GNB Bugle March

1 March 2013 GNB Bugle Vacuum Excellence Defined TV Technology And What it Means to the Vacuum Industry By: Ken Harrison, President & CEO I recently upgraded to a new laptop and hit the road to make a sales call. I had not paid much attention to the computer port, and when I tried to plug the custom-er s projector into my computer, I found that I only had an HDMI port and no VGA connection. At my next sales call, howev-er, the conference room had a new flat screen monitor and readily accepted the HDMI plug. Flat screens are normally made with a vacuum coating process, but for the most part the capital equipment and manufacturing capacity are already in place and the industry is poised for the next big technology change. Have you noticed that the television mar-ket seems to be in a bit of a quandary? Looking back, the first television was pa-tented by Paul Nipkow in 1884. In 1925, John Logie Baird was able to demonstrate the first live transmission of moving imag-es.

2 The first regularly scheduled televi-sion broadcast in the began in 1928. Popularity and availability grew, and then on June 12, 2009 the US broadcasts changed from analog to digital signals. Since then, televisions have become more like computers. High definition, 3D with split screens and instant replay have been added as options. Now WiFi connectivity to the Internet allows users to view whatever pro-gram or movie they want whenever they want it and while you are watching you can use the TV to tweet your friends and post Facebook messages, or Skype them with a built in camera to let them know what you are watching and how you like it. You may need a computer science degree just to un-derstand, connect and operate all the fea-tures of your TV. You may ask, Where is this technology going and how does it affect the vacuum industry? We can spot several trends: 1) screen sizes are increasing, 2) interaction with the screens are increasing, 3) combining of func-tions is a given, and 4) portability will in-crease with the use of WiFi and cell tower connections.

3 The differences between a phone, computer, and a television will be-come obscure. Everyone will have internet access and will be able to interact with other people as well as view all types of program-ming. Today, one can watch TV from nearly anywhere. The next big thing is expected to be Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) TVs. They are very thin, many are flexible and they have minimal power consumption. Unlike LED TVs TV Technology 1 Valve Repair & Re-conditioning 2 Seals: Vacuum Con-tainment 101 2 Trade Shows 3 The Excellent Life 3 GNB Funnies 4 Best Practices: GNB & Community 5 Meet Tony Venezio 7 The name of this newsletter is GNB Bugle . When we win a large order at GNB, we are excited. So excited, that our expert trumpeter (and human resources per-son), Amy Long, plays Re-veille on a Bugle over our loud speaker system. How-ever, many of our represent-atives, stakeholders and cus-tomers cannot hear the ex-citing news and share our revelry. This newsletter is another method of commu-nication and announcement, and thus it is aptly named GNB Bugle .

4 Continued on page 4 Introducing the new Samsung OLED TV. One of the most important parts of designing a vacuum sys-tem is the seal. Without the appropriate seal, you don't really have a vacuum system, just an expensive structure that makes a funny noise when you try to pump it down. However, that begs the question of what is the appropriate seal. Many types of seals exist, from elas-tomeric o-rings, to energized metal seals, to wire and copper gaskets. The type of seal that is appropriate for a system de-pends primarily on two factors: the envi-ronment being contained and the cost of the seal. One of the most common vacuum seals is the elastomeric o-ring. These seals are typically made from an acrylonitrile butadiene (nitrile) rub-ber, of which Buna-N is an example, or a fluorocarbon based synthetic rubber, of which Viton and Kalrez are examples. Less common o-rings used in a vacuum are sili-cone rubber or PTFE. O-rings have the advantage of being forgiving with varying sealing surfaces for their inexpensive and easy to work with qualities.

5 It is advisable to use an elastomeric o-ring whenever you can, and it is almost always required for dynamic seals. Because elastomeric o-rings are flexible, they can compensate for slight variations in the flatness of the sealing surface, and slight radial Page 2 GNB Bugle Vacuum Excellence Defined AFTER Did you know that GNB Corporation offers repair and refur-bishment services for your vacuum valve? We often get re-quests to repair old valves that have been in service for many years and sometimes for decades. In some cases the original valve manufacturer is no longer in business, but this is not a problem. GNB is able to custom make the parts to fit. For each valve, our technicians will perform a full evalu-ation including a helium leak test, visual and mechanical in-spection along with an extensive valve functional check. Next, our engineers will make a detailed explanation of what is needed to bring the valve back to a fully operational condition.

