3-S Your Shop- COVID-19

March 18, 2020

“The one thing that you can do is to stand down for ten minutes and 3-S your shop.”

Paul Akers,  the hands on Manufacturer who also wrote 2 Second Lean, was one of our Update conference’s most popular speakers. (Paul will tell you, as he told us, he’s not a speaker. He’s not a consultant. He’s a MANUFACTURING GUY.)

Paul Akers, manufacturing guy.

 

One of the ideas that he shared  is so appropriate right now, I feel that I have to share.

The one thing that you can do right now is to do a ten or fifteen minute stand-down and 3-S (Clean, sort, and organize) your premises

Have your team sanitize every surface that anyone touches.

Sweeping = sanitizing

Everyone gets to do their part!

The fellow on the ladder cleaning the sign- that the V.P. of Sales.

People get pretty excited when there is a threat- but there is nothing that they can do. Its called the fight or flight syndrome, and when people can’t do anything, they get stressed.

Look at 3-S’ing your premises as a great way to 1) take positive steps to prevent transmission of the virus or germs among your team, and 2) a positive step to de-stress because people are doing work to reduce everyone’s risk.

Do it everyday- even when this COVID-19 event is in our rear-view mirror.

Thank you Paul Akers for giving us a tool we can use to minimize our risk as we improve our workplace and culture.

That’s a lot of great takeaways  from just two slides, Paul. Maybe we should call it 2-slide lean. What do you think Paul?

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Supply Chain- Ready to Help!

March 11, 2020

Throughout history, American manufacturers have answered the call to find solutions, support progress and step up in times of crisis. Our U.S. manufacturers and workers are ready to minimize operational disruptions and help produce a quality, reliable products ready to ship to any location. We’re here to help.

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity  (VUCA) are business as usual for the North American Manufacturing Industry.

We remain on the job ready, willing, and able to get you the critical components that you need for your critical quality and human safety applications.

Open letter to suppliers

Having supply chain / procurement issues? Our member shops are available to help. Check our websites for assistance in finding a shop:

http://www.amba.org          American Mold Builders Association
http://www.ntma.org           National Tooling and Machining Association
http://www.pmpa.org          Precision Machined Products Association
http://www.pma.org            Precision Metalforming Association
http://www.tmaillinois.org   Technology & Manufacturing Association

Throughout history, American manufacturers have answered the call to find solutions, support progress and step up in times of crisis. Our U.S. manufacturers and workers are ready to minimize operational disruptions and help produce quality, reliable products ready to ship to any location. 

It’s what we do.

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Coronavirus- One Thing to Reduce Your Risk of Community Acquired Infections

March 3, 2020

The experts say “Wash your hands.“

The experts say “Don’t touch your face.”

Actually they say “Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Viruses that cause colds can enter your body this way and make you sick.” 

If only playing Simple Simon  with the experts calling the shots would keep us safe.

The experts say wash your hands- why don’t they suggest that you not touch contaminated surfaces in the first place?

In manufacturing, we have a thing called Root Cause Corrective Action. We try to prevent reccurrence by eliminating causes.

Basically we work on offense against causes. Not play defense against things that have already happened.

From a root cause preventive action point of view, what is one thing that you can do to reduce your risk of community acquired infections?

Use a stylus!

 

If you don’t touch the infectious contamination on the keys used by who knows how many people before you…

Do you know how many people touched those keys before you?

“Reviewing the literature on all available human and veterinary viruses within this family, encompassing 22 studies, researchers have found that the human pathogens can persist on surfaces and remain infectious at room temperature for up to nine days. “- Sciencealert corona virus on surfaces

If you knew that someone had a tissue in their hand when they used the keypad, would you not use the keypad? 

(Hint, I see that happening a lot)

Go ahead and touch. Ewww…

 

How many keypads and touchscreens do you get to touch in a day?

I count 4 or 5 in a typical day- grocery store, pharmacy, bank counter and ATM,  gas station pumps and counter, retail shops, department stores.

On non typical days, add Airline parking access gate touchscreen and airline check-in kiosk touch screens. Hundreds of people ahead of me at the airport…

Whose job is it to disinfect them?

When I asked, all I got was blank stares… though at my local Gas Station the Cashier has been doing a great job of wiping down touchscreens.

What if instead of touching all of these with your fingers and possibly acquiring infectious bacteria or viruses- what if we didn’t touch these contaminated surfaces? 

What if a stylus did the touching?

Wouldn’t that keep us safer, by reducing our exposure to infectious materials with our hands?

Washing hands is fine. We get it.

But not getting our hands contaminated with infectious contaminants in the first place?

