ITW Heartland

ITW Corporate invests in Heartland

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:25:45 +0000

In September, 2011, ITW Corporate officers approved a capital equipment request made on behalf of ITW Heartland. This request was submitted by Heartland’s Manufactured Products business unit in response to the consistent loyalty of its customers who have made it clear that they prefer to do business with ITW Heartland so long as there is sufficient capacity to support it.

This investment will consist of a Mazak Nexus HCN-4000 horizontal CNC machining center and an auxiliary twelve pallet rail system designed to increase manufacturing efficiencies and complement future CNC machining center investments. “We are extremely grateful that our parent company recognizes our success and is willing to continually invest in our future” says Jim Pospisil, Manufactured Products’ Business Unit Manager. “By investing in us in this way, they are allowing us to continually meet the needs of our customers while fulfilling our stated objective of being a world-class horizontal CNC machining facility.”

Manufactured Products’ Production Manager Mark Petersen expects that the new system will be up and running by April of 2012.

About ITW Heartland
ITW Heartland is a certified leader in precision engineered machines, parts, gears, and electro-mechanical products. Located in Alexandria, Minnesota, ITW Heartland has four distinct divisions: Spiroid Gearing (design and manufacturing of custom right angle drives, gear boxes and loose gearing); Manufactured Products (low to mid quantity precision machining with a specific expertise in horizontal CNC technology); Strategic Assembly Solutions (complete machine design and assembly services); and ITW Gear Machines (designer and manufacturer of full line of high speed gear inspection and gear burnishing die equipment). As an Illinios Tool Works Company, ITW Heartland operates from a position of financial stability, engineering excellence, and refined manufacturing process.

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Heartland’s Sustainability Program evolves

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:55:05 +0000

For two days in late October, key management officials within ITW Heartland participated in an intensive off-site Corporate Sustainability program. This program drew from corporate ITW sustainability leadership as well as leading industry authorities within the sustainability movement. According to Heartland General Manager, Brian Baustian, “Sustainability is not a new concept to ITW or to Heartland, but it is clear through some of our education and conversations that sustainability is an ongoing commitment – one that requires consistent focus and effort.”

Among other things, intended outcomes of the gathering include a more complete understanding of the definition of “sustainability,” a recognition of the responsibility that business and industry have within the larger social meaning of
the word, and the unique role individual employees can play as they go about their daily roles – both at home and at ITW Heartland. “Most importantly,” says Baustian, “this program is intended to be the first phase in a series of conversations designed to establish and maintain “sustainability” at the core of our business philosophy.”

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Daughters of two Heartland employees earn ITW scholarships

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:17:36 +0000

Jackie Evertz and Kayli Buechler have been awarded ITW scholarships for use on post-high school education. Jackie, daughter of ITW Heartland Engineer Frank Evertz, plans on attending Vermillion Community College in Ely, Minnesota and hopes to major in Fisheries & Wildlife Management. Kayli, daughter of Heartland Customer Service Manager, Kelly Buechler, will attend North Dakota State University. Kayli plans on pursuing a Pharmaceutical Sciences degree.

Of ITW’s 60,000+ employees and their many children, Jackie and Kayli are two of only 237 who were fortunate enough to win this scholarship. In total, ITW will award $839,000 through its scholarship program.

ITW Heartland congratulates both Jackie Evertz and Kayli Buechler on these well-deserved awards!

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Heartland invests in social media

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:06:29 +0000

ITW Heartland General Manager Brian Baustian believes that social media has a place in industrial manufacturing – and he’s taking steps to ensure that Heartland’s presence is current and robust as the social mediums advance. “We’ve only been engaging in Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the past 6 months,” says Baustian, “and we’ve already seen results. By supporting and engaging the natural conversations and relationships that exist among customers, vendors, partners, and community members, there is no doubt we are at the same time strengthening our business position.”

Baustian goes on to cite the numerous times in recent months that completely new and interesting companies have floated onto Heartland’s radar thanks to the “friend” of a “friend” relationships that are becoming so commonplace as a result of social media. A few of those companies have even turned into legitimate leads. Baustian also hopes that social media can fulfill its promise as yet another tool to strengthen ITW Heartland’s position as a thought-leader within its market segments.

Although revenue and profitability will always be the end game for most business decisions, Baustian believes social media is more subtle and personal than the black and white data it ultimately supports. “I’ve learned to see social media as a convenient and efficient way to develop meaningful relationships within micro-communities of like-purposed folks. At the end of the day, if meeting new people and learning new things is the least we get out of this endeavor, it’s still been a good use of our time. I’m sure somewhere down the line revenue and profitability will be favorably impacted.”

To date, Heartland’s short 6-month social media effort has already netted 265 “Likes” on Facebook, 362 followers on Twitter, and over 1,514 combined “views” of its first five videos on the ITW Heartland YouTube Channel. …A modest start, but a start nonetheless!

