The image is that manufacturing is a dirty, physical, turning-cranks, labor intensive job, but the facts is that the machining industry is one of the most technological forward and innovative industries. In this seventh episode, Jim and I discuss how the industry has changed along with machine and software technology. Jim tells an interesting stories about when his dad
ran the shop and one of his machinist screwed up a part, which you can’t do nowadays and I throw out how old I was when Jim started in the industry.
More high schools are teaching manufacturing skills.
In our Manufacturing News segment, we discuss how Wheeling High School (Wheeling, IL) has been turning out hire-ready manufacturing students for the last six years. Part of Germany’s education model is that a 15 year old will enter into an internship whereby manufacturing is one of the top choices.
In our Metalworking Tools segment, we discuss the advantages of thread milling: control the size, breakage, tool life.
Are international standards important for your company or your partners? In this
sixth episode, Jim and I discuss standards and the impact of ISO on his company. We discuss
the specific standards of ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management)
& OHSAS 18001 (Health & Safety).
Fun Facts: ISO, the International Organization of Standards, has 3 official languages (English,
French & Russian). ISO is derived from the Greek isos, meaning equal. The International Organization
for Standards is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and is associated with the
United Nations.
Should you hire an outside consultant to outline a plan and help you along the process?
What can ISO do for your business culture?
Every company is going to be different, but Jim discusses his annual cost of ISO renewal and
the amount of time that his staff spends on ISO per week.
How does the ISO champion interact with other employees?
In our Manufacturing News segment, we discuss the Multi Jet Fusion Printer, a 3D printer
from HP.
In our Metalworking Tools segment, we discuss straight flute reamers versus spiral flute
reamers and left hand versus right hand spiral flute reamers.
Is there a plan in place at your company if a top employee, such as the president or owner
dies? Episode five is the first in a new interview format on MakingChips. In this fifth episode,
we talk to Stacey Bales about her story of taking over as President of Bales Mold Service (recently
rebranded as Bales Metal Surface Solutions).
The first reaction from the bank is “How are we going to liquidate?”
Who takes over when multiple family members are involved and no succession plan has been
setup? Major issues arise, such as trust among family members - when there is no succession
plan, family members will fight out their new roles instead of moving into the proper roles
right away. The family needs to establish that they are all on the same team and not out for
themselves.
“Be very transparent with the person that you believe is coming up.” The owner of every
manufacturing company should be transparent about how they want to handle the succession
of their company and have a vision about where they want the company to go.
Stacey Bales is the 2nd generation owner and President of Bales Metal Surface Solutions. Bales
provides engineered coating and finishes to mold makers and OEMs. They have locations in
Illinois and Texas. In addition, Stacey is on the Board of Directors of the TMA (Technology and
Manufacturing Association) and President of AESF (American Electro & Surface Finishers).
In our Manufacturing News segment, we discuss a news article about the City of Atlanta. They
are short on manufacturing skilled labor resulting in six figure incomes for certain positions.
In our Metalworking Tools segment, we discuss Southwestern Industries (CNC Technology for
Small Lot Machining). Southwestern machines are intended to produce small lots of parts, so
you can go from programming to producing parts much quicker than traditional CNC lathes
and mills with easy to use ProtoTRAK programming.