of opportunity for change and improvement that Ron sees taking place for operators across the country. “The industry is going through a sea of change as the world transitions from traditional fossil fuels to other forms of power generation. Just last year, coal dropped below 50% of all forms of power generation for the first time.”

He remains positive about the future, however. “Look, everyone needs to remember that coal still keeps the lights on. Despite all the changes around us, coal isn’t going anywhere for the time being.”

Coal processors know that they have to make changes to adapt to the new realities in order to remain profitable. The easiest way to do that is to examine their operation from top-to-bottom, find those areas where improvements can be made, and then partner with vendors who can help them implement those improvements.

Without the capacity to overcome production bottlenecks and inefficiencies, increase the productivity value of their work force, and maximize the quality and consistency of the product throughput, processing operations could be forced to shutter if the cost of coal continues to drop.

The good news for operators is that they aren’t alone. Companies like Polydeck, and experts like Ron Bennet and his team, work hard to come up with solutions to the production challenges facing coal processors. They know that the future (and fate) of the industry hinges on constant innovation and the adoption of smarter, more efficient ways of doing business.

At Polydeck, we do one thing and we do it well -- produce the highest quality screen media and related solutions in the industry.

Our Approach

At Polydeck, we do one thing and we do it well -- produce the highest quality screen media and related solutions in the industry. What this means for our customers is a comprehensive screening package that includes superior products, unparalleled technical support, and responsive customer service. Many of our larger competitors also feature a variety of non-screening products and can’t offer the holistic approach that Polydeck provides. As a one-stop resource, we are a valuable partner to aggregate, energy and industrial, and mining operations.

Our People

Many of our screening professionals have been in the producer’s shoes as plant managers, foremen, and superintendents. This experience gives them comprehensive knowledge and a thorough understanding of the technical aspects involved in screening. Our Applications Engineers understand the challenges producers face and can provide assistance and solutions to resolve any production issue. Our sales team members consider an important part of their role as consultative and are committed to helping you maximize operational efficiencies in the long run. Staff members from all departments embody our corporate mantra – the customer always comes first! As a service-driven company that desires to provide the greatest possible customer experience, we will always go the extra mile to resolve any problems our customers face.

Our Purpose

Polydeck cares. Not only are we a company that cares about our customers but we also care for our employees through our Caring Team and our community through volunteering and outreach programs. Our vision is to serve our customers and stakeholders with excellence to achieve profitable growth so that we can care for others in a way that honors God. Caring also means being at the forefront of innovation and technology. With over 40 patented products and many more in the works, our research and development bar none.

Necessity is the mother of invention. In fact, that’s how Polydeck was born, when Manfred Freissle saw the necessity for something that functions better than wire cloth.

Fast forward to today, when Polydeck has well over 1,000 dies, numerous materials and surface features – and still, when there is a need to perform yet a new and different function, Polydeck will invent all over again. Keep reading to learn all about how our panels go from ideation to production!

1. The Challenge

The challenge shows itself. Quite simply, this is the ‘necessity’ part where an Aggregate, Energy and Industrial or Mining operation needs to do something differently. When Polydeck confirms this challenge requires a new panel as the solution, we get inventing!

2. Information is Gathered

Polydeck collects all sorts of information: What type of material is being processed? How is the material crushed, what are its challenging characteristics? Has a different panel been tried? All this information helps us to create the best possible solution for our screening partners.

3. Design. Design. Design.

Given the information collected in partnership with our customer, we get down to designing the new panel. Considerations like surface features (dams, restricted flow bars), fastening, amongst others, which may not be part of the initial necessity, ensure this new panel will be as modifiable as possible to offer the wonderful traits of modular media. The panel is drawn up and reviewed by multiple parties, which ensures no detail is missed.

4. Test the Panel

The proof is in the testing. The panel is developed and tested, eventually making it to our large offering of dies and corresponding panels. We also assign the new panel a color to make more easily differentiate it from similar panels.

5. Finished!

And then it’s here. While there’s no baby shower for it, we all celebrate the birth of a new panel, since it offers us yet a new set of functions to help our screening partners.

Written by Alex Caruana, Aggregate Territory Manager for Polydeck.

Need a Panel? We can Help!

Polydeck’s Nationwide Distribution Network Is the Backbone of Our Performance Guarantee.

Polydeck’s commitments to performance, quality, and customer focus are our industry strengths and have been since the very beginning. Within Polydeck, our dedication to providing the best support is deeply ingrained in our culture, and everything we do is designed to improve our customers’ experiences with our products and services.

One of the many ways that we provide strong support is through our network of distribution centers, strategically located to put our products close to our customers and their industries. This proximity allows Polydeck to respond with immediate service and in-stock products ready to ship at a moment’s notice.

