Levy’s features on the cover of Modern Machine Shop magazine
The March 2021 edition of Modern Machine Shop focuses on Levy’s Machine Works continuous improvement culture, methodology and process.
To read about some of the recent projects and focus on continually striving to improve that have helped make the company what it is today click on the below link:
https://modernmachineshop.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?m=59264&i=694354&p=80
Levy’s Celebrates 40 Years
It was in August 40 years ago in 1980 that Calgary-based Levy’s Machine Works was founded by two machinists intent on making a contribution to the oil sector, which was then booming following the 1979 oil crisis driving output down and prices higher the year before.
It was only shortly after, however, that Levy’s originators found themselves having to get creative with generating income through any means of work, following the introduction of the tough and rigid national energy program (NEP) by then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, which slapped additional taxes on oil.
Since then and over its 40-year history Levy’s has had to withstand its fair share of ups and downs as the industry went through periodic downturn. Each time, however, the business endured and emerged from each challenge wiser and stronger. It’s fair to say that the ability to cope with adversity and make good decisions around changing situations has become one of the cornerstones of Levy’s success – the others being it’s reputation for quality, customer service and generally being able to get the job done.
Four decades on and the business finds itself navigating its way through a new and very different crisis: That of a global pandemic, not to mention its negative impact on industry and the economy in general. But, as always, Levy’s continues to push on through, remaining operational, providing the same high-end machining service and fulfilling customer needs.
If you have a requirement for precision machined parts then Levy’s Machine Works is happy to help. Please contact either 403 279 2010 or info@levysmachineworks.com.
Business Development Manager wanted
Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. is looking for an experienced and highly motivated Business Development Manager to drive new business and contribute to further growth. If you have a strong background in component machining, manufacturing or engineering, and previous experience in technical sales and generating new business, we’d like to hear from you. Please send a cover letter and resume to Richard Burton – General Manager: richard.burton@levysmachineworks.com
Levy’s pleased to contribute to hero’s homecoming
Calgary-based machine shop Levy’s Machine Works Ltd recently had the opportunity to contribute toward the newly renovated home of Humbolt Broncos player Ryan Straschnitzki who was paralyzed from the chest down in the 2018 crash in which 16 people died.
Levy’s manufactured three Hockey Canada plates that were mounted onto sports lockers that were set up in the home in Airdrie, which Ryan has now been able to return to with his family following a series of renovations during the past year to make it accessible.
As well as being more accessible and giving Ryan more independence, the renovated home now also includes hockey memorabilia, a big-screen TV and sound system, and an elevator down to his new man cave in the basement. Ryan’s father Tom said Ryan’s smile has only been this bright once before since the accident and that was when he first got back on the ice last July to take up his new sport of sledge hockey.
After being contacted by one of the contractors involved with the renovation project, Levy’s CNC machined the plates out of raw aluminum, which were then anodized and hand-painted before being installed on the lockers.
Instrumental Success
The ISA-SAIT World Student Games provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge in practical instrumentation scenario, afford students the opportunity to meet, network and collaborate with other individuals in their field and, of course, enables them to have some fun.
Levy’s Machine Works was proud to sponsor the 7th annual event, held in March at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary, by manufacturing and providing the winners medals.
The student games were attended by students from some 16 different educational institutions from around the globe, including colleges in Spain, Ireland, India, the U.S. and, of course, various provinces in Canada. The event is not an inter-school competition but rather a team event with each team comprising one SAIT student and three students from various other institutions.
Over the three-day period each team completed six challenges intended to test students on various principles of instrumentation and included aspects such as analyzers, device maintenance, distributed control systems and loop tuning.
Each challenge was three hours long with several challenges being split into four smaller subtasks and the teams rotating around these stations over the three-hour period. Teams were marked based on their technical prowess, teamwork/communication, and ability to fulfill the challenge’s goal, with the most successful picking up the gold, silver and bronze medals courtesy of Levy’s.
Larger Turning Capacity
Levy’s recently increased it’s turning capacity with the addition of a Mazak Slant Turn 550 machining center.
With a through spindle bore diameter of 10.5 inches” and a programmable steady rest, this powerful, high torque, heavy duty addition allows parts up to 36 inches in diameter and 120 inches long to be machined.
Moreover, the 45kw (30min/rating) spindle power and 7000 Nm of torque helps optimize machining times, particularly roughing.
