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A monthly report to members from AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology
July 2012 AMTonline.org
Considering its size and easy intercommunication, Europe continues to organize a staggering number of technology shows. Nearly 900 exhibitors, including several AMT mem-bers, participated in Metalloobrabotka 2012 in Moscow.
Regionals See Page 2
Discover the resources available atRESHORENOW.ORG/TCO_ESTIMATOR
and SELECTUSA.COMMERCE.GOV/.
Returning manufacturing operations to U.S. soil to create well-paying jobs, spur innovation and increase American competitiveness throughout the world.
“Made in the USA” is a symbol of quality and pride.
Customers respond to it. U.S.-based manufacturers have access to regional supply chains and can provide faster response times – another plus for customers. In many cases, the total cost of reshoring is substantially less than offshoring.
Six cities, 6,000 airline miles, four AMT staff presenters, more than 100 member com-pany representatives and seven interesting presentations featuring an uncounted num-ber of ways to utilize AMT products and ser-vices: that was the essence of the AMT Re-gional Meetings.
AMT President Doug Woods kicked off the forward-looking meetings with a defini-tion of the new AMT as a strong voice for the future of manufacturing technology in the United States. Steve Lesnewich, Vice President
AMT Regional Meetings focus on the future- Industry Engagement, and Pat McGibbon, Vice President - Strategic Information and Re-search, followed with details on how members can best utilize AMT products and services, including statistical surveys, research and USMTO data, business consulting services and international assistance, technology reviews and analysis, meetings and events and govern-ment relations activity.
The new business intelligence tool, MTInsight, was presented in detail with both a general dem-onstration and a specific look at the exciting
IMTS 2012 app. Steve also discussed the need for members to get involved in the direction of AMT via the various committees and working groups, including the new Distribution Work-ing Group. Pat presented an updated economic forecast, as well as a detailed look at the specific areas where each of the meetings were held.
AMT Vice President - Exhibitions & Com-munications Peter Eelman provided an ad-vance look at this September’s International
ExOne: positioned as an additive technology leader
ExOne See Page 5
220 million tons of old computers and other technological hardware are trashed in the United States every year.
What’s happening “over there”? Technology shows are back in fashion despite Euro crisis
Second IMTS 2012 Rally Fighter Design Competition opens July 10
Machine Tool Sector in the 15 CECIMO countries through 2011
See Page 4
Lots of attention has come to additive man-ufacturing lately from many quarters. The tech-nology has been featured in many mainstream
news outlets, in-cluding USA Today, NPR, the Financial Times,
The Wall Street Journal and others. It’s garnering attention at AMT as well, and ExOne is an AMT member company that is positioned as a leader within this technology sector.
ExOne prints both metal and sand, and is one of the few additive companies to print with the latter. “We create molds and cores for the casting industry, replacing traditional wooden patterns — and eliminating 2-5 weeks off the build cycle,” said Nick Studley, Industrial Sales Manager for Metal at ExOne. In addition, the company is able to make more complex cores than currently possible with wooden patterns.
Attention designers! You have 2 weeks (July 10 - July 24) to enter this exciting contest. The winning entry will be built in the Emerging Technology Center at IMTS 2012. Learn more at www.imts.com/rallyfighter. See Calendar
Page 4
Page 2 AMT NEWS/July 2012
tal affairs. The overall message: Use AMT services to benefit your business!
Throughout the meeting, mem-bers were asked key questions in each area and the results were recorded via polling devices. Results will be available on AMTonline.org in July. The regional meeting presentation slides are available now.
Late last month, Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigned after taking a short medical leave. The resignation comes after Bryson suffered a seizure and caused two accidents in Southern California. Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank has been named Acting Secretary until a full-time replacement is confirmed, most likely after the No-vember election.
AMT NEWSPublished monthly by the
Communications Department©2012 AMT
The Association For Manufacturing Technology7901 Westpark Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102703-827-5234
E-mail: [email protected] Sharpe . . . . . Editor & DesignerBonnie Gurney . . . Director - CommunicationsPenny Brown. . . . . Media Communications ManagerPam Kachel . . . . . . Communications Coordinator
www.AMTonline.org
AMT NEWSPenny Brown . . .703-827-5275 . . pbrown@AMTonline .orgRuth Sharpe . . . .703-827-5234 . . rsharpe@AMTonline .org
AMTonlineDiyana Hrzic . . . .703-827-5260 . . dhrzic@AMTonline .org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . amtwebmaster@AMTonline .org Submit company news articles . . . . www .AMTonline .org/membercms
AdvocacyAmber Thomas . .703-827-5230 . . athomas@AMTonline .orgGraham Schnaars 703-827-5229 . . gschnaars@AMTonline .org
Business DevelopmentJeffery Traver . . . .703-827-5251 . . jtraver@AMTonline .org
Exhibitions - Apply for space at IMTS 2012John Krisko . . . . .703-827-5252 . . jkrisko@AMTonline .orgTom Snyder . . . . .703-827-5235 . . tsnyder@AMTonline .org
Industry EngagementSteve Lesnewich . .703-827-5227 . . .slesnewich@AMTonline .org
Meetings . . . 888-379-4659 . . . www .AMTonline .org/meetings
MTConnect®Paul Warndorf . . . . . . . 703-827-5291 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pwarndorf@MTConnect .Hyperoffice .com
MTInsightMark Kennedy . .703-827-5220 . . mkennedy@AMTonline .orgJulie Germain . . .703-827-5222 . . jgermain@AMTonline .org
Smartforce DevelopmentGreg Jones . . . . . .703-827-5203 . . gjones@AMTonline .org
Strategic Information & ResearchPat McGibbon . . .703-827-5255 . . pmcgibbon@AMTonline .org
Strategic InitiativesPeter Borden . . . .703-827-5215 . . pborden@AMTonline .org
TechnologyPaul Warndorf . . .703-827-5291 . . pwarndorf@AMTonline .org
Contact AMT
Manufacturing Technology Show and highlights of the 2013 show schedule, which includes events in India, China and Brazil. New dates were announced for the imX event in Las Vegas in No-
With only 4 weeks until the August recess, congressional leaders are scrambling to take care of un-finished business before they depart Capitol Hill and head to their home districts and states. They will un-doubtedly be getting an earful from voters frustrated by the lack of real progress on jobs and the economy. With work still to do on all 12 FY13 appropriations bills and the cam-paign season in high gear, there won’t be a lot of time to do much before Congress adjourns for the elections. That is why it is so impor-tant to be vocal about the issues that affect manufacturing.
