BEblog

Along with our Spring loaded RTD’s, spring has definitely busted out and summer is in full swing.  The smell of fresh cut grass,  sun glasses, shade, all the wonders mother nature has to offer.  Sprinkle in a storm or 2 and some humidity and there’s no doubt summer in Minnesota has arived.

Back in the throws of spring, the Fun Committee at Burns thought we should bring a little GREEN inside.  So given a small cup, a handful of dirt and a pinch of seeds, a little contest began to see who could care for and grow the biggest plant……Needless to say the results are varied.……………….

The winner were crowned at our summer picnic today.  I’ll announce the winners next week….  May the greenest thumb win!

By the way, we are also breathing a little more life into our internal recycling program to promote awareness and better recycling throughout the organization.  More on that and other environmentally conscious efforts in a future post.………………………………………

What creative activities is your organization doing to serve Mother Earth?  Click the Comment button above and share…

Thanks

Chuck

The best things come in small packages.  I’ve heard that phrase many times.  Recently the engineering team at Burns has been working on a stealth project to evaluate material and process approaches for the purpose of; mini, tiny, micro and just little RTD’s.  We code named the project SLIM and gave it a mascot….

We discovered some interesting materials and process options, and broke a few assumptions and perceived constraints.  Then, in the design mode, applied these ideas and created a few new RTD’s for various applications throughout the BioPharma, Food & Beverage, PetroChem and Ethanol industries.  These little RTD’s play a role in Bearing temperature monitoring, product transit condition monitoring and various surface sensing and tight locations where addition temperature profile and awareness is important to the process.

The team had a blast think beyond the rules, historical approaches and known materials.  In true “achieve, change and improve” mode, we are doing it again.

What paradigms have you busted through recently?  Click the comment button and tell us a bit about your recent  A-ha’s.

Chuck�

Jim Burns has used a key phrase in nearly every communication to our various stakeholders.  That phrase is “Who we are and what we do…”  It seems to fit every aspect of the Burns vision, intention and values, guiding our interactions and purpose with all stakeholders: employees, suppliers, customers, contractors, representatives, distributors….It’s about being true to who Burns, as an organization, has been and is today!

It’s about being consistent and honest with what we do, what we are experts at, what our sweet spot is, and how we serve and resolve problems and challenges for our stakeholders.  (By the way, that’s the fun part!)

So, it seemed logical and effective to use the initials of Burns Engineering, “BE”, to build statements and phrases around describing who and how we will be for each other and for all the friends of Burns.  These phrases such as BE in conversation, BE temperature experts, BE creative, BE confident, BE relieved, effectively drive our thinking, behavior and intentions to support “Who we are and What we do…”  

Join us in the conversation through the BEblog or by registering on the Web Site to discover, design and create temperature products and systems to serve your success, and we promise to achieve, change and improve to continually serve you, and all Burns stakeholders. 

Thanks for joining Burns on this journey.

Chuck

Hi all,

This weekend was the Fishing opener in Minnesota and last weekend in Wisconsin.  I didn’t get a chance to get out, but I am curious about the water temperature. 

 Maybe someday we’ll will install PRT’s in the main fishing lakes around the country.  Maybe the underwater probe.  It’s fish friendly.  See previous post;  Burns PRT goes swimming.

What did you find at your favorite fishing spot?  Click the comment button and tell us where you “wet a line” and what the water was like.

Chuck

Burns Engineering has updated the Burns Website to better serve our friends. Friends of Burns are our most important relationships.

Our goal is to help you with your challenges and concerns where Temperature is important to your success.

We want you to BE confident,	BE connected.	BE engaged.
.. It is our goal to provide relevance,	real technical value,	effective solutions,
a range of choices,	………And have a little fun.	find this image on the Web Site.….
	Register with us and become one of the Friends of Burns.

Let’s stay connected… Click the comment button above and share you thoughts and if you found the mystery image…

Chuck

Caring has always been an important part of who we are here at Burns Engineering. When my father founded the company, it was based on the premise that we care about how temperature plays an important role for our customers’ process efficiency, product quality and/or environmental safety.

Here at the office we find ways to care for each other in the way we work together in teams such as our Kaizen events AND we find ways to have fun together. We even have a fun committee that plans activities year round for all the employees to participate in.

Recently we had an event that provided an opportunity to turn our caring outside our 4 walls. We organized a food drive. To make it fun we split into 3 groups to see which team could bring in the most. The teams all had a lot of good healthy competition. We developed team slogans, celebrated team participation with home made baked goods, our mail carrier even brought in items for each team.

We delivered the goods on a cold Minnesota day when the food shelf was almost empty. The VEAP organization (Voluteers Enlisted to Assist People) welcomed us with warm hearts.  What the Burns teams had collected weighed in at 550 lbs! It was a true win win: we further developed our Social Good mindset (and had fun) and the food shelf received the much needed supplies.

