Facts About Manufacturing

• In the most recent data, manufacturers contributed $2.09 trillion to the economy. This figure has steadily risen since 2009 when manufacturers contributed $1.73 trillion. The sector accounts for 12.0 percent of GDP. For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, another $1.37 is added to the economy, the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector.
• Manufacturing supports an estimated 17.6 million jobs in the United States—about one in six private-sector jobs. More than 12 million Americans (or 9 percent of the workforce) are employed directly in manufacturing.
• In 2013, the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned $77,506 annually, including pay and benefits. The average worker in all industries earned $62,546.
• Manufacturers in the United States are the most productive in the world, far surpassing the worker productivity of any other major manufacturing economy, leading to higher wages and living standards.
• Manufacturers in the United States perform more than three-quarters of all private-sector R&D in the nation, driving more innovation than any other sector.
• Taken alone, manufacturing in the United States would be the ninth-largest economy in the world.

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Five Leadership Behaviors to Move Up on Your List

By: Mary Jo Asmus

Many leaders drive others harder than they need to. What results is a constant push for their team to achieve those goals. Meetings consist of checking the lists of things to be fixed and get done now.

Recently I listened with awe as leaders described a change of heart following my Coaching for Breakthrough Performance workshop, where we spent significant time on skills that build relationships. Many described their newfound recognition of moving relationship-building with their stakeholders higher on their priority list.

One poignant example came from a retail leader who told how her days are filled with meetings with store managers. Her normal way of operating is to walk into each store and make lists of problems and then spend her time with the managers telling them what they needed to fix. After the workshop, she committed to spending time in the following week just listening to the store managers.

Many leaders need to move these relationship-building behaviors up to the top of their priority list:

Listening: When I ask a leader’s stakeholders (especially direct reports) about opportunities for the leader’s improvement, I often hear “I don’t feel heard” -- even (especially) about well-respected seasoned leaders. Many leaders feel compelled to let people know how much they know. The truth is that relationships are built by listening to others.

Asking: Instead of telling your stakeholders everything you know, the catalyst to helping them feel heard is inquiry. I know that you’re skilled at telling people things, but it doesn’t do a lot to help others grow and develop. Becoming skilled at asking curious questions that you and your stakeholders don’t know the answers to is a great way for everyone to learn.

Developing: Helping others develop is part of your job. Yes, you still need to get results -- but you’ll discover as you mentor, coach, teach and train others, the results will follow. And what follows that is significant satisfaction as they become skilled and you find you don’t need you to “push” them to meet goals; they’ll know how to get there.

Encouraging: Another common theme I hear when I speak to stakeholders is that the leader’s way of operating is to find “what’s wrong.” Criticism and problem-solving are the default communication tool. What if you looked for the things that people are doing right and encouraged them by letting them know what you noticed instead?

Thanking: Don’t wait until the work is completed to say thank you. Find ways to appreciate your stakeholders along the way. A brief email, a handwritten card, or a conversation about what you’ve noticed will go a long way toward helping others to feel good about what they’re doing and repeat it.

I’ve observed firsthand what’s possible when leaders take the time to put a higher priority on relationships. You may believe this is unproductive at first. If you stick with it, you’ll notice the commitment, motivation and engagement in your organization that can impact the bottom line.

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Helping Small Manufacturers Understand the Lean Message

Small manufacturers (and just about everybody else) have been sold on the idea that lean tools are primarily for cost cutting. So small manufacturers employ lean tools expecting big savings that may not be forthcoming, given that many of them are already practiced at keeping costs as close to the bone as possible.

The value of lean tools for small manufacturers lie, not so much in their cost cutting potential, as in their potential for creating agility. One company has promised several of its largest customers that it will keep a month’s worth of the products it needs in the warehouse at all times. In other words, the vendor has promised the customer that it can order a month’s worth of any of the products it uses with no lead-time.

If this weren’t challenging enough, the customer will sometimes order a full month’s worth of several products, then order another month’s worth of those same products within a week or two. And if all that weren’t challenging enough, the sales office often promises similar service to lesser customers.

If this company implements lean, hoping for “promised” cuts in payroll, improvements in efficiency and reduced costs elsewhere, it’s missing the largest strategic use of lean: the ability to meet customer service demands while keeping inventories as low as possible. In fact, it might actually go the wrong direction if the initiatives the company takes to make it “leaner” actually diminish service. This company needs agility, the ability to meet the sometimes capricious and unreasonable demands of customers each time, all the time.