Below are legislative initiatives important to the manufacturing sec-tor that could see action this month:
The American Manufactur-ing Competitiveness Act (H.R. 5865) – Last month, the House En-ergy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved this bill in-tended to promote growth and com-petitiveness in U.S. manufacturing, paving the way for House floor con-sideration as early as this month. H.R. 5865, sponsored by Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), establishes a public-private American Manufacturing Competi-tiveness Board to develop a quadren-
nial national manufacturing strat-egy. The goal is to bring industry and government together to identify areas that will make the United States a better environment for man-ufacturing growth and job creation. The strategy would be based on a rigorous analysis of factors that af-fect manufacturing competitiveness, including R&D investment, energy costs, taxes and regulation, work-force and barriers to trade. H.R. 5865 is a revised version of the National Manufacturing Strategy Act, H.R. 1366, that Rep. Lipinski introduced earlier this year, and which also passed the House by a vote of 379-38 during the 110th Congress.
Russia PNTR – Hearings have been held in the House and Senate on whether to grant Permanent Nor-mal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Rus-sia to coincide with its accession to the World Trade Organization this summer. Under WTO rules, every WTO member must grant all other members unconditional Permanent Normal Trade Relations. Currently, however, the United States grants normal trade relations annually based on certification that Russia complies with the outdated Jackson Vanik amendment requiring free emigration of Soviet Jews. Unless the amendment is repealed and PNTR granted, the United States will be in violation of WTO rules and compa-nies will be unable to take advantage of this burgeoning trade relation-ship. Russia is currently the world’s 9th largest market and represents significant opportunities for U.S. manufacturers as it looks to improve its outdated infrastructure and modernize industries. The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade, a broad-based group representing U.S. manufactur-ing, services and agricultural inter-ests, is telling Congress that Russia PNTR is a top legislative trade prior-ity for many American businesses.
Tax Extenders – What to do about the dozens of tax measures that have expired or are expiring at the end of this year continues to be a major focus on Capitol Hill as tax-writing staff from both chambers try to determine which provisions mean the most to taxpayers. AMT has been vocal in its support for a permanent R&D tax credit; exten-sion of 100 percent bonus deprecia-tion and increased Sec. 179 expens-ing; and current level estate tax rates. The association has also urged consideration of the many manufac-turers who face a tax increase if the Bush tax cuts on individual incomes over $250,000 are allowed to expire. Thus far, no legislation has been introduced; but in a May 25 memo to House Republicans, House Major-ity Leader Rick Cantor (R-VA) vowed to “schedule a vote on legislation preventing the largest tax increase in history” prior to the August re-cess. He urged his Senate colleagues to do the same to give taxpayers some level of certainty leading up to November. Regardless of what hap-pens in July, though, most don’t ex-pect any real action on taxes until after November 6 in a post-election lame duck session.
Get Involved – August is an ideal time to meet with your Sena-tors and Representative on these and other public policy issues af-fecting your business. Schedule those visits now. An invitation to tour your plant and meet your em-ployees is an excellent opportunity for members of congress to talk with potential voters and to see firsthand what it means to be a U.S. manufacturer. Visit AMTonline.org/advocacy for tips on conduct-ing successful plant tours with your elected officials. If you have questions on whom to contact, write me at [email protected].
Lead up to August Recess
Speaking to a graduating class last month at the Science Leader-ship Academy, President Obama stressed the need for greater innova-tion in the United States in order to help strengthen our economy. The most successful and competitive countries in the 21st century will be those that invest heavily in their re-search and development programs, increase exports, buoy their manu-facturing sectors, and expand their smartforce. Without these four in-gredients – which also align with AMT’s Manufacturing Mandate – a country can only expect their eco-nomic stability to plateau, if not diminish.
Most recently, President Obama introduced a new federal initiative to increase public-private partner-ships to foster innovation and job
growth in the manufacturing sec-tor. The Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Program is a $26 million, multia-gency approach to promote and sup-port revolutionary manufacturing capabilities. Twelve projects will be funded that have the most promise to grow a region’s industry cluster, strengthen a regional economy, in-crease exports, include small busi-nesses, provide new job opportuni-ties and boost innovation. Funding from the project will also include technical assistance from the fed-eral agencies to the grant winners.
AMT encourages you to learn about the challenge and submit an application through www.grants.gov if you feel as though this could be of value.
Contact AMT’s Advocacy staff for more details: Amber Thomas at [email protected] or Graham Schnaars at [email protected]. Applications are due on July 9, 2012.
Administration initiative supports innovation and manufacturing
Immediately following the July 4 recess, the Senate will consider a temporary exten-sion of 100% bonus depreciation as part of the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012 (S . 2237) . In addition to extending bonus depreciation for new equipment purchased and placed in service in 2012, S . 2237 would also provide a 10% tax credit of up to $500,000 for new payroll in 2012 compared with 2011 . That includes both the hiring of new employees and the increasing of wages for current employees .
The first and most difficult hurdle the bill must clear is on the motion to proceed to consideration . The cloture motion must get 60 Senate votes in order to prevent a fili-buster of the legislation . Although there is bipartisan support for the bonus depre-ciation provision, opposition to the bill stems from its more than $20 billion price tag, which does not have to be offset because it is considered a tax cut rather than a spending increase .
This could be the last chance to pass a 100% bonus depreciation extension for 2012 . Since the provision is intended to stimulate investment, the more time that passes, the less impact it will have on purchasing decisions and the less chance it has of being enacted . It is imperative that you contact both of your senators and urge sup-port for cloture and passage of S . 2237 . You can find your senators’ contact informa-tion by clicking on the American flag on www.AMTonline.org .
ACTION ALERT: Urge your senators to support 100% Bonus
Depreciation Extension
Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigns
vember 2013. A look at the ways AMT communicates to its members and elsewhere, including web sites, social media and even this publication com-pleted Peter’s presentation.
Doug Woods wrapped up the half-day session with an update on MTCon-nect and a discussion of a new way for members to participate in governmen-
Regionals Cont’d from page 1
Page 3 AMT NEWS/July 2012
Hot spots amid slow growth in manufacturingAfter a steady recovery in the manufacturing indus-try for the last 2 years, economic growth faces a potentially tumultuous political scene this fall. Like the broader economy, manufacturers will have to consider the impact that some key Supreme Court decisions and election results will have on business in 2013. Whatever the politics, though, there will be a few manufacturing sectors that are likely to breeze through this period, continuing to grow and investing in capital equipment at rates considerably above the average for manufacturing.
While industrial production is the best gauge of sector-by-sector output, a better leading indicator to use for forecasting purposes is capacity utiliza-tion. Released by the Federal Reserve in the same monthly report as indus-trial production, capacity utilization is a percentage measure of actual output versus total maximum output.
As an overall rule of thumb, AMT uses 75 percent as the point at which orders from an industry move from replacement toward expansion. The 80 percent level is typically the point at which investments in expansion tend to grow at a rapid pace. This can vary somewhat between sectors, with some industries hovering above 85 percent for years and others staying closer to 70 or 75 per-cent. Looking at the last several months of data for capacity utilization, it is worth noting that a few sectors appear to be on the verge of a breakout.
