Congratulations to the team at McWane Plant & Industrial (MPI) – Calera for officially completing the process of becoming a licensed P-401 coater. This major milestone brings the entire coating process in-house, an achievement that promises to elevate product quality, accelerate delivery timelines and improve profit margins.
P-401 is a coating applied to the interior of pipe and fittings for sewer applications. The licensing process requires training, process validation and compliance with industry standards. MPI – Calera passed the initial audit in May, and have work diligently over the past few months to finalize training, fine-tune processes and prepare equipment to meet full operational readiness.
As the first facility to become a licensed coater for fittings, they received a lot of assistance from team members at McWane Ductile – Ohio (MDO), a certified coater of ductile iron pipe. Special thanks to MDO Operations Manager Heather Rainwater for teaching their process and helping to translate the operation process to fittings.
Another special thanks to MPI – Calera Industrial Painter Holly Tucker who has been instrumental in the start-up and training and Manufacturing Process Engineer Kameron Neal has also been a big part of the success.
“Demand is higher than expected. We have added three new team members and capital equipment to keep up with the increased demand.” MPI – Calera Manufacturing Engineer Adam Sims.
Bringing coating in-house not only benefits our current product lines but also positions MPI to pursue new business opportunities and offer greater value to their customers. It’s another step forward in McWane's ongoing commitment to operational excellence and innovation.
Please join us in celebrating this accomplishment and in thanking everyone who played a role in making it happen!