Gage Products Supports National Manufacturing Day Friday, October 6th!

This October Gage Products is highlighting the national efforts of Manufacturing Day. The annual goal of the National Manufacturing Day initiative is to address each struggle within the industry in hopes of working towards community and industry solutions. Current concerns include the manufacturing skills gap, public misconceptions about the industry, outsourcing of American job placements overseas, and uneven gender numbers in the field. At Gage, we study these discrepancies daily to see what we can do to contribute to the solution of each matter.

On Friday, October 6, manufacturing companies across the U.S. will join the aim of National Manufacturing Day and open their doors to host industry related events. The MFG organization encourages participants to register their events on the official MFG Day site and mark it as public or invitation-only pending company preference.

On this day, active members vouch to recognize and honor the work that has been done and that continues to be done to progress the manufacturing industry. Manufacturing now supports more than 18.5 million jobs in the United States, and every dollar spent creates an additional 40 cents to the dollar for the U.S. economy.

Manufacturing offers a variety of STEM careers, some of which include machinists, electricians, computer programmers, assemblers, human resources, and sales. This is just a small portion of the many jobs that the industry has.

Public perceptions of the manufacturing industry have been outdated for too long. To be a part of today’s industry doesn’t mean you’re restricted to factory and shop work on the floor. Instead, the industry is currently seeing progress in technological advancements, STEM skills, secure job placements and benefits, as well as country and worldwide economic growth.

And initiatives go beyond National Manufacturing Day too. One of our favorite STEM events is the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge that Gage participates in annually. Not only does a job in manufacturing represent security, but enjoyable events, the pursuit of personal interests, and global industry progression.

As a supplier of chemical-related products and processes, we strive to support our industry and community by creating viable chemical solutions. Gage has pioneered toll-blending capabilities and sustainable, closed-loop recycling systems to create a cleaner, greener environment.

For more MFG Day and industry updates, remember to follow our blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Contact us today for more information!

 

Gage Celebrates Worldwide Safety this Month

This year’s National Safety Month (NSM) is here! The annual event, organized by the National Safety Council and supported by thousands of companies and organizations across the country, will highlight different topics each week throughout the month of June to raise awareness about the leading causes of injury and accidental death at work, home, and in the community.

While we’re thrilled to support this year’s NSM safety programming, for us at Gage, we’re committed to improving safety practices and procedures year-round. In fact, the sensitive nature of our work — supplying wide range industries with chemicals, fluids, solvents, and specialty products — demands this dedication.

We work diligently to ensure ongoing compliance with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), which outlines several requirements to limit workers’ exposure to toxic substances and protect them from various health hazards. Additionally, our employees are trained in chemical storage best practices, fire safety, and chemical spill response.

Not only do we prioritize safety within our own day-to-day operations at Gage Products, but we also aim to raise awareness with all of our clients, partners, and affiliates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, more than 13 people died on the job each day that year. By implementing precautionary measures and fostering a culture of safety in every facility, we can help reduce that number.

Safety should also extend to the home, the road, and elsewhere; thousands of people die each year from unintentional injuries including poisonings, car crashes, falls, and burns. Committed to meaningful community involvement, our team works alongside the Ferndale Fire Department to identify local safety risks and protect against fires, chemical explosions, gas leaks, and other hazards.

Gage Products is proud to employ best safety practices year-round, and we look forward to supporting NSM throughout the month of June. To keep up with how we’re celebrating, be sure to follow our blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about workplace safety or discuss ways to keep your facility safe, contact us today.

Gage Products Looks Forward to Earth Day on April 22nd

Our company has been committed to leaving the planet a better place, one product at a time, since 1936. We serve a wide variety of industries and aim to find the perfect, green solution for each and every one of one of them.

At Gage Products, we are an industry leader in regards to sustainable manufacturing, solvent remanufacturing, and toll blending systems. Gage Products is ever present in the U.S., European, and Asian-Pacific automotive industries, working with the biggest and greatest companies out there. We offer our clients paint area solutions that are compatible with green technology and help to reduce manufacturing costs while working to advance company objectives.