Focus on Cycle Times and the Customer

What’s the small manufacturer to do? Focus on manufacturing cycle times, inventory levels and customer service rather than cost cutting. Focus on improving efficiencies as a path toward operational excellence, not as a move toward labor cost reductions. Understand that smooth, consistent flow of information and material is more important than occasional bursts of speed.

For products that have long lead-times, ask, “If we could reduce the lead-time to the customer for this product, would we realize an advantage over our competitors, even if the cost of making that product stayed the same?” Where lead-times are short because you are keeping product in the warehouse (as in the case above), ask, “Can we maintain or even improve customer service even as we reduce inventories?”

All that said, make sure you know what your inventory buffers are costing you. What could the company above save in inventory if it were to ask the customer for one-day lead-time? Two days? The company may or may not decide to make changes to its promises, but it needs to know what the costs of those promises are. (This may seem to contradict my earlier statements, but giving the customer a shorter lead-time than it needs is as wasteful as keeping inventory on hand to meet a short lead-time. The company mentioned earlier sometimes risked providing poor service levels to large customers that very much needed a very short lead time in order to offer equal terms to much smaller, less frequent customers that may have been willing to have a one or two day lead-time.)

Does a focus on agility rather than cost cutting require different “lean tools”? No.

Workplace organization, quick setup, work standardization, pull systems, and error proofing are very much a part of agile manufacturing. If anything, their connection to agility is more intuitive and straightforward than is their connection to cost cutting.

On the other hand, a focus on agility does require a different strategic view on the part of leadership and a great deal of discipline on the part of supervisors and operators. It requires everyone to see lean initiative as a “top line” (better sales) strategy as contrasted to a “bottom line” (lower costs) tactic.

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Awesome Quotes on Vision

1. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney
2. “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, and magic and power in it. Begin it now.” - Goethe
3. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” - Michelangelo
4. “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” - Henry David Thoreau
5. “You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.” - Ken Kesey
6. “If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
7. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” - Carl Jung
8. “The empires of the future are empires of the mind.” - Winston Churchill
9. “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” - Jonathan Swift
10. “Management has a lot to do with answers. Leadership is a function of questions. And the first question for a leader always is: ‘Who do we intend to be?’ Not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘Who do we intend to be?’ - Max DePree

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The Fly By

By: Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. USAF

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

The Complaint

Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: “Whom do we thank for the morning air show?”

“Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.”

The Response

Regarding “A wake-up call from Luke’s jets” (Letter, Thursday):

On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day, at 9 a.m.

On June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer’s recount of the flyby, and because of the jet noise, I’m sure you didn’t hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son’s flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.

A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, ‘Whom do we thank for the morning air show?’ The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

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ISO Certification, Strategy and Growth

It would be a mistake for any manufacturer to think, “If I get certified to this standard, great things will suddenly happen for my business.” Certifications are not magic bullets. But when tied to your strategy, pursuing certain quality standards can help you make your company better at what it does, forge it into a more attractive business partner, and help it reach its overall strategic goals.

To know which ISO/AS Certifications your business can benefit from, first identify where and how you want to participate in your chosen marketplaces. For success, it’s critical to tie everything to the overall business strategy. It’s important to be purposeful, and to understand what a new certification can – and can’t – do for your business.

Where Certifications Count Most

ISO certification isn’t necessary in every case. Generally, the closer you are to producing a finished product in the supply chain, the greater the need for quality certifications. In the robust medical device manufacturing industry, for example, you’ll eventually need ISO 13485 certification to become a big player. But that certification is not strictly required to participate in the medical device manufacturing space. It depends on your end goals, and your present level of business.

Smaller manufacturers, that are part of a larger supply chain, may find that certifications aren’t necessary for their success. They can often experiment and attempt to get into new supply chains without any certifications. However, if pursuing the right certifications would make it easier for a larger manufacturer to select your company, now you have a bona fide motivation for certification. Consider your existing and potential customer base. Is a certain certification required, or would it ease the decision making process of those higher up in your supply chain? Would it make it simpler for them to say yes to your offerings? Do your competitors have certifications you don’t?

