Rath Manufacturing Company and Air ProductsOur work together

Located in Wisconsin’s dairy country is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of specialty tubing products. Whether it’s sanitary tubing to process milk, high-purity tubing to manufacture children’s cough syrup, or tubing for the chemical, pharmaceutical, or other industrial process companies, the Rath Manufacturing Company provides customers worldwide with welded tubing that meets the most demanding customer specifications.

The story begins in 1952 when the Rath family opened a stainless steel fabrication shop in Janesville, Wisconsin to service the local dairy industry. Over the years, the company focused its expertise on producing welded tubing products. Eventually, they developed an exclusive Micro-Weld™ technology, making it possible to apply welded tubing where seamless and other more expensive types of tubing were traditionally used.

“We’ve always worked to set the standard for service, quality, and innovation in our industry,” says Frank R. Fenton, Rath Manufacturing President and CEO. “We make it a point to know our customers, understand their markets, and understand what is important to them.”

Manufacturing for Performance

Today, Rath Manufacturing ships its unique welded stainless steel, duplex alloy, and nickel tubing around the world. The tubing is manufactured in 16 tubing mills, designed and built by Rath employees.

Manufacture begins with coiled metal strips that are unwound and fed into roll-forming equipment that curves both sides of the strip upward to form a tube. Depending on the metal, the sides are then welded together using laser welding, TIG welding, or plasma arc welding.

To make sure that the weld “bead” that forms the seam is completely blended with the metal, Rath uses either a hammer forging or bead rolling process to mechanically smooth the surface. According to Carl Kettermann, Rath Manufacturing’s Technical Coordinator, “Our seams are almost undetectable to the human eye.”

Headquartered in Janesville, Wisconsin, Rath Manufacturing produces welded tubing that competes with seamless tubing.

In the next step, the tubes are heat-treated at temperatures up to 2220°F in annealing furnaces filled with a hydrogen atmosphere and then quenched. This step gives the tubes a clean, bright, oxide-free surface and creates the desired micro-structure and mechanical properties for the final application.

Sizing, straightening, testing, cutting, finishing, inspecting, and packaging steps complete the process. “The finishing step for internal surfaces is critical for high-purity applications,” explains Carl Kettermann. “Bacteria, foreign particles, and other contaminants can hide in any roughness on the internal surface.” Depending on the purity required, Rath either mechanically polishes or electropolishes the internal surface. Then they clean the tubing in a Class 100 cleanroom and purge it using 99.9999% pure electronics grade nitrogen.

Keeping the Process Rolling

When you’re committed to setting the standard in customer service, you cannot afford any type of shutdown, including those due to a disruption in raw material supply. According to Monty Kuxhaus, Rath’s Operations Manager, “Industrial gases are essential to our process. We use helium and argon for welding, hydrogen for annealing, and high-purity nitrogen for packaging. Any interruption in supply of any of those gases could shut us down, hurt our relationship with our customers, and ultimately affect our bottom line.”

That’s why Rath contacted Air Products. “When possible, I like to do business with the leading company in the industry,” says Frank Fenton. “We were looking for a more personal relationship with our industrial gas supplier. We needed someone who could be there when any problems might arise.”

Brian Sontchi, Air Products’ Account Manager for the Wisconsin region, remembers the call. “Carl Kettermann called us for some information about hydrogen and helium supply. Rath was looking for a best-in-class gas supplier and invited us to discuss their industrial gas needs.”

Building Relationships Based on Understanding

Air Products’ approach to doing business is based on understanding customer needs first, then providing a solution. Brian Sontchi explains, “At our first meeting with a prospective customer, our main purpose is to listen—we want to make sure we really understand their business and their needs.”

After talking to the management team, Air Products quickly discovered that Rath was looking for a supplier who would treat them with the same level of integrity and service they give to their own customers. “It became clear to us that Rath was looking for a relationship built on trust—one that could last a long time,” recalls Dan Stewart, the Air Products business manager who assisted with the initial assessment.

The Air Products team knew they could provide Rath with the service and trust-ing relationship they wanted. They invited Rath to Air Products’ headquarters near Allentown, Pennsylvania to see firsthand the company’s unique approach to cus-tomer service and its state-of-the-art logistics operation.

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“After that visit, I could tell that Air Products was interested in more than just selling molecules,” says Carl Kettermann. “The people we talked to showed us that Air Products has a long-term commitment to providing service, which to me is the most important part of a customer relationship.”

Convinced that Air Products could meet its needs, Rath switched its industrial gas supply in 2002.

A Unique Approach to Customer Service

To provide the personal service Rath needed, Air Products dedicated a team to manage the account, consisting of Brian Sontchi as Account Manager, Mark Lanham as Technology Manager, Diane Snyder as Customer Service Account Coordinator, and Bruce Lamb as Project Engineering Manager.

The main contact for Rath is Diane Snyder. “My role as Account Coordinator is to be available around the clock,” explains Diane. “I directly handle any questions or requests related to billing and delivery. I forward technical and maintenance issues to other members of our team, but then monitor the situation until it is fully addressed from Rath’s point of view.”

