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Each Piece Matters! Stepping it up for Recycling at Anderson Development Company

By admin | Published June 1, 2016

Each Piece Matters!

Stepping it up at Anderson Development

After having such a successful Household Hazardous Waste Day this year, we are keeping with the recycling theme and implementing a paper recycling program here at Anderson Development Company.   Employees have already seen, or will be seeing recycling containers popping up in offices and around the facilities. Orecyle canur amazing cleaning crew will be emptying them for us.  Paper recycling is something minimal we can do to make a huge difference in our community.  Here is just an idea of what we can accomplish here at Anderson:

Recycling one ton of paper:
Saves 4,100 kWh of energy
Saves 9 barrels (380 gallons) of oil
Saves 54 million Btu’s of energy
Saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
Saves 60 pounds of air pollutants being released
Saves 7,000 gallons of water
Saves 17 trees

I want to say thank you for participating in making our Earth a better, cleaner place.  Every little bit helps and we want to make sure that this whole “Earth” thing is around for a little while!  Below are some tips on paper recycling; as well as locations for recycling drop off, tips and stats.  I want to personally challenge everyone to bring these recycling habits into our homes as well.  Each piece matters!

Paper Recycling Tips:

  • Recyclable paper includes: Magazines and catalogs, telephone books, direct mail, brochures, pamphlets and booklets in addition to cereal, cake, chip and cracker boxes.
  • Be sure to remove the liner and all food from the box, flatten the box and place flattened box in a paper sack with your junk mail, mixed paper, magazines and catalogs.
  • Non-recyclable paper includes tissue, waxed and carbon paper.

 

Recycling Centers:

Adrian: http://www.lenawee.mi.us/280/Lenawee-County-Recycling-Center

Ann Arbor Area: http://www.recycleannarbor.org/?module=Page&sID=resources-a-to-z-recycling-guide

Toledo Area: http://co.lucas.oh.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/910

 

Recycling Stats and Tips (where I found some of my information): https://www.wm.com/location/california/ventura-county/west-hills/recycle/facts.jsp

Types of Recyclable Plastics: https://www.mymanatee.org/home/government/departments/utilities/recycling/recycling-materials-pickup/main/0/text_files/file0/Recycling_Plastics.pdf

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Technology in Motion, Paint it Forward: FOCUS 2016

By admin | Published May 12, 2016
Tish opening remarks at FOCUS 2016 3

Jeff Tish of Anderson Development and current president of Detroit Society for Coatings Technology introducing a key-note speaker for the FOCUS 2016 conference held on May 5, 2016.

Technology in Motion, Paint it Forward was the theme for the 2016 FOCUS conference. The meaning behind this theme is that coatings keep changing. FOCUS, an acronym for Future Of Coatings Under Study, is a premier automotive coatings conference held by the Detroit Society for Coatings Technology (DCST). Our very own Jeffrey Tish, of Anderson Development Company, is the President of DCST.

The coating industry is constantly changing. We must keep working to keep up, to catch up and to lead. There are advances in component design, substrates, coating chemistry, and legal requirements that continue to push change. New coatings are constantly needed to meet the needs for new projects and objectives. FOCUS allows those within the coatings community to come together to get the benefit from experts in the industry and collaborate with one another.

So what makes FOCUS so valuable? This question is easily answered. We can all benefit from the vision of others within the industry. While at FOCUS, attendees can listen to key-note speakers and meet innovators in raw materials, equipment, components, vehicles and other disciplines as well as networking with those who may open doors to possibilities. Each year, FOCUS draws over 200 local industry professionals, chemists and suppliers!

Important topics discussed this year were the advances in chemistry, applications and testing technology, corrosion inhibition, primer advances, substrates, 3D curing, pigment dispersion and many more. Air products, Akzo, Axalta, BASF, Eastman, Ford, PPG, Toyota and Howard & Howard were just some of the presenters from 2016 FOCUS conference.