Fabricated metals reached a miserable low in spring 2009, dropping to almost 60 percent of capacity. This industry group (classified under the NAICS code 332) is an important one for job shops and general machining because a great deal of components need to be incorporated into durable goods under this heading. Prior to the recession, capacity utilization for this sector hovered near 85 percent and has now recovered to almost that level thanks to nearly continuous growth out of the recession.
Industrial machinery manufacturing suffered similarly in the recession, with its worst month in June 2009. That sector has seen an even more impressive rebound performance, with March, April and May capacity all over 85 per-cent and above the average for 2007. The May figure decreased slightly from the previous month, but remained at a high level compared to the last 5 years.
Strong readings in motor vehicles/parts and computer peripheral equipment suggest these segments are also worth watching closely, particularly because they are profitable sectors with cash on hand. Any time capacity is squeezed and businesses have money to spend, you can expect that industry is ready to invest.
Whatever happens on the political landscape, watching capacity utilization and sector-wide financial positions can help you figure out which industries will elect to expand their production in the coming months.
If you have any questions about the data presented here, don’t hesitate to contact Pat McGibbon at [email protected] or Russell Wad-dell at [email protected]. Both can be reached by phone at 703-893-2900.
Market Data Review
Pat McGibbonV.P. - Strategic Information & Research
Market Data Review See page 4
Perce
nt Ca
pacit
y Util
ized
Source: Federal Reserve
CapacityUtilizationFabricated Metal
Products
May07Nov07
May08Nov08
May09Nov09
May10Nov10
May11Nov11
May12
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
CapacityUtilization
Industrial Machinery Manufacturing
CapacityUtilization
Motor Vehicles and Parts
CapacityUtilization
Computer and Peripheral Equipment
May07Nov07
May08Nov08
May09Nov09
May10Nov10
May11Nov11
May12
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
May07Nov07
May08Nov08
May09Nov09
May10Nov10
May11Nov11
May12
30
40
50
60
70
80
May07Nov07
May08Nov08
May09Nov09
May10Nov10
May11Nov11
May12
5560
6570758085
9095
Perce
nt Ca
pacit
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ized
Perce
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pacit
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Perce
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$ Tho
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April U .S . manufacturing technology orders totaled $410 .42 million, down 17 .0% from March but up 2 .9% when compared with the total of $398 .73 million reported for April 2011 . With a year-to-date total of $1,763 .77 million, 2012 is up 10 .2% compared with 2011 .
U.S. Manufacturing Technology OrdersApril 2012
Total order value 3-month moving average 12-month moving average
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
Seasonally Adjusted
If anyone needed a confirma-tion that Brazil is among the best worldwide markets for manufactur-ing technology equipment, Feira da Mecanica 2012 was the place to be. The show took place last month in São Paulo, Brazil. There were days in which it was virtually impossible to walk freely in the aisles of the show. With 109,000 visitors from 60 coun-tries, quality inquiries and orders obtained by exhibitors on the show floor, the show was considered a great success by all involved. Feira da Mecanica is an industrial equipment exhibition that takes place every 2 years, alternating with FEIMAFE.
The show had the benefit of re-ceiving an injection of extra energy the day before the event opening when the Brazilian government announced an interest rate reduction and re-vealed it was working on extra incen-tives for the automotive industry that would help boost the sales of passen-ger cars and light trucks. The mea-sures were since implemented and the positive results are already showing. These measures were necessary to counter the impact of the European crisis that was affecting the growth of
the Brazilian economic health.Despite growing at a slower
pace than initially anticipated, the industry in Brazil is still performing better than most other countries. This growth is not always detected in the statistics or international eco-nomic analyses.
One of the characteristics of this market is that many economic indi-cators don’t show on the radar screen of conventional measuring means and are either hidden or distorted. The best way to find out what is re-ally happening is to talk to custom-ers and to understand their invest-ment pattern. That is exactly what Feira da Mecanica allowed for both
exhibitors and visitors.AMT is studying the feasibility
of opening an office in Brazil in 2013 that will provide support to mem-bers in similar fashion to what we do through our China, India, Poland and Mexico offices.
Preparations already began for FEIMAFE 2013 (June 3-8) and it prom-ises to be a great exhibition. The 915,000-sq ft exhibition space at Parque Anhembi in São Paulo will fea-ture about 1,400 exhibitors and should receive approximately 100,000 visi-tors. AMT is planning to sponsor an AMT/USA Pavilion at FEIMAFE 2013 as it did last year when 20 members participated. The booth space made available by the show organizer is sold out already and we anticipate the same for our pavilion floor space.For more information about the Brazil-ian market and FEIMAFE 2013, please contact Mario Winterstein at AMT, [email protected].
Feira da Mecanica highlights strengths in Brazil
2012 2013 2014Sales 3,500,000 3,600,000 3,740,000Production 3,032,200 3,292,200 3,579,000
Source: Polk
Brazil Sales and Production Forecast of Light Vehicles (Units)
Feira da
Mecanica
attracted
109,000
visitors
from 60
countries.
Page 4 AMT NEWS/July 2012
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IMTSTVSee the new episode of IMTSTV
IMTSTVSee the new episode of IMTSTV
Market Data Review Cont’d from page 3
Please call 888-379-4659 for meetings information ~ Call 800-524-0475 for information on international events
Future Activities – 2012-2013
OCTOBER 2012 October 24 - 25 – Global Forecasting & Marketing Conference - Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, Mo.
Ju
ly
Au
gu
st
JULYJuly 10 - 24 – Submit designs for the IMTS 2012 Rally Fighter Design Competition - www.IMTS.comJuly 26 – Voting open for 1 week to pick the design - competition winner - www.IMTS.com
AMT Board MeetingAMT HeadquartersMcLean, Va.
Europe See Page 7
CMTSE Certification Online Exam
SEPTEMBER 2012 — September 10 - 15 – IMTS 2012, McCormick Place, Chicago, Ill.
Rally Fighter Design Competition opens
Rally Fighter Design Competition closes
Rally Fighter Design Competition voting opens
Show Committee GESChicago, Ill.
WebinarSummer Economic Update 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
MARCH 2013 March 6 - 10 – The MFG Meeting - Manufacturing for Growth, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Waikoloa, Hawaii
JANUARY 2013 January 24 - 30 – AMT/USA Pavilion at IMTEX 2013 Bangalore International Exhibition Center, Bangalore, India
Rally Fighter Design Competition voting closes
Producer Price and Wage ReportThe Producer Price Index for Finished Goods decreased 0.6 percent in May to 193.9 (1982 = 100). Compared with the level a year earlier, finished goods prices increased by 0.7 percent. Prices for crude manufacturing materials decreased 4.6 percent from April and 4.8 percent from a year ago.
The metal cutting machine tool index increased 0.1 percent, and the metal forming machine tool index increased 1.0 percent. Compared with last May, metal cutting prices rose 4.2 percent and forming prices rose 3.0 percent.
