Fabricating for the Future

Posted on July 30, 2014 by TP Mechanical

Presented by TP Mechanical | Provided by Dan Holland

Over the years, I have been blessed to be a part of a growing trend within our industry and I am very passionate about it. I’m talking about Fabrication.

Fabrication was around long before my time. TP Mechanical has done fabrication of sorts for many years, and I remember my first experience with it when I was working in the field. In 1998, I was working on a school with a lot of plumbing piping located in masonry walls. I was still learning about different material types and installations at the time, but we fabricated all of the piping on the job-site before installing it in the block walls.

There were different masonry crews scattered across the job site, and they were laying up different wall sections every day. We had to work hard to stay right with them to make sure all of our piping made it within the walls.

Our job superintendent devised a plan to make it easier for us to stay ahead. He worked late every day and made hand sketches of the piping that was located within the walls and provided the drawings and material necessary to make it happen. He split our job site into two crews: one crew was in charge of fabricating the piping sections and the other was in charge of installing them. I was selected for the fabrication team. We set up our shop within a material trailer located on site. By doing this we could work rain or shine to stay ahead of the install team and the masonry contractor.

We continued this process throughout the job and the project was very successful. That was 16 years ago this June. That project has always been part of me throughout my career. I have been fortunate enough to be on many job-sites and facilities across the country and even traveled to Europe to evaluate and learn fabrication techniques. I can honestly say that no one does it better than TP Mechanical.

TP Mechanical’s leadership saw the growing need for fabrication in our industry early on. They went full steam ahead to make the investment in a state-of-the-art fabrication facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. Out of this facility, TP Mechanical provides all fabrication needed for its job-sites as well as for outside customers. We build Plumbing, HVAC, Fire Protection and Medical Gas systems of all sorts. We have even established remote fabrication facilities near construction sites to improve speed and efficiency.

The culture at TP Mechanical has grown to welcome fabrication at all levels because our teams see the benefits for the projects, our customers and the industry alike.

With fabrication TP Mechanical can provide products just-in-time to the projects. We utilize a safe work environment and shave days, weeks or even months off of construction schedules. Everyone benefits from Fabrication. Properly planned fabrication can reduce safety hazard exposure on the job-site, keep unwanted materials off of the job-site, reduce waste from construction landfills, improve construction logistics and reduce installation time, therefore enhancing construction schedules.

I am proud to be a part of the Fabrication workforce at TP Mechanical because we care about our customers and we are making a difference in our industry. Fabrication has been around for a while, but it is quickly evolving into a bright future. What are you fabricating?

Every Employee a Brand Steward

Posted on January 23, 2014 by TP Mechanical

Every Employee a Brand Steward | By: Nicole Applegate

Every job at TP Mechanical is important. I am the receptionist and office assistant for TP Mechanical’s Columbus office. While I understand that I am not the most important cog in the TP wheel, I am, undoubtedly, a vital player to the team.

It is my responsibility to make each person who walks through that door or calls on the phone feel welcome and appreciated. I always smile, acknowledge people, and do anything I can to help the individual accomplish his or her goal. I am cordial and conversational with those who need to wait in the lobby for their contact to meet them. I also never, ever speak negatively about an employee with outsiders, regardless of what they might say. I always try to display my fellow coworkers in a positive light.

It’s also my responsibility to ensure that the front lobby area be as neat and orderly as possible. We have a cleaning crew, but I occasionally follow up after them to deep clean the front areas and guarantee there is nothing to cause someone to have a negative impression of our company’s appearance. Some of these things include dusting the ceiling, corners, lamp, plants and under the trophy case. Straightening the chairs, scrubbing scuffs off the walls and cleaning fingerprints from around light switches, the alarm, and door knobs.

Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big difference. I keep a stocked candy machine to provide sweets to help brighten people’s day. It is truly amazing how just a little treat can bring a smile to someone’s face when they are feeling stressed.

