Workforce Development
It Begins With Belief
This shop’s approach to unattended machining focuses on the big picture.
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Lean Manufacturing For The Job Shop
Lean practices are not just for predictable production. Here are the common-sense ways this low-volume job shop has implemented a leaner process.
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Macro Economics
Instead of NC programs that are dedicated to particular parts and machines, this plant now uses macro programs that react to geometric variations across broad part families. The plant wrote these macros itself, and the return on this investment has been dramatically greater productivity.
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Machine Tools Used As Dedicated Equipment…For A Little While
Two keys to this shop’s success are versatility and speed. It uses flexible machining centers, rather than dedicated equipment, and constantly reconfigures them into new cells for new jobs. The speed at which it can do this, in addition to in-house tombstone manufacturing capability, provides the nimbleness to quickly respond to its customers’ needs.
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Cultivating Metalworking Technology's Next Users
An educator from a successful vocational high school describes what manufacturers can do to help institutions like his provide capable talent to industry.
Read MoreABB Robotics Teams Up with Okuma, Becomes a Partner in THINC
ABB Robotics, a leading supplier of industrial robots, has joined Partners in THINC, creating a strategic alliance with Okuma, a world leader in the development and production of machine tools. Okuma is unique in the world of machine tools in that the company also develops and manufactures the control, drives a
Read MoreWinning The Transfer/Succession Game
Your business represents pure wealth (in current dollar value) and produces a stream of income to support you (and probably other members of your family). Someday, a portion of this pure wealth, which usually grows a bit in value each year, must go to the IRS.
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Cells To The Max
Brad Hart, president of Roberts Tool Company, in Chatsworth, California, believes that automated cells are the key to survival for companies likes his that machine complex, high-precision parts for aerospace and defense. Cellular manufacturing makes it possible to reduce lead times dramatically and minimize labor input while increasing throughput and improving quality, he says. In his shop, a cell consisting of two Toyoda HMCs and a dozen pallet stations epitomizes the lean manufacturing concepts that Mr. Hart finds so compelling. However, he says that shop owners have to get out of the business of making parts and into the business of building processes--processes such as those embodied in a lean manufacturing cell.
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Engineering Employees
Today, the lack of skilled manufacturing employees is the major problem holding this company back. To clear the way for growth tomorrow, the company is determined to solve this problem. The answer is an internal university for developing the skills of every current employee and new hire, including many who have never set foot in a machine shop before.
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