Help in Achieving ISO/AS Certification

AM&T brings a wealth of experience to the quality certification process, and can give you an objective third-party view of whether you should pursue certification. When you’re closely invested in your company, it can be hard to “see the forest for the trees.” We have an objective understanding of the standards, as well as the ability to interpret what they truly mean and apply them successfully to an individual business. We understand what the registrars look for when auditing a company to determine if it’s compliant, because we’ve worked with the registrars for years. Since our consultants are also registrar auditors, their experience can help you avoid many of the pitfalls on the road to certification.

For example, we’ve seen many businesses tend to make the certification process too complicated when pursuing a standard on their own. AM&T helps simplify and direct the certification process. We evaluate current quality management systems objectively, and compare them to the standard being pursued. We identify any gaps, develop a road map to close those gaps, and then we work with the client to implement the road map. We can take as active a role as needed, from helping write documentation and procedures to giving general guidance and mentoring a company through the process.

Considerations to address before pursuing ISO/AS Certifications:

• Certification is not an end in and of itself. It should be a part of what you do, and should complement the other components of your overall business strategy.
• Standards should be used to improve your business processes. Certification should be seen as an opportunity to identify process improvements that can create improved business results overall.
• Certification may not get you more customers or improve your business on its own. You’ll need a strategic business plan and an active marketing plan to maximize the benefits of that new certification.

Call Jim Cunningham at 607-725-1225
if you need help with your quality management system.

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Associates Corner - Applied Technology Manufacturing Corporation

Applied Technology Manufacturing Corporation (ATM).

ATM was founded in 1927 as Moore & Steele Corporation, which designed and manufactured railroad track appliances such as rail anchors, rail oilers and rail lubricators. In 1995 the company name was changed to reflect a broadening of the business into component manufacturing for other companies.

Production machinery has evolved from manual to CNC, and the people have evolved as well, having become as proficient with computers as they are with the machinery and the principles of machining.

The current management at ATM has decades of experience in machining and manufacturing, as well as engineering and product development. They are experienced in procuring everything from raw materials, castings, forgings, specialized fabricating, heat treatment, and plating. Over the years they have assembled an excellent team of production and support staff. They handle all tool making, fixture design and fabrication, as well as machine maintenance, repair and rebuilding, in house. They’re very proud of the people and the work they do.

The 20,000 square foot facility is located in Owego, NY, on NYS Route 17 (I-86), with access to all major trucking carriers, as well as their own truck for close range delivery and or pick up of parts. All manufacturing and business accounting is handled on an IBM e-server, running Infor’s state of the art VISUAL Enterprise ERP Software, built around Infor’s patented production scheduling system. This software enables ATM to make the most efficient use possible of both machinery and human resources. The Engineering Department uses the latest version of Autocad Inventor, Mechanical Desktop, 3-D solid modeling, as well as Mastercam. Drawings can be easily exchanged electronically.

Response to requests for quotation are in 48 hours or less (where no special raw materials are required). Once awarded your business, everything possible will be done to ensure customer satisfaction, with competitive pricing, on time delivery, and high quality product.

For more information, visit: www.appliedtechmfg.com

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Associates Corner - Audiosears

Audiosears is the premier manufacturer and supplier of handsets, headsets, and components for the telecommunications industry, including handsets, cradles, handheld microphones, acoustic elements and a variety of components including cordsets, switches and custom circuitry.

Their extensive knowledge and experience in the industry allow them to provide innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of their customers. By consistently delivering high quality products supported by outstanding customer service, they have earned the respect and loyalty of their customers.

In-house capabilities at Audiosears include engineering, machining, custom fabrication, and electronic/mechanical assembly. Strong relationships with industry partners enable them to offer turn-key solutions for their customers.

For over fifty years Audiosears has gained increasing recognition and acceptance as a leading domestic manufacturer of high quality telecommunications.

Located in the small village of Stamford, NY in the northern foothills of the Catskill Mountains, Audiosears currently employs a staff of 62. The plant is certified to the ISO 2001:2008 Standards and is in the process of implementing lean manufacturing processes throughout the facility.

For more information, visit: www.audiosears.com or contact Shawn Hartwell at 607-652-7305 or 1-800-533-7863

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Basic Project Management Training

A "train and do" workshop introducing the basics of Project Management, including classroom presentation and exercises on how to organize and manage projects and bring them to a close – on time and on budget.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This training is for manufacturing, engineering, and installation personnel with project leadership responsibilities, whether in a new role or just in need of a refresher.

