Author: Miles Free

5C Collets Are Cool- Somma Tool

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In order to machine precision parts, you need to first hold the workpiece securely, accurately and precisely. 5C collets do just that.

5C collets are the result of 100 years of continuous improvement.

Work can be held using methods other than collets- 3 and 4 jaw chucks come to mind, as well as vises-  but for continuous high volume work with barstock, collets are ideal.

Here are 7 reasons Somma Tool says 5C collets are cool:

  • Collets are easier (and faster!) to set up than chucks.
  • Collets are more concentric. With chucks, tolerances stack up degrading concentricity.
  • Collets more affordably provide higher precision.
  • Collets more affordably provide higher accuracy.
  • Collets provide high holding force. As the collet is pulled axially into the bushing, the tapered sides compress radially generating static friction (holding force).
  • Collets are versatile- they can be made to hold over capacity stock; they can have steps built in; come in extra long sizes as well as have internal stops.
  • Emergency collets are available that can be custom bored to your exact need.

Hardinge invented the 5C collet back in 1901. It became a preferred choice for precision workholding in lathes, mills and grinders. Exacting standards, special alloy steel, heat treatment and spring tempering combine to assure accuracy and durability at low cost. The 5C collet became an industry standard. 5C collets range from 0.5 mm (thats 0.0196″ ) capacity to 1-1/16″  round; 5C collets hold up to 3/4″ square and and 29/32″ hex.

PMPA member Somma Tool sells 5C collets from Hardinge.

Thanks to Matt at Somma and Tom at Hardinge  for teaching this ‘steel guy’  7 reasons why 5C collets are cool.

A Precision Machining Valentines Message

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Here’s what the precision machinists back in the day at Veste Coburg put together for when their cupids went hunting.

If cupid had a muzzleloader...

We encountered this muzzleloading longarm at Veste Coburg a splendidly grand castle in Germany on our visit last year. Veste Coburg was known as the Frankische Krone (Franconian Crown) and in its day hosted Martin Luther as well as the husband of Queen Victoria- Albert of Saxe- Gotha.

I probably took a thousand photos there. Many in the museum’s castle’s armory. It is an exquisite collection.

No word on how accurate this longarm was, but as you can see from my photo, its a pretty piece of metalworking. This photo is proof that the metalsmiths at Veste Coburg knew how to put their “heart” in their work.

And that is our Precision Machining Valentine message to you.

Shot Through the Heart is not You Give Love a Bad Name– but this just might be the “loaded gun” of the Bob Jovi Song?

NRC Approves 2 New Reactors- Are Environmentalists Happy?

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The NRC concluded mandatory hearings on the request for licenses at the Vogtle site  26 miles southeast of Augusta Georgia. The NRC has approved issuance of combined operating licenses to the Southern Nuclear Operating Company.

Having witnessed all the argument, debate and climategate regarding CO2 emissions and climate change,  as well as the EPA’s recent stand down on the boiler rule, we couldn’t help but think that the environmentalists would be opening sodas and singing Kum By Ya over these new non- fossil fuel, non CO2 emitting, sources of energy.

Maybe its a bit early for the singing...

However, something tells me that it may be a bit early for Kum By Ya- Here are a couple of stickers that we think tells what the environmentalist are thinking:

At least they are polite...
Fukushima is everywhere,.. turn them off now!

We are pleased to see that the NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards independently reviewed aspects of the application that concern safety, as well as the draft  of the Staff’s Final Safety Evaluation Report.

We are even more pleased that the reactor design includes passive safety features that would cool down the reactor after an accident without need for electricity or human intervention.

But until our nation has a serious discussion about how to intelligently manage ALL RISKS- and develops a policy to intelligently manage them, we will be subjected to more fear mongering and pseudo-science from all sides.

How do we properly evaluate the risks (and costs) of our continued burn of fossil fuels versus those associated with Nuclear energy?

I’d like your answer to this, what is the proper lens to evaluate the risk rewards of these decisions?

Singers

Why Service Trumps Quality And Price

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In the precision machining business, nobody sets up their machines based on the quality or price of your barstock. They set up their machines based on your delivery (service).

We don't set them up because of your price.

Ability to provide your product on time and to specification is the true determinant in the real world of execution. Thats why there is a gap between the dream world of  business plans (what we think we can get) and the real world of monthly operating statements (what we got).

