September 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #36
Continuous improvement is of necessity in the very DNA of our shops.
Month: September 2015
Our recent post on the latest OSHA Emphasis program on Amputations brought us a comment from Michael Krizmanich at PMPA Technical Member Logan Clutch about avoiding violations (and potential amputations) through door interlocks. “Some screw machine customers use the Logan Clutch control for machine guarding. The CS2001 Microprocessor Control has two pairs of inputs for two Door Interlock Switches.”
As staff providing member assistance to companies when OSHA visits and cites guarding, we have found that typically OSHA insists on door interlocks, despite the Kershaw Exemption which we have written about here.
So the Logan Cutch Door interlock is a potential solution to the OSHA identified guarding issue.
CS2001 Door Start Interrupt Switch Inputs: How They Work
The CS2001 Microprocessor Control has two pairs of inputs for two Door Interlock Switches. Each pair of is designed for one normally opened switch contact and one normally closed switch contact. The control senses both inputs together and has an override/defeat checking feature to monitor door input functionality.
CS2001 Safety Features & Safety Relay
The CS2001 Control has a stop circuit which integrates a Pilz Category 4, EN 954-1, model PNOZ X2.1 Safety Relay. The safety relay, provides dual-channel E-STOP with monitored manual reset. One channel of the Pilz Safety relay is connected to an output of the CS2001 microprocessor control. One channel of the Pilz Safety relay is connected in series to multiple, maintained contact, red mushroom head push buttons. A second separate contact of the red mushroom head buttons is wired in series into a CS2001 Microprocessor Control input. The reset input of the Pilz Safety relay is connected to an output of the CS2001 Microprocessor Control. All control power outputs to all external machine devices are wired thru the Pilz Safety Relay Safety Contacts.
Additional functionality included:
- Stock Load Position Selector Switch
- Thread Check Failure System
- Short Part & Broken Tool Detectors
- Stock Depletion Detector Inputs
- Machine Lock-up Detection
Here’s a link with more information: http://loganclutch.com/cs2001-door-interlock
The Precision Machined Products Association announced today that it has appointed Bernie Nagle to be the organization’s next Executive Director. Nagle, co-author of the book “Leveraging People & Profit- The Hard Work of Soft Management,” has spent much of his career in a variety of executive and leadership roles with Fortune 500 manufacturing companies and as Senior Consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
“After a very thorough and comprehensive search process, PMPA is pleased to have found the best individual to assume the Executive Director role for PMPA,” said Tom Bernstein, President of PMPA. “Bernie will bring the benefit of his years of experience in manufacturing and process improvement, as well as his strategic focus to his leadership role with PMPA.”
The selection of Nagle caps a search process initiated by a board appointed search committee of member company executives and facilitated by Dise & Company, Northeast Ohio’s premier global human resource consulting firm. “The process involved not only the Search Committee, but PMPA’s Staff Directors, and utilized the SHL assessment and measurement process to define and characterize both the position and the candidate’s attributes,” said Doug Coster, one of the members on the PMPA’s Search Committee. “It was a very rigorous and time consuming process, but it clearly identified Bernie as the best candidate for PMPA from a number of applicants.”
“I’m honored and very excited to assume the role of Executive Director for PMPA. I have been a passionate advocate for manufacturing throughout my career, and I am eager to help PMPA provide the information, resources, advocacy, and networking opportunities to help the manufacturing companies in PMPA to become more productive and profitable. I see the Executive Director role at PMPA as requiring a number of hats- first to listen and develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and the challenges facing the industry. Second, third, and fourth, I see my role as serving staff by providing purpose, focus, and constructive guidance. Together with staff and members, I am convinced that we can make a difference- adding value and growing membership and influence of the PMPA. I am anxious to meet as many members as possible at the October Annual Meeting and in my travels in the weeks and months ahead.”
Nagle holds a bachelor’s in chemistry from Gannon University, where he was named Distinguished Alumnus. He earned a management certificate from Northeastern University Graduate School of Business and a certificate in Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence from CWRU Weatherhead School. He has a number of publications and has been an active volunteer and passionate advocate for a number of social causes. He is the principal at www.Altrupreneur.com
For Media inquiries, please contact Miles Free gro.apmp@eerfM
The number of Americans NOT in the workforce is at record levels, and yet the talking heads assure us that the unemployment rate is just 5.1%
The headline rate “conveniently” ignores the folks that have given up trying to find a job, and so does not count them.
Data here.
How many Americans “are not in the labor force?”
According to BLS, over 94 million.
If you would like to join the workforce, are comfortable with Math and can learn by experience, perhaps you should consider a career in precision machining.
