Taking something as non-value added as an importer out of the supply chain will definitely affect the cost of a machine tool in the right direction

To say that Methods did not add value to Matsuura is an ignorant statement to say the least. The McIver and Matsuura families worked together for more than thirty years bringing some of the finest machining centers in the world to the US and neither would've prospered nearly as much as they have without the other. Methods has been far more than simply an importer for Matsuura over the decades and it pains me to see this relationship being dissolved. That being said, pain is required for growth; I just hope this doesn't mean bad things for Matsuura in the US.

C

You have mail

From my information, that is correct; I would suggest contacting your sales representative directly to verify.

I have verified that this is correct; Methods will continue to provide parts and service for Matsuura machines already in the field but will have no further sales relationship with Matsuura.

I am not particularly pleased by this, but we only have [2] Mats so it isn't the end of the world.

C

Hmmm...I'll need to put my sniffer on this one

THAT's why you go to business school, my man, so you ARE the management

if we had to document every single aspect of their job we can hire any idiot who can read

Of course, as you well know, we can't, and neither can you. I am all about mistake-proofing and trying my damnedest to put our guys in the best possible position to make the parts right, but it is important to expect people to KNOW things and to THINK about things because that is key to success.

C

What does this do? Let's change it and find out...

I like systems, but too often they come at the price of individual competence, which I don't like:

Someone doesn't deburr a feature that they machined and then says "well, the routing didn't say to deburr;" um, that's Machine Operation 100 stuff.

Someone doesn't check a feature that's ± a mile on a new program and then says "I wasn't issued a gage for that;" oh, in that case just ph****** forget about it, it is probably right.

The thing that makes this worse is the vociferous arguments with management when they take the attitude that we need to tell employees EVERYTHING that they're supposed to do, ALL of the time.

Ugh

If none of those work, and nobody else has good info, email me and we'll see if we can get the straight dope

C

M432 Tailstock error detect OFF?

M64 Ignoring general M code answer?

M120 No work confirmation?

M156 Center work interlock OFF?

M167 Ignoring tailstock advance/retract interlock ON?

stay away from it at all costs

If it costs you millions in business, are you going to stay away from it? That is not logical.

Is there a "AS9100 requirements for CNC shops" book out there? Please somebody say yes. I really don't want to have some quality geek tell me that I need to rev control my post-it notes.

C

Thanks, guys; keep it coming

We are currently being asked, by one of our major customers, to attain AS9100 certification. What does this really mean? We are ISO9001:2008 currently, and have a well-developed quality system, but I have heard that AS9100 is a big step.

Anyone who can share some direct experience with this, please chime in; I am particularly interested in literature that you may have found helpful in aiding your own understanding. I'm sure we'll have some third-party steering the ship when we get this moving, but knowledge is power.

C

Use Reference Point on the retract for any ID work, ALL of the time, whether you think you need it or not

Why do you have stock recognition disabled? Other than faster regens, nothing good ever came out of that.

C

Joe, send me an email: cmoffattATharmonicdriveDOTnet

ttt

Come on; this is like $20K in driers alone and we'll let the whole package go for less than $5K

C

We’re buying another 75-horse oil-free to back up our current machine, so it is time for our old 25-horse Sullair, [2] Dominick Hunter desiccant driers, and Dominick Hunter mist collector to hit the road.

The compressor has been around for quite some time, and the air end has about 80,000 hours on it (the Air Energy guys say these air ends run to 120,000 when properly maintained, which ours has been), but still makes rated CFM (100) and 100+ psi and leaks no oil. This was our everyday compressor for many years, and ran 16 hours a day without a hiccup for a long time before we added some air hog processes that required a step up; we’ve run this for maybe five days over the past five years. This is a 208V, three phase machine that would be great for a smaller machine shop, auto body shop, etcetera, that has three phase power available.

The small, 100 CFM desiccant drier is nearing the five year mark, which may mean the desiccant will need to be changed in the next year (or not, “could be five years, could be ten” say the compressor guys) but works perfect right now and is size-matched to the compressor.

The larger, 170 CFM desiccant drier is about 2-2.5 years old, so it should be maintenance free for quite some time.

The mist collector works perfect and is sized for the compressor.

I’m looking to move this as a package only, and we’ll let it go for short money, so if you think you might be interested in this (or know someone who might be) give me a call and get in here next week to get your bid in the mix. The new piece should be here and installed by the end of the year, so we’ll be moving this thing out soon.

C

Chris D. Moffatt

Senior Manufacturing Engineer

Harmonic Drive, LLC

247 Lynnfield Street

Peabody, MA 01960

[978] 573-3423 Direct Phone

[978] 532-9406 Fax

[email protected]

www.harmonicdrive.net

Shotpeening is typically a more controlled process than blasting, but I don't know how rough you need to be. Knurling would be much more consistent than blasting, but won't be very quick.

I do not think that you can call a .MIN file from a .MIN file, but I'll be interested to learn if someone knows different.

C

It does what you tell it to do; perhaps some training or discussion with your reseller could help uncover the root of the problem.

Kellenberger impressed me when we had them in for a chat; probably would've cut them a $300K PO if the job hadn't disappeared.

C

IF [VATOL EQ 19] N191

T19 M06 (MILTEC FREEDOM 3")

N191

This is what we use; I wrote it into our post years ago

Greg, still like yours but haven't made the effort to change

Do you want to talk with someone who's down there, Rob? Shoot me an email: cmoffattATharmonicdriveDOTnet