Automotive manufacturing isn’t the only industry Gage Products is involved in. We also work with the aerospace, textile, industrial, marine, gas & oil, government, printing & packaging, and furniture industries. We are able to provide solvent recycling programs, custom fuel blends, solutions for paint line cleaning programs and paint booth cleaners, solvent reclamation and recycling programs, solvent and waterborne purge solvents which are environmentally compliant, and our engineers even have the capabilities to do in-house research and development.

We start with the end in mind, striving for the best methods to protect our planet and resources. In everything we do, we focus on sustainability and making the Earth a better place. Whether you’re new to going green or have been at it for years like us, we invite you to celebrate Earth Day, not just on April 22nd, but every day of the year.

To learn more about Gage Products, we invite you to read our blog, follow us on Twitter, connect with us on LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you’re looking for the perfect, Earth friendly products for your company, we invite you to contact us to learn more about how we can help your company to go green today.

Gage Looks Ahead to 2017

2016 was a historic year for the team at Gage Products, as we celebrated our company’s 80th anniversary, continuing to fulfill our goal of being the world’s preferred chemical product and process supplier. As the leading provider of closed-loop recycling and toll blending services for automotive and general industry paint solvents, we remain committed to quality and innovation in everything we do. While our team is extremely proud of this 80-year milestone, we’ve already begun to look ahead to what is sure to be a productive 2017.

As a leader in green sustainability, we’re looking forward to one of our first big events in the new year: Detroit Zoo’s inaugural Wildlife Conservation Gala on Saturday, March 18, 2017. Keep an eye out for our next blog on this meaningful cause. Our continuous industrial initiatives will bring our crew to another year at the annual SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Clean Snowmobile Challenge, taking place in early March in Houghton, MI. Each year, this competition brings together college students from around the country to redesign snowmobiles in order to reduce emissions and noise. Committed to supporting clean manufacturing initiatives and promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, Gage has helped sponsor this unique, competitive event for over 15 years.

Looking ahead toward Earth Day, National Manufacturing Day, and National Safety Month, our team has also already begun to plan other various initiatives to support both the environment and our community.

We’d like to take a moment to thank all of our loyal customers and partners for making 2016 another success and can’t wait for the exciting developments that the new year has to offer. From all of us at Gage Products, thank you and have a healthy and happy 2017!

For the latest updates from Gage make sure to continue following our blog, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages.

Upgrades and Improvements Enhance Our Commitment to Our Customers and the Environment

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often–Winston Churchill

We are strong believers in near-perfection and are always looking for ways to improve our business. We are currently working on a “continuous improvement” project that is adding new capabilities and making capital improvements to our plant. All of this work is designed to continue our dedication to the highest quality products and commitment to being environmental stewards.

What’s in the works? Our on-site improvements include adding new fuel blending tanks to increase our capabilities and production. The new tanks will help us meet the growing demand for our test & reference fuels, calibration fluids, custom fuel blends, and toll manufacturing. We will be better equipped to deliver unique and innovative custom technologies with the addition of the new blending tanks.

The improvements we are making are also improving our automotive industry part capabilities and emissions testing. The benefits will be our enhanced ability to meet the ever changing requirements of the automotive industry as they respond to changes in governmental regulations. Emissions testing will enable us to deliver fuels that meet the most up-to-date standards.

Additionally, facility upgrades are being made to improve our carbon footprint even more. We have installed new Big Ass Fans (that’s really the company name!) which are large industrial fans that feature quiet and energy-efficient air movement. These fans cool down large spaces quickly to improve employee comfort and productivity.

Installing an additional high-efficiency furnace also helps to improve our sustainability goals by improving the plant’s energy efficiency. New equipment in the maintenance department, building new office space for various departments, and upgrading the controls for the recycling systems complete the changes we are making in our latest round of improvements.

A major effort of Gage’s environmental stewardship program is to “reduce the environmental impact of our manufacturing operations focusing on energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction; water use and wastewater treatment; and solid waste reduction and recycling.” This latest remanufacturing project continues our work to make environmental management a priority.