Our shops are scheduling overtime, pay well, and often will help with your training costs.
Where to go for training.
Labor doesn’t add much value. In my experience, it only moved stuff around. The labor jobs went away. Today, I celebrate the process owners like the machinists that can tear down and set up a multi-spindle cam machine in under 2 hours. They own their process and own their craft.
Today, as PMPA’s director of industry research and technology, I compile a survey and report on the wages for the member companies of the Precision Machined Products Association. It covers almost 6 percent of the industry’s employment, according to the U.S. Census. I just reviewed our latest report, and we don’t even have a job title for “laborer.”
Process Owners, Not Laborers
The day of laboring for a living is done. In my career, it was gone by the 1980s. In our industry, the last labor jobs left during the 2009 recession. Today, our shops rely on process owners to operate, set up our equipment, produce parts and inspect them to the highest standards. Today, our shops’ process owners are the go-to men and women that we turn to for understanding when making control plans and corrective action plans, as well as matching machine and process capability to the new jobs we quote.
Here’s what I see when I walk into a PMPA member shop:
- I see esprit de corps every day observing the handoff between purchasing, planning, operations, quality control, shipping and the customer.
- I see our team achieve just-in-time, zero PPM routinely.
- I see our folks are using, viewing, studying, programming and coding using computerized technology, and often doing so in more than three axes.
- I see the pride in our craftsmen and craftswomen when they gage the part, look at the reading, dial an offset into the control, hit start and the next part measures exactly what was required. I share their joy when the parts come back with a green tag and not a red tag.
- I see when they look at the part magnified 50 times or 100 times and the geometric form matches the template perfectly, that tiny smile shows they love their craft and their accomplishments with the technology they use.
- I see our people adding value by assembling components, packaging them securely and getting the correct information in and out of the computer and onto the shipping documents, labeled, then loaded on the correct truck.
The people of the precision machining industry don’t “labor,” they own processes. They master their processes. They are process experts. They use their talent, insight and craft to add value. So automobiles go and stop. So planes fly and land. So people can be healed and reassembled.
I will not be celebrating Labor Day this year. But Process Owners Day- you can bet that I will be appreciative of the craftsmen and women that make our modern lives possible because they own, and have mastered their Craft.
Happy Process Owner Day!
Original Article in Production Machining
At 51.1% the August PMI came in below the anticipated value of 52.8%.
The numbers indicate growth, but the change indicates that in the manufacturing sector growth is slowing, and new orders and exports in particular are vulnerable. This was the 32nd consecutive month of growth of manufacturing, and the 75th consecutive month of expansion in the broad economy.
“The August PMI® registered 51.1 percent, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from the July reading of 52.7 percent. The New Orders Index registered 51.7 percent, a decrease of 4.8 percentage points from the reading of 56.5 percent in July. The Production Index registered 53.6 percent, 2.4 percentage points below the July reading of 56 percent. The Employment Index registered 51.2 percent, 1.5 percentage points below the July reading of 52.7 percent. Inventories of raw materials registered 48.5 percent, a decrease of 1 percentage point from the July reading of 49.5 percent. The Prices Index registered 39 percent, down 5 percentage points from the July reading of 44 percent, indicating lower raw materials prices for the 10th consecutive month. The New Export Orders Index registered 46.5 percent, down 1.5 percentage points from the July reading of 48 percent.”- Bradley J Holcomb, Chair, Institute for Supply Management, August Report on PMI.
Generally speaking, values above 50 percent correlate with a growing manufacturing sector.
In the August report, Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Fabricated Metal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; and Machinery Markets showed growth, while Primary Metals; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Petroleum & Coal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Transportation Equipment all showed declines.
The Prices index (reflecting raw material prices)was down five percentage points from July to come in at 39 percent. Normally this would be good news for manufacturers, but is actually reflective of a weakness in demand for products worldwide.
Business Insider reports that two PMI indicators from China also fell in August: China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to a three-year low of 49.7 in August from 50.0 in July. The unofficial Caixin-Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 47.3 in August from 47.8 in July. Any reading below 50 signals contraction. Business Insider
Graph courtesy Calculated Risk Blog
Published September 2015
By Mari Kirchenbauer
The skills gap is real. It is something that concerns each and every one of us.
Published September 2015
By PMPA Staff
From the early DOS days of desktop computing to Microsoft Windows 10, Henning Software in Hudson, Ohio, has been a leader in providing solutions for small and medium manufacturing shops for more than 25 years.
Published September 2015
By Miles Free III
Labor Day was originally held in New York City on September 5, 1882, to show, “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations,” of the community and to host a festival for the workers and their families.