COURSE OUTLINE:
• Introduction to Project Management
• Individual Roles and Responsibilities
• Defining the Mission & Approach
• Methodology Overview
• Work Plan Review and Sign-off
• Project Tracking (Working the Schedule)
• Action and Contingency Plans
• Project Status Reporting
• Book shelving Project Management Data

(Course materials are based on methods described in the Program Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Program Management Institute)

Date: November 11th, 2014
Time: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Sign-in and continental breakfast
at 7:30, lunch also included
Location: Treadway Inn, Owego, NY
Cost: $150 ($100 for AM&T Associates)

Register at www.amt-mep.org/events or contact Kathy Peacock at 607-774-0022 x308

Registration Deadline: November 05, 2014

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Leaders, Principles and the Pursuit of High Performance Teams

By Art Petty
"In high-performance teams, the leaders managed the principles and the principles managed the teams." – Carl Larson and Frank LaFasto via Jim Highsmith in Agile Project Management - Creating Innovative Products.

Larson and LaFasto in their assessment of high performance teams offer us a profoundly powerful and simple to comprehend answer to the question of how to support the emergence of effective teams: clear, strong, actionable, livable principles beget an environment for effective collaboration and innovation.

Every high performance team I’ve experienced as a participant, a sponsor or an outside advisor, was governed by an overarching set of principles or values that formed and framed the culture. And while good words alone don’t create success, the combination of the leaders and participants living and acting according to those words everyday made things work.
On successful teams, the team leaders…and ultimately the participants eat and drink the principles for breakfast, communicate them constantly and most importantly, they live them in how they collaborate, problem-solve and challenge themselves and their team members forward in pursuit of success.

And since as we all know, even the best of teams face dark days when nothing goes right, the guiding principles serve as bedrock for self-reflection and guidance for navigating the way forward.
There’s a cautionary tale here. As Highsmith warns us, "Grand principles that generate no action are mere vapor." When engaging with an organization for the first time, I make it a habit to understand a firm’s values, and all too often, what I find are nice words…unarguable in their intent, that serve only to occupy space on a wall in a conference room. It’s a wholesale failure on the part of the leadership of an organization, when the guiding principles aren’t a visible part of everyday life.

Teams are a fact of life. We execute strategy via projects. We innovate on teams. We develop new products, improve processes and search for ways to better serve our customers via projects and teams. We darned well better figure out how to succeed at this more often than not. Right now, in too many organizations, "not" is winning.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

This intangible, sticky, squishy topic of operationalizing guiding principles or values doesn’t lend itself well to a prescriptive list of steps-to-success. The onus is on you as a team leader, project leader, functional leader, informal leader or organizational leader to ensure that your best efforts are supported by meaningful, actionable guiding principles. If you can’t articulate what those principles are and what they mean for behavior, accountability and performance, then it’s time to take a step back and tackle this issue. The effort will pay dividends going forward. Larson and LaFasto are right…leaders should manage the principles and the principles will manage the team.

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Manufacturing Day is October 3, 2014 - Join the Movement

Come Join the Celebration!

As we near MFG DAY, we wanted to share some changes we’ve made to the event registration process in order to accommodate as many hosts as possible.
• Registration has been streamlined and now takes just 5 minutes.
• Multiple events can be created under one user account.
• An event can be designated "invitation only."
• Dates other than October 3 can be selected — and are encouraged!

We’ve also made a number of technical improvements. Uploading logos is easier. And hosts can generate reports to see who plans to attend their events.

So if you haven’t already, we invite you to check out the new registration process and put your MFG DAY event on the map. Let’s show the world what manufacturing is all about!

Register Your Event
http://www.mfgday.com/user/register

Register by Phone:
If you still need a little help registering your event, you’re welcome to call Fabricator & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA) Customer Service toll free at 888-394-4362.

Event Planning:
Once you’ve registered your event, you may want some tips for running it. Get started with the Manufacturing Day Host Toolkit.
Get the Toolkit at http://www.mfgday.com/resources/manufacturing-day-host-toolkit

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Four Steps for a Successful Brainstorming Session

By Fast Company

Don’t filter. If you start a meeting and you say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna come up with really good ideas,’ that can be a really bad way to start. With that kind of pressure to come up with the best ideas right away, you don’t have a sense of exploration. Things will kind of run dry.