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Mitsui Chemical’s Safety Day

By admin | Published April 29, 2016
April 22, 2012 an incident occurred at the resorcinol plant at Mitsui Chemical’s Iwakuni-Ohtake Works. An explosion occurred at 2:15 am claiming the life of one of their employees, along with injuring many employees and community members. Mitsui Chemicals Group has declared April 22 as “Safety Day” to make sure the explosion and fire that happened that day will never be forgotten and to pledge to conduct business activities with safety as a top priority.

 

“But we must never allow our memory of losing Shouta Sunakawa, one of our own, to ever fade. I also want everyone to always keep in mind that our company lost the trust of society because of this accident, and that even four years later, we continue to be in the position where if we were to cause another accident like this, it would affect our survival as a company.

 Since becoming President of this company, I have continuously spoken about the fact that “safety is our highest priority” and that we must cultivate a safety culture in order to securely realize this.

 There are no easy tricks to cultivating a safety culture. It is also not something that can be done overnight. The entire company must return to the basics and steadfastly continue their safety activities in order to cultivate a safety culture. However, with safety, the results are everything. Once an accident occurs, all our efforts come to nothing. Last year, I used the analogy of mountain climbing to say that “We must have the resolution of someone attempting to climb a mountain to reach the highest peak, in our efforts to achieve the best results. I myself am committed to further promoting safety activities as the leader of this organization and I need the entire company to stay the course, work together and continue their steadfast efforts in safety.”

-Tsutomu Tannowa, President & CEO

Since the day of this incident, Mitsui Chemicals has implemented a wide range of safety activities and expanded the fundamental safety measures throughout the company. Tsutomu Tannowa has asked not only Mitsui Chemicals, but their subsidiaries and affiliates to think carefully about what you must do to ensure safety– as safety is for yourself, for your family, for your colleagues and for society.
Whether you are at home, driving your car, or at work, always keep safety as a top priority. Engraining safety into your daily habits will not only help protect yourself, but your family, friends, coworkers and community. While April 22 is declared “Safety Day” as a reminder of the worst possibly situation that can happen, let’s declare every day a safety day so that and incident like this will never occur again.

 

 

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Why Safety Matters: An Inside Look at How Anderson Development Company Prioritizes Safety

By admin | Published March 30, 2016

Your safety attitude probably dates back to when you were a child. Most of us were taught common safety practices at a young age such as looking both ways before crossing a street or not to play with matches. As adults, we are warned not to smoke, not to be out in the sun too long without sunscreen, use caution when operating tools, etc. Although these rules are common and well known, many of us may forget or ignore them from time to time.

At work, some employees neglect safety rules because they are in a hurry, think accidents won’t happen to them, they are tired, or they are careless and/or complacent. Each time an employee engages in unsafe acts, they are taking on a gamble-betting situation that an accident won’t occur. Here at Anderson Development Company (ADC), we are not willing to gamble our health, our lives, or the potential to cause harm to the community.

Anderson Development Company is an active and responsible member of the community in which we operate. We are committed to the protection of the environment, health, safety, and security of our employees and stakeholders. We will meet or exceed all requirements for compliance with regulations governing the operations of our facilities.

Employees of Anderson Development Company play an important role in ensuring safety in our manufacturing operations. We use training programs to ensure that operators are capable of safely operating equipment. Employees are empowered to shut down their process or take the necessary actions if they recognize an unsafe condition. ADC employs highly trained professionals as well. There are a number of elements involved in our process safety management systems including: planned preventative maintenance, process hazard analysis, pre-startup safety review, and management of change.

Anderson Development Company is committed to providing a safe working environment. ADC maintains an active Safety Committee, which meets to openly review, discuss, and improve our overall employee health and safety performance. In addition, all employees participate in our quality, environmental, health, safety, and security “near miss” reporting program which is communicated throughout our entire company to promote awareness and prevent future incidents. ADC employees also periodically participate in job safety analysis (JSA’s) reviews to identify and assess work place hazards

Anderson Development Company is also committed to ensuring the security of chemicals. This includes meeting all of the requirements of governmental agencies, such as OSHA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, and the American Chemistry Council.

Why is all of this so important to us? It’s pretty simple. Anderson Development Company wants to provide a safe working environment for all employees and send them home in the same condition they came to work in. We want to serve our community in a positive way all while running a global business serving multiple markets and applications in order to make a difference. Creating a climate in our company that is safety focused is the first step in making it all possible.