We think that that is far better than playing only defense- getting contaminated, and then washing up.

We think that using a stylus instead of your fingers on touchscreens and keypads is the one thing that you can do that will positively reduce your chance of community acquired infection.

We’re not sure why the experts don’t suggest it.

Use a stylus!

I purchased a bunch from Staples to give to my colleagues at work.

Use a stylus not your finger…

You can order them on Amazon too.

 

We think that using a stylus instead of your fingers on touchscreens and keypads is the one thing that you can do that will positively reduce your chance of community acquired infection.

What do you think? More importantly,  what will you do?

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February ISM PMI- Manufacturing Growing Despite Challenges

March 3, 2020

“Manufacturing expanded in February, as the PMI® registered 50.1 percent, a 0.8-percentage point decrease from the January reading of 50.9 percent. “The PMI® expanded in February, but at a slower rate. Four of the big six industries expanded, at similar rates compared to January. Four of the PMI®’s 10 subindexes recorded expansion, down from six the previous month,” says Fiore.

A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.

A PMI® above 42.8 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. Therefore, the February PMI® indicates growth for the 130th consecutive month in the overall economy, and the second month of growth following five months of contraction in the manufacturing sector. “The past relationship between the PMI® and the overall economy indicates that the PMI® for February (50.1 percent) corresponds to a 2.1-percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis,” -Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee

Manufacturing grew in February, though rate down from January,

The industry is currently facing challenges from supply change disruption due to coronavirus outbreak and continued Boeing 737 Max delays.

The  low but still positive PMI in February  corresponds to a 2.1-percent  increase in GDP according to ISM.

This February PMI® indicates growth for the 130th consecutive month in the overall economy, and the second month of growth following five months of contraction in the manufacturing sector. 

Could certainly be worse!

Graph: Calculated Risk Blog

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Precision Machining Sales January 2020- Success-ion, not Recession!

February 27, 2020

NO RECESSION IN PRECISION MACHINING! (only two consecutive months of declines.)

Success-ion not Recession

No recession here! Only two consecutive months of (expected) seasonal declines!

With 81 companies responding, the PMPA Business Trends Index for January 2020 rebounded to 139, up 26% over December 2019.

Down just 2% from January 2019’s record of 142, up 3% over January 2018, and up 7.8% over the five-year average for the January index.

This is a repeat of last January’s strong performance, and should help you understand that the sluggish performance in the last quarter of 2019 was due to seasonal factors, as well as to assignable causes in our largest markets served- the UAW strike at GM and the ongoing issues at Boeing.

(The Boeing story remains on the front page of the Wall Street Journal- Boeing Plans More Relief for Suppliers– February 24, 2020).

NO RECESSION IN PRECISION MACHINING! (only two consecutive months of declines.)

And by the way, we outperformed the Fed’s Industrial Production Manufacturing Index by a huge margin!

The Fed reported that Industrial Production (IP) “declined 0.3 percent in January, as unseasonably warm weather held down the output of utilities and as a major manufacturer significantly slowed production of civilian aircraft. The index for manufacturing edged down 0.1 percent in January; excluding the production of aircraft and parts, factory output advanced 0.3 percent.”

Recession? Not even.

Success-ion? Well, it depends on how you manage. The numbers show a very positive outlook. Be positive. The facts support you.

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PMPA Business Trends December 2019 Review and Summary

January 31, 2020

“2019 was a better year than you think, finishing essentially even with 2018. Responding shops have balanced expectations going into  1Q 2020.” -PMPA  Business Trends Review and Summary December 2019

Despite the drop in shipments in the last two months of the year, calendar year 2019 finished at 133, one point off last
year’s calendar year final of 134, and up nearly 10 points or 7.8 percent over the average of the last five years 2014-2018.
December came in at 110, up 3.4 points and 3.2 percent over the five- year average for the month of December.

Despite the softening of shipments in November and December, 2019 has been a very strong year
for Sales, and finished virtually even with 2018. Even with the lowest level of sales for the year this month, we are just one
point (less than ¾ of a percent!) off last year’s Sales for the year.

Forty-two percent of our shops were scheduling overtime in December! The almost even balance between sentiments to increase or decrease for all of our sentiment indicators likely
bode well for a level and stable start in 2020. We have no reason to complain about sales softness with both the December and year-end sales numbers coming in above 5-year averages.

The Fed INDPRO release for December reported “increases of 0.2 percent for manufacturing.”

After two years of strong sales growth (2017 was up 6.8% over 2016; 2018 was up 7.2% over 2017), 2019 finished
essentially even with 2018. 