For more information or for a copy of the complete Producer Price & Wage Report, contact Russell Waddell, Industry Economist, at 703-827-5258 or [email protected].
Foreign Trade Report – April 2012U.S. machine tool exports valued $196.4 million in April, down 11.2 percent from March’s total of $221.1 million. Exports for year-to-date 2012 totaled $795.8 million, a decrease of 2.1 percent when compared with the same period of 2011. Monthly machine tool imports valued $552.5 million in April, up 1.2 percent from March’s total of $545.9 million. Imports for year-to-date 2012 totaled $2,004.1 million, an increase of 65.4 percent when compared with the same period for 2011.
China was the leading destination for U.S. machine tool exports in April with $34.2 million, a 16.0 percent decrease from March. The second largest destination for U.S. machine tool exports was Mexico, with $28.0 million, a 26.3 percent decrease from March. Completing the top five destinations for U.S. machine tool exports were Canada ($20.8 million), India ($11.2 million) and Germany ($7.9 million).
Japan ($224.5 million) and Germany ($80.4 million) were the top suppliers of U.S. machine tool imports for April 2012. Compared with March’s figures, Japanese imports decreased by 2.5 percent and German imports decreased by 4.1 percent. Completing the top five sources of U.S. machine tool imports in April were Italy ($52.9 million), Taiwan ($43.2 million), and South Korea ($43.0 million).
With MTInsight, you can interactively evaluate the imports and exports of machines tools by the United States. Discover all of the countries with whom the United
States is trading, scrutinize that trade at the most detailed commodity classifi-cation level, and interpret the progression of U.S. machine tool trade over time.
For more information about any aspect of this report or to make a specific data request, contact Kim Brown, Industry Engagement Manager, at [email protected] or 703-827-5223.
Considering its size (compared to North America) and easy inter-communication, Europe continues to organize a staggering number of technology shows exhib-iting machine tools and manufacturing technolo-gies. The occurrence of shows over the first 5 months of the year has been remark-able, including some majors like METAV Düsseldorf and Hannover
International Report…What’s happening “over there”? Technology shows are back in fashion despite Euro crisis
Messe (Germany), Indus-trie Lyon (France), MACH Birmingham (UK), KONMAK Konya (Turkey), BIEMH Bilbao (Spain), Mach-Tool Poznan (Poland), St Pe-tersburg Technical Fair and Metalloobrabotka
Moscow (Russia). Shows were well-at-
tended, even those that were staged at the same or similar times, like BIEMH, Poznan Mach-Tool and
Malcolm Mason Business Development Director
Metalloobrabotka (late May/early June). All shows reported an increase in the number of participants and visitors. The numbers for AMT mem-bers exhibiting directly were some-what modest. U.S. manufacturers often prefer to exhibit under the um-brella of their European connections, although Poznan and Moscow were notable exceptions, as quite a few participated directly.
Poland at present is the main
“Politics is a good thing!” That’s the slogan of Dr. Larry J. Sa-bato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. AMT’s long-time friend and sometimes speaker, Dr. Sabato will deliver the keynote at the Global Forecasting & Marketing Conference on Octo-ber 25, 2012!
In July 2008, Dr. Sabato cor-rectly projected that Barack Obama would win the presidency in a near-landslide. He predicted a 364-174 margin in the Electoral College, just one vote away from the final tally of 365-173, and he also forecasted Pres-ident Obama’s exact 53 percent pop-ular vote margin. Dr. Sabato accu-rately predicted 98 percent of Senate, House, and governor winners in 2006, 2008, and 2010 – by far the best showing in the business.
Dr. Sabato will now tune his “Crystal Ball” to the 2012 election, reflect on how the race has devel-oped thus far and discuss what is to
Who’s winning the election in November? Find out at GF&MC
come in the days leading up to No-vember 6. He will address the im-portant issues, the key states, and the likely outcome in the race for the White House and the scramble for control of the Senate and House.
Sign up now at www.AMTonline.
org/GFMC. You won’t want to miss
Dr. Sabato’s election predictions!
Dr. Larry J. Sabato
Transplant Business Development GroupFindlay, Ohio
Global Service CommitteeGleason Corp.Rochester, N.Y.
Page 5 AMT NEWS/July 2012
Ellison Technologies Automation has become just the fifth company in North America to receive the new certified robot integrator designa-tion, a certification from the Robotics Industries Association (RIA). To become a certified member, applicants must go through an extensive process that includes audits, safety inspections and testing.
EMAG LLC has received a 5-year, $200,000 agreement with Oakland Community College, through the Michi-gan New Jobs Training pro-gram for the training of 21 new employees in manufac-turing technology, CNC machine tools, mechanical maintenance, electrical and robotics disciplines. Accept-
ing the award, Peter Loetzner, EMAG CEO, recounted his own experience as a student in this now rapidly growing field of mechatronics, where mechanical engineering melds with electrical and electronic engineering.
Kennametal Inc. announces a multiyear renewal of its machining technol-ogy partnership with Chip Ganassi Teams (CGRT). Kennametal began its rela-tionship with CGRT in 1993. This renewed relationship occurs in the wake of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon’s dramatic first and second-place finish at
the 2012 Indianapolis 500. Kennametal has expanded the 19-year metalcutting partnership by providing Ganassi’s Indy machine shop with proprietary Precision Surface Management Technology by Ken-nametal Extrude Hone.
Star SU, LLC has appointed Mark Parillo Direc-tor of Marketing. He will be responsible for the development, implementation, and management of marketing tools and strategies to further strengthen Star SU’s market position and brand recognition.
Third Wave Systems, Inc. has been selected for participation in the U. S. Energy Department’s $54 million Innovative Manufacturing Initiative. By pro-viding a comprehensive set of computational tools to accurately model machining process and making these tools available at every stage of the product lifecycle, Third Wave’s program will bridge the existing knowledge gap between upstream design and down-stream manufacturing processes. We want to hear from you! What’s happening at your company? When you send out a press release (or just have some interesting news), please send information to AMT NEWS, Atten-tion: Editor, 7901 Westpark Dr., McLean, VA 22102; e-mail [email protected].; or go to www.AMTonline.org/membercms.
Mark Parillo
EMAG President Peter Loetzner addresses a gathering during the Oakland County Eco-nomic Outlook luncheon.
Welcome New MemberC.B. Ferrari USA Inc., Barrington, Ill. (Products: Milling / Boring / Drilling / Tapping) www.cbferrari-usa.com
ExOne Cont’d from page 1
2012 Global Forecasting & Marketing Conference
www.AMTonline.org/GFMCOct. 24 - 25 ● Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch
Billy Liao has joined the AMT IT Department as Applications De-veloper, focusing on MTInsight.
In his role, Liao will work on new design schemes for MTInsight, the manufacturing-specific business intel-ligence tool that AMT rolled out in 2011.