If you have a requirement for large parts turning please don’t hesitate to call Levy’s. (Phone 403 279 2010 or e-mail: info@levysmachineworks.com)
Continuing to Meet the Standard
Calgary-based precision machining and manufacturing company Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. recently passed its annual ISO 9001 surveillance audit with flying colours, not to mention zero non-conformances. In doing so the Calgary-based precision machining and manufacturing company also transitioned to the most recent version of the international standard, ISO 9001:2015.
As well as demonstrating its ability to follow the guidelines of the ISO 9001 standard, theonce again proved Levy’s ability to successfully meet customer requirements as well as all statutory and regulatory requirements.
Continual improvement, product quality and customer satisfaction have always been the focus for the 37th year old business, and this international standard serves to further reinforce its reputation as an outstanding supplier of precision machined components.
The Benefits of Involvement – Employee-administered mini-audits
Getting all employees to buy into and develop the same level of knowledge and understanding of a company-wide system, process or initiative is a challenge at the best of times, no matter how conscientious and dedicated they may be.
Nonetheless, it is absolutely essential to ensure that a system is being used properly to fully serve its purpose and that all processes and procedures are continually evaluated and improved. This applies without exception to a business’s quality management system (QMS).
But how do you regularly evaluate without slowing the process or incurring many hours of downtime – time and cost which can smaller business in particular can often ill-afford? Training during implementation usually ensures that processes are followed and correct documentation completed at the outset but over time steps may be inadvertently missed or corners cut. Dedicated staff overseeing proper use, monitoring and correction may address this but is often another overhead smaller businesses can’t justify. Alternatively, bi-annual or even annual audits will identify and correct any issues but by the time this happens any accumulation of neglect or misuse can result in a whole whack of additional work to get things back on track.
One answer is mini-audits. Not full audits conducted every few months by a specific manager or quality lead, however, but impromptu, on-the-spot checks carried out at least monthly …and by employees chosen at random, regardless of their role. Why? As Benjamin Franklin said: “Tellme and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Indeed, the benefit of getting more employees involved includes each individual gaining personal knowledge through first-hand experience of the processes, regardless of whether they use them regularly or not. This in turn provides them with a better insight into how all processes and procedures interrelate and interact within the company-wide system, as well as an appreciation of how the business operates overall. Furthermore, it helps them to become more engaged and comfortable with taking on a bit more responsibility. And, with regard to cost to the business, this is relatively insignificant as these mini-audits can generally be completed within an hour or less.
Calgary-based precision machining business Levy’s Machine Works began to conduct employee administered mini-audits recently, following its implementation of a new quality management system and successfully obtained ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2015.
As a QMS had been in place at Levy’s for many years prior to obtaining the certification most employees were already reasonably used to working with processes such as part inspections, non-conformance reporting, formal job routings and shipping/receiving procedures. That said, more stringent processes and procedures were developed to meet the standard, which in turn meant further instruction on how they worked and were to be followed. How and why the QMS needed to meet the ISO standard was also a focus as was its importance to the business overall.
Once in place it was obvious that the QMS and the way in which employees worked within it needed to be continually evaluated and maintained to remain effective. So, the objective of the employee-administered mini-audits was to keep the business ‘fighting fit’ in terms of being able to pass the most stringent of external audits or customer inspections at any time.
One key benefit of having different employees involved as opposed to just, say, the quality lead is that a fresh pair of eyes is often more likely to see problems that the same pair of eyes may miss. It also helps provide a more ‘level playing field’ in terms of everyone audited and everyone being scrutinized, rather than one person doing the policing and everyone else being policed. In fact, with everyone having the chance to audit as well as be audited a it also creates an opportunity for some healthy competition, with the auditors keen to find room for improvement while the auditees not wanting to be picked up on doing anything less than a thorough job.
To properly get the employees’ ‘buy in’ though the task had to be made as easy and not at all daunting, particularly as it involved auditing processes with which they were otherwise unfamiliar. So, information from the initial QMS training presentation on the processes in use and the types of things to remember were used to create a checklist that would verify that processes were being followed, documentation completed and records kept. Simple questions were written alongside each of the ‘fail’/’pass’ checkboxes so that even the most laymen auditors could question those using process within each functional area. Ultimately this enables the auditor to determine whether the process was being followed and allows them to see first-hand how that aspect of a process worked as the auditee must provide an example of correct use.
