Hi Technical guide: on-site calibration — doing more with less.

Hi Technical guide: on-site calibration — doing more with less.

‘On-site calibration — doing more with less’

Day-to-day activities, such as carrying out maintenance or emergency repairs, commissioning new equipment or conducting on-site checks, need to be simplified because of the reduction in personnel and increase in workload. As this guide from GE Measurement & Control explains, use of the most advanced on-site instrumentation is imperative in order to maintain and calibrate today’s intelligent, high-precision equipment; this aspect applies to all process applications.

Hi Meetings key for decision making:

HI Hi Meetings key for decision making:

Are you finding it tough to make good decisions at work or is your job on stake for taking a bad call?

Well, you could help yourself by doing something important – conducting meetings.

A Bayt.com survey, which was released yesterday (Monday, September 29), reveals that Mena employees consider meetings as a great way to make important decisions. A majority of the respondents (80 per cent) says meetings often have agendas distributed in advance. While 88 per cent claims that they tend to start on the scheduled time, 52 per cent says they normally end on time, too.

While 79 per cent agrees that key decisions are recorded and shared with all attendees, another 79 per cent adds that specific people are assigned to each task and they are responsible for carrying it out, it adds.

Bayt.com’s vice-president of sales, Suhail Al Masri, says, besides helping to make right decisions, meetings also ensure engagement across all employees. “What we recommend is to always distribute a meeting agenda in advance, start the meeting on time and finish the meeting on time. It is also important to invite only the right people, create an action list [based on] discussion points and hold people responsible for it. This establishes meetings as a key contact point for all staff [members].”

The Meetings in the Middle East Workplace poll also reveals that more than 75 per cent of executives believes that people behave appropriately during meetings, allowing them to take key decisions fast, which are also recorded and executed effectively.

Hi Reverse Engineer Your Conveyor.

Hi Reverse Engineer Your Conveyor.

Timing, Timing, Timing!

Efficient manufacturing boils down to cohesiveness, and a major component of this is timing. When dealing with container handling solutions, that translates into timing screws.

With the ability to make or break production, it's important that you properly manage every aspect of your timing screws. 

In this case, knowing their functionality and terminology are a great starting point.

What are they?

Timing screws are perhaps one of the most critical aspects of a packaging line. 

Without them, your line is pretty much useless. 

The major function they have is to smoothly transfer containers between packaging machines.

They run on rotary equipment and are placed next to a star wheel so that they can accept, separate, accelerate, or discharge containers according to the machine's requirements.

Timing screws can be designed in many different shapes and patterns to accommodate the container they will be handling, but to make sure you're getting one that will work best for you, careful engineering and craftsmanship must be used to get it right.

Terminology;

There are a couple different terms that are useful to know when dealing with timing screws. That way when yours is getting designed, you know what elements the designer is referring to.

Pockets and Lands;

A pocket is basically the part that the container is nestled into when it's moved along the timing screw. 

This must be carefully measured and designed so that it fits the container precisely and properly.

The land is the part of the screw that protrudes out and holds the container in place on either side. 

As the screw spins, the land moves forward, holding and pushing the container with it. 

The land can vary in size and width depending on the container being handled and the function of the timing screw.

Lead Edge and Following Edge;

The lead edge is the edge of the land that is in front of the container, separating it from the container in front of it. 

The following edge is the edge behind the container that pushes it and keeps it nestled in the pocket (the area between the lead edge and following edge).

Discharge Pitch;

The discharge pitch is basically the distance from lead edge to lead edge-or from the front of one pocket to the front of the next pocket.

Root Diameter and Outside Diameter;

The root diameter is the diameter of the inside of the screw-the cylinder that the land protrudes from.

The outside diameter includes the land. 

So, this would be the measurement of the root diameter plus how far out the land protrudes on all sides.

Other Functions;

Although the main function of timing screws is to move containers along smoothly from one section to another, new designs and creative engineering has enabled them to do far more than just that.

For instance, timing screws can also be designed to accelerate or decelerate the movement of a container, divide containers, combine them, or even halt them momentarily, but these tasks are only possible if the screw is specially tailored to the shape of the container. 

So, as was said before, proper measurement and design is crucial.

Hi ENGINEERING EFFICIENCY/EFFECTIVENESS - KEY METRICS!.

Hi ENGINEERING EFFICIENCY/EFFECTIVENESS - KEY METRICS!.

Companies or organizations often misuse Engineering resources at the expense of accomplishing the goals for these technical resources.  

Measurement is key to identification of the activities and limit of the “leaks” affecting the department.  

It has been said “you can only manage what you can measure” and measurement is key to an efficient/effective engineering department or organization.

As a guiding principle, application of metrics should embody these characteristics:

• simple to record and track; minimize the total number of measures.
• meaningful in relation to the work at hand and practical.
• related to or in support of the business goals.
• kept active and accurate (revise as required).
• available at all times to key personnel responsible (post or distribute).
• reviewed periodically with all of the personnel (obtain feedback).
• management interest, involvement and support in achieving results.

The metrics applied should be tailored to the activity or department and documented using a meaningful frequency.  

Many of the metrics may stand alone or be plotted against hours, orders or project elements.  

For an on-going effort such as backlog or changes per a base number of features, a rolling average may be desirable in addition to a single time related value.

In other words, focus on the issues important to the business and activities key to success.  

Initiate one or two metrics per area of interest or product type.  

Begin with a few immediately and grow into the desired full set.

The following list is broader than needed but it provides an indication of the types of metrics that can be applied.  

This list assumes a business that supplies a product or service per customer request or potential multiple selection of model sizes or custom features.

STAFFING:

• Hours spent (or % of total) for submittals, sales orders, product development, manufacturing support, change, or “other” support. 

ORDERS:

• Total number of active orders per product group over time.
• Number of submittals in process vs active orders (backlog).
• Schedule performance, actual vs estimated, or % on time.

SUBMITTALS:

• Estimated hours per order vs actual hours per order.
• Number of sales orders in process and hours required.
• On time (schedule) release to next group (release to design).
• Average drafting hours per order or per estimate of project.
• Available man-hours per product vs backlog hours per product.
• Number of changes: pre and post release per order or project.

DESIGN/DRAFTING:

•  Estimated hours per order vs actual hours per order or project.
• Number of sales orders in process and hours required.
• On-time (schedule) release to production (days missed included).
• Average drafting hours per order or per project element.
• Available man-hours per product vs backlog hours per product.
• % errors vs total number of drawings per order, time period, project.
• Number of changes pre and post release (per order, project, etc.).

DESIGN/ENGINEERING:

• Proposals won vs total submitted.
• Estimated hours per order, project vs actual expended.
• Number of sales orders in process and hours required.
• Available man-hours per product vs backlog hours per product.
• Number of changes, pre and post release.
• % of corporate revenue from products developed in last 4 years.

ENGINEERING/PRODUCT QUALITY:

• Warranty expense as a % of shipped $.
• Field or customer complaints vs total items shipped.
• Retrofit or rework $ as % of shipped $.
• Engineering hrs addressing complaints vs total available.
• Product or component MTBF (mean time between failures).