June 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #45
If you have an intermittent or periodic problem, start counting frequency of occurrence, and then figure out what the order of magnitude is compared with your process.
Author: Joe Jackson
May 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #44
The PMPA Business Trends Report is published monthly and provides a credible means for our member shops to compare their performance with the performances of other precision machining shops. Actual net sales and hours of first shift scheduled are the two performance indicators tracked, while three-month outlook for net sales, lead times, employment and profitability document the forward-looking sentiment of your peers.
April 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #43
Here are six factors that can affect tool life in your shop.
March 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #42
Plan, Do, Study, Adjust: The Engine of Continuous Improvement
February 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #41
The weldability of steels is influenced primarily by the carbon content. Carbon equivalents of 0.35 or less are safe to weld without any pre-weld or postweld heat treatments required. At higher carbon levels, steels may require either pre- or post-weld heat treatment in order to prevent stress buildup and weld cracking.
January 2016 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #40
The Top 10 OSHA Violations for FY 2015
Safety Alert 2016: MOU OSHA DOJ
The December 17, 2015 Memorandum of Understanding between OSHA and Department of Justice threatens shop owners with criminal prosecution for serious safety violations. The attached files document the new prosecution approach, provide a list of 14 Employer Musts to assure compliance, and describe how PMPA will provide you with essential employee training contacts throughout the new year to help ensure your compliance.
December 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #39
In steel, tempering is reheating hardened steel to a temperature below the lower critical temperature for the purpose of decreasing hardness and increasing toughness.
November 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #38
These days, pyrometers are affordable, but it is the mark of a craftsman to be able to tell temperature by eye, if only to validate the instrumentation or suspect it.
October 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #37
Here are some of the major reasons grouped into a rough classification by where the cause exists.