One of Diane’s main roles is making sure that deliveries are on time. Diane explains, “Because we continuously monitor Rath’s inventory levels through our remote telemetry system, we often know of an impending problem or issue with the gas supply before the plant does. I also contact Rath each week regarding any changes in their production schedules. That way we’re not forced into a reactive mode to provide extra product. Throughout, I work as a team with our schedulers, engineers, technicians, and drivers.”

Carl Kettermann has nothing but praise for Diane’s professionalism and attention to detail. “We know when we need something, all we have to do is call Diane. She is absolutely instrumental to the good relationship we’ve developed with Air Products. We’ve never had anything like this in the past.”

4According to Air Products Account Manager Brian Sontchi, Rath was looking for a supplier who would treat them with the same level of integrity and service they give to their own customers.

“I know how important communication is to Rath. My job is to be here when they call.”

Diane SnyderAccount CoordinatorAir Products

Engineering for Improvement

Also working closely with Rath is Bruce Lamb, who manages the gas supply system at their site. One of his first challenges was the installation of temporary gas storage so there would be no interruption to production while the tanks from the previous supplier were removed and new tanks were installed.

In addition, Bruce installed an on-site purification system at Rath to transform standard liquid nitrogen into the high-purity product required for packaging its ultra-high-purity tubing. This avoided the need to purchase electronic grade nitrogen.

Bruce’s team also helped address Rath’s concern that they had been paying for more gas than they used with their previous supplier. Gas leaks in underground supply lines were discovered and corrected, helping Rath save several thousands of dollars.

“Bruce and his team have been phenomenal. Bruce took on tasks that I normally did, and his attention to detail was priceless. He stayed with each project until it was completed correctly,” says Carl Kettermann.

As the relationship with Rath has evolved, Air Products engineers are helping in other ways. For example, Mark Lanham will help Rath install Air Products’ PURIFIRE® data acquisition and process monitoring (DAPM) system, which will allow real-time monitoring of several key processing parameters, with the potential to improve product quality and consistency.

6Rath finishes its high-purity tubing in a Class 100 cleanroom. Air Products installed an on-site purification system to produce electronic grade nitrogen for purging.

Air Products Technology Manager Mark Lanham will help Rath install a PURIFIRE® DAPM real-time process monitoring system.

“I’ve never had a vendor ask me what I wanted or needed. Air Products is saving me over two hours per month.”

Jennifer KuzelkaAccounting ManagerRath Manufacturing

Mark Lanham has also identified other opportunities for process improvement and control, including a “profile” of Rath’s annealing furnace that could reduce hydrogen consumption by 5 to 10 percent and a sampling system for dew point monitoring and alarming.

Rath has also been able to benefit from Air Products’ expertise as the safety leader in the industrial gas industry for four years running. For example, during installation of Rath’s industrial gas storage tanks, Bruce Lamb moved the hydrogen tanks to a new location to bring them into compliance with fire codes. Bruce also trained Rath personnel and the local fire department in safe handling of industrial gases.

Convenient Payment Plan

“I’ve never had a vendor ask the Accounting Department what they wanted or needed,” jokes Jennifer Kuzelka, Rath Manufacturing Accounting Manager. To help Rath budget their gas costs, Air Products arranged to send Rath a single monthly invoice. Jennifer estimates this streamlined accounting has saved her over two hours per month. It also saves Air Products time and money.

In addition, Rath can access both its delivery and billing information on demand through the Air Products Direct (APDirectSM) customer portal. This Web-based system allows Rath to view usage data and retrieve delivery reports. The system is similar to Rath’s online service, Preferred Link, which allows registered customers to download test reports and check their order status and history.

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Delivering the Difference

Air Products and Rath Manufacturing have been working together since 2002. Every three months the teams get together to evaluate Air Products’ performance and determine the direction of the relationship for the next three months.

What’s the score? So far the on-time delivery rate for all products has been 100 percent. Diane Snyder has logged over 300 points of communication between the two companies. Air Products has helped save Rath thousands of dollars in lost product costs, and new cost-saving projects are planned for the next three months.

But more importantly, a deep level of trust has evolved between the two firms. Frank Fenton sums up the experience: “There’s a saying that goes ‘tell me who you associate with and I’ll tell you who you are.’ Air Products’ service has been top- notch—from the drivers to the technicians, they’ve delivered the difference. This relationship is helping us meet our commitment to be the highest-quality supplier of products and services to our customers.”

“Air Products listened to us well and delivered on all its commitments.”

Carl KettermannTechnical CoordinatorRath Manufacturing

Air Products would like to thank the following people at the Rath Manufacturing Company for their assistance in preparing this case study:

Frank R. Fenton, President and CEOCarl Kettermann, Technical Coordinator Jennifer Kuzelka, Accounting ManagerMonty Kuxhaus, Operations Manager

tell me morewww.airproducts.com

© Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., 2003 (23499) 330-03-001-GLB-Jun04

For More InformationIf you would like more information, write or call Air Products at the locations below, or visit our website.

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If you would like more information about Rath Manufacturing Company, Inc., contact them at:

Rath Manufacturing Co., Inc.2505 Foster AvenueJanesville, WI 53545Tel 800-367-7284Fax 608-754-0889www.rathmfg.com