For any questions in regards to our products or green initiatives, please contact us today!

Gage Reaches a Milestone

Gage Products Company was founded in 1936, making this year our 80th year in business. This is quite an accomplishment for a business. Only those who consistently deliver quality products and services stay around as long.

When we started we were on a mission—to be the world’s preferred supplier of chemical 80 Years Logorelated products and processes. We have succeeded and today we are the world’s leading provider of closed-loop recycling and toll blending processes for automotive and general industrial paint solvents. We also supply high-performance solvent blends, test fuels, calibration fluids, paint line cleaning programs, and specialty product solutions. Our solutions provide customers with innovative and unique custom technologies to meet the specific needs of their applications.

Even though we are a chemical company, over the years we have dedicated ourselves to making a constant commitment to
sustainability and the environment. Our sustainable business practices help reduce 80 Years Image 1our carbon footprint and environmental impact. Through the use of our solvent and application solutions, we have been instrumental in helping many industries, and especially the auto industry, reduce their environmental impact as well. Uniquely designed water or solvent borne purge solutions and recovery systems maximize efficiency and minimize waste in paint line systems and equipment cleaning. We promote sustainable product alternatives and have helped industries use products and systems that are eco-friendly and offer outstanding capabilities.

The motto we have adopted “Vision, Quality, Commitment” wraps up our goals as a 80 Years Image 2company. We truly think about the overall picture of how our products impact industry, people, and the environment now and for the future (Vision). We stand behind all of our products and consistently deliver chemicals that exceed the expectations of our customers (Quality). With a dedication to outstanding customer service, we strive to form partnerships with our customers to supply them with the specific products for their needs (Commitment).

We are proud and excited to be celebrating our 80th anniversary! Reaching 80 is a milestone and as a gift to ourselves and the field, we will continue to innovate and remain active with successful industry contributions as we work towards our next 80!

Looking Forward to an Eventful 2016

Starting fresh means setting out a new list of goals to potentially improve circumstances and, at the beginning of a new year, usually comes in the form of resolutions. For us, a resolution doesn’t give our name justice because, at Gage Products, we continually work to2016 Outlook Image 2 - Feb. 2016 provide the highest quality products and services year in and year out. We call this TheGage Difference.

This summer, Gage will celebrate 80 years in business. This is quite a milestone! Started in 1935, we are still a family-owned operation that continues to serve the automotive industry as we did in the beginning. We have won numerous awards for our manufacturing excellence and operational compliance. In 2016, we will continue our tradition to innovate this year with new solvents, fuels, recycling systems, and solutions for any challenging manufacturing problems.

In the coming months we will also be redesigning our website to incorporate the most up-to-date company news, plus the addition of new content. Increasing our site information brings more value to our customer’s ability to interact with our company. We will be featuring our latest tweets, news, events, and new product developments. Be sure to check in with us often!

As we set out to take on the new year, we are looking forward to another year of exceptional commitment to environmental and community stewardship, the sustainable manufacturing of solvents, and providing solutions for manufacturers’ greatest challenges.

Happy New Year from all of us at Gage Products!

Gage Products Highlights our Closed Loop Remanufacturing Process in USA Today’s Green Living Guide

Gage - Remanufacturing process

At Gage Products we have been providing our customers with the best chemical related products and for over 75 years we have focused on pioneering new technology and techniques to do so. We are a fully licensed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act facility that remanufactures chemical waste and “off-spec” solvent streams to original product specifications. We have been recycling solvents and chemical waste for over 25 years and were pioneers in developing a sustainable closed-loop recycling systems and toll blending capabilities. We’ve spotlighted these capabilities and their benefits in the recent USA Today’s Green Living Guide on page 49. This process helps to reduce costs and increase effective resource management. To date, we have successfully and safely recycled and remanufactured over 100 million gallons of liquid organic materials at our facility since we began our sustainable manufacturing program.