Don’t start with an example. Planting a solution which worked in the past in someone’s mind makes them much more likely to come up with similar solutions rather than new ones.

Use analogies. They allow you to step between worlds that seem disconnected and connect them based on some structure to help you come up with new ideas, even if they’re not radical, and then build on them.

Beware of incentives. When you give people incentives (like cash) for ideas, they come up with lots of ideas and they tend to be very similar to each other but not a lot of creative ideas.

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Creating Strategic Impact - Do You Need a Strategic Plan?

By Mike Brown

If you’re interested in creating strategic impact, now is a natural time to be asking if your organization needs a strategic plan. The question makes sense whether you are considering an update to a previous strategic plan or something completely new.

From our perspective, it’s not a question you ask and answer as some type of check box, i.e., "We have a strategic plan, so we can check that off the list!"

Instead, you should address the question of whether you need a strategic plan in light of important aspects of how it would help your organization in creating strategic impact. Some of the questions to consider include:

Given your situation, is it essential to your organization’s success that you take the time to look ahead and consider dramatically new opportunities and directions?

Does your organization need stronger alignment for its direction?

Is there a need for more strongly communicating the organization’s strategic direction to everyone in the organization?

Do you need to need the guidelines and impetus to change the management discipline in your organization so you accomplish the important activities you spend more time talking about than addressing?

Yes answers to any of those four questions could indicate it’s time to take on developing a new strategic plan for your organization.

If you want to get the maximum value from a strategic planning process, any of the reasons above should suggest a different type of planning process geared to deliver those organizational results.

Not sure where to start with accomplishing that?

Let us know. It’s what we deliver for clients so strategic planning creates real results and beneficial impacts throughout their organizations. All that, plus we make it a rewarding, stimulating, and fun experience.

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Growing Sales and Maximizing Profits

If your Sales and Profits are Down or Stagnant and you’re not sure what to do about it this seminar is for you!

Section 1: Is your Company prepared for growth?

Everything starts and ends with the value your company provides. It’s easy to blame the sales team when business is down and profits are eroding, but you can’t sell what you don’t have and you really shouldn’t expect significant sales growth or high profitability if your company, products and services are not meaningfully unique in your target markets.

In? this section we will take a comprehensive overview of what consistently drives sales and profitability in successful growth-oriented companies... and how you can do the same.

Section 2: Is your Sales Team prepared for success?

In this section, we will discuss Sales Systems, Processes, Tools, Skills, and Knowledge required to build and manage a high-performance sales organization that can quickly identify and develop high-potential opportunities that will consistently grow your top-line sales and maximize your bottom-line profits.

Who Should Attend

Companies of all sizes and industries. Whether you are a company of 1, or you are a large corporation, the principles in this seminar apply to you.
• Smaller companies should send Owners, Managers and Sales personnel.
• Larger companies should send Company Executives, Sales Managers, and Professional Salespeople. To get the most out of this seminar, we recommend that you bring a cross-functional team.

Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Time: 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
(Sign-in and full breakfast at 7:30 am)
Location: Owego Treadway - Owego, NY
Cost: $75 ($50 for AM&T Associates)

For questions about this seminar contact: Jim Cunningham at 607-725-1225 or jcunningham@amt-mep.org

Register at www.amt-mep.org/events or contact Kathy Peacock at 607-774-0022 x308

Registration Deadline: September 10th

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Associates’ Corner - Crowley Fabricating & Machining Co., Inc.

Crowley Fabricating was established in 1985 and has recently received AS 9100 and ISO 9001 certifications and are ITAR registered. They have the ability to receive and send encrypted documentation. Their customer base consists of 60% Commercial, 35% Prime Contractors and 5% Department of Defense customers, and they are proud of their very diverse customer base which has allowed them to continue to grow.

Use of an MRP System allows them to manage and standardize administrative activities and track all information on a real time basis.

Crowley Fabricating has two manufacturing locations and one warehouse. Machining and offices are located at 403 N. Nanticoke Avenue in Endicott, New York. This location houses Sales and Manufacturing Engineers, Customer Service, Shipping/Receiving, CNC Programmers, and Administration Departments as well as twenty CNC Mills, seven CNC Turning Centers, Waterjet, Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM), Cut-off Department and a Mechanical Assembly area.