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Posted in About ADC, Chemicals, Engineering, Safety, Specialty Chemical Company, Toll Manufacturing | 2 Comments

Anderson Development Company and Customer Work Together on Business Solution

By admin | Published February 29, 2016

Case Study Blog (2)

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How Engineering Students Get Real Experience at ADC-Part 2

By admin | Published January 20, 2016

Co-op Spotlight: Savannah Conklin

                Savannah Conklin is currently a junior at the University of Toledo College of Engineering. She is studying to be a Chemical Engineer.

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ADC: Why did you choose to interview and accept a position at ADC?

Savannah: The idea of working at a small company really appealed to me. The fact that ADC has multiple types of products meant that I would learn how to work with a variety of engineering processes instead of specializing in one field. After interviewing with a former engineer from ADC, I knew the employees at ADC would be intelligent and fun to work with.

ADC: What did/do you like most about your co-op experience at ADC?

Savannah: Everyone at ADC was incredibly welcoming and took the time to explain how things worked for me. It was great being able to apply what I’ve learned in classes with real-life     situations. This experience has assured me that I chose a major that I will enjoy for a long time.

ADC: How as ADC prepared you for your future career as an Engineer?

Savannah: Rather than doing intern work such as “getting coffee,” ADC gave me projects that were related to my major. I had to think outside of the box and consider alternatives when something turned out different than expected. Classes teach the chemical and mathematical portions of chemical engineering, but in an actual chemical plant you also have to consider the safety and budgeting sides. ADC provided me with great experience I hope to carry on during my next co-op sessions and into my career.

ADC: What are your plans after college?

Savannah: After College, I hope to move somewhere warm and out of state for a couple of years before settling down near my hometown. Also, it’s on my bucket list to own a Great Dane, which could happen shortly after college.

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How Engineering Students Get Real Experience at ADC-Part 1

By admin | Published December 21, 2015

How Anderson Development’s Co-op Program Began:

Anderson Development Company (ADC) started a full time co-op program in 2007. The program was implemented when a graduate of University of Toledo’s College of Engineering began working as an engineer at ADC. He worked with the placement office at University of Toledo (UT) to establish the partnership with our company.  ADC and UT has worked together ever since, welcoming co-op students year after year.  ADC typically has a full-time engineering student on staff at all times working on various, value-added projects within our facility. Here at ADC, we allow our co-ops to be fully engaged in real life projects and they are an asset to our organization.

How Do We Select Our Co-ops?

Students attending the University of Toledo College of Engineering are required to complete a minimum of 3 co-op assignments in order to graduate. ADC attends a career fair every spring and fall at University of Toledo in order to speak with prospective co-op students and identify candidates we wish to interview. Interviews are scheduled on campus. Once all candidates have been interviewed, ADC decides who they will extend an offer to. University of Toledo is not very far from ADC, which makes it very convenient for students to be able to continue living on campus during their co-op assignments.

What Do We Look For in a Candidate?

Two ADC employees working closely with an Engineering Co-op.

Two ADC employees work closely with an Engineering Co-op.

Since students typically do not have much engineering or technical experience, it is hard to pick a candidate just on their GPA alone. Although it is an important factor, it is not the most important. How a candidate presents themselves at an interview, how much initiative, willingness to learn, and how we think they will fit within our company are also very important aspects. ADC wants to be sure that we pick a candidate that will fit well with our Engineering team so the co-op can get the best experience possible.

 

Check back, when we post part 2 of our blog which includes a spotlight on one of our Engineering Co-ops!

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Ultra High-Performance Elastomers Presentation wins award at Polyurethane Technical Conference

By admin | Published November 25, 2015

 

 An award-winning presentation was given at the 2015 Polyurethane Technical Conference in October by Dr. Stephen Seneker- Senior Scientist at Anderson Development Company of Adrian, MI. The 2015 Polyurethane Technical Conference is hosted annually by the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Center for Polyurethanes Industry (PCI).