We also shouldn’t downplay the importance of maintaining accurate paperwork. Part of my job is to assist around the office and alleviate a fellow coworker’s load whenever I can. Maintaining and ordering supplies is also an important part of my job. I believe this attributes to an improved productivity – making sure people have what they need when they need it.

All of this adds up. I, like all employees at TP Mechanical, am an important participant in delivering excellence to our customers. I serve TP Mechanical’s customers, vendors and my fellow coworkers. That recognition helps me stay focused on how important all of these tasks are. I work to ensure that every impression I give of TP Mechanical is a positive one. So whether someone works with us for 20 years or calls into the office only once, I can be confident we’ve done our best to serve them.

Safety first. We don’t just say it, we live it.

Posted on December 2, 2013 by TP Mechanical

At TP Mechanical, from CEOs to project managers, from site supervisors to office staff, every TP Mechanical team member devotes time, energy and heart to our company’s promise to send everyone home to their families every single night. We do this by going above and beyond the standard requirements to create not just a safety program, but a safety culture.

While our track record speaks for itself, the thing that truly sets us apart within the industry is our Experience Modification Rate (EMR). The EMR is computed by comparing a company’s annual losses in insurance claims against its policy premiums over a three-year period. The industry standard hovers around an EMR of 1.0. So where does TP Mechanical rate on this scale?

Glad you asked… TP Mechanical boasts an EMR rating of 0.56. By truly committing our operation to safety protocols, our clients enjoy substantial financial savings when it comes to insurance-related costs. It’s like car insurance – safer drivers who have fewer accidents pay less. Through our team member’s combined efforts in job safety, they aren’t just saving TP Mechanical money; they are actively involved in helping the company make money.

“Twenty percent of workers’ compensation claims account for eighty percent of what insurance companies pay out,” states Larry Melocik of Melocik & Company, a workers’ compensation consultant. As a self-insured company, TP Mechanical has to ensure that everyone is on-board.

We are proud of our employees for ingraining TP Mechanical’s first core value of “Safety First, Always First.” Our employees have earned a number of awards for their efforts, including:

AGC Safety Award | State of Ohio Specialty Division for Contractors working 500,001 – 700,000 Hours Annually
AGC National 2^nd place Award in the Special Division
BX Ohio Safety Achievement Award
OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP)
TP Mechanical surpassed 2.8 million man hours worked without a lost-time accident, as of November 29, 2013

Celebrating 60 Years – TP Mechanical A Home Away from Home!

Posted on October 15, 2013November 1, 2013 by TP Mechanical

TP Mechanical:

A Home Away from Home

for Jerry Welte

These days a company that treats its employees like family is hard to find. That’s why when Jerry Welte, a shareholder and the lead Cincinnati estimator, began with TP Mechanical 28 years ago, he knew he’d found something special. Jerry remembers how Bill Teepe set the tone on the jobsite by stopping by and making it a point to talk to every person on the job. His brief visits infused the atmosphere with positive energy and established company expectations that people conduct themselves in a friendly and respectful manner. Jerry experienced TP Mechanical teamwork at its finest when he worked as the project manager on the Boonshoft Hospital project in Dayton early in his career. For that project, offices in Cincinnati and Columbus collaborated. Jerry was working for the Cincinnati office, the superintendent was in Columbus, and the workforce hailed from both cities. “The project was a true testament to teamwork and sharing resources,” Jerry says. TP Mechanical was founded on strong core values and the powerful bonds of a family-owned and operated company. As we’ve grown beyond the Teepe family to become a company of more than 300 employees, the importance of sincerity, trust and of investing in the safety and well-being of others are still the hallmarks of everything we do. Jerry believes, “A company with such a strong bond among employees can succeed on any project and overcome any adversity.” One such example stands out in Jerry’s mind as his favorite memory of working with TP Mechanical — when employees banded together to purchase the company back from AMPAM and restored itself as a family-owned and operated independent contracting company. “TP Mechanical is my home away from home,” Jerry says. “I’ve developed many strong relationships…this group of people has been there for me in tough times, have taught me all I know in the industry, and have helped me grow as a person. You just don’t leave that type of company.”