The delta (difference) between the two is a failure of some supplier to service (provide what needed as needed as planned.)

  • Quality: Either the quality of the product meets requirements, or else you will get claim/return and won’t get the order (again).
  • Price: You will meet the market price for whatever comparables exist for the same requirements- or else the lowest priced comparable product will be selected.
  • Service is the only differentiator in my experience;

 Therefore it is only your ability to serve the customer with immediate delivery/ provision as needed that is a differentiator.

PS.:  Consumers consider service to be part of the landed cost, and don’t want to pay extra for it. In the industrial sector, service  is a given.

PPS.:  Everything else is Marketing B.S.

About That Unemployment Rate…

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Why don’t things seem better- the news says the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 per cent?

This line only shows the folks counted in U-3...

Photo

The unemployment rate they talk about in the press is the U-3 rate. The unemployment rate that the people in the country are really feeling is called the U-6 rate.

The U-6 rate includes the unemployed, the marginally attached, and persons who are actually employed but who work fewer hours than they would like.

While that  8% rate may sound like a real improvement,  the fact is that in human terms, not filtered through the  rose-colored lens of policy wonks or reporter-speak, the real rate is U-6 or almost double the “official” U-3 rate.

Critical thinking is about recognizing and challenging assumptions. What assumptions are built into the people talking on TV about unemployment?

As this graph shows, one assumption is that they aren’t even talking about darn near half the people who are “unemployed, marginally attached, and persons  who are actually employed but  who work fewer hours than they would like.”

How about that unemployment rate?

Graph

Plant Manager or Profitability Engineer?

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The outlook is bleak for plant managers according to CBS News who listed the job title as one of the top ten positions in decline.

“Automation and offshoring will decimate the ranks of production managers by 2018. According to the BLS, employment will drop by 11,900 jobs from a 2008 total of 156,100. With faster machines and better productivity, one plant can do the work of two, squeezing managers out. Increased imports of manufactured goods will do additional damage… The outlook is equally bleak for managers in the computer, electronics, and auto parts industries.”

The BLS Outlook for Production Managers:

Projections data from the National Employment Matrix

Occupational Title

SOC Code

Employment, 2008

Projected Employment, 2018

Change, 2008-18

Detailed Statistics

Number

Percent
Industrial production managers

11-3051

 156,100 144,100 -11,900 -8

[PDF]

[XLS]
    NOTE: Data in this table are rounded.
Here is a brief Overview of the BLS entry for Industrial Production Manager:

“Industrial production managers plan, direct, and coordinate the production activities required to produce the vast array of goods manufactured every year in the United States.  They make sure that production meets output and quality goals while remaining within budget.  Depending on the size of the manufacturing plant, industrial production managers may oversee the entire plant or just one area of it. Industrial production managers devise methods to use the plant’s personnel and capital resources to best meet production goals.  They may determine which machines will be used, whether new machines need to be purchased, whether overtime or extra shifts are necessary, and what the sequence of production will be.  They monitor the production run to make sure that it stays on schedule, and they correct any problems that may arise.” BLS

Plan, Direct, Coordinate production activities- those sound like things the shop’s computerized systems do- or are supposed to do.

If the computer runs the plant... what does the plant manager do?

Here’s the position that they ought to be talking about:  Profitability Engineer:

  • Who is responsible for generating and increasing profits?
  • Who is making sure the job is running at the cycle time and quality that it was quoted?
  • Who is assuring that the parts won’t have systemic errors because of inadequacies in quality control?
  • Who is helping to keep the machine cycles effective and efficient and pushing beyond “book” rates? That the jobs are run on machines  to assure best utilization of your company’s investment in Horsepower?

The profitability engineer is the one human being who can do these things. Not a computer. Not a manager. Not a boss.

The gap between your technology’s capability and its current level of operational attainment is where your hidden profits will be found. Is there a profitability engineer in your house?

Many  plant managers are in fact Profitability Engineers- maybe they ought to recognize that the value they add is not in managing a plant, but in engineering company profits.

Who is your company’s Profitability Engineer?

Plant Manager

Profitability Engineer

Profitability Engineering

USA Leads Global Recovery-Evidence

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Leadership is about action, not potential. Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data shows that it is the USA, not China, that is leading the world out of the slowdown.