6 Once we get your approval, our technicians will go into ac-tion to ensure the valve is completely overhauled and re-placement parts are installed so everything works just like new. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the valve the more cost effective it is to have it re-conditioned. So, if you are looking for help to decide if repair or replace-ment is the best choice in your situation, we can help. Our technical support team at GNB will work with you get the right solution for your needs. Valve Repair & Re-conditioning Yes We Can! By: Russ Hedman, Operations Manager Continued on page 6 Seals: Vacuum Containment 101 By: M. Kevin Mandeville Jr., PE, Mechanical Design Engineer BEFORE Gaskets and rubber O-ring seals Show Name Location Dates Website Booth# Free Registration Code VTE Moscow, Russia Apr 16-18 2013 A223 Free Admission SVC Providence, RI USA Apr 20-25 2013 325 SVC10035 Intersolar NA San Francisco, CA USA Jul 9-11 2013 West Hall 8602 TBD ITA Las Vegas, NV USA Oct 6-9 2013 118 TBD During the 19th Annual California Council for Excellence Best Practices and Awards Conference, GNB Corporation was presented with a Bronze Eureka award for Performance Ex-cellence.

7 GNB strives for excellence. We understand excel-lence to be synonymous with maturity. As we mature as an organization, we eliminate waste and move closer to our goal of excellence. Every day we evaluate ourselves to see if we are maturing or not. Sometimes we ask others to come and evaluate that for us. Recenlty, we invinted examiners from the California Awards for Performance Excellence. GNB has adopted a framework for this assessment that is internationally recognized: ADLI. ADLI is an acronym for Approach, Deployment, Learning and Integration. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excel-lence uses these concepts as the basis for evaluating the maturing of an organization. Here is a simple definition of each of them: Approach: the method or step by step process used for meeting a requirement. Deployment: refers to the consistency or breadth to which the approach is used. Learning: refers to new knowledge or skills acquired through analysis of the approach.

8 Integration: the extent to which the methods used are harmonized and operate in support of one another. GNB has extended this framework beyond the walls of the organization to other areas of life. Excellence and maturity are concepts that we strive for in all areas of our life. GNB is actively working to create an organizational culture where excellence is pervasive and overflows from our walls into other activities and family life. Consider the table below and examples of what GNB would describe as excellence. Example #1: Family. A mature child is one who is organized in their life. Work and responsibility are balanced with play and entertainment. They have integrity to live this way, no Business Spirituality Family Athletics Approach Intentional Organized Game Plan Deployment Consistent Integrity Involvement Learning Growth Maturity Improvement Integration Unity Loyalty Teamwork Page 3 GNB Bugle Vacuum Excellence Defined The Excellent Life By: Melbourne Sattler, Quality Manager Continued on page 5 they do not use backlighting, because they create their own light.

9 They can also be made to look like a transparent piece of plastic until they are turned on. In theory all of the windows of a skyscraper could be covered with OLEDs. They can darken to block the sun, they can illuminate to create huge external bill boards and they can provide cost effec-tive internal lighting. You can even use them to create the illusion of having a window in a room by projecting images and emitting light. They can also be made as a touch screen for use as a key pad or smart phone. And, of course, you can use them to read your favorite book. Currently, the OLED TVs are expensive. The technology is new and not highly refined. However, hun-dreds of millions of dollars are being invested to better develop this technology. On a large scale, the manufactur-ing process can be a giant roll-to-roll coating process that will create very large surfaces at a low cost. Is it a light, window, TV, computer, game, or book? Yes, the new TVs will be all of these, and for the vacuum industry it is an exciting time because of this development.

10 Certainly, the future is bright for the new OLED TVs. TV Technology (cont. from page 1) Page 4 GNB Bugle Vacuum Excellence Defined Community service is not only important to GNB, it s one of our core values. Every year we discuss ways to give back. Last year, we held two food and clothing drives for our local Elk Grove Food Bank. Many employees contributed, and we were able to deliver 6 large bags of gently used clothes and 4 large boxes of canned food. At Thanksgiving, we have a tradition at GNB of giving each employee a gift card toward groceries for their holiday dinner. A few years ago, we de-cided to support an orphan-age in Mexico. Many employ-ees chose to forgo their gift card and donate that money to the orphanage. The GNB family is a very caring and generous group that has do-nated more than $2000 to the orphanage. As a manufacturing company, the pool of available skilled trade labor is an important aspect to GNB. Therefore, we place a high value on supporting our local training pro-grams.