December 2019 Business Trends Report

Accredited media please contact JJackson@pmpa.org for your copy.

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OSHA Enforcement Priority Weighting System Revised

January 27, 2020

How does OSHA decide to inspect shops?

Prior to this latest change, OSHA followed its Enforcement Weighting System (EWS).

Late in 2019 OSHA revised its inspection priority weighting system.

OSHA LOGO

OSHA has identified two objectives for this revision to the Enforcement Weighting System
(EWS), now known as the OSHA Weighting System (OWS)
• To continue to develop and support a management system to focus enforcement activities
on critical and strategic areas where the Agency’s efforts can have the most impact and
• To further promote the appropriate allocation of resources to support OSHA’s balanced
approach to promoting safe and healthy workplaces.

Here is the new Enforcement Priority Weighting Scheme

Enforcement Units

Enforcement cases will be assigned the following weight:

  1.  Group A: Includes the most time intensive, complex, and high-priority inspections. 7 EUs
    a. Criminal cases
    b. Significant cases
  2.  Group B: Includes inspections for high-priority hazards and those that are more complex
    than average and/or are of high lasting value. 5 EUs
    a. Inspections following fatalities and catastrophes
    b. Chemical plant NEP and Process Safety Management (PSM) Inspections
  3.  Group C: Includes programmed inspections following an established emphasis program
    (EP) for hazards that are among the leading causes of death in the workplace.3 EUs
    a. Caught-in hazards—e.g., trenching, equipment operations, oil & gas
    b. Electrical hazards—e.g., overhead power lines, electrical wiring methods
    c. Fall Hazards—e.g. scaffolds, elevated walking working surfaces
    d. Struck-by hazards—e.g., highway work zones, landscaping, material handling
  4.  Group D: Includes programmed inspections following an established EP for priority
    hazards that are somewhat time intensive and are a high priority. This category also
    includes inspections for novel hazards and programmed inspections undertaken in
    conjunction with an established enforcement policy addressing associated serious safety
    and health hazards. 2 EUs
    a. Amputation hazards
    b. Combustible dust
    c. Ergonomics
    d. Federal agency inspections
    e. Heat hazards
    f. Non-PEL overexposures
    g. Workplace violence hazards
    h. Permit required confined space hazards—e.g., grain storage or maritime or
    construction
    i. Personal sampling—e.g., air contaminants or noise
    j. Site specific targeting
  5.  Group E: Includes all other inspections not otherwise listed. 1 EU
  6.  Regions may submit other regional or local emphasis programs for approval and
    weighting if they are not already covered under items 1-4 and assign them two to three
    EUs.
  7. Link to OSHA White Paper on OWS

We urge all shops to look at this for guidance in prioritizing their risk evaluation and remediation and training programs to minimize the chances of these OSHA Priority Hazards occurring in their shops.

 

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OSHA Amputation National Emphasis Program-Renewed

December 16, 2019

On December 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an instruction (Directive)  CPL 03-00-022 cancelling the prior  NEP CPL 03-00-019 National Emphasis Program on Amputations, August 13, 2015, and describes the policies and procedures for the continued implementation of the National Emphasis Program  to identify and reduce Amputation hazards in Manufacturing Industries.

We covered the prior NEP notice in our post HERE

OSHA’s enforcement history shows that employees are often injured when machinery or equipment is not properly guarded or maintained.  This NEP targets industrial and manufacturing workplaces having machinery and equipment that can potentially cause amputations. Our 332- manufacturing NAICS codes are identified in this updated instruction.

See the source image

 

OSHA Instruction: CPL 03-00-022, National Emphasis Program on Amputations in Manufacturing Industries, is now available:

Directive Type: OSHA Instruction

Directive number: CPL 03-00-022

Directive subject:  National Emphasis Program on Amputations in Manufacturing Industries

Effective Date: 12/10/2019

Cancellation/Archive including PDF: CPL 03-00-019, National Emphasis Program on Amputations, August 13, 2015

https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-03-00-022

To support the purpose of this NEP, OSHA is beginning a three-month period of education and prevention outreach to encourage employers to bring their facilities into compliance with OSHA standards.   Additional outreach and compliance assistance material will be forthcoming in the near future.

We will be providing reminders to our shops to retrain shop personnel in 1910.147 Control of Hazardous Energy and  1910.212 Machine Guarding – General Requirements. These are relevant to preventing amputations as well as being two of the 5 most prevalent general industry related violations in 2019.

We are hopeful that this time around, the Agency will give equal attention to enforcing part (b) of Section 5 of the OSH Act: “Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct.”