Prior to each mini-audit the selected employee is fully briefed on what to do and why it is important. In addition to the checklist and a clipboard, mini-auditors are also given the ‘Auditor’ hard hat and badge so everyone can see that they have been tasked with conducting a mini-audit audit and therefore provide them with the responses and information they require. However, no advance warning is given to other employees as these inspections have to be impromptu to properly assess what is being done in the everyday situation. Also, every area, every process and every employee is subject to scrutiny, from the production staff and shop floor through to the management and main offices.
Like any initiative that may involve employees working outside of their core area (or comfort zone) there was the risk that many may be reluctant to take part and half-hearted execution would provide only mixed results but Levy’s experience with the mini-audits so far has been extremely positive. Each employee chosen to undertake an audit has thoroughly enjoyed the experience, with any initial reluctance turning to enthusiasm as they gained a better insight and understanding of how each of the QMS processes interrelate and interact. Improved understanding and appreciation for how the business operates seems to have made them a more integral part of the business as a result, their viewed responsibility now extending beyond just their ‘job. Moreover, the mini-audits serve their purpose with resounding success, with occasional missed steps or incomplete documentation being identified and reminders issued to prevent further occurrences.
In conclusion, the quality management system at Levy’s and all of its processes and procedures will remain in great shape because of its employees and their regular checks. Also, every employee having conducted a mini-audit goes on to make it their business to ensure they properly follow the processes and complete documentation going forward ….even if it’s just to make life a little harder for the next mini-auditor!
Levy’s Receives International Quality Standard Certification
As part of an ongoing commitment to quality and the continual improvement of its service to its customers Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. is pleased to announce that it has successfully met all the criteria for registration to the international standard ISO9001:2008.
Moreover, successful completion of the implementation process and both Stage 1 and Stage 2 certification audits was completed months ahead of the original schedule with only positive observations and zero non-conformances or noted opportunities for improvement. This is testament to the already robust quality management system in place at Levy’s as well as the efforts of all employees at the company who have made customer requirements an absolute priority in terms of quality and delivery over the past few decades.
This milestone in Levy’s successful 35 year history will ensure the continued focus on internal performance, overall quality and customer satisfaction, and is key to providing customers with a precision machining and manufacturing service that is second to none for many years to come.
To view Levy’s ISO9001:2008 certificate click: Levy’s ISO90012008 cert
To find out more about what Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. can do for you go to www.levysmachineworks.com or watch the short video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrAqmnrJ7o
Successfully Holding the Helm for 35 Years
The pressures currently being felt by businesses, particularly machine shops, serving Alberta’s oil patch are nothing new to Calgary-based Levy’s Machine Works. Indeed, shortly after the business was founded, 35 years ago this year, Canada’s government announced the National Energy Program. The program sought to guarantee the supply and price of Canadian natural gas and oil, to increase Canadian ownership and control of the petroleum industry, and to gain a greater share of energy revenues.The outcome at the time was high unemployment, double digit interest rates and inflation.
However, increased efforts and creative thinking back then enabled Levy’s to weather that particular storm and the experience gained in such difficult times, and the resulting ability to focus on what’s really important, has stood the company in good stead ever since.
Over the past three and half decades the business has grown to become a full service machine shop and precision components business that can provide everything from prototypes through production runs, to assemblies, engineering design and fully integrated manufacturing solutions. Moreover, Levy’s has earned a reputation among its customers for an unrivalled level of customer service and its ability to regularly take on the type of complex and challenging jobs other shops tend to shy away from.
Today though, as many in Alberta’s oil and gas sector work to stay alive and thrive, Levy’s Machine Works is more firmly focused than ever on continually improving its ability to provide a cost-effective, efficient and quality service to its many customers. More than ever, the business recognizes the importance of contributing to its customers’ success in also surviving these turbulent times by fully understanding their requirement and offering an uncompromising attention to cost, quality and delivery. The philosophy being ‘we are all in this boat together’.
This is what differentiates Levy’s from other machine shops: not just the high level of skills and manufacturing technologies employed, or even the unique attention to detail and quality. But the ability to step up to serve the long term interests of its customers in the most challenging of times, not just when things are good. …after all, anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
To learn more about what Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. can do for you go to www.levysmachineworks.com
Or watch the short video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrAqmnrJ7o