PMPA has a history of providing relevant industry training programs at the local regional and national level.
Now, PMPA is providing a means to capture the value of that training for both attendees and employers through Continuing Education Units.
PMPA is pleased to offer the CEU program as a means to recognize and document your employees’ achievements and your investment in their training and career development.
Earning CEU’s will provide employees documentation and credentialing that recognizes their training and professional development throughout their careers in the industry.
The CEU program will help your company track your investment in employee training. The program will provide a means to assist your HR staff in documenting employee training as required for various quality standards and certification programs.
You can find out more about PMPA’s new CEU program HERE and at CEU FAQ.
Conicity provides specialized edge prep solutions for our industry.
Here’s what Bill had to say:
“Perhaps there is some chatter that is a function of machine harmonics, but I have not seen that as of yet. My feeling is that the machines are designed and built with the high level of technology, much higher than the technology that is associated with the design of the cutting tool.
“Cutting tools used to drive the machine tool industry to higher levels of capability because the capability of the tool always exceeded the machine. Spindle speeds and rigidity often lagged tool designs and machine tools were not able to take full advantage of tool capability. That was then. Not today.
“Bottom line, machines have surpassed the tool capability and tools really have not made and significant breakthroughs to push the machine building community.
“I deal with chatter on a daily basis for our customers.
“We have successfully cured severe levels of chatter in metalcutting by addressing the micro-geometry of the cutting tool.
“At the end of the day, vibration starts at the tool because perhaps the tool geometry being suspect, friction, perhaps feed rates combined with tool design, but it starts with the tool.
“If the machine hums and vibrates when it not running a workpiece, then you do have a problem. If you have a flat tire on a car, you fix the tire, you don’t look at the tire balance, vibration of the motor, or the paint job…
“So the question I would like to explore is “what do the people that make the machine tools feel about their machines having inherent vibration and harmonics that create issues in machining?”
“What do the folks who make the machines have to say about this?
“Is the picture that many may have in their minds that “the machine has it’s own set of harmonics, so does the material that is being processed, perhaps even the tool,” valid, or not?”
Brainstorming sessions are very ineffective in their use of time. Assembling a number of people, letting
them speak (produce) only one at a time, and the pressure to not offend others and avoid organizational taboos reduce the effectiveness of small group brainstorming.
Powerhouse Brainstorming is a method that unleashes the power of all attendees in a short amount of time, and produces output that can then be immediately analyzed by the group.
The FED says “…economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Labor market conditions have shown further improvement in recent months, on balance, but the unemployment rate remains elevated. “
Parents and guidance counselors tell us that college is THE WAY to well paid career, and yet recent college graduates have almost double the unemployment rate of the general population.
And student loans to repay.
Nobody wants to work in a skilled trade any more
1000 High School students surveyed revealed their impressions of jobs in the skilled trades
54 percent of young people believe there is a better future working in computers than working in skilled trades.
37 percent of young people believe working in an office is more respected than working with your hands.
25 percent of young people believe skilled trades jobs are old-fashioned.
Here are 4 reasons to find a job and a career in Precision Machining
Executives at most PMPA member shops tell me their number 1 concern is finding skilled people to hire.
If they found a candidate with the right skills, they would hire today, even if they didn’t have a current opening.
Most Students at local community colleges’ machining programs have found jobs by the end of their first term, and by the time they graduate, all will have found a permanent placement according to students and instructors I have spoken with. This short video post shows the extent of jobs available and posted at Cleveland’s Tri- C Machining Class.
Ninety-two percent of the respondents to PMPA’s monthly business trends survey for May 2013 are expecting prospects for employment to remain the same or improve.
We understand that there are a lot of confusing messages out there.
We know that the news makes it easy to remain in the ranks of the hopelessly unemployed. After all , there are almost 3.1 unemployed workers for every job opening currently.
But we also know this, despite the graphs, and charts and opinions in the press, our industry is still looking for people with skills.
If you would like to get a job, start a career, and discover the joy of making safety critical parts that improve the safety and quality of life for everyone, you ought to consider a position in Precision Machining.
This post looks at the megatrend of Aging Society and its potential impacts on our precision machining businesses. It is based on a presentation I attended at HORN Technology Days.
Our future is determined more by societal demands than it is by our workforce and current capability.
