Manufacturing Capital

Our footprint has operational control of approximately fifteen production facilities forming more than 313 total acres. We have an added fifteen support facilities including warehouses, yard space and sales offices. These are foundational assets that deliver the value of products and services to the customers and markets we serve. A summary of our assets includes:

At L.B. Foster, we take quality seriously for the purpose of creating value for our customers and meeting their expectations. Our quality management system (QMS) is designed around the needs of the customer and ensures they remain satisfied with the products and services we provide. Our system encompasses all processes and personnel. The QMS covers the design of our products, order reviews, supplier quality, production, inspection, shipping, and post-delivery support.

Over the last two years, LBF quality department has focused on improving customer response time when customer quality issues are presented. Since 2020, response time has improved by 32%. This metric encompasses the days it takes to thoroughly investigate issues, find root causes, and implement actions to prevent recurrence. 

We check the success of our quality program by tracking the Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ). We started baselining these costs across all manufacturing locations throughout 2020-2021. The costs include, but are not limited to: 

In 2020 and 2021, we estimated these costs to be ~0.48% of COGS while pursuing a future target.

As well, our facilities also have an impact on value creation, and therefore we engage continual improvement of our manufacturing facilities, production, and processes to optimize our assets. We use leading methods to ensure continuing and sustainable process improvement, and in 2021 we had various CI efforts in the form of 5S training, 5S audits and general CI information. 

L.B. Foster manages relationships with over 1,900 vendors and $240+ million spend and expects business to be conducted honestly and responsibly, with integrity and transparency. Our Global Vendor Code of Conduct applies to all suppliers, contractors, consultants, agents, and others that provide goods and services to our Company, subsidiaries, and affiliates. This Code has been developed to clarify our global expectations in the areas of business integrity, employee health and safety, environmental management, and labor practices. Vendors are responsible for compliance throughout their operations and entire supply chain.

Globally, we typically engage with half or appx. 1,000 partners and suppliers. We have dedicated supplier management teams that are responsible for maintaining a healthy, collaborative relationship focused on cost, quality, service levels, and continuous improvement of processes. We conduct supplier reviews based on risk assessments following our ISO requirements. Supply chain team members, with our Tier 1 & 2 vendors, have regular one-on-one meetings, corrective action incident reporting for non-conforming products or services, and take part in industry and trade shows to remain aware of technological advances.