Liao’s background includes pro-gramming and system integration, and he has worked as an IT consultant for several different agencies within the federal government. He says he en-joys working at AMT because of his “friendly, helpful colleagues.”
New AMT staff member: Billy Liao
Liao moved to DC in 1996 and de-scribes himself as a “converted soccer fan” who now enjoys baseball.
ExOne’s S-Max can make the largest sand and metal parts in the industry.
The company makes actual parts for customers, as well as sells additive systems in sand and metal. Studley said that additive is a well-accepted technology within the sand cast industry. They are also expanding their presence in metal printing, where the technology is being adopted with growing acceptance.
“We print primarily in 420 stainless steel and bronze as a metal matrix, as well as 316 stainless and bronze,” Studley said. This material has been accepted in many indus-tries for both prototype and low vol-ume production. ExOne also prints soda lime glass, and runs it through a kiln cycle to create finished parts. “99.9 percent of the glass printed objects ends up in the art world,” Studley said.
Of course, one of the highly touted advantages of additive is the amount of time it shaves off produc-tion vs. traditional manufacturing processes. While many examples given in mainstream media pieces have dealt with additively produced plastic parts, which can be turned around in a day or two, sand and metal have slightly longer lead times.
“A good reasonable delivery time for us is shipping sand molds and cores in 3 to 5 working days, and we can get metal parts out in 2 weeks or less.” This is in comparison to 4-5 weeks or more for tradition-ally machined parts — and as the old business adage goes, saving time is saving money.
One of the primary obstacles facing additive right now is accep-tance throughout the industry. However, in many quarters, Studley says that the tide is turning.
“This is the year for additive,” said Dave Burns, ExOne President & COO. “Many people are comfort-
able with additive in plastics, and more people are now taking a really hard look at metal and what can be done with it — products and indus-tries like aerospace, oil and gas ex-ploration, mining, automotive, med-ical. There is no industry that I know of that additive won’t touch one way or another if it hasn’t already.”
“One of the image issues for additive is taking it out of the realm as a ‘hobbyist’ technology, or one that is meant for making one-off custom plastic parts, and instead showing the broader manufactur-ing industry that this is a serious technology with broad applica-tions,” said Burns, “It really seems that we are gaining the momentum to do that.”
Two remaining challenges for additive include volume (prototype and low-volume production have typically been the milieu of addi-tive), as well as build size. ExOne’s M-Print and S-Max can make the largest sand and metal parts in the industry. In terms of volume, Stud-ley says ExOne is beginning to see more metal customers asking for larger runs of 50 to 500 pieces.
“If there’s a complex shape that is difficult or costly or impossible to make in traditional manufacturing, (additive) has a hands-down advan-tage,” Studley said. “Let’s say that you have a part in a pump out in an oil field somewhere, and that pump was made 30 years ago. Then the pump breaks, but you can’t find a
pattern to replace the part you need. We can reverse engineer and create that part without a pattern — giv-ing us a real advantage in spare parts.
“If you’re in the casting busi-ness, you have to store warehouses full of wooden patterns. Additive pretty much eliminates the need to have a wooden pattern for low-vol-ume production.”
ExOne will be introducing and selling a new machine at IMTS called the M-Flex. Designed for gen-eral industry and contract services jobs, the build box on this new ma-chine will be 11x11x17 inches.
The company is also developing a laser system that is designed espe-cially for making very small, accu-rate holes, particularly well-suited to the fuel spray holes in a diesel fuel injector. “We’re going to see huge growth with this product in the next 2-3 years,” Studley said. “It will allow for better fuel efficiency, and it’s a proven technology. Right now it’s a small part of our overall business, but it’s well on its way to growth.”
ExOne is also looking to open a school next year for customers and prospective customers to help edu-cate them on additive and give them an accurate look at what the tech-nology can and can’t do. They are also planning a big initiative to work with university students, and cur-rently have machines operating at 20 different universities.
“In the long-term, I don’t think any of us see additive taking the place of traditional mass produc-tion,” said Nicole McEwen, Market-ing Director at ExOne. “We would never say it’s going to ‘take over.’ However, we do see it having a place on the manufacturing floor along-side other established technologies. It has a number of advantages, its usage is growing, and it’s a green technology because it creates less waste — the leftover powdered printing materials are reused.”
“Everybody in additive is al-ways trying to do two things — make parts faster, and make parts bigger, without losing accuracy,” Studley said. “For us, we target making changes in our products that make our customers’ prod-ucts better.”
www.exone.com
Page 6 AMT NEWS/July 2012
Confused on safety and machinery control systems? Take this surveyMachinery controls have evolved from simple hard wired circuits to evermore complex hardware and software systems. Whenever machinery controls are used to reduce risk, they become what is known as “safety related parts of the control system” and the system reliability must be properly assessed. Deter-mining just how reliable a safety circuit or system is demands a comprehensive approach. As safety PLCs replace relays, mechatronic actuators drive hazardous motion and software driven safety features like “safe speed” and “safe position” become prevalent, analyzing safety system reliability becomes a complex task indeed. When control systems fail to perform as expected, machines can move unexpectedly or not stop when expected – this can result in injuries to person-nel or damage to equipment or products. The more complex the system(s), the greater the difficulty in identifying and preventing unintended consequences.
The standards writing community has tried to keep pace with the technological advances, and we have seen the now familiar “Category” system from EN 954-1(1996) evolve into the much debated ISO 13849-1 (2006) and IEC 62061 (2005). Adding to the confusion, the term “control reliability” has been used in the U.S. for several years but there has been confusion as to exactly what the term means.
In 2006, the latest revision of ISO 13849-1 introduced a probabilistic determina-tion of potential control system failures. The 2006 standard intended to replace the categories of the 1999 version with newer “Performance Levels” as the met-ric used to discuss control systems. Yet a third methodology appears in IEC 62061 which uses “Safety Integrity Levels” (SILs), and applies only to electronic systems and tends to be used frequently in the processing industries.
In 2011, ISO Technical Committee 199 (responsible for the ISO 13849 standard) and IEC Technical Committee 44 (responsible for the IEC 62061 standard) formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) of ISO and IEC “experts” to evaluate developing a new standard for safety related control systems. One suggestion being considered is merging the contents of ISO 13849-1 and IEC 62061 to include the methods of PLs and/or SILs (one, the other, or both). Another suggestion is to create a yet another new method different from PLs and SILs to be used for control systems.
Such proposed changes can have significant impacts to the engineering develop-ment and use of machinery builders and end users. In an attempt to try to assess that impact, the JWG has developed a brief survey requesting that machinery builders and end users of machinery share their views on this topic. This is time-sensitive as the survey will close by end of August to allow the results to be com-piled for discussion at a meeting scheduled for this September. This is your opportunity to impact the standards development work – let your voice be heard!
