Frequently Asked Questions

Our standard coverages will meet most of your business needs. Optional coverages tailor your policy to your unique business. Work with your agent to see what optional coverages are right for you.

Most states require employers to have this coverage. If an employee gets hurt on the job, workers’ compensation pays for medical costs so you don't have to. It also pays them for lost wages if the injury causes missed time from work. Work comp also comes with employment liability coverage, which pays your defense costs if an employee claims the injury was caused by unsafe working conditions.

For manufacturers, it’s important to know that a standard GL policy excludes product withdrawal from the market as well as errors and omissions. Realizing this, Acuity offers standard product withdrawal coverage and a proprietary E&O coverage to make sure our manufacturers are properly protected.

We started out as Mutual Auto Insurance Company of the Town of Herman in 1925 and have been insuring manufacturers for over 40 years!

We insure all kinds of manufacturers, from food processing and woodworking to plastic and metal goods manufacturing!

We have the expertise and coverages to adequately insure large manufacturing plants, yet we understand the market demands of very small operations. We write thousands of manufacturers of many different sizes.

We are one of the rare companies that maintain A+ financial ratings from AM Best and Standard and Poor’s. Of the 3,000 property-casualty carriers in the nation, we’ve consistently been ranked as one of the best-run companies by Ward Financial Group.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is finding its way into manufacturing. Machine maintenance—especially predictive maintenance (PdM)—will benefit greatly from this technology, with improved accuracy and real-time updates. New sensor technology, big data, and analytics have improved CBM (condition-based maintenance) effectiveness. Potential breakdowns can now be predicted within minutes allowing operations and maintenance teams to be more proactive.

A safety tool that has found great acceptance and is being used widely within the manufacturing sector is exoskeletons, which range from full body suits to small add-ons like shoulder or arm support to eliminate repetitive motion injuries. New exoskeletons are so customizable that they can easily be user adjusted as well as job and task specific, which should help reduce workers’ compensation issues.

At Acuity, we take your business as seriously as we take ours. I have decades of manufacturing experience and stay up to date on issues and technologies. We attend trade shows and interact daily with the industry. We know manufacturing and want to partner with you and help you achieve continued success in your business.

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has found wide applications within manufacturing. Over the last few years, it has become more than a prototype tool. The list of material that can now be “printed” ranges from plastics to a variety of metals, ceramics, and carbon fiber. This makes 3D printing even more versatile than most predicted even a few years ago. We are also seeing hybrid machines within manufacturing that have combined traditional subtractive machining, the removal of material, with the additive capability of 3D printing. Hybrid machines have increased capabilities and efficiencies unlike anything we have seen since CNC machines become the new machining standard.

Lean is about adding value to the product and focuses on removing waste from the manufacturing process. It starts with simple workplace organization, like 5S and the identification and elimination of the eight types of waste. Lean is not one simple thing—it is a culture in which everyone is empowered and focused on continuous improvement. Lean is as critical, even in today’s modern manufacturing, as it was when it started. It should be the foundation of any successful manufacturing operation.