Pete and Repeat Build a Gear: Whose Client Calls Them Back?

Geartechnology.com has an interesting article this month regarding the recent economic downturn as it relates to gear manufacturers, and how those in our industry can meet and exceed our buyer's expectations with greater efficiency. The article, by associate editor Matthew Jaster, discusses the future of the gear manufacturing industry and what aspects of the business will come to the forefront as America begins to climb its way back from the recent recession. Among the areas of focus listed were quality of gears produced, the timeliness in which they are delivered to consumers, and the value of the actual product as it relates to customer satisfaction. According to the article, with more potential buyers shopping around for better deals and with less repeat business due to the recession, gear manufacturers should take heed to make sure that the people that come to them keep coming back:

"Customer service plays a large role in delivery as well. The medical manufacturing rep has received countless phone calls from customer service agents in the gear industry. "They just state the same thing over and over again. 'We'll have it in another three weeks,' 'Give us three more weeks,' 'It's going to be about three more weeks.' Sure, they were polite enough to keep us informed on where the order stood, but this wasn't exactly the kind of customer service we were looking for."

Warren Buffet, investment guru and philanthropist, summed it up when saying, "Price is what you pay; value is what you get." Whether your'e purchasing automobiles, heavy industrial equipment or a bulk order of gears, the same rules apply. The gear industry remains an area of manufacturing where complex components need to perform consistently and without failure. In the gear industry, companies tend to pay for what they get."

The article makes several solid points regarding the future of the gear manufacturing industry, particularly as it relates to producer/consumer relationships. Customer service is mentioned often as the main reason that customers may not come back to a manufacturer. For those of us in the gear manufacturing industry, the lesson we should take from this article is that customer support can sometimes have more of an effect on our business than the quality of the gears we produce. For next quarter, manufacturers should focus more on their bedside manner if they want to keep their clients coming back.

To learn more about the gear manufacturing process, check out Gear Motions:

http://www.gearmotions.com/

To read the article from geartechnology.com, follow this link:

http://www.geartechnology.com/issues/0810x/gearbuyers.pdf

Are you Ready for IMTS 2010?

At this years Industry and Technology Conference in Chicago, there will be over fifty gear manufacturers putting on exhibitions regarding the latest technology in the industry. They’ll also be there to rub elbows with fellow gear producers and discuss upcoming changes in the market (some of which have been detailed in previous posts on this blog). So, if you’re one of the many who were not able to get a spot in the Gear Technology pavilion and haven’t planned ahead on attending, what can the 2010 Industry and Technology Conference do for you? Gear Technology Magazine, who ran an article about the conference in this month’s issue, had this to say for non-attendees:

“It may take months of preparation to get the most out of the IMTS experience, and both exhibitors and the show management have abundant Internet resources available in advance. One such resource is through social networks online. IMTS insider news can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as the IMTS technology e-newsletter. The IMTS group on YouTube features 60-second ehibitor submissions about why visitors should come to their booths. Visitors can vote to rate the video, and the highest rated one will have theirs posted prominently on imts.com.”

So, even if you can’t make the show itself, you can still get the gist of what each exhibitor will be discussing at their individual booths. Beyond that, each of the videos links to the exhibitors homepage, where you generally find a more developed discussion of the points made in their youtube videos. You also have the opportunity to decide which ones are the most relevant to gear manufacturing as an industry. The more manufacturers that vote for certain videos, the more likely it is that it will show as an indicator of how the industry is trending once the selected videos are permanently posted. So, even if you can’t make the show, you can at least swing over to their youtube channel and voice your opinion regarding what’s important in the gear manufacturing industry.