The survey can be obtained at http://bit.ly/ISOQuestionnaire. For additional information or any questions, please contact Bruce Main (an ISO/TC 199 mem-ber of the JWG) at [email protected].
SAE holds international training eventSAE International held their Section Officer Leadership Seminar (SOLS) North American training conference this past month. SOLS brings volunteers from SAE International North American sections representing manufactur-ing, engineering, academia and workforce development together to hear from peers and colleagues about best practices to support more effective SAE sec-tions. The members of these sections support regional, local Mobility Engi-neering industries in Aerospace, Automotive and Commercial Vehicles.
SOLS provided four main sessions. AMT’s Tim Shinbara led teams that provided content for two of the sessions: engaging membership (providing the value prop-osition to members and industry); and improving communications (applying the right message, at the right time, to the right audience). If anyone is interested in learning more about the SOLS conference, please contact Tim at 703-827-5243.
TargetingManufacturing Technology
Future B11 Standards meeting
If you have an interest in participating in this meeting or would like more information, contact David Felinski at [email protected].
B11 ASC – July 23-24, 2012 – Seattle, Wash .
By Tim Shinbara Technical Director
Tech Time…
Paul WarndorfV.P. - Manufacturing
Technology
The manufacturing sweet spot: moving from intuition to simulation
®
Update
This month we take a break from disrup-tive hardware technologies to provide insight on some of the advancements re-alized in traditional manufacturing by leveraging machining dynamics data and raising visibility to its role in sup-porting optimal machining.
You have your machine, your tool, tool holder and a machinist handbook for all necessary feeds and speeds to make the best part you can … you must be set, right? Not so fast! It may not take a great leap of faith to agree that not everything in a machinist book is absolute truth, but what you may not know is where you can find such data to lead one down that elusive path of optimized part production.
This month I had the opportu-nity to follow up with Dr. Tony Schmitz (Associate Professor, Uni-versity of North Carolina at Char-lotte, and co-author with Dr. Scott Smith of the book “Machining Dy-namics”) and Mr. Dave Barton (co-founder of BlueSwarf) from an initial meeting at the 2012 National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Ma-chining (NCDMM) Summit. We had an interesting discussion on technol-ogy gaps in traditional machining, as well as how value is added to produc-tion by knowing how to find that manufacturing “sweet spot” of opti-mal material removal rate (MRR).
Traditionally, master machinists used their fine-tuned ears and years of experience to “listen” for the right tone produced by a particular setup (feeds, speeds, tool length, etc.) in a particular material to establish the best parameters for that operation on that machine. This process, though ef-fective, is not efficient, transferrable or scalable with the multitude of new materials and processes in the market today. This process is also not with-out its challenges, the least of which is the drastic reduction in the available
skill set like that of a master machinist. This dependence upon a person’s intuition and conservative paper-based calculations has cre-ated the “last gap in technol-ogy and automation in CNC machining” as stated by Schmitz and Barton. This gap could be filled with a science-based approach to identify-ing speeds, feeds and depths of cuts; then providing such data via an interactive dashboard.
Their approach takes the current state-of-the-art tap testing, where the dynamic response of each tool in each machine is measured, to the next level by predicting the tool point dynamics from just one spindle measurement and tool-holder model. This data can subsequently be used to calculate the milling process stability.
Once the input data including the tool and holder geometry and spindle response are known, then the elements are combined that are convenient to model (tool and tool holder) to the mea-surements of those that are inconve-nient to model (the spindle-machine subassembly). The procedure for com-bining these two elements is known as Receptance Coupling Substructure Analysis (RCSA).
The benefit of using RCSA capabili-ties to replace the tap test is that now any machine’s response can be initially base-lined using a simple artifact and then simulations will provide, with signifi-cantly high confidence, a profile of feeds and speeds that correspond to given ma-terial removal rates for other selected tool-holder combinations. What is inter-esting, counter-intuitive in fact, is that if one were to encounter chatter and vibra-tion at a given set of parameters, the knee-jerk reaction would be to decrease tool length or begin changing spindle and feed rates. While these typical ap-proaches can provide an acceptable solu-tion in general, it does not necessarily
provide an optimum one. Many studies have been completed to demonstrate that higher MRR can often be achieved if the tool point dynamics are known (see figure above). The secret lies in finding the combination that matches the Tooth Passing Frequency (the number of tooth impacts per 1 second; in Hertz) with the dominant natural frequency from the Tool Point Frequency Response (a natu-ral frequency is a frequency at which the system “wants” to vibrate; in Hertz). This harmony is the “sweet spot” in machin-ing and also what maximizes productiv-ity (optimal system solution for chip re-moval, tool life and part quality). As shown in the figure, by changing the tool length, the dynamic response of the tool-holder-spindle-machine assembly can be tuned to enable higher MRR to be achieved when identifying the sweet spot for each tool overhang length.
The point is made that only listen-ing and depending upon tribal knowl-edge proves less efficient and, in a time where those types of resources are dwindling, there is another physics-based path to optimal machining that may even begin attracting much of the younger talent to manufacturing. Many thanks to Tony and Dave for their time spent with me and I look forward to more great work from Blueswarf and Tony’s research at UNCC.For more information about this series contact me at [email protected] or by phone at 703-827-5243.
Tool Projection with Resulting MRR
Technical Advisory Group meeting held in Plymouth, Ind.
The MTConnect® Technical Ad-visory Group (TAG) meeting was held in Plymouth, Ind., on June 19-20, 2012. Forty-four members attended the meeting, which was hosted by Joel Neidig and ITAMCO. The next TAG meeting will be in fall 2012. For further inquiries, please contact Hilena Hailu at 703-827-5293 or [email protected].
MTConnect® discussed at events in June
MTConnect was the topic of a keynote Dave Edstrom, President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute, gave at the CAD ’12 Conference in Toronto, On-tario. Titled “MTConnect: How an Open Protocol is Changing Manu-facturing,” the talk outlined the business and technical benefits of embracing a royalty-free standard in manufacturing. Dave also gave a we-binar keynote for GlobalSpec’s Sum-mer Conference and spoke to indus-try professionals around the globe about how MTConnect can bring end-to-end interoperability to the
manufacturing environment.For more information about MTConnect related events, visit www.mtconnect.org.
MTConnect Forum is in betaThe MTConnect Institute un-
veiled the beta version of its online forum at its TAG meeting in Plym-outh, Ind. This forum was established to create a sense of community among those who are interested in or are implementing the standard. While the beta is released only to TAG mem-bers, the final version will be released to the public mid-July. For further in-formation, please contact Hilena Hailu at 703-827-5293 or [email protected].