OSH Act Sect 5 part (b)

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USMCA- Updated NAFTA Finally Signed!

December 11, 2019

“While we expect some changes in the automotive supply chain, some to the benefit of the U.S. and some to the benefit of Mexico, overall this is a positive outcome for manufacturers.”

On December 10, 2019, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada formally signed an updated NAFTA following months of negotiations between the White House and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This marks a major victory for President Trump, Congressional Democrats, and most importantly, manufacturers who have sought some stability after several years of uncertainty over trade with Canada and Mexico. PMPA is part of several coalitions who have pushed for an update to the 25 year old NAFTA and believes the new agreement will expedite commerce across all borders. While we expect some changes in the automotive supply chain, some to the benefit of the U.S. and some to the benefit of Mexico, overall this is a positive outcome for manufacturers.

The changes agreed to by Speaker Pelosi, labor leaders, the White House, and Mexico do not significantly alter provisions impacting autos on Regional or Labor Value content levels except one last minute provision requested by the White House that all steel for autos be “melted and poured” in North America (delayed for seven years, Mexico refused the same terms for aluminum).

Sources in Washington indicate the U.S. House of Representatives could vote to approve the new NAFTA on December 19, one day prior to departing for the Christmas break, and one day after voting to impeach President Trump. Senate Majority Leader McConnell indicated he will not schedule a vote until after the Senate concludes the impeachment trial, which many believe could begin around January 7, 2020 and last at least two weeks (President Bill Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial began on January 7, 1999…). This puts Entry Into Force (when the new agreement officially takes effect) still a few months away.

Major changes in the White House-U.S. House Democrats-Labor-Mexico update include:

  • Creating rules of evidence for labor and environmental enforcement;
  • New labor enforcement applies to all goods and services in Mexico and can apply penalties on goods with labor violations;
  • A party cannot block dispute settlement panel from being formed;
  • Creates an interagency committee to monitory Mexico’s labor practices;
  • Unions may have attaches on the ground in Mexico but unclear if U.S. official or American labor representative may inspect Mexican facilities;
  • Adds Multilateral Environmental Agreement language for all parties;
  • New Customs verification system for fauna, flora coming from
  • Mexico to ensure properly harvested;
  • Removes requirement to provide at least 10 years of patent exclusivity for biologics;
  • Content liability protections for internet companies maintained;
  • Requires steel to be “melted and poured” in North America to meet standards for use in auto production (delayed seven years).

 

Photo credit

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C-1200 Series Steels- Not Recommended for Applications Requiring Mechanical Properties

December 10, 2019

Question: Why don’t the Certs for C12L14 and C1215 cold drawn steel bars have mechanical properties routinely reported?

Answer: Because these steels ARE NOT recommended for applications requiring mechanical properties, alternating stress applications, cold metal movement and can also be notch sensitive.

Don't do it!

Don’t use these steels for critical applications!

Here are some details from the application notes provided to me when I started as Plant Metallurgist at Bliss & Laughlin Steel in 1985:

  • The 1200 series steels (1215 and 12L14) are not generally sold for applications requiring high standards of strength, hardness, or other related properties
  • These steels are particularly adapted to automatic screw machine production of small repetitive parts. The ideal application is one where bulk and shape, as dictated by the design, are the chief requirements.
  • They may be used for parts which require only nominal strength values providing the factor of safety as in accordance with established practice. This is especially true where the stresses involved are static tension, compression, or shear. Vibratory, torsional, or alternating stress applications approaching the static limits are not recommended; thus these steels should not be used for line shafting.
  • When cold drawn, the C-1200 steels are notch sensitive and while polished fatigue specimens will show expected endurance limit values, poor finish and processing of parts, or faulty design may cause low or erratic results for finished parts under dynamic or alternating stresses of relatively small intensity.
  • These steels are not recommended for applications involving cold metal movement, such as crimping, forming or bending. Operations such as knurling and character rolling can be done satisfactorily.
  • Because of the smaller amount of hot work in rolling, the large size cold drawn C-1200 bars increase in relative brittleness.  The large sizes may also be expected to reveal stringer sulfide inclusions on polished surfaces. Further removal will likely reveal more inclusions as they are distributed throughout the bar cross-section.
  • A cold drawn surface will not plate to the highest quality finish; a turned or ground surface may prove necessary for critical applications

Your customer wants inexpensive parts, and machining them from 12L14 and 1215 minimizes the cost of machining to the desired geometry. But if the parts are not likely to fulfill the properties expected, that is false economy at best.

Don’t do it Image

Little Charlie and the Night Cats If you Dig It, Don’t Do it.

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