Memphis Plant During the Past 50 Years
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th 1 95 8 m e m ph is pla n t 20 anniversary 08 Evelyn Munns, Bernice Payne, Imogene Frye, Dorothy Fowler Betty Weaver, Tony the Tiger™, Jake Mickens, JoAnn Bertha Austin McIlvain and Iris Thompson “With the opening of this new plant...Kellogg men and women will serve the South from the South. We are proud to become part of your surging growth. “ In the South, heritage is a great respect for the good things of the earth. Agriculture originally gave the South-and the South gave the nation-much of its greatness, prosperity, culture and leadership...Today, Southern leadership and growth comes from a combination of agriculture and manufacturing, and that is where Kellogg’s contribution comes from too. Joining you, we dedicate this new plant to the task of bringing still more “growth to the South. And you have our hand that we will work for this growth with the courage and hospitality which are your traditional principles-and those of the Kellogg Company around the world.” Lyle C. Roll, 1958 former Kellogg president Kellogg Company 2168 Frisco Avenue Memphis, Tennessee 38114 901-743-0250 Volume 1 Copyright 2008 Corrine Lindsey, Kenneth Lindsey, Lonnie Roberts, Jean Roberts, June Porter Donna Richmond, Richard Hackett, Chris Grandberry, Bill Morris Larry Joyner Don Brasfield, Henry Goss Bob Walker, Dot Butler Joe Redmond, Annie Finley Bramble th 195 p l a n t 2008 8 m e m p h i s anniversaryThis book is dedicated to all past and present members of the Kellogg family whose pride and hard work have played a critical part in the success of the Memphis plant during the past 50 years. Dorothy Weeks, Brenda Coleman Grady, Doris, Leroy, and Mary Mayfield Charles and Ann Echels Grady Mayfield Charles Echels Doris Mayfield Leroy Mayfield John Capers John Crowe Annie Finley Bramble Burl Mayfield John and Sandra Capers Carrie Fowler, Mary Mayfield Autographs Donna Daniel, Billy Wilhite Chuck Brannon, John Capers, Micheal Hill Raymond Moore 4 Bob Walker, Eddie Jones Jimmy Delashmit, Ruby Stewart, Joe Pohl, Barbara Burress Burl Mayfield Raymond Moore Maxine Thomason, Artie Byrd Gary Hickey A. Whitmore 5 Beverly Travis Herman Johnson, Karen Williams Maude Raye Washington, Alcine Arnett Doris Mason Jake Mickens Bernice Craigen, Bessie Owen, Hazel Hawes, Henrietta Lamar Paul Kehoe Billy Wilkerson 6 Iris Thompson John Barber Carolyn Barrentine Tommy Hendrix Table of Contents Making History 9 Retirees 65 Memphis In The Making 10 Giving Back 66 Then And Now 13 Retired Employees 67-72 Puffing Tower 17 Carving A Name For Himself 68 Milestones 18 Wired Around The World 71 In The News 21 Retirees Rewind 73 Painting A Past 22 Covering History 74 Around The Plant 24 Company Life 76 Positive Production Takes People 26 25 Year Club 78 Warehouse 28 Annual Picnic 80 Packaging 31 Building Character 82 Processing 32 Here To Help 83 Sanitation 35 Benefitting Employees 84 Maintenance 36 Focus On Safety 86 Leaving A Legacy 40 The Heart Of The Company 87 Distinguished Guests 45 Give Credit Where Credit Is Due 88 Great People 46 Colorful Memories 89 Present Employees 48-59 Making A Splash 90 A Rare Find 49 Terrific Tiger 92 Herd About His Hobby? 50 Company Sports 96 The Drive 54 Open House 102 The Name Game 55 Index 105 At Your Service 58 Family Ties 62 James Hutcherson Billy Wilkerson Sidney Golightly Ann Porter, Audrey White, Dolores Gill Jim Archie 7 William Porter Margaret Pulley Roger Motz Bobby Keel John Myrick Marcellus Martin 8 MAKINGhistory Don Jackson, Jeannie Gill Don Jackson, Jeannie Gill 9 IN MemphisTHEMaking hen Kellogg’s decided to expand to a fifteenth and Apple Jacks. The addition of the puffing planned added 30 plant, they purchased land right by Frisco Railroad in to 35 employees per shift and the plant saw a drastic increase in Memphis to allow easier access for hauling goods. The employment. In 1979, Vend Bowl was installed. Wplant opened its doors to employees Dec. 8, 1958 and Kellogg’s Memphis underwent change in the early 80’s. A for the first week, everybody worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The warehouse was built on the end of the building, which increased next week everyone was assigned to a shift. The official open- truck traffic. Cogg Avenue, a long-time through road, was closed ing was held April 23 and 24, 1959, when the plant hosted 400 off for the safety of employees and drivers. friends and customers for a plant tour day. In March 1988, Kellogg employees and local, state and U.S. An A–shift employee, JoAnn McIlvain, was one of the originals. dignitaries broke ground for the new She reluctantly