One of the activities I enjoy most in connection with my job is visiting production facilities, because I get a chance to see how parts and products are made and have face-to-face interactions with talented metalworking professionals—not to mention that it gets me out of the office now and then.
My most recent trip took me to MTU America Inc., Graniteville, S.C., which manufactures diesel engines for off-road and stationary applications. I initially learned details about the company during a meeting at IMTS 2016 with Jeremy Diebel, senior manager of machining and apprenticeship coordinator. A feature-length profile of the company’s machining operations is scheduled for our April issue.
During a shop visit, I typically conduct an interview, frequently involving several members of a company’s team, followed by a plant tour. I always find it fascinating to see how a shop and its workers operate, and the cutting tools, machine tools and other production equipment the company employs.
What was unique about my trip to MTU America was that, in addition to the interview and tour, I was able to attend the machining group’s shop floor meeting and the supervisors’ shop-floor meeting, as well as witness Diebel’s online call with an industrial engineer at MTU’s headquarters in Friedrichshafen, Germany. At these meetings, the groups covered a multitude of daily production details, such as the overall effectiveness of the company’s three large machining centers, and addressed any issues, no matter how minor they might seem to an outsider.
Related Glossary Terms
- centers
centers
Cone-shaped pins that support a workpiece by one or two ends during machining. The centers fit into holes drilled in the workpiece ends. Centers that turn with the workpiece are called “live” centers; those that do not are called “dead” centers.
- metalworking
metalworking
Any manufacturing process in which metal is processed or machined such that the workpiece is given a new shape. Broadly defined, the term includes processes such as design and layout, heat-treating, material handling and inspection.
Author
Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Including his 20 years at CTE, Alan has more than 30 years of trade journalism experience.
