(OSHA) is initiating a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess the accuracy of injury and illness data recorded by employers.
This new NEP will involve inspecting occupational injury and illness records prepared by businesses and appropriately enforcing regulatory requirements when employers are found to be under-recording injuries and illnesses.
The NEP will focus on selected industries with high injury and illness rates. The inspections include a records review, employee interviews, and a limited safety and health inspection of the workplace.
Now is probably a good time to do a self audit to assure your records are in order.
If you are the lucky recipient of one of these visits, how did it go?
Month: October 2009
On Friday, October 9, 2009 PMPA’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Robert Kiener, testified before the Senate Banking Subcommittee on how unavailability of credit impacts the precision machining industry and small manufacturers.
NPR radio story: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/09/am-manufacturer-credit/
Buffalo News coverage: http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/823625.html
Senate Banking Committee Web Site: http://banking.senate.gov/public/
CSPAN Video coverage: (Rob Kiener’s testimony begins at 12:03 into this video.) http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/213648
You can find the presented testimony on the PMPA Website here.
As machinists, we are used to handling materials in the bulk world.
As machinists, our ease in obtaining productivity is influenced by the microscopic world of phases, microstructures, and chemistry.
Underneath this microscopic world lies the world of molecules and atoms themselves.
This is the chemical formula for pentacene. It is used in organic thin film transistors.
Recently researchers from IBM research team in Zurich used an atomic force microscope to capture an image of a single molecule of this substance.
This image of a single molecule shows the five rings of six carbon atoms and suggests the hydrogen bonds along the edges.
The precision needed to resolve at this atomic level requires both extremely high vacuum and frighteningly cryogenic temperatures. And you thought you had temperature control issues in your metrology lab.
Our industry will not be at this atomic-level nanoscale any time soon, at least not for our production processes.
We hope this glimpse of what makes up our material world from the frontiers of science gives you a better appreciation for the work of all the chemists, metallurgists and engineers in the supply chain that produce our raw materials, tools, and metalworking fluids. For all of history, scientists have struggled to make sense of their observations, develop theory, structure and formulas that made sense. This IBM image confirms that we’re on the right track.
Full story care of BBC .
Why has PMPA created this blog, www.pmpaspeakingofprecision.com when there are so many other things competing for your attention?
By speaking of precision, we can facilitate knowledge retention while providing tools you can use, and business intelligence, to help sustain our manufacturing community here in North America.
Here are our top 5 reasons:
- Give you tools you can use.
- Speaking of precision.
- Knowledge retention.
- Business Intelligence.
- Sustaining our community
1. Tools You Can Use By sharing best practices, tried and proven ideas, and insights into our processes and markets, we provide “tools you can use” to stay competitive, improve your sustainability, and understand your business. Everyone understands the value of tools you can use…Tuesday we try to run a shop focus tool you can use item in our blog.
2. Speaking of Precision Our purpose is to find the really relevant information, news, tools, knowledge and business intelligence that today’s shops need to make their way through the volatility and uncertainty we face. As things continue to get more complex and more ambiguous, our blog tries to provide you with sense making information from and for the point of view of precision machined parts manufacturing
3. Knowledge Retention Our businesses have overarching needs for shop process, craft, financial, commercial, market and regulatory information and wisdom. As older workers retire or leave the industry, there is a possibility that they will take with them ideas and process knowledge that isn’t necessarily easily retrieved anywhere else. We are trying to add those kinds of subjects to our blog where they will be more easily findable through the use of keywords and search engine. Pmpaspeakingofprecision.com is a place for us to archive and retain this knowledge on line for our industry.
4. Business Intelligence Uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are rampant in our world today. But the task is how do we find information that helps us make sense of it all? What is relevant? What will help us make decisions? What will help us anticipate upcoming issues? PMPAspeakingofprecision is one place where the issues facing our industry will be discovered, reflected upon, and presented for your action.
5. Sustaining Our Community PMPA’s vision is to be the premier provider of association services to advance the global competitiveness of the Precision Machining Industry. We believe that Manufacturing is important in North America, and we see our role as helping to sustain North American Manufacturing by helping sustain Precision Machining as a North American competency. We recognize the demographic realities of the baby boom generation starting to exit the workforce, and new generations with new information needs entering the industry.
Our blog www.pmpaspeakingofprecision.com is a way for PMPA to facilitate the transfer of important knowledge, ideas and developments as this demographic change takes place in our workforce- and in the purchasing and engineering departments of our customers.
That’s why PMPA is Speaking of Precision. To help you make sense of the changes, forces, and events that affect our industry. By sharing tools you can use and providing knowledge retention and business intelligence.
To help you remain competitive.
You can visit PMPA on the web at www.pmpa.org .