Maybe the term SHOULD be U-BRIC

Here are 5 reasons that PMI data is relevant evidence for your analysis

  • PMI is a reliable fact-based indicator as opposed to opinion or confidence-based indicators.
  • PMI is produced monthly, faster than comparable official data series.
  • PMI covers almost all private sector economic activity in many countries (including the all-important service sectors).
  • PMI are not revised after publication.
  • PMI are produced using the same methodology in all countries where they are produced- assuring comparability.

While we associate the PMI data with the Institute for Supply Management, the fact is that Markit Economics is the firm doing the actual surveys and reporting.

How do you read the above PMI Data?

Graph

MARKIT

World Steel Production 2011- 1.5 Billion Tonnes

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Crude steel production reported by the World Steel Association was 1,526.9 megatonnes in 2011, up 6.8% over 2010. This is a new record for global crude steel production. Imagine what the demand for steel would be if we had a robust recovery free of economic temblors!

United States production was 3rd world wide with  86.2 megatonnes after China at 695.5 megatonnes, and Japan at 107.6 megatonnes. The US figure was up 7.1% over 2010.

In 2011, crude steel production in North America was 118.9 Mt, an increase of 6.8% on 2010. The US produced 86.2 Mt of crude steel, 7.1% higher than 2010.

While prices have softened lately, we continue to be bullish for higher prices long term based on global demand due to improved living standards everywhere.

By our calculations this 1.5 billion tonnes of steel is approximately 0.22 of a tonne per person or about 486 pounds per person for each of the 6.9 billion folks on the planet.

World Steel 2011

1,526.9 MT= 1562900000 tonnes =  1.72280235 × 109 short tons = 3.4456047 × 1012 pounds

Can Your Robot Do This?

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QinetiQ makes a line of “Throwable robots.”

Check out the video:

Dragonrunner

The Dragonrunner has multiple camera and payload options. While this robot is not used to maufacture  precision products like the big yellow ones we’re used to seeing in our shops,  this is an ideal embodiment of a robotic solution for reconnaissance and surveillance, and first-responder teams in hostile or life threatening conditions. Weighing in at around 10 pounds (depending on payload and equipment) the Dragonrunner is rugged enough to function in hostile environments and has the ability to climb stairs and handle “rugged dismounts-” Like throwing from the back of a speeding truck or upper story window.

We use robotic technology to reduce variation in our shop operations and to create highly efficient work cells combining different machine tools.

This one is not throwable...

But at the other end of the spectrum, Robots can be, well, Pretty AWESOME

QinetiQ Homepage

WTO- China Raw Material Exports Broke Trade Rules

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Today the WTO upheld its decision finding that Chinese restrictions on key raw material exports broke trade rules.

We have been following this particular issue since November 2009:

http://pmpaspeakingofprecision.com/2009/11/04/chinese-resource-hoarding-dispute-before-wto/

We followed up :

http://pmpaspeakingofprecision.com/2009/12/30/china-resource-hoarding-wto-panel-convened/

And today we are reporting that the WTO upheld its decision that Chinese restrictions on key raw material exports broke trade rules following the appeal by Beijing. As a result, China must bring its duty and export quota measures on elements including bauxite, coke, manganese and others in line with their WTO Obligations.

WTO Decision

The WTO found in favor of the United States, European Union and Mexico in July following a complaint that China had failed to meet the promises it made when joining the body.

At issue were important raw materials for those of us involved in advanced manufacturing- bauxite (aluminum ore), coking coal (steel making), fluorspar (steelmaking) manganese (steelmaking), silicon metal (steel making), silicon carbide, yellow phosphorus and zinc (Brass).

Both the United States and the European Union claimed victory after the publication of the appeal body’s report. according to Industry Week online:

“Today’s report is a tremendous victory for the United States — particularly its manufacturers and workers,” U.S. trade ambassador Ron Kirk said. “Today’s decision ensures that core manufacturing industries in this country can get the materials they need to produce and compete on a level playing field.”

EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the ruling represented a success in efforts to ensure fair access to “much needed” raw materials for EU industry.”

Congratulations to Ron Kirk and his team for winning one for U.S. Manufacturing.

Photo credit