November 29, 2007
Makino— a leading manufacturer of horizontal and vertical machining centers and EDM machines — has announced a new series of online Webinars. Designed for shops of all types and sizes, the seminars are free to anyone who registers. The planned seminars are intended for shops in the automotive, aerospace, medical product and die and mold industries. In addition to metal cutting and die/mold, the seminars will cover new technologies, such as micromachining. Mark Rentschler, marketing manager, says, "Online seminars allow anyone with an Internet connection to attend without losing a day of work." The seminars concentrate on shop efficiency, lean manufacturing, asset utilization, machine tool integration and automation, machine tool technologies, and metal cutting processes. Makino's application engineers, product managers and guest speakers will give presentations.
Why the Best Machine Shops Excel We have, in this issue, profiles of American Machinist’s "10 Best Machine Shops" for 2007, and those shops are extraordinary. 2007 Top Shop Analysis American Machinist has conducted its second annual survey of machine shops to gather information our readers need to accurately gage their competitive positions in the industry, and to help them make plans that will enable them to systematically improve their operations and become more competitive. Staying Competitive Is A State Of Mind To be competitive, or even to just survive in today's global economy, machine shops need to produce better parts faster and at a lower cost. The shops that are thriving, the shops that are successfully competing with shops across the street and across the oceans are successful because they are able to turn the pursuit of higher productivity into a culture, a never-ending quest instead of a one-time event. That quest usually starts with a new machine because today's machines are inherently several times more productive than machines that were sold 10 years ago or even five years ago. But buying a new machine is not the goal, it's only a step toward the goal of increased productivity, and sometimes it is not even the right step. Best Practices: Improving Customer Satisfaction and Decreasing Costs Through Graphical Scheduling This was American Machinist's first webcast and demonstrated our focus on helping shop owners and operators find the tools and techniques they need to be more productive and profitable. The Case for Multi-Tasking Why do manufacturers opt for multi--tasking machine tools? Here are some of the reasons why: Reduces direct cost -- fewer machines, fixtures and tools, and far less labor. Slashes non-value-added time, multiple setups, part handling and queue time. Gurus of Maintenance The perception of maintenance is changing with forward-looking shops that appreciate the crucial contribution it makes to their success. These shops view maintenance as the way to keep machines and equipment running, rather than as a way to fix things when they break. Proactive and predictive techniques allow for spotting and eliminating potential problems before they cause a breakdown. Cycle Time First, Tooling Second Advance machining & gear cuts machining cycle times first. Then it looks at reducing its tooling costs. As far as the shop is concerned, cycle times play the key role in maintaining competitiveness, and by making cycle times as short as possible, it delivers jobs faster and handles more work, and doesn't have to invest in new equipment to do it. The shop also can quote jobs more effectively to protect its margins, especially for long-run, repeat work that it wins by providing quick job turnarounds and by meeting customers' just-in-time delivery requirements.
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