MRO Today - Taking it in stride

Taking it in stride

Through smart scheduling, this high-volume precision metal stamping firm improved plant visibility, worker safety and aesthetics by installing a new floor, all without missing a step

by Lysa Young

WHEELING, IL — Restoring a damaged concrete floor is always a challenge, one requiring the proper preparation equipment, professional experience and the right supplies. But when a new, unexpected variable is thrown into the equation, a flooring job can become especially demanding. Such was the case at ODM Tool & Manufacturing Co. Inc.

Located outside Chicago in McCook, Illinois, ODM Tool & Manufacturing Co. Inc. has grown from a neighborhood tool and die shop to a global leader in precision metal stamping, primarily as a supplier to the auto industry. By offering a range of value-added services along with state-of-the-art stamping capabilities, ODM has thrived in a highly competitive market.

Plant Manager Mike Bowler concluded that a badly damaged concrete floor in the company’s 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility tarnished ODM’s excellent reputation. The facility serves as home to the company’s stamping, welding and assembly operations, and as a storage area for its WIP and raw materials.

“Years of heavy manufacturing had taken its toll on our floor,” explains Bowler. “It was layered in oils, grime and other residues. Even more troublesome, thousands of small metal slugs from our stamping operations were buried in the oil and dirt.”

Bowler commissioned I.C.E., a preferred contractor for Valspar Flooring systems, to tackle the job.

Worst floor ever
“After the first site visit, my initial thought was that the floor was in really bad shape, probably the worst I’d ever seen,” says Rob Sypniewski, owner of I.C.E. “My second thought was that this was an extremely busy production center that could not afford to be interrupted by restoration operations. We ended up scheduling different phases of the job during holidays, beginning on Christmas and finishing Labor Day.”

The coating phase was over 20,000 square feet. Each other phase was 8,000 to 13,000 square feet.

The job’s added “variable” was the oil and metal slugs which made it impossible to use a shotblaster to give the concrete the needed profile to bond to a primer. The secret of a closed-circuit shotblaster’s effectiveness is that its pellets are pulled back into the machine after striking the concrete surface. This floor’s oily residues and metal slugs made the pellets stick like glue.

A scarifying experience
The floor needed another approach. Sypniewski called in Jeff Fleming, a technical representative for Valspar Flooring.

“Scarifying the floor with wire brush heads was the only answer,” Fleming says. “This mechanical abrasion method removed the oil, grime and original coating, leaving behind a non-slip surface ready for primer. To get there, we removed about 1/32 of an inch of concrete.”

Once the scarifying was complete, Sypniewski’s crew laid down a coating of Valspar Epo-Rok epoxy-based mortar flooring. Suited for heavy traffic and industrial environments, Sypniewski felt the Epo-Rok was the ideal solution for the severely eroded concrete floor. It provides excellent chemical, abrasion and impact resistance and a compressive strength up to three times greater than concrete.

After the Epo-Rok resurfacer system was down, I.C.E. applied a pigmented Epo-Rok top dressing to enhance overall chemical and wear resistance. The dressing’s higher viscosity closed the Epo-Rok in just one coat, helping I.C.E. with its tight deadlines.

As a final measure of protection, I.C.E. applied High Wear Ultra, Valspar’s environmentally friendly urethane system. For color, ODM settled on oxford gray to brighten the plant.

ODM extended the initial resurfacing project from its plant floors to its loading dock outside where dirt from an unfinished floor was being tracked inside on lift truck wheels and worker’s shoes. Epo-Rok was used to repair the dock and stop the tracking.

Another complication faced by I.C.E. was the installation of a 1,500-ton punch press that required raising the roof of ODM’s building and lowering a section of the concrete floor by more than 20 feet. I.C.E. worked around the punch press installation, overlaying the newly poured concrete with Epo-Rok in the short period of time between the new pour and the first phase of setting up the new machine.

With the final phase now complete, ODM’s Bowler is pleased with the results. “ODM is a world-class manufacturer that takes pride in every element of its operations. Now we have a floor that we’re proud to show off to customers and that our employees find cleaner, safer and better to work on.” Item 195

Lysa Young is marketing manager for Valspar Flooring. She can be reached at lyoung@valspar.com. For more information, visit www.valsparflooring.com or call 800-637-7793.

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