Author: Joe Jackson
Published September 25, 2023
Published September 18, 2023
Published September 4, 2023
By David Wynn
Published Issue September 2023
Deburring is a tedious task that is better left to machines.
Published September 1, 2023
Fabricated Metal Products Manufacturing is a subsector of manufacturing that makes critical goods from metal components.
Precision Turned Products Manufacturing is a subsector of fabricated metal product manufacturing that makes the components that MAKE IT WORK!
ARIZONA ECONOMIC OUTPUT
Arizona Manufacturing
NAICS 31-33
$37,600,000,000
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
NAICS 332
$4,638,635,000
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
NACIS 332721
$157,163,000
ARIZONA MANUFACTURING ACCOUNTS FOR
Manufacturing Is Productivity – 8.51% of the Arizona’s total output (GDP)
Manufacturing Builds Businesses – 4,051 manufacturing establishments are in the state of Arizona.
Manufacturing Creates Jobs – Jobs: 6.05% of all Arizona employees are in the manufacturing sector. (182,000 employees)
Arizona has added 14,100 jobs in manufacturing over the last year, a growth rate of 7.8%, more than double the U.S. rate of 3.7%
Manufacturing produces for ARIZONA!
Arizona is a great place for a career in manufacturing
Published September 1, 2023
Synthetic web slings, cable slings and alloy chain slings carry most, if not all, of the raw materials over the machines and equipment in our shops. Slings may also be used to move other items and are generally used with an overhead crane. It would not be uncommon for lifts of a ton or more to be carried by slings — 2,000-pound bundles of bar stock for machining are common. A sling failing while carrying that much would cause catastrophic damage to the machines and equipment below. And if the bars rebound, they could strike employees causing injury or death, even though they were not directly below the lift.
Here is a review of OSHA guidance and best practices that I have observed to ensure safe usage of synthetic web slings, which are the most frequently encountered type of slings encountered in our shops.
Identification
OSHA requires that new slings be marked by the manufacturer to show the rated load for each type of hitch and the type of material used. Additional markings may include the manufacturer’s stock number or code as well as the name and trademark of the manufacturer.
Best practice: to facilitate tracking for inspection purposes, I have seen shops assign a unique sling identifier. Identifiers can be by date purchased and a shop-created sling number, or by department or area used and sling number.
Inspections must be performed daily before use, but also at defined intervals based on service and duty.
According to OSHA’s guidance document, periodic inspections must be made at intervals no greater than 12 months. Normal service use would merit an annual periodic inspection. Monthly or quarterly additional inspection is indicated where slings are subject to severe service use, and for slings used infrequently or for special service, as recommended by a qualified person.
The point of an inspection is to ensure that damaged or defective slings are immediately removed from service to prevent accident or injury. The inspection must be performed by a competent or qualified person. Under the 1926 construction standard, a competent person is one “who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them” (OSHA link: bit.ly/PMPA-PM0923a).
The general industry (1910) standard defines a qualified person as one who “…by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully demonstrated the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the subject matter and work” (OSHA link: bit.ly/PMPA-PM0923b).
No one should be using slings until trained to recognize existing hazards which would be dangerous and has been authorized to take prompt corrective action. Have you trained all of your employees to recognize hazards and dangers and authorized them to take immediate necessary action?
Inspection Criteria
So what are some conditions that would merit removing the sling from service immediately? Most frequently encountered in our shops would likely be slings showing holes, tears, cuts, snags, excessive abrasive wear, evidence of chemical or thermal burns, melting or charring on any part of the sling. The presence of knots in any part of the sling are also cause for immediate removal from service, as it is evidence of discoloration and brittle areas, or other conditions that “cause doubt” as to the continued use of the sling. Missing identification is also noted as grounds for removal from service. This list is not complete, but it covers the most likely and frequently observed conditions in small manufacturing shops.
Inspection Best Practices
What has remained out of reach of most shops has been a way to see if the periodic inspection of a web sling has been performed. It’s unwieldy to look up inspection records on paper or even online, so it is unlikely to be followed. However, I was impressed with the following best practice encountered on our PMPA Mastery Program Tour visit to Mazak in Florence, Kentucky. At Mazak, the periodic inspection status of every lifting device (web slings as well as cables and alloy chains) was displayed by the use of a color-coded nylon cable tie secured around one side of the “eye” or the sling fitting. The color code showed the most recent additional inspection period status — if the proper color for the latest period was not attached, the employee could see this instantly. The cable tie provides immediate visual inspection status while providing no hazard to the sling or its use.
Slings provide critical operational support for our shops. They also hold the potential for great damage and personal injury should they fail. Follow the guidance above to keep your operations safe. Use color coded cable ties as a visual management indicator of sling inspection status — a best practice for shop safety, operations and visual management.