Why Aging Society is my choice for most impactful megatrend for our industry
Annual worldwide growth trend of 5% increase in Medical Technology Developments is 2X -3X current GDP growth. (Economically compelling)
Who is against improving the quality of life of the people we love? (Emotionally compelling)
Growth in the sector of Endoprosthetics- Human Spare Parts. (Aging and active population makes this compelling)
Because of this megatrend, our industry can expect to see growing opportunities in the production of
Surgical tools and instruments
Human spare parts and hardware (Bone screws, implants (including dental), joints, and hardware)
More challenging materials to process – ceramics, titanium, magnesium, and composites.
What will the keys be to growing in participation in this field in the future?
Flexibility and speed of processes and capacity
Systems built on assuring quality
Taking advantage of cost effective technologies to build in process assurance, and cost effective minimum waste provision of parts.
Over the long run, our businesses seldom grow faster than GDP. Knowing that the impacts of our aging society will grow faster than GDP provides a roadmap for savvy managements to plot their course to use their companies to serve this growing market.
You can see the aging of society every day – at work, shopping, and even in our schools (universities).
What are you doing to meet the demands that this megatrend is creating for your precision machining business?
Horn is working on developing tooling technologies and processes to improve your capability and performance, improve cost effectiveness and innovate your production.
What are you doing to take advantage of this growing 2X-3X faster than GDP opportunity?
It is not just demographics of our workforce that drives our industry. It is also the demands of society that provides us with the opportunity to innovate.
I was on a panel at IMTS last year on workforce issues.
I shared the following information regarding our workforce demographics in 2020 according to BLS
I was interested to see a presentation from Paul Horn GmbH. entitled Society- Driver of Technical Innovation at HORN Technology Days last week. Their approach was workforce agnostic- it was based on a look at the demands from society, rather than focus on how industry will supply that demand.
My economics professor would be so proud.
So how does Horn see societal demand driving innovation in the precision machining space?
7 Megatrends to Impact our Industry
Mobility
Population Growth
Globalization
Communication
Health
Aging Society
Urbanization
Changes in each of these areas requires technical innovation in Production Technology, Materials, Processes, Electronics, and Software, to make new technologies economically adoptable “Just in Time.”
Interestingly, Precision Machining “owns” all five of the “columns” in this model as we grow into our future state.
Which of these are your particular “sweet spot?” What is your plan to gain competence in the others?
Who would argue that we are not facing new challenges in production technology, materials, processes, or increased use of electronics and software to make tomorrow’s more challenging parts?
We will revisit some of these megatrends in coming blogs.
Do you have a process for identifying “over the horizon” issues that will affect your shop?
Which megatrends are opportunities more so than challenges for your shop and team?
OSHA is reminding compliance officers to check for adequate means of egress at all workplaces. This follows the recent disastrous fire and explosion that killed at least 119 workers on June 4, 2013, at a poultry processing plant in China.
The standard for exit routes is called Fire Protection; Means of Egress; Hazardous Materials; 1910.33 you can find information at Egress
OSHA has an “Emergency Exit Routes Fact Sheet” which provides information on employers’ responsibilities to ensure that their workers are able to exit the workplace quickly and safely.
A memorandum sent to the agency’s regional administrators and state plan designees directs field inspectors, when conducting inspections, to be mindful of whether employers have provided and maintained adequate means of egress from work areas. This includes checking that an adequate number of exit routes are provided, that the exit routes are free and unobstructed, and that exit doors are not locked.
I advise using the fact sheet for supervisor’s weekly meeting and inspection, then for safety training crews on safe egress.
While we know this company as a supplier of tools to the precision machining industry, what many of us did not know is that over half of their revenues are for “specials-” custom engineered tools not carried in their general catalog.
So with over half their production classified as “specials” their shop faces many of the same demands as we do in our make to order shops.
Here are some views I saw in my 10 hours of shop touring; what don’t you see here that you see in your shops?
(Click on the photos to see full size.)
OK, I’ll give you a more literal view.
What do you not see here, that you see in your own shop?
Tools as Jewels…
In my extensive time on the shop floor I didn’t see any clutter, rags, materials or spills on the floor, dunnage, used inserts.
The difference between what we see in our shops and what we don’t see in this make to order shop is our opportunity to improve.
I saw best practices- at work!
Thanks to the team at Paul Horn GmbH for sharing a glimpse of what best practice in custom manufacturing can look like.