Surging steel prices are the cruelest price increase. Even energy price increases are not as bad, because at least there are ways to conserve and economize on how much energy is used. By contrast, any shop that is shipping parts has no choice but to pay the price of the steel.
That means the shop’s customers ultimately have no choice but to pay it as well. For some time now, I would have named concern about filling staffing needs as the number one worry facing U.S. machine shops. Things might be different now. Based on recent conversations, I would now rank rising commodity prices—metals and power—at the top of the list of concerns. Steel prices, for example, have increased about 60 percent in the last year.
In a way, these price increases serve as the “anti-lean.” Through lean manufacturing, machining suppliers that have the luxury of long-term contracts have been able to engineer extremely efficient production processes for their predictable parts. But those same long-term contracts also lock in prices. Now, many of the shops are seeing their savings from lean being overcome by raw material prices, to the extent that they now have to go to their most valued customers with surcharges to try to cover the unexpected costs.
What is your view of these rising prices? How are the prices of either power or materials affecting your shop? Is there anything you are doing differently?
Please e-mail me. See “Your Thoughts” below.
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Forest City has made gears for applications including NASA’s Mars rovers. |
Metalworking Mojo
How To Justify Technology
Fred Young, CEO of Forest City Gear, sent 30 of his team members to the last IMTS, because discovering and investing in the latest technology is very important to him.
How does his company justify new machines? He gives three answers: (1) by dramatically increasing efficiency; (2) by pursuing higher margin work; and (3) by continuing to command a premium for quality.
Read more here.
Inbox Insights
More Than Their Sum For Some Parts
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After milling, the various parts are waterjet-cut from this Fiberglass block. |
One plus one can deliver more than two separate machines. Having different machine types together under one roof can also provide synergies that few shops anticipate when they are thinking of expanding their capabilities.
Hydrojet offers an example. The Reading, Pennsylvania, shop started as a supplier of waterjet machining. Machining centers came later. Now, the two types of machines have given the shop the best way to make these Fiberglass anchors for attaching aircraft skins.
The set of anchors is machined from a single block, and waterjet cuts the block from a larger sheet. Machining centers then mill the top and bottom surfaces of the parts, achieving the various part thicknesses through face milling and producing the precise contours with ballnose tools. Then, five-axis waterjet machining cuts out each separate part.
Learn more about this shop in our upcoming special report on How To Machine Composites. (See “Upcoming Issues” below.) To learn even more about composites, don’t forget the other Chicago show in September—COMPOSITESWORLD Expo, cosponsored by Modern Machine Shop.
Your Thoughts
Rising Prices And You
Share your view of the rising prices of power, steel and other materials. What is changing in your shop—its procedures, markets or outlook—because of the increased prices?
E-mail your thoughts to pzelinski@mmsonline.com. If we publish your response, you will receive your choice of one free book from the metalworking section of the Hanser Gardner bookstore.
Re: Your Thoughts
Smile!
Some shops are installing cameras so they can monitor jobs that are running on machine tools while everyone is away for the evening. Of course, the same cameras can keep watch during regular hours—when operators and other employees are present. Does that make this technology too hot to handle?
Ken Denney of Diemolding Corp. said:
“While I believe that installing cameras to watch machinery that is unattended can be useful, I also feel that if it is utilized to watch the operators in the performance of their jobs, it does more harm than good. Goodwill goes a long way. If a worker feels that he or she is a valued and trusted employee, then the employee will, for the most part, give the company performance equal to that trust. Employees who feel they are being watched every second of the day will produce what is basically acceptable output without trying to improve or exceed expectations. My opinion is: Dump the cameras and depend on your people, leaving the supervision to the supervisors.”
Matt St. Louis of Saint Louis Designs said:
“We have an Okuma MA400HA horizontal mill that we run lights-out for several days straight. Two webcams are on the machine 24/7 and everyone knows it. It’s never been considered for people watching. I also have a phone dialer tied into the alarm circuit. If the machine has an alarm it calls me, and I log on to the webcams to see the situation.
“Webcams are priceless! In fact, if you can run lights-out, why do you need a daily operator? Have a person set up, push cycle start and go to the next machine or job. Lights-out means fewer people on the floor to worry about being on camera.”
Our Next Issue
IMTS 2008 Modern Machine Shop’s August issue is all about IMTS. Easily the biggest issue of the year, it features descriptions and photos of a huge array of products being displayed or demonstrated at the show. (And check www.imts.com for even more on the show.)
The September issue will focus on How To Machine Composites—an important challenge for a growing number of shops as composites continue to replace metal in certain applications.
Be sure to subscribe or renew your subscription.