Page 7 AMT NEWS/July 2012
Business DevelopmentLooking for change? Perhaps it’s about changing your perspective
Jeffery TraverV.P. - Business Development
Europe Cont’d from page 4
technology user in Central Europe (U.S. companies have invested some US$20 billion in Poland over the last 2 decades). Sikorsky Aircraft recently announced orders for Black Hawk fuselage elements worth US$350 million to be produced by Polish PZL Mielec. Russia continues to offer huge prospects as a diversified tech-nology user.
More good shows will be com-ing in the fall, notably in France, Ger-many, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia and Turkey. Investors are sending their specialists to such shows to learn and manufactur-
ers seem to oblige. The return on investment in shows is now consid-ered to be good and improving!
Metalloobrabotka 2012 - AMT members show their wares
Nearly 900 exhibitors partici-pated in the Metalloobrabotka 2012 show, occupying well over 350,000 sq ft. This show has been growing and there are plans to relocate into much larger grounds away from congested central Moscow.
AMT had an information booth and recorded a good flow of traffic. This show also witnessed probably the largest presence ever of AMT members, exhibiting either directly (American Broach and Machine, In-gersoll Machine Tools, Fives Cinetic, Flow, Gleason, Kennametal, MAG), in conjunction with local representation (Haas, Mate Precision, OMAX), or having their products exhibited at the stands of Russian distributors (Allied Machine & Engineering, DoAll, Hardinge, Milltronics, Scotchman, SGS Tool, WA Whitney).
Recently U.S. machine tool manufacturers have become the fifth-largest supplier of Russian ma-chine tool imports.
Europe reduces social programs but continues to invest
As the EU is struggling, espe-cially with countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal and the epitome of bad economic behavior – Greece, austerity programs are being en-forced across the continent. There are also countries that seem to be largely immune to the trend of con-tracting economies. Poland, for ex-ample, is too busy to notice the diffi-culties, especially having prepared
There’s a common theme I’m often hearing from members these days: When will the economy — and our markets — be back to “normal”? Most often the markets and econo-mies these folks are referring to are the ones in the U.S. and Europe.
From my perspective, “normal” — as in, pre-recession status — isn’t going to happen anytime soon, if ever. It could be years before Europe sees political and economic stabil-ity. For the Western developed econ-omies, there is a lot of turmoil. Glob-ally, however, if you look at economic statistics, manufacturing is healthy, and GDP is healthy. There is business to be had out there — but you have to go looking for it.
When the recession was begin-ning, there was a lot of talk about ex-panding business opportunities and looking to other markets, BRIC coun-tries in particular. Many members who did that now have healthy businesses.
The reality is, there is still plenty of market capacity out there — you just need to be willing to go to where the market is consuming it. Traditional markets in the United States and Europe are the problem areas right now. That’s why it’s more important than ever to cast a wider net. You are only limited in so much as the limits you set on your opportunities.
There’s an article in this very edition of AMT News that points to the success at Feira da Mecanica, a
recent trade show in Brazil. There was plenty of activity, many orders placed, lots of connections made for potential future business. Likewise, Malcolm Mason points out in his own column about some great oppor-tunities happening in Russia right now. AMT just recently had its grand opening for its new Tech Centre in Chennai, India. That’s in addition to the Tech Center we also have in Shanghai. There has been talk about opening an AMT office in Brazil, and a possible trade mission to Vietnam, another rapidly developing market
It’s important not to fall into a “victim” mentality. Don’t allow your-self to be swept up in the circum-stances of your surroundings. If you’re waiting for the economy to take a certain turn, or for some poli-tician to suddenly make a move that will vastly improve your business fortunes, it’s very likely that day will never come. That’s why it’s important to take fate into your own hands.
Of course, there can be many reasons to be apprehensive about
expanding into these new markets. You might not even be sure where to get started, and perhaps you’ve heard a number of horror stories regarding bad experiences in some of these places. But let me assure you — AMT has a number of re-sources that can help make that transition as smooth as possible.
Our Tech Centers give you floor space for displaying your machines, office space for meetings with cus-tomers, HR services to hire local talent, and a proxy service to help you put boots on the ground. We’ll help you exhibit at global trade shows through our international pavilions. We’ll facilitate conversa-tions with other members who’ve been in your position so you can learn about their approach and how they found success.
Another reason why it’s good to go global is that a rising tide lifts all ships, even if it’s purely from a mar-keting standpoint. By promoting technology and innovation created by U.S. companies, it shows the con-tinued strength of American manu-facturing to a worldwide market.
So ask yourself: Are you fed up with the economy? Have you lost faith in the political system? Are you waiting for the day when things “get better”? Stop waiting! AMT can help you take control of your own busi-ness destiny.Feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Global Marketing & Sales Committee – Lessons Learned
History was made last month as AMT members and guests from all over India met to tour and witness the inauguration of the new AMT Chennai Technical Centre. It was a festive atmosphere as member com-panies had the opportunity to share their technologies with dignitaries from the U.S. government and private sector manufacturing guests from across India.
Knox Johnstone, Arun Mahajan, and his team did a masterful job of providing lively surprises for all, in-cluding a special visit by an elephant for guests to climb up and sit on for a once-in-a-lifetime photo op.
The inauguration ceremonies were filled with native Indian music. To say that excitement was in the air would be an understatement. A rooftop dinner following the opening activities was spectacular and the fusion Indian
music was a real treat. Imagine Indian sitar music played with precision and a jazz style reminiscent of Chuck Man-gione, complete with drums and native Indian instruments.
The real gem of this event for our members was the opportunity to asso-ciate with potential new customers and network with each and every site that we visited during the trade mission.
India is a vast country that repre-sents an unlimited opportunity for growth for all members. The trade mis-
sion exposure for those who partici-pated allowed for direct dialogue and an extremely high level of management access to decision makers. Every cus-tomer visited expressed a sincere desire to learn more about using technology to improve their competitive edge and profitability. Price was irrelevant when compared to achieving greater produc-tivity. Our trade mission site teams all understood the value of quality, could track it and were actively seeking new ways to produce things faster, with en-hanced safety and repeatability.
In short, the business contacts received will fill short-term and long-term business plans for a year. The critical conversations that occurred and the subsequent contacts made would have taken years to achieve in a traditional sales flow setting where repeated calls are made on accounts, and you slowly become exposed to the executive decision makers.
An historic grand opening for the AMT Chennai Technical CentreBy L .C . Skip Wolford Sales Manager Hangsterfer’s Laboratories Inc .
for the June European Soccer Cham-pionship which drove huge invest-ments in infrastructure. Turkey now has the appearance of a busy Asian economy.
At the same time, another eco-nomic trend may be starting with social democrats on the rise. France is reviving socialist ideals after the recent double elections and the Ger-man chancellor could be in danger of losing the forthcoming elections to social democrats.
Both trends paradoxically do not block industrial development. While social programs are being reduced under the austerity mea-
sures and consumers are not so happy, investments are encouraged. For the socialists the concept of in-vestments for creating new jobs (and taxing the rich in the process) is the cornerstone of sound economic pol-icy. So, even with the stagnating GDP, industrial output in many Eu-ropean countries is on the increase.
