August 2008 Edition

FROM THE SHOP FLOOR

Advice for Getting the Most from an IMTS Visit

Stay on task, but be flexible when walking the show floor, and mix both managers and employees to find the best solutions for a shop

Whenever I fill out a survey concerning IMTS it generally asks questions about our company. It wants to know our size, number of employees, and the industries we serve. After that bit of fact-finding it gets down to its real objective: It asks what we want to buy, and whether or not I have the power to buy it. For that reason many people assume that IMTS is just about buying stuff. This isn’t true, and in explaining why that isn’t so, I’ll show it made us change how we approach the show.

When we first started going to IMTS, it was strictly a management trip. My father and brothers would go, and come back with all sorts of brochures, freebies, and countless business cards. They would sift through the pile and try to piece together what they had seen and finalize the deals they made at the show. As I grew older, I went along too and roamed the aisles looking at equipment and pinching pens.

It was my father who first assigned each of us exploratory tasks and investigations for the show. We had our notes and objectives, but it remained a trip full of managers.

A New Approach

My father’s next edict mirrored Radio Shack’s slogan: "Don’t just buy stuff, do stuff."

Instead of looking at equipment purchases, he wanted us to look at how equipment was used in the displays; look at different ways to do things we already do, not just new things to do new work.

A solution to a problem may present itself in an unexpected place

I touched on this in my first column almost two years ago. While all of the flash and big bucks are spent by the machine tool makers, the most cost-effective way to get value from the show was to look at tools, workholding, and accessories that could go on existing equipment to perform existing work.

To that end, we realized that the people on our shop floor who are involved with the work and machines every day could give us the best perspective. Someone who has to lift heavy parts all day might see a better way to fixture a part for easier loading. Someone who has to load four tools might see a single tool that could do the job. These are the things that managers can miss because they focus on the big picture.

At the last show, we saw some clamps for machining centers. They were expensive, but looked like an interesting concept. We bought a small set. Two years later there is rarely a part on our machining centers that isn’t held by these clamps.

A manager may see the clamps, check the price-tag and walk away, not realizing the savings such an item can avoid in the hassle and wasted time struggling with different clamps, heal blocks, and T-nuts.

Unexpected Rewards

Another reason to take the shop floor guys is to expose them to technology and machines with which they may not have had much experience. For some of our employees, including me and my brothers, this is the only machine shop in which we’ve ever worked, so any outside information can go a long way in how we approach our jobs.

This is why, as important as it is to have specific objectives and topics to cover at the show, it is a good idea to have some general objectives too. Rather than just checking out Company X’s booth, make it a point to stroll through the entire area of a given category. A solution to a problem may present itself in an unexpected place.

It is important though, to stay on task while at the show. It can be easy to walk out of the show with a bag full of swag, and not have learned a single thing.

The trip is expensive, and it’s best to make it clear to everyone attending from the company that they have clear objectives.

The more people attending from a shop, the harder it is to manage, and frankly, the harder it becomes to justify the expense. But, it can be a reward for a hardworking employee that could pay dividends after the show ends.

Dave is responsible for programming, tool selection, and fixture design for Ansco Machine’s 20 CNC machines in Peninsula, OH. He’s been working in a machine shop since age 12, starting by drilling holes on a turret lathe and making simple parts on a Bridgeport.

What do you think?
Will the information in this article increase efficiency or save time, money, or effort? Let us know by e-mail from our website at www.ModernApplicationsNews.com or e-mail the editor at pnofel@nelsonpub.com.