Our distribution network extends across the country, providing our customers with reduced on-site inventories, shorter lead times, and closer collaboration. When production emergencies occur in the field, our performance-focused manufacturing culture helps get our customers back up and running as swiftly as possible.

As the industry has evolved, Polydeck made its name by offering not only high-quality products but also unparalleled support. Our network of distribution centers provides crucial inventory that our customers need, with the ability to deliver within just a few days. Our distribution centers work closely with customers and area sales managers to ensure that the right products—in the right quantities—are always close-at-hand. The inventories we stock enable us to quickly respond to a customer’s specific requirements, while our industry-leading, on-time performance guarantee gives them the assurance that our products are there when they need them.

Polydeck’s distribution center placement also gives our customers a contact who remains close to their operations and can be on-site within hours, not days. This rapid response capability includes full technical support to incorporate any necessary operational changes or adjustments as a customer’s conditions change on the ground. The reduction in lead-time and close sales support creates great value and cost savings for our customers.

Our network of local distribution centers also allows us to self-deliver the majority of our products, providing our customers a quicker response and putting our sales personnel on-site more frequently to make sure we’re getting the job done. This presence allows us to closely support a customer’s operation, ensure proper management of supplies, and prepare for periods of planned downtime. It also enables Polydeck and our application engineers to provide technical support on the development of new concepts and products and to adapt to changes in the customer’s product specs.

In the other direction, our distribution centers offer our customers a great opportunity to visit and train on Polydeck’s full line of product offerings, learn more about each solution’s functionality, and evaluate product performance first-hand.

All of these customer benefits add up to greatly-reduced downtime with a longer product life, along with access to Polydeck experts who are ready to respond with industry-leading service. Our customers know the Polydeck difference and they recognize our commitment to performance through our regular support and interaction.

Polydeck is dedicated to being not only a premium supplier, but also a provider of unparalleled product performance and support. We guarantee it!

Written by Eric Leconte, Global Inventory Analyst for Polydeck.

There are many reasons why customers choose Polydeck as their screening partner. One of them being the ease of doing business with us.

When a customer decides to partner up with Polydeck, they typically experience a sense of relief when it becomes clear how easy it is to do business with us. What exactly makes it so easy?

We’re passionate about great service, and that means putting the customer first.

1. "Customer is King"

Everyone at Polydeck is focused on doing the right thing for our customers and ensuring that we get the job done. We have a saying here that the “Customer is King,” so we do our best to provide excellent service to our customers. With every project, our expert field representatives work closely with the customer to get a thorough understanding of the challenges they face, and to ask the right questions that will help us solve their problems.

2. We Take Care of the Details

Our field guys have been there, and they get it: Screening is only one part of an operation, and there are numerous other details to keep up with. To save time and numerous site visits, our field reps learn a lot about each customer’s set-up—like conversions, deck frames, and all sorts of information—so that when the customer calls us with a problem, we already know the equipment and parameters we’re dealing with. We even offer plant surveys.

For screen field conversions, we gather all the required information in the field to ensure the effortless fit that Polydeck screens are known for. We also provide expert advice on any special objectives, for example: setting up stringers to be compatible with larger-scale scalping in the future, or using multi-point fastening to adjust slot direction for sand panels. It’s all quite genius!

For brand-new installations, the Polydeck experts are well-versed in communicating effectively with screen OEMs, to ensure that the right product—a new screen already set up with Polydeck technology—is delivered without a problem.

3. The Polydeck Performance Guarantee

Perhaps the most significant example of the ease of doing business with Polydeck is our Performance Guarantee. Once a screen is commissioned and material starts passing through the Polydeck screen media, we look at the resulting product quality. If it is off the initially specified targets, then Polydeck provides the rapid, hassle-free exchange of panels to dial that material in perfectly.

4. Our Winning Team

Another frequent customer service issue occurs when a significant period of time goes by between replacement part orders. Often, if there have been on-site staff changes in that time, this can lead to a lot of ambiguity in which parts are required. Have no fear—Polydeck’s experts are there to make it easy! We keep meticulous records of each application—layouts, part notes, and details—to ensure that, even if we only have a minimal description of where the part is used, we can narrow the right product down right away!

If a customer is working on a large project, then we have the resources to help with plant flows and gradations.

If a customer wants to shift to e-commerce for business transactions, then Polydeck can accommodate that, too.

If a customer needs to deal directly with our Customer Service, Engineering, or Shipping departments, then they know that the Polydeck team will be happy to help them with a solution.

Whatever a customer needs, Polydeck works really hard to make it really easy to do business!

Written by Alex Caruana, Aggregate Territory Manager for Polydeck.

Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of supply chains.

