Fleet
Design
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
Fleet Design, Inc.,Portland, Tennessee |
| PRODUCT: |
Chrome plating and polishing |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
15 |
EMPLOYEES:
ANNUAL SALES: |
133
$11.5 million |
| SITUATION: |
While planning to move to a new and larger facility, Fleet Design,
Inc., which chrome-plates and polishes bumpers and grilles for large trucks,
wanted a way to improve its waste disposal and filtration methods to remove
contaminants from wastewater discharged from the plant. |
| PROJECT: |
The company contacted the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology
for answers to its disposal and filtration questions after being referred
to ORCMT by the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services.
Engineers from ORCMT went to the plant, reviewed and discussed the operations
with management then followed that up with a written set of suggestions
on a new type of wastewater treatment system and the kinds of filtration
devices to improve the efficiency of the system. The ORCMT engineers
also suggested methods in which the company could save money by recycling
materials. |
| RESULTS: |
Environmental engineers at the company estimate that when the new system
is fully installed and operational, it will reduce waste from the plant
by 35 percent and will pay for itself in about 5 years. The biggest
plus for the company is that the new system allows the company to stay
within environmental guidelines set by the Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation and the town of Portland, where the company is located.
The company estimated that in the first year because of the ORCMT assistance
it was able to create 30 new jobs and retain 117 jobs that might otherwise
have been eliminated. The company also estimated increased sales
and avoided possible sales losses of $100,000 as an indirect result
of the ORCMT consultation.
Junior Blackburn, general manager of the company, said the engineers
from ORCMT were very knowledgeable and conscientious. "I felt good because
they were here to help; they weren't trying to sell me something," he said. |
Technical assistances provided to the private sector by the Oak Ridge
Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing extension
partners throughout the United States.
|
