October 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #37
Here are some of the major reasons grouped into a rough classification by where the cause exists.
Month: October 2015
Congressman David Joyce toured PMPA member company JM Performance Products, Inc. to see how district manufacturing jobs create value for the entire country and how important STEM is to Manufacturing.
The high torque patented toolholder retention knob product produced by the team at JM Performance, Inc. can help companies that do CNC Milling save on energy, tooling expense, downtime for setups and troubleshooting, and also significantly improve product finish.
Congressman Joyce discussed the importance of innovations like this to help keep American companies competitive in Manufacturing.
With all the bad news out of Washington these days, it was my pleasure to see Congressman David Joyce reach out to the team at JM Performance Products, Inc. to get a sense of how Manufacturing creates value and jobs and helps other companies save time, money and energy.
Does your congressman understand the value of Manufacturing? Why don’t you invite them to visit your shop to see for them self the value and jobs that your and your team create in your shop?
Many people, particularly in Purchasing and Accounting, see buying at the lowest cost as being a key to sustaining their business.
- Solve problems first.
- Solve the problem for good.
- Understand that lowest cost over the long term is not the lowest price over the short term.
- Spend less time and money on maintenance by actually planning it.
Solve problems first
Solving problems is the most efficient use of your company’s talent and knowledge. The effort spent on solving the problem stops the deviation from normal in your immediate operations and reduces the potential expenditures on inspection, remediation and over-processing. Do you have a culture of problem solving?
Solve the problem for good.
It does no good to solve a problem today only to see it return later. That is not problem solving. It is critical to identify the root cause and then take permanent corrective actions to prevent that root cause from ever appearing again. “What problems has your team made go away forever in your shop? can you name one? Two? More?”
Understand that lowest cost over the long term is not the lowest price over the short term.
Yes, you can buy cheaper tooling from a jobber. Many purchasing departments are incorrectly focused on cost per tool, cost per pound of raw material or cost per gallon of metal removal fluid. Cheap drills are no bargain if they only last for 60 to 70 holes instead of 400 to 500 per drill. To be sustainable, the company needs to have the lowest cost to produce a compliant part, not only the cheapest materials to make it. Does your shop reward the purchase of the cheapest inputs for the job, or attaining the lowest cost for production of compliant parts?
Spend less time and money on maintenance by actually planning it.
Our industry is focused on reducing cycle time and Setup time – as it should. Without exception every shop owner or operations manager is focused on these. But if everyone is focused on these, how does that help you? For your shop to be uniquely sustainable, why not focus on eliminating unplanned downtime and lost production time due to unexpected breakdowns? It is a truism that we get what we measure. Today most shops have rigorous systems for ERP and operations planning, but does your shop have any process at all for proactive machine maintenance?
Today, customers expect Zero Defects and 100% On Time – from every supplier. Why not make your shop sustainable by actually having a 4 point process to get there by solving problems first, solving them for good, getting to lowest cost per compliant part produced, and eliminating unplanned downtime by actually planning for it?
For more details, please see our article in October 2015 issue of Production Machining
Photo credit.
Published October 2015
By PMPA Staff
Since its inception in 1960, Stark State College in North Canton, Ohio, has maintained its mission of providing regional manufacturers with students prepared with skills in the engineering technology industry
Published October 2015
By PMPA Staff
Portland, Oregon-based Enoch Precision Machining’s humble beginnings date back to 1949 in the home of founder, Seth Young.
Published October 2015
By Miles Free III
The U.S. dollar is one of the strongest currencies in the world, and the Chinese have just devalued the yuan to pursue their preferred mercantilist interests exporting cheap goods to the world. Steel is cheaper than cabbage in China.