I recently attended the Steel Success Strategies conference in New York City. My purpose was to find out what is going on in the world markets for our steel raw materials. The following comments were of such broad interest and applicability, I thought I’d pass them along for your review.
I was talking the other day with the chief executive of a shop when he made the following comment, "We have record-breaking sales, yet we’re barely breaking even. We ran the numbers, and on almost every line item, our costs are up a tenth of a percent or so. That doesn’t sound like much, but at the end of our study, those one-tenths added up to almost 7 percent. The Fed and Greenspan missed it. Inflation is alive and well. I can show it to you in my books."
Today’s quality systems mandate contract review as an integral part of an enterprise’s critical business system. Terms and conditions are seldom given the critical examination that they deserve. While they are often thought of as mere contingency details, the day may come when the contingency has arrived. How has your organization implemented contract review?
Micron Manufacturing, a PMPA member located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, faced a setup problem. More than half of the company's sales came from its Acme Gridley multi-spindle equipment. Unfortunately, the average run quantity was shrinking, thus increasing the number of setups required. Because the setup time was becoming a greater percentage of each order's total time, it was driving up costs.
These days, with six-sigma, zero ppm, loss function, lean and many other programs, it is easy to overlook the basics. We have many different processes, systems and computers. Where is the knowledge that is contained in our daily deluge of information? Whose desk is not drowning in sea of paper? And yet, when a problem occurs, we ask for data that describes the problem and are met with blank stares.
"Why do customers buy from us?" is one of those easy-to-overlook questions that can explain much about the state of our current business. With its easier-to-answer but trickier-to-solve cousin, "What do customers buy from us?" the question can illuminate your underlying business approach and explain why your sales are what they are.
Wanna make a bet…or two?* First bet: I will give you $40 for every pedestal grinder in your shop that is securely anchored to the floor if you give me $5 for every pedestal grinder not securely anchored. Second bet: I will give you $100 for every pedestal grinder in your shop that has all of the following: 1) Rests adjusted to within 1/16 inch of the wheel; 2) All guards and clear spark shields in place; 3) Both wheels dressed and no sign of abuse. In return, you give me $5 for every pedestal grinder in your shop that has not met all of these safety requirements.
Dürr Ecoclean is the international leader in the design and manufacture of integrated systems for cleaning parts. The company introduced the world to the process that uses hydrocarbon technology, which is quickly becoming the preferred way to clean precision machined components.
Material price escalations exceeding 100 percent; surcharges on top of surcharges; lead times are in excess of 40 weeks on certain items. What can a precision machined products company do to make the best of this current market maelstrom? How about using lean tools to help minimize the impacts of the current market conditions?
At a recent district meeting, a question posed to the panelists was, 'What will the 'winners' in our industry look like, who do you think they will be and why?'
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