National Gypsum facility earns Best Plants honor

IndustryWeek magazine has selected National Gypsum Company’s wallboard production plant in Wilmington, N.C., as one of the 10 Best Plants in North America.

National Gypsum’s Wilmington Plant was one of nearly 200 facilities nominated for the award. The magazine began its Best Plants Award Program 17 years ago as a salute to outstanding manufacturing facilities demonstrating world-class capabilities and a management mind-set of continuous improvement.

“This award validates our company’s focus on manufacturing excellence,” said National Gypsum CEO Thomas C. Nelson. “The Wilmington Plant has been in production for nearly 30 years, yet, as this award indicates, it is among the best in the nation. We are very proud of our associates at Wilmington who have developed an esprit de corps which has resulted in an insatiable appetite for excellence. They have turned this plant around and the IndustryWeek recognition is a fitting reward for their hard work.”

The Wilmington Plant produces gypsum wallboard from rock mined at National Gypsum’s Halifax, Nova Scotia, quarry. The rock is shipped by ocean carrier to the plant’s dock. It is crushed and the resulting stucco is combined with other additives and water and placed on a continuous sheet of paper. A second sheet of paper placed on top sandwiches the stucco to form the wallboard.

To compete for the IndustryWeek award, the plant completed a comprehensive entry covering management practices, quality, employment practices, safety, customer service, innovation, logistics, technology investment, manufacturing flexibility, maintenance, inventory management, environmental stewardship and competitiveness.

Productivity and quality improvements over the past three years have been exceptional as well as special projects to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs.

“We are now producing wallboard at about 215 feet per minute,” said plant manager Steve LePage. “That is more than 30 feet faster than in 2003. Our quality is measured by our customers and by a third-party auditing team. Three years ago, our plant scored 600 on the audit and customers were rejecting our board. Last year, we scored 920, close to a perfect 1,000. Our goal is simple – to be the best.”