Sheet metal fabricating is located at 2 N. Nanticoke Avenue in Endicott, New York which is two blocks away from the main office. Last year over one million dollars was invested in new state of the art fabricating equipment such as a new Amada FOM2 NT 4000 Watt Laser Cutting System with Shuttle Table, a new Amada HD 1303 NT CNC 143 Ton x 122" Long Bed Press Brake, a new Amada ID 404ST Spotwelder and a new Series 4 Pemserter for hardware insertion. Amada’s latest software, which is used by CNC Programmers to program the CNC sheet metal equipment, was also purchased. This software enables quick turn work. New equipment was added to help support our other sheet metal equipment such as Turret Press, Press Brakes, Timesaver, MIG and TIG Welding Equipment along with Assembly. Certification has been obtained to several welding specifications.

Crowley Fabricating is a certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business that has received numerous awards and recognitions for performance throughout the years.

Please contact Tom or Mike Crowley at 607-484-0299 or visit www.crowleyfab.com for more information.

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Associates’ Corner - Courser, Inc.

Courser Incorporated is an Elmira, NY contract CNC machining and general machining company. Incorporated in 1974, Courser produces customer’s products to their specifications with special attention to on-time delivery and quality. Their experienced and friendly customer service staff makes procurement of machined components an enjoyable process for their customers.

Courser utilizes military quality standards for measurement equipment calibrations and quality systems. Customer specifications are verified with 1st article, in-process, and final inspections supported by automated coordinate measuring machines that utilize solid modeling inspection routines. Solid modeling systems are integrated into each phase of manufacturing, from providing quotations to CNC programming creation to final inspection routines. These capabilities reduce the lead time and cost of manufacturing both simple and complex products.

Courser continues to expand their impressive machining capabilities and support systems. Two 5-axis vertical machining centers produce complex components with close tolerances and have produced a wide array of complex aerospace components that could not have been produced on 3-axis machines. Their most recent addition is a new large vertical machining center with a 10 foot bed and 10 feet of X-travel that allows large components to be machined. A new tooling crib and bin system provides the shop floor with all the proper tools and fixtures at exactly the right time. The updated shipping and receiving area provides a clean and efficient area for packing outgoing shipments.

For more information, contact: Daniel Herman at dherman@courser.com, 1-800-568-0045, ext. 215, or visit www.courser.com

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Associates’ Corner - Stamped Fittings, Inc.

Stamped Fittings, located in Elmira Heights, is a union manufacturer of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) products.

Family owned and operated since 1997, the company started in a 4,000 sq. ft. facility with a three person staff.

Stamped Fittings has grown to employ 30 people in a 45,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and distribution facility, and produces a complete product line of spiral pipe components for the HVAC industry.

The company’s signature products are die-stamped elbows that are produced in the widest variety of materials, sizes, and gauges available in the industry, explained Shana Graham, president.

She said that these products plus their complete line of HVAC spiral pipe components are manufactured with the latest technology to allow consistent quality and precise tolerances for a proper fit.

In addition to producing ductwork fittings that use traditional metal-to-metal joints, the company’s EDGE® product line is self-sealing, incorporating factory-installed EPDM gaskets that reduce installation labor and do not require taping or other additional measures to prevent air leakage.

Stamped Fittings employees are members of the Sheet Metal Workers, Local #112. The company’s products are currently sold in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.

For more information, contact: Shana Graham, 607-733-9988 or visit www.stampedfittings.com

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Associates’ Corner - Stan's NoTubes

A dozen years ago, Stan Koziatek took a fresh look at a problem that had forever plagued bicyclists -- flat tires. Since the root cause of the problem was failure of the inner tube to hold air, his solution was to enable riders to eliminate the inner tube and make the tires self-sealing. This idea propelled Koziatek into a series of innovations and experiments, resulting in a patented sealant that was honed over thousands of test batches.

Like many innovators, Koziatek’s ideas were initially dismissed by industry experts, but he was persistent.  He would show up at the start of national-series mountain bike races and punch holes into his own tires with an ice pick. His sealant would almost immediately fill the holes and allow Koziatek to ride as low as 18psi. The world’s top riders took note, often switching to Koziatek’s products and peeling off his decals to avoid upsetting their sponsors.

