Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Skill-Building + Team Involvement = Dramatic Improvement

We’re all on the lookout for ways to improve performance, costs and bottom line.

One program, successfully in-use by many of our customers, is LEAN. Of course, there are cases where lean manufacturing efforts don’t stick, even when there is initial success. Part of the issue is that we sometimes don’t do a good enough job of training supervisors and getting the shop floor people involved.

In this month’s WMEP (Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) Newsletter, Senior Manufacturing Specialist, Jerry Thiltgen writes an incredible piece on “TWI.” TWI is not just another system or acronym, but is widely considered to be the genesis of modern manufacturing philosophies, such as lean manufacturing and kaizen. The success of TWI is in the fact that it not only changes process, but also impacts a company’s culture.

If you, like most companies, want to find ways to boost productivityy, team morale and bottom line outcome, then this is a ‘must read,’ and can be found here

It's a Plane...It's a Toaster....It's FOREVERTRON!

Sometimes scrap metal winds up in recycling dumpsters. In Tom O. Every’s case, it winds up a work of art.

Very bizarre art.

Mr. Every, better known by his nickname “Dr. Evermor,” is a welder sand fabricator by trade in North Freedom, Wisconsin (near Baraboo). Since childhood, he has also been a ‘collector’ of sorts, scavenging all things meta. In a new article, his work is described as "...carburetors and generators, early x-ray machines, theater speakers, river barges and hamburger signs." But his 'art' is not casually thrown together. "His aim is to blend these objects while preserving their individuality and unique form."

Take a minute and take a visit to Forevertron for yourself in this month's FFJournal (Fabricating & Forming) Magazine.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Building a Strong Workplace (Generation by Generation)

The large degree of cross-generational workplaces has created need, interest and focus on the values, differences and similarities among baby boomers, “millennial” and others in today’s workplace.

This month’s Metalforming Magazine takes a look at generational differences, and how machine shops and fabricators are using it to their advantage.

Find out more about the differences among millennials, boomers and veterans, and how they’re working together more effectively here.

And for more on generational differences, click here.