Our closed-loop remanufacturing process involves removing the recovered purge solvent and paint mixture to the receiving tanks at our remanufacturing plant. We then use an evaporation process that separates the solvent and the paint. The paint waste is repurposed as cement-kiln fuel. The solvent moves along to the distillation process and then the distilled solvent moves to our lab for analysis to ensure solvent quality is the same as raw material quality. It then moves to the purge solvent blending stage and final quality inspection. From there it makes its way once again to the customer’s facility as a virgin quality remanufactured purge solvent blend. This process keeps materials in use that would have otherwise gone to a disposal or landfill facility and helps to reduce VOC’s and HAPS.

Our products are all designed, formulated, and manufactured under the guidance of our own chemical researchers and engineers with the care of our natural resources and our entire planet in mind. By having sustainability ingrained in our process and product mix, environmental management, and corporate culture, we are committed to meet or exceed regulatory standards.  We employ the guiding principles of corporate social responsibility to drive continued performance improvement in our programs.

To learn more about our fuels, solvents, and recycling process, visit our website.

Closed-Loop Recycling: 25 Years Of Environmental Stewardship

This fall, Gage Products is celebrating 25 years of our closed-loop solvent recycling process. This process, representing a commitment to sustainability, safety, and the environment, has been adopted by several leading automotive manufacturers since Gage developed it. The underlying strategy of maximizing the remanufacturing and recycling potential of each component of a manufacturer’s paint and purge lines means that overall environmental impact is reduced on several fronts. Gage’s philosophy in developing the closed-loop recycling system views each of these components as a material to be repurposed, not as waste to be disposed of.

Under this principle, each portion of a manufacturer’s waste stream is analyzed and separated – we call it understanding the DNA of the material. Paint solids are separated from the spent purge solvent, and rather than becoming landfill waste, instead becomes cement kiln fuel, replacing coal. Water and any other contaminants are removed, and the solvent is re-blended to meet the same standards as unused, virgin solvent. Throughout all of this, spent solvent that might have been hazardous waste releasing emissions into the air and potentially the ground is instead being treated and handled at our facility.

As you can see, the benefits of the closed-loop recycling system are many – not only to the environment, but to the manufacturers who implement it as well. In the course of developing the closed-loop system, Gage can optimize the formulations and blends used, creating faster purging and quicker paint line changeovers. We’re pleased to be celebrating 25 years of commitment to sustainability on this front, and look forward to sharing more innovations down the road.

Sustainability in the UK, and Beyond

At Gage Products, we have a serious commitment to recycling and sustainability.  We are global experts in the recycling and remanufacturing of solvents and chemicals using environmentally friendly recycling processes, and our distillation and recycling programs have proven innovative and invaluable to customers around the world.  Within this area, we provide exceptional work in the form of fractional distillation/evaporation and toll remanufacturing, and we are the world leader in closed loop solvent recovery and remanufacturing.  At our facilities in the UK, we have developed a reputation for being groundbreaking in these areas.  Here are some details on our involvement:

  • Since the program began in 2011, the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) credits achieved are  398,247 kilogrammes. Through April 2012, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) credits are 181,725 kilogrammes.
  • Since the program began in 2011, Paint Solids Hazardous Landfill Elimination versus Incineration has resulted in 118,940 kilogrammes saved. Through April 2012, that number is 54,613 kilogrammes.
  • The paint solids are sent to cement kilns and are typically used as a substitute for coal. The substitution is normally  1:1 with respect to BTUs, and the waste fuel typically burns cleaner than the coal, as an added benefit!

This is of particular importance to us, as the UK produces approximately 290 million tons of waste per year.  The government is working hard to move the country towards more sustainable practices, and we are helping these efforts.  Things are looking up; in 2002-2003, 42% of commercial/industrial waste was recycled, while the number jumped to 52% in 2009.  While there is still a long way to go, and more chemical and solvent recycling needs to be done each year, we are pleased to see that the UK is moving in the right direction, and especially happy to know that we are helping with that.

As we continue to help our UK and worldwide customers save money, increase their efficiency, and reduce their carbon footprint, we look toward a greener future.  You can read more about our recycling services at www.gageproducts.com/recycling.html.