Have your organization support your local food shelf. Then return to the BEblog and share what you collected via the comment button above… Can you beat 550 Lbs?

Jim Burns
President

Burns Engineering Sr. Metrology Engineer, John Zwak, has been very busy testing products and ideas, as well as authoring papers on various subjects in the realm of temperature measurement and all the nuances and challenges involved to help you BE confident.

John’s early RTD experience was with a premier Aerospace temperature products company. This experience positions him very well to bridge the rigorous with the practical; the technology with the application; and the desire to learn with the desire to share.

John’s recent technical papers have covered topics such as; PRT Error Sources; Part 1:  Interchangeability & Part 2:  Insulation Resistance and Part 3: Stability.  

In his paper regarding As Found Calibration Data, John helps interpret this valuable information as part of the SSPRT calibration after an in service period.  He’s also working on a paper describing the use of an Ice Bath to approximate the Triple Point of Water.  This wonderful example of Johns’ practical approach to complex issues, was briefly introduced in a previous post titled Calibration; Creativity & Confidence.  This paper has been included in the technical program at the NCSL International Conference in August. 

This isn’t the first paper presented to an Industry-wide audience. John co-authored and presented an introductory article called: “Zero Tolerance” for ISA / InTech, May 2005.

As co-author, John’s paper on Measuring Temperature in Small Diameter Lines, after being presented at the 2002 International Temperature Symposium, was recognized by the ISPE organization, winning The Roger F. Sherwood Article of the Year award in 2005.

When John isn’t authoring, performing uncertainty analyses or reviewing calibration data, he’s creating custom RTD designs for various challenging applications. John and his new friend Matt, introduced in an earlier post, are constantly collaborating on new customized designs. 

And just in case you’re wondering, John is not all work and no play. He’s also a family man. John and his wife have three children ranging from age seven to 18 years. John’s family are also big Disney fans and enjoy spending time with the Mouse. 

Walt Disney is known for quotes like; “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible” and “If you can dream it, you can do it”.   Interestingly , John and Walt think alike in the area of problem solving and technical creativity. Walt Disney uses the title “Imagineers” for the most creative folks. We often think of John that way. 

John and his friends at Burns are on a mission to deeply engage in the world of temperature measurement and share what we learn with those we serve.

So watch for more technical papers available on the Burns Web Site.

And if there’s something specific you’d like to hear more from John about a la temperature, click the comment button above or just email him at jzwak@burnsengineering.com.  He’d love to chat!

Chuck

The Manufacturing Team at Burns Engineering continues it’s quest for continuous improvement. Here’s a link to the previous post.

Over the last year we’ve been applying the 5S principles (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) in several areas of production. We now have set of tools that are color-coded and several with homes on shadow boards. Our inventory is organized on labeled shelves and the group has adopted a culture that leverages every moment of slack time for cleaning and important preventive maintenance.

We’ve made good progress, Graph of Results, yet we’re not resting on our laurels. 5S is a key tool for continuous improvement at Burns and we’ll continue to audit the machine shop and springboard their successes into other departments.

Have any questions or experience with 5S? Click the comment button above and share!

Richard

Manufacturing Engineer & 5S / Kaizen facilitator

On January 11th, 2008, I celebrated my 20-year anniversary with Burns Engineering.  Wow how time flies when you’re having fun!! I still remember the day my Dad asked me if I wanted to interview for an accounting position at Burns. I was so excited to have the opportunity to come back to Burns as a full-time employee.

As a kid, I would ride my bike to Burns and get paid piece-rate for doing assembly work. I’d make a couple bucks and then spend it on candy on the ride home. Over the years, my Dad taught me the lesson of saving some of that money, a lesson that would be the foundation of one of the Burns’ Core Values: Strong Financial Performance.

A lot has changed since 1988. I was single then and now have a wonderful family. My wife Sharon and my 3 daughters keep me busy when I’m not dreaming about new temperature applications.

Yes, while some things change… today, just the same as 20 years ago, we at Burns are committed to our Core Values, and proudly share them on the Burns Website.

Here’s to the memories, and excitement about the future!

- Jim Burns

Just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce Matt Zenner …

As a design engineer, Matt joined the Burns family of as one more person inspired and excited to BE creative in tackling the next challenging temperature application.

Matt is a graduate from the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology and has several years of custom and semi custom design experience, so his background is right in our sweet spot.

He enjoys playing electric guitar, tinkering with old-style amplifiers, and just to make things interesting, he’s a dirt bike racer. Matt, his wife Linda and son William are long time residents of Minnesota and enjoy the winter snow as well as the summer humidity.

Matt certainly brings a mix of experience and creativity to the Burns Engineering group.

Post a comment of Welcome to Matt, or send him an email mzenner@burnsengineering.com describing your challenge. He’ll rally the team and we’ll surprise you with a couple solution ideas…

Chuck