To visit Heartland’s social media sites and engage in the conversations, feel free to navigate using the links below or the icons located in the upper right hand corner of our web site!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITWHeartland
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ITWHeartland
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/itwheartland
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/itw-heartland

About ITW Heartland

ITW Heartland is a certified leader in precision engineered machines, parts, gears, and electro-mechanical products. Located in Alexandria, Minnesota, ITW Heartland has four distinct divisions: Spiroid Gearing (design and manufacturing of custom right angle drives, gear boxes and loose gearing); Manufactured Products (low to mid quantity precision machining with a specific expertise in horizontal CNC technology); Strategic Assembly Solutions (complete machine design and assembly services); and ITW Gear Machines (designer and manufacturer of full line of high speed gear inspection and gear burnishing die equipment). As an Illinios Tool Works Company, ITW Heartland operates from a position of financial stability, engineering excellence, and refined manufacturing process.
For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Spiroid releases updated ‘Application Guide’ to aid mechanical and design engineers

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:48:15 +0000

Spiroid, a division of ITW Heartland, has recently introduced an updated ‘Spiroid Application Guide’ as a part of its campaign to engage a new generation of engineers. Spiroid is a unique and powerful right angle gear form with a strong heritage. Since the 1950’s, the Spiroid brand has carved out a niche for itself as a high torque solution for small space, right angle applications. Since that time, as Spiroid became the right angle gear solution of choice for aerospace, aviation, defense and robotics applications worldwide, established engineers have become quite familiar with Spiroid’s strengths.

As Business Unit Manager, Jim Pospisil states, “Spiroid has a wide and loyal following among engineers who came of age in the 90’s, 80’s, and earlier. However, there is a new generation of mechanical and design engineers out there who have grown up augmenting their education through online tools, blogs, forums, social media and the like. Our intention is to become more adept at touting Spiroid’s strengths to those young engineers – where they educate themselves, and in a format that appeals to them. We anticipate that this will be the first of many such efforts.”

The new Spiroid Application Guide can be found on ITW Heartland’s website under the “Spiroid Gearing” tab: http://www.itwheartland.com/Spiroid

About ITW Heartland

Paslode delivers “Exceptional Supplier Award” to ITW Heartland

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:50:29 +0000

On Thursday, June 16th, Paslode representatives visited ITW Heartland’s Manufactured Products business unit to personally present the “Exceptional Supplier Award” to Heartland employees. This award recognizes Paslode’s highest-performing suppliers as measured via cumulative quality and on-time delivery metrics during the 2010 calendar year. It also marks the 2nd year in a row that ITW Heartland has received this honor from Paslode’s Cordless division, while Paslode’s Pneumatic group has honored Heartland with this award for the past 14 years running.

Pictured from left to right are Bruce Geiser (Heartland Production Superviser), Wendy Wessel (Heartland Production Machinist), Mark Hermsen (Paslode Supplier Relations Manager), Chuck Coyer (Heartland Production Machinist), Lorri Malaker (Paslode Sr. Buyer), and Darryl Dormanen (Paslode Sr. Buyer)

Jim Pospisil, Business Unit Manager for Manufactured Products, stated that “Paslode’s recognition is an honor for ITW Heartland, and a testament to the hard work and diligence of our employees.”

Paslode is a leading manufacturer of cordless and pneumatic nailers, staplers, and fasteners and strives to provide professional trades people with the highest quality fasteners and fastening tools in the industry.

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

ITW Heartland Business Unit Passes Safety Milestone

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:54:34 +0000

Midway through the first quarter of 2011, ITW Heartland’s Manufactured Products business unit celebrated 3 years without a lost time incident.

“Safety is a very high priority for ITW as a whole, and for the Heartland community,” states Brian Baustian, ITW Heartland’s General Manager. “To pass the 3 year mark in this type of manufacturing environment is testimony to ITW’s safety training and commitment, and to the diligence of the women and men who support our safety objectives on a daily basis.”

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

ITW Heartland Business Unit Receives Boeing Supplier Distinction

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:22:41 +0000

In its most recent Supplier Performance Report, Boeing granted Spiroid a “Gold” Composite Rating. The “Gold” Composite Rating is Boeing’s highest distinction and can only be achieved by earning “Gold” status in both “Quality” and “Delivery” performance metrics. To earn this distinction, Spiroid performed at 100% quality and on-time delivery from April 1, 2010 thru April 1, 2011. Spiroid is a Business Unit of ITW Heartland that specializes in precision right angle and inline gearing for aerospace, robotics, defense and medical applications.

“We are extremely proud of this distinction,” says Brian Baustian, General Manager of ITW Heartland. “It is an honor and a testament to our people that a company like Boeing recognizes us in this way. We will continue to strive for this level of performance for Boeing, as well as our other partners.”

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Manufactured Products Earns Supplier Acheivement Award from Signode

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:02:22 +0000

For its outstanding achievements in quality and on-time delivery throughout the 2010 calendar year, Manufactured Products has been awarded the “Excellence in Quality” Achievement Award by Signode Service (Glenview, Illinois).

Every year, Signode Service reviews each vendor’s performance during the prior year and rates them for their ability to supply high quality parts and services in a timely fashion. Those with the highest ratings earn the “Excellence in Quality” award.

“We are thrilled to earn this award from Signode,” stated Jim Pospisil, Manufactured Products’ Business Unit Manager. “Signode Service is an important partnership for us. To meet and exceed their quality and delivery standards is a testament to the dedication of our production, quality, and customer service staff.”

Signode Service provides replacement parts, services, and repair for worldwide installations of Signode’s industrial packaging equipment.

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.

Spiroid Scores 100% on AS9100 Surveillance Audit

admin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:30:02 +0000

The Spiroid Business Unit of ITW Heartland just completed their semi-annual AS9100 surveillance audit on January 21, 2011. The audit assessment returned a score of 100%. The registration covers the Quality Management System for the Design and Manufacture of Aerospace Gears. The audit was conducted by SAI Global.

The ITW Spiroid Business unit was also recertified to ISO 9001:2008 + AS9100 on September 14, 2010. The original certification date was September 20, 2007.

For more information, visit www.itwheartland.com.