Miles Free III is the PMPA Director of Industry Affairs with over 50 years of experience in the areas of manufacturing, quality and steelmaking. Miles’ podcast is at pmpa.org/podcast. Email Miles
Published September 1, 2023
Engineering = math + problem-solving. Madison Park and JoAnn Vlach factor into that equation. Madison Park is a manufacturing and quality engineer in the CNC production department of Sorenson Engineering in Yucaipa, California. At Efficient Machine Products Corporation in Strongsville, Ohio, JoAnn Vlach turned 16 years of engineering into a vice president position. Both women share their journey to manufacturing.
Madison Park’s Journey
After earning her college degree, Madison joined Sorenson Engineering and, shortly after joining, she began working on the pilot program for the nickel alloys. The pilot program became a new high nickel alloys and stainless steel department, which is where she still works. She likes working with high nickel alloys since not many people work with them. She also enjoys that there is always something to learn. Madison states, “It provides a lot of opportunity for problem-solving, and I’ve never been bored.” Team. She is proud of creating the team and says she feels like a superhero when they help manufacturers solve employment and throughput issues.
JoAnn Vlach’s Journey
JoAnn misread a job ad over 16 years ago and found herself at Kerr Lakeside switching from civil engineering to mechanical engineering. Although it was challenging, she was mentored and allowed to use the machines in the shop while she grew her skills. Now, as the vice president of Efficient Machine Products, one of her responsibilities is customer support and development and her engineering background helps her determine if a part can be made with the available machines and if they are a good fit. JoAnn states, “I enjoy making a difference throughout our industry, my company and our customers. I also enjoy engaging with PMPA members and friends.”
Advice to Women (or Anyone) Seeking a Career in Manufacturing
Madison thinks anyone can be successful in manufacturing if they’re willing to learn. Madison says, “Ask questions and don’t sit on the sidelines; the best way to learn is to do it yourself and make mistakes along the way. It can be intimidating because it tends to be a male-dominated field, but women may have a unique perspective that the industry is missing.”
JoAnn’s advice is to take the leap. “It’s very rewarding,” she continues. “I can remember being the only female at the 2008 National Technical Conference. It was overwhelming, intimidating and rewarding all in one. It’s an experience I wouldn’t trade. You just have to jump in feet first and know you got this!”
Carli Kistler-Miller, MBA has over 25 years of experience with
communications, event/meeting planning, marketing, writing and
operations. Email: gro.apmp@rellimc — Website: pmpa.org.
Published September 1, 2023
By David Wynn, Technical Services Manager, PMPA
Anyone who has ever drilled a cross-hole knows about burrs. Especially when going through the wall of a through-hole. It’s even worse when you are drilling some welded tubing. How do we get rid of these? What are ways we can eliminate or reduce second operations on parts like this?
Running Parts on a Mill-Turn or Swiss-Type Lathe
Run a wire brush or ceramic ball brush through the ID after cross holing. This will break small burrs and hairs off the ID. It will also cause a small radius to form on the ID of the cross-hole as it passes through. The brush needs to be slightly larger than your ID so that the brush will be putting pressure into the cross-hole as it passes by. Not reliable enough in higher volumes.
Back chamfering tool from an additional live spindle. Using a back chamfering tool lets you get a consistent chamfer on the ID of the back side of the cross-hole clearing the burr. It allows for consistent processing but can be time-consuming. If you have customer requirements for chamfers on the back side of the cross-hole in the ID, a back chamfering tool is one of the few ways to get that chamfer right.
Running Parts on Traditional Turning or Screw Machines
Mass finishing — tumbling parts with appropriate media. You must be careful of media selection when vibratory finishing cross-holes. You want media that is shaped so that it properly clears your burr but does not get stuck in the ID of your part or the cross-hole itself. Always do a test run of a small batch of parts to check a media’s fitness for use. Mass finishing does not work well on tough thick burrs.
Thermal deburring. Thermal deburring, sometimes called flash deburring, involves the application of intense heat over a brief period effectively incinerating the burr. Thermal deburring works great on small hair-like burrs that are typically seen in threading. It is much less effective on larger burrs that have large attachment points to the raw material. There are many outside vendors that provide thermal
deburring services.
Boring to size. If you have the tolerance or are drilling from solid bar, then boring to size after the cross-hole is a great method. Run your hole size a little smaller, then bore to size after completing cross drilling operations. This allows the boring bar to take out the burrs as it passes through
the hole.
In a traditional three-axis CNC mill your options are more limited because you don’t have the part clamped in a collet with rotational capabilities. Mass finishing, thermal deburring or back chamfering are the best approaches.
Deburring is an essential part of our everyday life in the shop. Finding automated methods to eliminate burrs is efficient, places a tedious task on machines and leaves your performers available for more important tasks. The key is understanding techniques to properly handle burrs. Dropping parts off complete and burr-free not only frees up your performers time for their highest and best use, it reduces hassle in your downstream processes.
David Wynn
David Wynn, MBA, is the PMPA Technical Services Manager with over 20 years of experience in the areas of manufacturing, quality, ownership, IT and economics. Email: gro.apmp@nnywd — Website: pmpa.org.
Published August 28, 2023