To learn more about Gear Manufacturing, check out Gear Motions:

www.gearmotions.com

To submit a video for the youtube competition, click on the IMTS website:

www.imts.com/60seconds

To read the article from Gear Technology magazine, click here:

http://www.geartechnology.com/issues/0810x/imts2010.pdf

Manufacturing Technology Consumption on the Rise...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

A recent article from GearTechnology Magazine discusses the increase in consumption of manufactured technology in the United States, referred to as the USMTC or US Manufacturing Technology Consumption. The article states that according to the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association and the Association for Manufacturing Technology, May saw a consumption total of $178.34 million. The number was reached based on data supplied by companies that participate in the USMTC program, which, while showing a decrease from April of this year, is up almost sixty percent from May of 2009. The article quotes the president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology:

"While we would like to see the first quarter growth rates continue, we are not surprised by the typical second quarter ebb and flow in capital spending," says Peter Borden, AMTDA president. "We have seen an additional month of substantial orders, which helps to confirm that a sustainable recovery is taking place despite the buzz of those forecasting a W-shaped rebound. Industry forecasts for the year have been revised slightly upward by many sources, and if Congress passes the bonus depreciation allowance, this could accelerate growth even further."

The full report, which is available at www.amtonline.org, also contains a geographical breakdown of the Northeast, South, Midwest, Central and Western regions as they relate to this uptrend in manufacturing technology consumption. Essentially, this report is important to gear manufacturers because it could signal a boom in our industry that has already begun and may become more apparent by the end of the year. It would probably be a good idea, if you belong to this industry to read the full article.

To learn more about Gear Manufacturing technologies visit GearMotions:

http://www.gearmotions.com/

To read the full report from amtonline, visit this link:

www.amtonline.org

To read the article from GearTechnology magazine:

http://www.geartechnology.com/news.php?in=2530

The Race to $5 Billion: Functional Fluids in 2013

(Image Source: ExxonMobil.com)

One of our recent blog posts dealt with the likelihood of a breakdown in an assembly being related to insufficient or incorrect lubrication. The July 2010 issue of Gear Technology magazine had an article which reports that the demand for synthetic lubricant and functional fluid will reach around $4.8 billion by the year 2013. According to the article, this estimation would require a three percent raise in demand over the next three years to be correct. This means a lot for those in the market of lubricant distribution, but also serves as a prediction for those in the gear manufacturing industry. As the article reports regarding trends in industries related to function fluids:

"While engine oils and hydraulic and transmission fluids will achieve relatively strong growth going forward, other types of synthetic lubricants and fluids are expected to realize a slow decline in demand through 2013, largely as a result of falling average fluid prices. The largest market for synthetic lubricants and function fluids is light vehicles. This reflects not only consumer uptake of engine oils and transmission fluids, but also the universally synthetic nature of antifreeze, break and de-icing (windshield wiper) fluids."

It is clear from this article and other articles recently discussed in this blog that synthetic lubricants and functional fluids will play a large role in many industrial arenas over the next few years. As gear manufacturers, it is likely that our relationship to the fluid and lubrication market will change as a result of this. It is always a good idea to try to anticipate changes in your market before they effect your business, but this article stands as a shining example of how paying attention to related markets may hold some benefit in projecting the future of your market.

To read the article form Gear Technology Magazine:

http://www.geartechnology.com/

Measuring Roughness and Surface Finish in Gears...

(Image Source: vibanalysis.co.uk)

If, like me, you read Gear Solutions magazine regularly, then you probably have read the "Tooth Tips" section before, and are probably aware of how smart of a guy William Crosher is. The reason I like his articles is because he doesn't dumb down the language for non-engineers. If you want to follow his articles, you have to be part of the industry, and that's just fine by me. The recent issue of Gear Solutions' "Tooth Tips" article is about the importance of roughness and surface finish as they relate to the longevity and effectiveness of a gear assembly. Without getting into great detail (he does, you can read the article if you want to get the full scoop), his basic point, in his own words, is as follows:

"There is no relationship between gear quality and surface finish in AGMA standards. An AGMA document on gear tooth surface texture (AGMA906A94) is a guide to surface finish. Unfortunately, there are still many who do not realize the significance of the surface finish on tooth flanks and believe -quite incorrectly- that it will be a self-correcting condition. Tests have indicated that the rubbing of any two surfaces reduces the initial roughness by no more than 25 percent."