began work just two days after the grand opening. Hickory Hill ready-to-eat cereal manu- She had gone to school to be a lab technician and had hoped facturing facility that was to be built at to work alongside a doctor. When no medical jobs were avail- the corner of Clarke and Raines Road. able, single-mom McIlvain convinced herself to take the job until Even though site preparation had al- she found what she was looking for. Thirty-six years later McIlvain ready begun, the plant was never built. retired from Kellogg’s. When talk of a Memphis Plant “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. “I upgrade surfaced in 1992, the Board was divorced, I had a child and staying at Kellogg’s allowed me of Directors, the CEO, CFO and the to keep him in school and provide everything.” CAO for Kellogg Company visited McIlvain said from the time she started to the present, things at the Memphis plant. Kellogg’s have changed for the better. “It was pretty exciting,” retiree In the beginning, hard work was required. Raw goods were Ivory Redden said. “These were The first three employees hired at shipped in on boxcars and employees would haul, cut open and the movers and shakers of the whole Kellogg’s Memphis, Nov. 6, 1958, pour hundreds of 100 lb. bags of corn and rice into cookers. A Kellogg Company, in our area from left, Arvie Brice, Don Jackson bulk plant was built in 1973 and an upgraded, technological sys- answering questions of what is the and Tim Temple. tem was administered. The new system allowed for less intensive future of Kellogg Memphis. labor and allowed women to do jobs they previously couldn’t. The Kellogg Company began a round of upgrades to facto- The Kellogg sign that religiously illuminates the sky was built in ries in 1995, including a $146 million expansion of the Memphis 1958. The sign can be read from either direction along Airways plant. Boulevard, which passes along the front of the plant. At night the With increases in technology, production increased and the sign is brightly lighted in the traditional Kellogg red. A sign com- number of employees declined. It took a mere 290 Kellogg pany still maintains and fixes the bulbs. Memphis Plant employees to be able to produce 2 to 2.5 times as On April 4, 1968, the booming business at the Kellogg’s plant much product as their predecessors, nearly 750 employees. slowed. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Riots broke out Retiree William Taylor, who began his Kellogg’s Memphis around Memphis, businesses were burned, people were mur- career in 1961, said he saw the plant transform significantly from dered and no one was allowed to be out past 7 p.m. Work shifts the time he started to when he retired 24 years later. changed to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Kellogg’s employees had to get “When I first started working in the plant, a lot of the stuff we special passes issued by law enforcement to be out past curfew. did by hand,” Taylor said. “Loading box cars and stacking boxes The Kellogg’s Froot Loops line came to Memphis in 1974 and by hand. That was later eliminated. Cooking process became a puffing tower was built to allow the plant to produce Froot Loops simpler. Typewriters were replaced with computers and high 10 technology. All this as the Memphis plant evolved into the 21st century.” In the early 90s, a new case handling system was installed. By 1992, Raw Material Silos were replaced. The addition of the bag-in-a-box line in the 1995 increased production and decreased the amount of hands needed to package goods. According to Larry Thomas, an operator techni- cian in packaging, the bag-in-a-box system runs twice as fast as the old one, producing 120 boxes of cereal a minute and 45,000 packages a day. The first Memphis Plant production lines ran 40 boxes per minute. At the same time, all pneumatic scale family lines were removed. In 1998, the Frosted Flakes dryer was installed. By 2000, the Seahorse corn project was complete. A commemorative carton dedicated to the startup of line #108 came out in 2002. In 2004, Hurricane Elvis swept through Memphis, blowing off one side of the puffing tower. Equipment was installed in 2005 to automatically drop coupons into boxes of cereal, versus the many years of hand dropping them. Operation of Automatic Guided Vehicles, called robots, came to the Memphis plant in 2006. 11 Arthur Harbin Don Gill Mary Sue Dismuke 12 Then &Now Bob LeMay, former Kellogg them in a box for several years. That reassemble it and adjust the timing,” he said. Memphis Plant facility engineer, retired was really a memorable moment that I LeMay also played a part in a size- in 1990.