Stress and stress risers are words that we often hear in our shops. Usually when bad things have happened to our work. Here are 5 ideas to reduce stress in precision machined products and a brief tutorial on what it is when the engineers say “stress.”
Stress (when used by designers, engineers, and metallurgists) refers to the measurement of load on a part or test specimen related to the area under that load. Stress can be considered to be have three modes, axial (in line) , bending (you know what that means), or torsional (twisting or torque). The following graphic illustrates some stress states our parts may encounter.
Residual stress can be considered to be a kind of “internal pressure” in the material which may act in the same direction as the stress applied to the part. Because of this, it can actually reduce the load carrying ability of the part. This is what usually results in failures. Characteristics of the part may also contribute to the concentration of these internal stresses, leading to premature failure of the parts once in service and subjected to load.
Here are 5 ideas to reduce stress in precision machined parts.
- Assure a smooth surface.
- Use a larger not smaller diameter for threading.
- Always maximize the fillet or radius between section or diameter changes.
- Provide both pads and relief areas on parts where applicable.
- Be alert to the fact that some materials are particularly notch sensitive, especially in the transverse direction.
Assure a smooth surface. The creation of a smooth surface prevents the concentration of internal stresses at sharp changes in surface. Parts with smooth surface finish are much less likely to fail than parts where deep grooves, tool marks or pits can allow stresses to build up.
Use a larger not smaller diameter for threading. This is both related to the strength of the additional material as well as to the geometry and radii between change of dimensions. The more generous radius possible with the larger diameter for threading can improve the endurance limit of the part substantially. In heat treated 4340, the increase in radius from 0.015″ to 0.090″ increase the endurance limit from 34,000 to 65,000 psi.
Always maximize the fillet or radius between section or diameter changes. Any design which allows stress to concentrate locally will promote fatigue failure. Generous radii and fillets are inexpensive insurance against premature failure.
Make sure that the designer has provided both pad and releif areas on parts joining perpendicularly. Instead of having a single point or locus for the change in forces to be distributed through the part, pads and relief areas diffuse the stresses that would otherwise be concentrated, improving the performance of the part.
Be alert to the fact that some materials are particularly notch sensitive, especially in the transverse direction. Many of the materials that we prefer to machine are resulfurized, and in these steels, the manganese sulfides can in fact lower the steel’s transverse mechanical properties. Also, cold drawing and or forging prior to machining can influence grain flow which can enhance the ability of the material to carry the load. The material the designer selected could be a large reason for the material’s ability to handle stress, or not.
There you have it. Stress = Load. Don’t give it places to concentrate on your precision machined parts.
Published October 2009
By PMPA Staff
Henning Industrial Software, Inc. was founded in January 1990 by Billie J. and Richard G. Henning.
Submitted by Monte Guitar, PMPA Director of Technical Programs
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program emphasizes continuous improvement, innovation, integration of processes, and results. The program was developed with the idea of increasing the competitiveness, quality, and productivity of U.S. organizations for the benefit of all citizens.
How does the Baldrige Award differ from ISO 9000? According to a FAQ posted on the NIST site, the answer is:
- “The award program promotes quality awareness, recognizes quality achievements, provides a vehicle for sharing successful strategies, and focuses on results and continuous improvement. The program provides a framework for designing, implementing, and assessing a process for managing all business operations.”
- “Overall, ISO 9000 registration covers less than 10 percent of the Baldrige Award criteria.”
Doesn’t this make us as manufacturers crave that additional 90% of requirements, mandates and bureaucracy? On top of that, we get the chance to hear the voice of the numerous auditors (assessors) who have different interpretations of the standard (criteria). Don’t we all long to hear- “I’m from the government & I’m here to help!”
From Manufacturing to Health Care
While the Baldrige process may have initially been driven with the betterment of American manufacturing in mind, the applications now show a key shift in those who are willing to even apply.
- 45 manufacturing companies chose to apply when this award process began in 1988.
- In 2008, 3 manufacturers saw this process to be of value.
- Where are all of the applicants coming from now? The health care sector; in 2008 there were 43 health care applicants for the award.
Is the low manufacturing participation due to the fact that Baldrige ignores the numerous other challenges currently thrust upon the backs of American manufacturers? Or is it that the Baldrige group believe that “manufacturers just don’t understand” how the Baldrige criteria can help them?
3 Opportunities For “Change”
- The Baldrige think tank puts together a “continuous improvement plan” to address the declining applications of entries in the manufacturing and small business sectors.
- This group “focuses on results and continuous improvement” within their own program.
- They demonstrate that they have a “framework for designing, implementing, and assessing” criteria that will better serve our manufacturers.
The easiest thing for a group to do is to define requirements to which they themselves do not have to be compliant.
Any thoughts or experience out there that you would like to share? Unfamiliar with the Baldrige process? Check out this link for additional FAQ.
http://www.baldrige.nist.gov/Criteria.htm