Lastest trends in the European machine tool industry
Machine tools are capital-inten-sive investment goods with high value-added and know-how input. Being positioned at the beginning of the industrial supply chain means that the industry is exposed to high volatility compared to general industry trends.
The European machine tool in-dustry performed well prior to 2008. CECIMO (15 countries) output reached a record level of more than US$30 bil-lion. The aftermath of the recession in 2008 was extremely severe for machine tool builders in Europe – production in 2009 and 2010 leveled off at approxi-mately $24 billion. At the end of 2009 the economy experienced a sharp rebound, which was reflected in orders. CECIMO countries are expected to reach an out-put of almost $25 billion in 2011.
The recovery in the European machine tool industry takes more time than in many of the major com-peting countries. European producers are focused on high-end, customized machines with relatively longer pro-duction cycles as opposed to standard machines with short lead times.
For more information on the Euro-pean market, contact Malcolm Mason, [email protected] or Hubert Sawicki at [email protected].
A significant number of AMT members exhibited at Metalloobrabotka 2012.
India See Page 8
Page 8 AMT NEWS/July 2012
By Greg Jones Vice President Smartforce Development
Peter Borden, CMTSEStrategic Initiatives Officer
Service techs … “Help, I need somebody, not just anybody!!”
SmartforceAMT welcomes new Pratt & Whitney Manufacturing Engineering Development Program candidates
The industry is growing and
employers are looking for qualified
talent. MTCareers is designed
to bring employers and job
seekers together, in this highly
targeted job board, in order to
make manufacturing career
connections easier and
more efficient.
For more info visit
www.MTCareers.org
This is THE universal cry that I hear from distributors and build-ers alike. Today, everyone is chal-lenged to hire service personnel to take care of customers who are calling with machines that are down, warranty or preventative maintenance needs, or for installa-tion on new machines. The second part of the call is “what can AMT do to help?” Let me share some of the conversations and thoughts on this issue.• The difficult reality is that there
are almost no good techs out there for hire now (just like there are no 5-axis machinists). Certainly, there are a few who may jump around to a higher-paying position over and over again, but that creates inequity in your company that may cause other issues.
• Many companies are working with local veterans groups to find prospects who are leaving their military service and have had experience in maintenance on vehicles or missile systems. Some of you have been success-ful doing this. There are also placement agencies that specialize in former military service personnel. One that is working well for some members who have used it is https://h2h.jobs. Don’t get discouraged by the experience of a few members when you find that you are competing with other compa-nies like GE or Lockheed that were willing to give the prospect an immediate job offer on the spot. Think of ways to improve your benefits offering to attract the candidates that you really want/need. Some members are
offering health/fitness center memberships or direct payroll deduction of car and home insurance. Be creative in the things that you can offer in addition to salary, vacation time, etc.
• Service apprentice programs - Some of you are going to local tech schools and interviewing students to work part time for you while going to school. These students begin by working at your facility in an internship, and then learn by doing by going on service calls with more experienced personnel.
• Training for these people is available through the National Association of Manufacturers, which has created a pilot program called “Right Skills Now,” a 16-week course that is coordinated with NIMS to create a baseline of service and repair knowledge in mechanics, hydraulics and electronics.
• Some members have had success using MTCareers (www.mtcareers.org) to find viable candidates, and as we grow this industry-specific job board, more viable resumes will come as well.
• Through the Smartforce Initia-tive we are actively engaged in working with schools at all levels to recruit the talent we need now and into the future. This effort will take place along many fronts with the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Center (www.ncatc.org) member schools, as well as engineering programs at colleges and universities. We also expect to produce the best-ever NIMS Student Skills Center at IMTS 2012 (formerly, the NIMS Student Summit). A new component of the NIMS Skills Center will be Career Launch Pads to give young people a clear sense of the direction they need to take with their post-secondary education.
I know many of us have not en-gaged with these students when they visited our booths at previ-ous shows, but I suggest that it’s time to WELCOME them and engage them. I have been to two open houses this spring where there were great programs for these kids, and, as they looked at the machines in action, you could see that they had a genu-ine interest in working in our industry. It’s important to culti-vate that enthusiasm.
So as someone once said, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” We are working to help you here, but this will take some time. You’re going to have to get involved locally and do some recruiting. The people who have been busy doing this for a couple of years have some great success stories to tell.
On June 25 and 26 at the Morris Group headquarters in Windsor, Conn., AMT once again welcomed Manufacturing Engi-neering Development program candidates from Pratt & Whitney to our industry through an Essen-tial Elements of Manufacturing Technology (EEMT) workshop.
The MED program has been in place for decades at Pratt & Whit-
ney, and the 2012 class of new col-lege graduates included 26 individ-uals, one of the largest classes in recent memory, demonstrating Pratt & Whitney’s commitment to the future of manufacturing engi-neering at their company.
MED candidates devote the first 2 years of their career in con-tinuing education and training programs, and Pratt & Whitney estimates that they will invest more than $200k in each individ-ual in the program over the next 2 years.
The 2-day EEMT workshop is
Mike Zecchin from The Morris Group provides the Pratt & Whitney MED program candidates with a tour and demonstrations of machines and equipment in the Morris Group showroom.
designed to provide young people with a fundamental understand-ing of machining and manufactur-ing process fundamentals. The MED program candidates gradu-ated in June from some of the top engineering schools in the country like Rochester Institute of Technol-ogy, Worcester Polytechnic Insti-tute, Purdue University and Em-bry-Riddle Aeronautical University, to name a few, and they spent their first week on the job at Pratt & Whitney in orientation before at-
tending the EEMT workshop the following week.
The candidates will continue their education in the fundamen-tals of machining, manufacturing, and quality control with online classes from ToolingU that are available in an all-access subscrip-tion to all AMT member compa-nies through MTUniversity.For more information about the EEMT workshop or online classes from MTUniversity, contact Greg Jones, Vice President – Smartforce Development, 703-827-5203 or [email protected].
The real value of the AMT expe-rience is active participation in these very special settings. Opportunities for growth in this market and others abound. The expertise and support of AMT for member companies to ex-plore and begin the journey is but a phone call away. Everything that we do as AMT members in supporting and promoting our individual com-panies in these new markets helps to promote and sustain our own U.S.-based manufacturing efforts, thus creating and sustaining our manu-facturing base here at home. And that is very good for all of us now and for the future.
AMT Member Distributors working out of IMTS
exhibitors booths now have access to the IMTS 2012 App.
Contact [email protected] or 1-888-268-3292 for more information.
The IMTS 2012 app provides
exhibitors with an unprecedented
opportunity to maximize booth
performance and access potential
customers. New, comprehensive data
analysis tools are now available for
you to start your pre-show marketing.www.MTInsight.org
India Cont’d from page 7