There’s a lot of uncomfortable news these days, but there are also some very interesting things happening on a global scale. Systems are being tested like never before, and we’re learning a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the supply chains that bring us the things we took for granted (until recently, anyway).

The current toilet paper shortage is sort of humorous, in a “Please don’t let me run out” kind of way, but it’s also a great example of how a supply chain can be stressed to the point of critical inefficiency. The problem is not that we’ve run out of t.p.; it’s that the supply/demand inventory levels have radically changed—nearly overnight.

Sizing inventory levels at any or all stages of a process is not normally (and shouldn’t be) a guessing game. Successful companies apply a significant amount of analysis to determine the right quantities of product to hold at any stage of their process.

Incoming goods are unique in that both the supplier’s lead time (how long it takes to produce the goods) and the shipping time—along with delivery frequency and needs—all play major roles.
Inventory levels for a product (such as steel for a fabrication shop) that is delivered weekly from a local vendor can be reduced thanks to the recurring replenishment orders and potential quick response in case of an emergency need.

Work-In-Process (WIP) supply is the material in-between two process steps. These quantity levels should be based on specific details such as how fast the supplying operation can produce the WIP, how quickly the receiving operation can consume the WIP, and even the shifts that each of those operations work.

For example: The WIP supply location between a machine that produces 500 parts in a day and a machine that produces 500 parts in a shift should hold around two shifts worth of the supplying operation’s output because it is a queue.

Finished Goods are products ready to ship to customers from production facilities or distribution centers. The amount on-hand should be based on sales projections for a given time period and how long it will take the supplier to replenish.

Tools such as Sales and Operations Planning and Plan for Every Part take into account sales history and projections along with internal production constraints. Effective companies use these kinds of tools to right-size their finished goods inventories.
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When sizing inventory levels of any kind, there are two key questions:
1. How much product is consumed in a given time period?
2. How quickly can the product be replenished?

Robust supply chains have safety stocks built in to handle short interruptions or a localized spike in demand, but probably not enough to handle a sustained nationwide (or global, in this case) increase in demand.

What we have experienced in the past month with shortages of common items such as household cleaners, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper demonstrates what happens when the supply chain is shocked to the point that it can’t replenish itself before the next wave of demand hits.

Overbuying or panic buying creates artificial demand not planned into the previous inventory levels from which we are now drawing. As a result, we get empty shelves.

These supply shockwaves will continue for a time until everyone has enough to satisfy their internal comfort zones and the producers can ramp up to meet the increased demand.
Once the crisis abates and we return some normalcy to our lives, the world’s supply chains will need to readjust their inventories back to sustainable levels.

Polydeck’s LEAN Advantage
As a LEAN organization, Polydeck places great emphasis on maintaining a strong, responsive supply chain via our nationwide network of strategically-located distribution centers. Our comprehensive support capabilities provide drastically shorter lead times, enabling you to reduce on-site inventories and run your operation with continued confidence.

During this pandemic, our customers’ industries are essential businesses, and as such, Polydeck is also considered essential to maintaining production levels. We are making every effort to keep our employees safe, and we remain committed to responsive service. Our inventories remain well-stocked and ready to ship at a moment’s notice. In addition, we foresee no disruptions to our supply chain or our ability to fulfill your needs.

Written by David Burnsworth, Lean Deployment Manager for Polydeck.

Read More About Polydeck's Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The future (and fate) of the energy and industrial industry hinges on constant innovation and the adoption of smarter, more efficient ways of doing business. Industry Expert, Ron Bennett, talks about the most effective measures needed to adapt to coming changes.

Polydeck relies on the team’s combined knowledge and their strong relationships with its customers to help the company design and manufacture innovative products that drive those costs down.

Reducing Costs on the Scalping Screen

Polydeck’s polyurethane products for raw coal applications similarly reduce maintenance and downtime costs by providing superior wear life and fast, easy change out. These products are a direct result of Ron and his team working closely with customers to understand what they need their equipment to do.

Reducing Costs in Drain-and-Rinse Applications

Reducing Costs in Recovery Applications

Reducing Costs in the Supply Chain

The Future of Cost-Savings

Polydeck has not only maintained its level of giving and employee support, but we have been able to avoid laying off any employees during this challenging time and found a way to use our resources to bless others in new ways.

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This November, we enter a season of gratitude and begin to wrap up a year that has carried a level of stress, worry and hardship that has affected everyone. However, at Polydeck we remain immensely and genuinely grateful. We are grateful for our customers, without whom we could not have maintained our tradition of caring, and without whom we would not have been able to maintain our staffing levels despite an economic downturn that has affected every industry across the globe. Despite the ongoing global pandemic, and thanks to the support and strength of our customers, Polydeck has not only maintained its level of giving and employee support, but we have been able to avoid laying off any employees during this challenging time and found a way to use our resources to bless others in new ways.

