Summary
For more than 150 years, Star of the West Milling Company has been a presence in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Renowned for its expertise in grain and milling, the company, like many industrial facilities rooted in the 19th century, has continuously adapted to embrace technological advancements to fulfill the growing demands of production. As is common in various industrial settings, the issue of noise has also been a significant consideration in how the company communicates to its employees.
Background
Star of the West Milling Company recognized inadequacies in its current emergency alarm system regarding hazardous materials. A solution that could make them more distinguishable in critical systems was required so that employees, visitors, and contractors could recognize the alarm and take proper action to remain safe. The Company didn’t have an adequate weather alarm system, so members of the supervisory teams had to convey potential weather-related threats personally.
Challenges
- Integrate the emergency communication system with the existing operational system into a unified one.
- Automate the alarm system for hazardous materials.
- Administer volume adjustment across the facility to ensure audibility for individuals in different areas.
- Update the emergency weather alert system.
Solution
The Star of the West Milling Company intended to replicate the initial operational alarm system for emergency scenarios. The discovery that the Valcom System could achieve operational and emergency scenarios appealed to management to move discussions forward.
Implementation
The Star of the West worked with Valcom and an integrator to update the Mill’s system into one cohesive system. The team worked together to enhance operational and emergency notification to ensure that alerts reach every eye and ear of employees and visitors.
Achievements
A single notification system that transmits audible and visual messages to employees. With the Valcom notification system, the Star of the West Milling can handle distinct alerts for universal codes for hazardous materials and significant weather-related threats. This gives management insight into their operations, allowing them to identify issues quickly and remedy the situation. Long gone are the days of sending someone out to look at the weather to determine if a threat or risk to the operations would be impeded by Mother Nature. The Mill can now receive and send notifications to employees and visitors quickly.
