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.
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.
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
Business Longevity – more important now than ever!
It’s no secret that startup businesses often struggle. In fact, more than half generally fold within three years, while 75 percent are not usually expected to last five years. Longevity therefore can probably be taken as a reasonable benchmark of success and proof that a business is viable and well managed.
But what of OEMs and primes choosing a precision metal parts manufacturer? Do they regard longevity as important, along with other benchmark criteria, such as quality, delivery and price?
A recent feature article in Canadian Metalworking magazine covered just this topic and made the point that there are a number of significant reasons why longevity should be as much of a consideration for OEMs as the other aspects of a prospective machined parts provider’s business. The argument should be truer still in a climate when some machine shops are struggling to stay afloat or going out of business, as is happening now in Western Canada as a result of the low price of oil and downturn in oil patch work. Indeed, anyone outsourcing precision components manufacture would be amiss if they didn’t consider the stability of the business they were to be reliant upon to contribute to their own success.
Calgary-based Levy’s Machine Works Ltd. is an ideal case in point when it comes to having been around for some time – three and half decades in fact – as well as successfully weathering industry downturns and recessions. Even in the current challenging industry climate, Levy’s is proving that it is able to fare better than most and so represents a stable and reliable source of precision component supply.
But what sets such businesses apart from those that do inevitably fall by the wayside? If you were to take a detailed look at each you’d spot some common values, qualities and traits:
- Good people: All successful and stable businesses value people. Invariably they hire highly skilled, enthusiastic and dedicated people that reflect the businesses’ core values
- Strong management: The positive attitude, progressive approach and sound decision-making of management is critical to the long term success of a business
- An appreciation of technology: Keeping track of and investing in appropriate technologies, along with the skills required to leverage them, is paramount
- The ability to adapt to the market: Whether it is positioning the business to capitalize on opportunity, accommodating requirements such as cost reduction during difficult periods or choosing when to diversify or specialize, a business has to be able to do what’s required to survive and thrive
- A laser-like focus on the level of service: A no compromise approach to quality, delivery and customer service should be part of the culture for any business expecting any reciprocal commitment from their customers
Anyone already familiar with the business will know that all of the above have been the cornerstones of Levy’s success over the past 35 years. More importantly they remain the absolute focus as the business moves forward, ensuring continuity in the level of service for all of its existing customers and offering a new source of uncompromised service for high quality, precision machine parts to those it has yet to do business with.
…Not that means there isn’t always room to improve, of course. In order to further safeguard the business’s future an additional focus on more internal efficiency and enhancements to its quality management system will be keeping Levy’s busy over the coming months.