Our leadership has long believed and shown with its actions that the company can really only be truly great when each member of every team inside the company is cared for and empowered to be their best, every hour of every day. Because of this belief, we dedicate 1.5% of each prior year’s sales to our Caring Fund. This fund cares for employees in five areas, including Crisis, Career, Calling, Celebration and Community. Crisis cares for employees who experience unplanned events such as a vehicle repair or home repair need that is a financial burden to them. Career provides the opportunity for internal and external learning to allow our employees to grow beyond their current level of knowledge or education. Calling sends employees on mission trips of their choosing. Celebration is how we recognize important milestones and holidays and involves the entire employee population, not just upper management. Community is our method of empowering employees to serve in the local and global community with financial support and earned time off.

This year, Polydeck used a portion of the funds we would have spent on events and created care packages for employees with family members serving and working on the front lines of the pandemic. In addition, we were able to make and distribute masks for every Polydeck employee with these funds.

We recently held our annual Community Caring Day, involving all three manufacturing shifts and the entire sales team via Skype. During Community Caring Day, we challenged every employee to get involved in their community to make a difference. In our challenge to employees this year, Polydeck focused on Give, Serve, and Go.

For us, Give means you give from what you have, because we believe generosity is a muscle that grows stronger with each use. In order to make it easy for our employees to give, we set up paycheck deduction opportunities for The United Way, South Carolina Children’s Foundation, and Chosen Children Ministries. Polydeck matches each dollar given to the named foundations to maximize the impact of each employee’s generosity.

We encourage employees to Serve as part of Community Caring Day. We believe in the power of sacrificing time for someone who needs it, and the impact of a few hours given by each employee is almost too great to measure when you consider the number of burdens lightened by those helped. Every employee is encouraged to serve in their community for two hours each year, during their paid work time. If an employee serves in the community for eight hours, they are granted an extra paid day off from work as a thank you. To make it even easier to find opportunities to volunteer and serve, we host monthly volunteer events for employees.

It’s natural as we enter the Thanksgiving season to be aware of all that we have. However, for Polydeck, gratitude is simply a part of the company culture, no matter the month or the season. More importantly, we realize we cannot do anything without the support and loyalty of our customers and the dedication of our employees. Polydeck leadership knows that neither they nor their employees are perfect, yet it’s their hope that by building and living a culture of caring every single day, the world will be a better place to live. When we are able to give, serve, and go locally and globally with the abundance that we have been blessed with, that is the true expression of gratitude. This November and always, thank you. Thank you for your loyalty and continued support of our products and our company.

There has been nothing typical about 2020, but we are thankful for the dedication of our employees, the loyalty of our customers, and the progress we have made this year. We look forward to a strong 2021.

It is an understatement to say that 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. At Polydeck, we are truly grateful for you and the opportunity we have to serve and work alongside each one of our customers. It is because of our partnership with you that we can look at 2020 as a success, and despite the uncertainty we have all faced, we are thankful that you have given us the ability to fulfill our mission to help serve and care for people in a way that honors God.

Through the COVID storm, safety has been a major focus for us and our employees. Navigating the uncertainty surrounding an invisible enemy has presented challenges for us and others to provide a safe and productive work environment. We have had to make tough decisions to balance the needs of our customers and the safety of our employees but have found a new rhythm that has made us a stronger organization. Our President reminds us that, “training at high altitudes makes you stronger and more efficient,” and this year we have become a stronger and more efficient company, positioned to better serve our customers, both now and in the future.

As the world slowed down in 2020, we have taken the opportunity to reflect, regroup and focus on the central qualities that make Polydeck great. Innovation and efficiency have always been at the core of our products and manufacturing capabilities. Over the past year, we have strategically placed an added emphasis on developing innovative, high quality products and optimizing our global manufacturing capabilities. Our relentless focus on our customers’ needs is something that sets us apart from the competition and this focus reaffirms our commitment to a continuous improvement plan centered around developing products that increase our customers’ production while lowering lead times and improving on time delivery.

This year we have been inspired by the commitment of our employees to embrace the changes needed to position Polydeck for a successful future. Our employees have learned new skills, challenged old ideas, and faced new challenges with a courageous attitude. Change is never easy, but it is becoming a healthy part of our company culture and we will continue to make key strategic investments to improve our internal capabilities and service to our customers.

As we reflect on the year, let us be reminded of those we love and embrace the opportunities we have to bring hope and encouragement to the world around us. We are optimistic for the year to come and look forward to seeing how our partnership will impact the lives of people in 2021!

May God bless you and your families this Holiday Season and New Year.

Together Strong.

Written by Ronald D. Kuehl II, Executive Vice President of Polydeck.