The technical paper “Ultra High-Performance Elastomers Based on Trans-Bis(Isocyanatomethyl Cyclohexane), FORTIMO™ was co-authored by Robert Czeizperger-Senior Chemist, Jordan Duckett-Urethane Technical Support Chemist of Anderson Development Company. The article was also co-authored by Satoshi Yamasaki-Director for Specialty Polyurethane Materials, Toshihiki Nakagawa-Researcher, and Daisuke Hasegawa-Researcher, all from Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

The presentation highlighted the next generation of ultra high-performance aliphatic diisocyanates. The polyurethane elastomer systems based on Mitsui’s new aliphatic diisocyanate, trans-bis(isocyanatomethyl cyclohexane) also referred to as Fortimo™ trans-1,4-H6XDI (trans-1,4-hydrogenated xylylene diisocyanate) was introduced. This new aliphatic diisocyanate has a very compact, linear, highly crystalline hard-segment structure which provides ultra high-performance elastomer properties.

Read the Technical paper

For more information on Anderson Development Company’s polyurethanes, please visit our website.

 

Posted in Andur, Polyurethane | 1 Comment

Real Life Experience at Anderson Development Company

By admin | Published July 22, 2015

Do you remember what it was like when you were in high school or college and you were trying to figure out what you wanted to be when you graduated? Do you remember thinking you knew what you wanted to do but just wasn’t sure? This is probably the case with most high school and college students. The only way to really find out if a particular career is something you’re interested in pursuing is to try that career out. One way to do that is through an internship or co-op experience.

Here at Anderson Development Company (ADC), we welcome interns and co-ops to local students or students who attend local College and Universities. Anderson Development Company partners with local colleges to get interns to work as an Engineer Co-op, in our Research and Development Labs, or newly added Environmental Group internship.

Here’s what a couple interns had to say about their current intern experience at ADC:

“I really like the atmosphere at ADC and the people that I work with every day.”-Elizabeth June

Elizabeth June. Adrian College graduate. Intern at Anderson Development Company since 2015.

Elizabeth June testing in the QC lab.

Elizabeth June is interning in our Polyurethane R&D group. She joined ADC in January 2015. She graduated from Adrian College this past spring, majoring in Biochemistry. She originally thought she would go into a medical related field, but her current projects and research here at ADC has really sparked her interest in Chemistry. She thoroughly enjoys the problem solving and research that is involved with the systems she’s working with.

Jeryl Struder, Intern at Anderson Development Company since 2013.

Jeryl Struder checking a reaction in the lab.

“I really enjoy working at ADC because everyone is very open and welcoming here.”-Jeryl Struder

 Jeryl Struder began her work as an intern in the summer of 2013, also for the Polyurethane R&D group. Jeryl is a student at Calvin College, but is working on transferring to a local college, likely Siena Heights University. She is entering her senior year of college and plans to obtain a degree in Chemistry. Upon graduation, Jeryl is hoping to get a job to get some experience and look into going to graduate school to pursue nanotechnology.

Anderson Development Company is committed to our community and making our it a better place to live. Allowing students to come into our facility to learn and gain work experience is just one way that ADC gives back to our community.

If you know someone who is interested in an internship at ADC please contact [email protected]

 

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Better Products Start in Adrian with Anderson Development

By admin | Published July 2, 2015

Anderson Development Company (ADC) is a chemical manufacturing facility that produces specialty and custom chemical products. It is often hard for those in our community to understand exactly what we do here since we don’t make something people see on a store shelf with our name on it.

We actually do a lot of really interesting things here at ADC. Many may not realize that our Almatex® acrylic resin goes to a coating company and then to a wheel company and then to the auto makers. Most likely when a person buys a new car, the resin on the wheels probably came from ADC.

Our Almabor® products go into a wide variety of applications such as pharmaceutical drugs or silly putty! We also make products that make tougher roller coaster wheels, and ketchup or sauce bottles to keep the contents fresh. ADC also has a new opportunity on the horizon making products that is used to make a specialty ink for flexible packaging such as potato chip bags.

Even though our name not be on the shelf in your favorite grocery store, or on a billboard somewhere…our products are making other products better all around the world! Better products start in Adrian with Anderson Development Company!

 

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