In order to offer his better tubeless tire system to an expanding bicycle market, Koziatek founded Stan’s NoTubes. The company is located in Big Flats and has grown to employ 31 people.

The core product line of Stan’s NoTubes is a range of kits that enable riders and bike shops to convert an existing bike rim and tire to tubeless use. These kits include molded rubber rim strips with an integrated valve, tire sealant, and related materials, and all the kit components can also be purchased individually. The company has also expanded into new product categories, including tires, hubs, rims and complete wheels. More recent product development at the company focused on tubeless rims with short side walls and Koziatek’s patented Bead Socket Technology (BST), a highly successful tubeless rim design with short sidewalls. BST allows for lighter rims, improved durability, increased tire traction, and decreased chances of flatting. Koziatek’s rim design rolled across the line first at the Beijing Olympics, and the company’s product line is now broadly acknowledged as being the worldwide industry leader.

Stan’s NoTubes products are sold through US dealers, international distributors, and the company’s own website which incorporates extensive customer support content, both for pre- and post-sale. Their marketing program also relies on active use of social media sites. Two major industry publications have included Koziatek in their short list of the most important people in cycling.

For more information, see www.notubes.com or call 607-562-2877.

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Driving to Zero Defects "8 Step Quality Defect Reduction Method"

HOST COMPANY: The Raymond Corporation

The Raymond Corporation, a Toyota Industries (TICO) member company is a global provider of materials handling equipment, technology, expertise, and support. Raymond manufactures electric lift truck products for the narrow aisle and very narrow aisle market segments in Class I, II, and III (Counterbalanced, Narrow Aisle, Pallet Truck).

The company was founded in 1922 and is based in Greene, NY. It has manufacturing sites in Greene, NY and Muscatine, IA, and a parts distribution facility located in Syracuse, NY.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Raymond will provide a tour of its manufacturing operations highlighting how it has applied the Toyota Production System (TPS) Principles and Tools.
In the afternoon, Raymond will review its 8-step method for reducing quality defects, including how each step is performed and its key points. A critical part of this method is Raymond’s daily morning market or Asaichi meeting, which will also be highlighted during the workshop.
Asaichi morning meetings are used to communicate problems, share countermeasures, and speed overall resolution. Since every problem is an opportunity for improvement, this process helps leader’s and associates understand that quality is everyone’s responsibility.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Any level of the organization from front line Team Leader to CEO.
Individuals and teams encompassing a cross section of your company.

PARTICIPANT BENEFITS
* Gain an understanding of how to effectively reduce quality defects.
* How Asaichi meetings work.
* The benefits of Asaichi morning meetings.
* How to engage all team members and departments and be part of the solution.

COURSE AGENDA
 8:00 to  8:30 am: Registration and welcome
 8:30 to  9:30 am: Overview of The Raymond Corporation
 9:30 to 11:00 am: Tour of The Raymond Corporation
11:00 to 11:30 am: Q&A
11:30 to 12:00 pm: Lunch (provided)
12:00 to  3:30 pm: Driving to Zero Defects
 3:30 to  4:00 pm: Wrap-up

Workshop Objectives:
* Review 8-step method for reducing quality defects
* Review asaichi meeting roles, format and process

The workshop will be facilitated by Scott Campbell, TPS Manager at The Raymond Corporation and Carol Miller, Principal Consultant at AM&T.

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/9413/7883/1821/2013-09.pdf

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Upcoming AME Events

The Lean Management System
September 10, 2013
WEBINAR
While much has been written about various aspects of managing lean operations rarely do we see a comprehensive view of how all the pieces fit together into a system. Attendees of this webinar will learn to understand how to go beyond the application of Lean tools and create an organization that embodies a culture of continuously improving customer value and eliminating waste. You will learn how to unlock the potential demonstrated in the islands of improvement in your company and tie them together into an entire value stream of people focused on improving flow each and every day.

CNY Round Table
Networking Event: Hosted by
The Hilliard Corporation
September 26, 2013
What about your business keeps you up at night? What are the compelling changes needed to keep your organization viable? Has your continuous improvement effort come to a plateau, or worse, hit a wall? Are you looking to build your network of contacts? AME is providing a forum to share, learn and grow. This venue is a short duration, highly localized, friendly format. All attendees will be participating in a “Roundtable Discussion” on topics of importance to you and your organization.

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/9413/7883/1821/2013-09.pdf

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