Another point Crosher makes is that in order to achieve more accurate results, one must be aware of the "cutoff". There are several types of gears that have surfaces with many deep valleys, and its important to remember that flank surfaces should be measured in one direction, going from the tip to the root. Crosher's article is important because it discusses the need for standardization of further processes by AGMA while giving logical assessments of the importance of measuring roughness and surface finish. I always like an article that can make a process more efficient - they always end up saving me money.

To read Crosher's article, click here:

http://gearsolutions.com/article/detail/6001/title/william-crosher-tooth-tips

To find out more about recent developments in gear manufacturing technology, check out Gear Motions:

http://www.gearmotions.com/capabilities/ground-gears.php

Turning Bearing Failure into Bearing Success

(Image courtesy of toyotaoffroad.com)

There's an interesting article in Gear Solutions magazine this month regarding the identification and analysis of failed bearings. The article discusses how important it is for engineers to dissect bearings that have failed prematurely on a visual level, as well as taking the time to fix the causes of the failure as opposed to trying to re-invent their whole process. It is common in the gear industry for someone to say "Well, this bearing arrangement didn't withstand the amount of stress it was supposed to, we either need to implement a new set-up or at least the same process with a new material." The article discusses the problems and causes thusly:

"Most bearing failures such as flaking and pitting, spalling unusual wear patterns, rust and corrosion, creeping, skewing and others are usually attributed to a relatively small group of causes that are often inter-related and correctable. These causes include lubrication, mounting, operational stress, bearing selection, and environmental influence."

The article then gives a breakdown of the likelihood of each of the causes of bearing failure. Lubrication issues, including unsuitable, insufficient or aged lubricant, total fifty-five percent of bearing failures. Around thirty percent of failures were attributed to solid and liquid contamination, leaving only fifteen percent for errors such as "wrong bearing chosen" or "errors while mounting". Using these statistics, one can see that the majority of bearing failures are the result of miscalculations regarding lubrication, whereas only 1/3 of failures are due to standard wear and tear, and less than 1/5 of failures are the result of incorrect bearing selection or implementation. Keep these figures in mind the next time one of your bearings fails, you might save yourself some money by fixing something as simple as lubricant distribution, rather than replacing an entire arrangement.

To read the article from Gear Solutions magazine, you can download the entire issue from the link below:

http://gearsolutions.com/magazine/currentIssue

Gear Expo 2011 - Why You Should Go

The Duke Energy Center, home to this years Gear Expo

Every year, manufacturers and engineers from all across our industry get together to discuss the latest trends, technologies and strategies that are helping the evolution of the gear industry. The expo will run from November 1st to the 3rd at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinatti, Ohio. While registration for exhibitors and attendees are currently restricted, it is of interest that the website of the expo went live last week at www.gearexpo.com.

The article lists several powerful reasons for attending, the most notable being:

1. Make a more educated purchasing decision - Your sales reps can't travel around the country with their heavy machinery, so Gear Expo is your best opportunity to see the equipment in person before you make a large acquisition. You'll easily make up the time out of the office by holding a year's worth of business meetings in just three short days.

2. Stay ahead of the business cycle - Gear Expo only happens once every two years, you can't afford to miss it or you will be left behind as the industry moves forward.

3. Take a trip around the world of gearing all under one roof - Exhibitors and attendees travel from 30 countries and 30 states to meet at Gear Expo. Hear what's working across town or around the globe, and learn from your peers who stand in your shoes everyday.

4. Get out of your office or plant and discover your next "big idea" - Engineers, managers, and executives often spend too much time in an office. Don't miss the innovation that will drive your company and careers forward.

This list from the website covers the main reasons you'd want to go, but it does omit one large important benefit of attendance: Networking. The connections you make at an expo like Gear Expo 2011 can help propel your business to the front of the line in the gear manufacturing game. By establishing relationships with others in your field, you can decrease your own costs, find opportunities to work in tandem with other manufacturers and improve the overall efficiency of not only your institution, but the industry as a whole. So, plan to take the first three days of November off and come down to Gear Expo 2011!