Shop Operations

Articles • May 1, 2016 • Keith Jennings

Manager’s Desk: Impacted by illness

I generally consider myself to be a positive person. However, these past few weeks have tested my resolve. It's not the roller-coaster daily life as a machine shop owner, but the stark reality of losing employees and friends to serious illness that's been especially hard to take. Thankfully, illness doesn't always mean death.

Articles • April 1, 2016 • Keith Jennings

Good news on the horizon

I'm thankful to share that our machining business has picked up and we're running near capacity. I can't get overly optimistic just yet, but good news nonetheless. We haven't required new equipment, new employees or a second shift, but that could change if business continues at this pace or improves. While this uptick has been a nice morale booster, our energy-focused market remains unpredictable. Even so, we're getting a bit more confident with our forecasts and planning.

Articles • April 1, 2016 • James Harvey

Getting a grip

There are numerous advantages to rigidly holding a workpiece: feed rates can be increased and cutting times reduced, cutters last longer and impart finer surface finishes, and more-accurate parts are produced. At trade shows where vendors offer demonstrations, you rarely see flimsy, difficult-to-hold parts being machined. In the real world, however, such parts are common. Holding parts for secondary operations, such as drilling holes on an edge, can also be challenging.

Articles • March 1, 2016 • James Harvey

Avoiding machine crashes, part 2

Presented this month are more programming tips to help prevent machine tool crashes.

Articles • March 1, 2016 • Keith Jennings

Improving employee morale

Whether your shop is busy or struggling to survive a downturn, employees are your best asset. We've had to downsize over the past few months, but a good group remains. Many are handling new tasks, but a reengineering of employees' tasks can be beneficial, driving everyone to work smarter, not harder. It is working well so far, thanks to everyone picking up the slack created by the departed employees.

Articles • February 1, 2016 • James Harvey

Avoiding machine crashes

Everyone crashes, I was once told. It's likely true. However, not all crashes are created equal. There are fender benders that just break small tools, and then there are head-on collisions that ruin much more—including your day. CNC machine crashes are relatively easy to avoid. They often occur during setup and debugging. If you can recognize high-risk situations, you'll be in a better position to avoid them.

Articles • February 1, 2016 • Keith Jennings

The power of relationships

With 2015 being a year of changes and volatility in our market, the importance of strong, supportive business relationships was made even clearer. Longtime business associates became friends, and new business relationships formed with former employees who stayed in touch, neighbors, contacts made through my local chamber of commerce and even my brother's gym-workout partners. These are people who provided helpful insights and became ambassadors of our company, because they got to know us and saw potential.

Articles • January 1, 2016 • James Harvey

Plan ahead

Presented here are more tips and tricks for proper planning when CNC machining. One of the first and simplest things to look for when performing operations that involve vises is the length of the contact area between the part and the vise jaws.

Articles • December 1, 2015 • James Harvey

Beyond the educated guess

Planning is critical when operating CNC machines. When I began machining, CNCs were just coming into mainstream use. The first shops I worked in had only conventional (manual) machines. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that I started to notice the incredible versatility of CNC machines. The complex contours and shapes the machines could generate made many jobs much easier. The use of templates to file and sweep in surfaces was rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Articles • December 1, 2015 • Keith Jennings

Recognizing all that is good

Addressing weighty issues is an important part of the Manager's Desk column, and there will be no shortage of them to debate and discuss in 2016.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • James Harvey

Intro to CNC trade secrets

The end of manual machining isn't near. There are certain tasks you can do with conventional machines that CNC machines are just not good at, such as "blending," reports the October Shop Operations column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Keith Jennings

Offshoring again

Even with a good fourth quarter and my natural optimism, reports from contacts at some of our larger customers concern me, reports the Manager's Desk columnist in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.