Monthly Archives : August 2017

industrial lighting

What is the best lighting for the manufacturing environment?

Industries need high quality light to improve productivity and keep the workers safe. Industrial lighting needs to be durable enough to withstand the harsh conditions of industries, such as vibrations, high temperature, corrosive materials, dirt, and high humidity. In addition, industrial lighting should comply with the fire and manufacturing lighting safety requirements and be fit for the purpose for which the lighting is used.

Types of Industrial Lighting

1. High-Intensity Discharge

HID bulbs produce light when an arc passes between cathodes, making metallic additives contained in the pressurized tubes to vaporize. HID lamps are efficient and long lasting. However, they do not produce high quality light. Due to this, they are mostly used for outdoor security and area lighting.

2. High Output Fluorescent

These produce light when electricity passes between cathodes and excites mercury and other gases that produce radiant energy. This energy is then converted to visible light by a phosphor coating. They consume about 20% less energy than incandescent lights and last up to 20 times longer. The main disadvantage is that they contain mercury, and therefore should be disposed properly.

3. LED Lamps

LED lamps are an efficient, but an expensive lighting solution. LED produce very little heat. This means that they are able to convert most of the energy into light.

LED are about 1.5 times more expensive than high output fluorescent. However, studies show that businesses can recover the cost of replacing their lighting with LED in less than 3 years. The other benefit of LED industrial lighting is that they do not contain any mercury, meaning that the company will not have to worry about disposing the lamp.

Since LED is non corrosive, bright, and does not produce a lot of heat, it can be used for many industrial applications like CNC machining and industrial inspection areas that require adequate lighting.

Why LED Is the Best Lighting for the Manufacturing Environment

LED lamps are better than HID lamps, such as high-pressure sodium lamps and metal halide, due to a number of reasons.

These benefits are:

  1. LED lamps are a more efficient industrial lighting option. LED use half the energy that HID bulbs use to deliver the same amount of light. Replacing existing HID lamps with LED can reduce your lighting energy cost by half. This means that the investment in high quality LED bulbs will have a short payback time.
  2. HID have a high maintenance and replacement cost. While LED lights have an average life of 150,000 light hours, HID have a lifespan of only 20,000 hours. This means that your business will incur more costs because HID lights require more frequent replacement.
  3. Metal halides take about 15 minutes to reach full brightness when turned on and need about 20 minutes before they are turned on again once they have been switched off. However, LED get to full brightness as soon as they are turned on, and can be switched on and off at any time.
  4. HID produce a lot of heat. For instance, metal halides produce up to 350F of heat, compared LED that only produces 100 F.
  5. HID are more likely to explode during use. This makes it necessary to invest in bulb enclosure fixtures. They also increase the risk of fires in the factory.
  6. Metal halides contain mercury gas, which is harmful to the environment.
machining classes

Why community colleges are now adding machining classes to their curriculum

There are plenty of reasons why students would choose attending a community college rather than choosing the traditional four year college experience. One of the top reasons why many people prefer community college is the fact that it is more affordable than university education. Academic flexibility is the other major reason why people would choose attending a community college.

Manufacturing industry has been evolving quite rapidly the past few years. This can be attributed to the fact that technology is ever changing. The traditional lessons at the community college where students are taught how to handle tools, no longer cut it in the industry. It is for this reason that many community colleges have added machining classes to their curriculum.

CNC skills are in demand
One of the main reasons for adding machining classes is the high demand of CNC skills in the market. By using CNC, a machine is operated by an accredited operator and this increases productivity and reduces human error and the demand in CNC skills. To give their students a chance to get a good job after graduating from community colleges they must instill the relevant skills required in the industry. With a CNC programming course where the students divide their time between lectures and working in the labs they get to learn how to program as well as use different CNC machines.

Seize opportunities in manufacturing industries
CNC is the basis on manufacturing and there are plenty of jobs available in different industries such as machinery, aerospace and nuclear among others. With CNC automation training, students increase their chances of landing a job. Not only do they increase their chances of landing a job but they also receive a higher salary. It is imperative for the colleges to offer CNC courses to students so they can seize the many opportunities.

CNC machine training equips students with the right skills to start off their career on the right foot. Giving them the skills to take up ready employment and set for great work. A career in CNC machining is not only satisfying but also challenging. Entry level wages for a certified CNC programmer are higher than other entry level jobs in other industries.

With the proper programing and operating machine courses, students are equipped with skills to work in different positions. In most community colleges, their curriculum now covers the basic course and also advanced courses in CNC machine shops. In the basic classes, students learn how to handle routine maintenance, translating specifications for quality manufacturing of products as well as installation of devices. In the advanced classes they handle more sophisticated tasks such as turning grooving, facing among others. The advanced courses ensure that the operator is proficient and can handle any machine.

As the manufacturing continues to be shaped by new technologies, there is a high demand for well-trained machinist in the industry. To fill this gap, community colleges have introduced machining classes equipping students with the skills they need to get started in their different fields.

quality manufacturing

How can manufacturing employers find qualified machinists?

It is a common problem: there are jobs available for skilled workers in the manufacturing field, but there aren’t enough skilled workers to fill the jobs. When you hear reports about unemployment and jobs that are available in different fields, there is often a large discrepancy between the experience of those who are seeking employment, and the experience of employers who are seeking skilled employees.  If there are so many people who are looking for work, then it ought to be easy to find someone who can fill your vacancy, right? Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

In fact, in a survey of U.S manufacturing executives across a variety of different fields, including automotive, consumer goods, industrial parts, high-tech industries and electronics, it was found that finding qualified and skilled workers ranks as the number one or two issue facing manufacturing corporations today.

Why Skilled Labor Matters

The bottom line is that quality manufacturing can only happen when you have qualified workers. Unfortunately, the most difficult jobs for manufacturers to fill are the ones that are most necessary. CNC machine shops, CNC production, and CNC automation are all dependent on skilled labor. As a manufacturing employer, if you don’t know where to recruit skilled labor, then you may be faced with an issue of not being able to fully staff your manufacturing operation.

Old-fashioned methods of spreading news about a job vacancy doesn’t work anymore. You can’t rely on word of mouth or a newspaper post to bring you the candidates that you want. If you want the best people for the job, then you need to advertise the job where the best people are already looking. This means taking advantage of the internet, but more specifically than that, this means developing an online hiring strategy for your quality manufacturing facility.

Here are a few tips to help you find the right candidates for your position:

  • Advertise on employment websites. Pushing your vacancy to the top of the list via a sponsored advertisement can dramatically increase your applicant pool.
  • Be specific about the requirements. Don’t be vague when posting your job requirements. Let the applicants know what you are looking for, this way your applicant pool is full of qualified candidates who you may want to consider.
  • Utilize a social network. Over 80% of adults use social media, so it makes sense to reach out to your potential applicants where they already are. You don’t want to directly poach employees from a competitor, but by letting more people know about your vacancy you may encourage someone to apply who hadn’t thought about leaving their current job.
  • Work with local schools. By partnering with a local school, you can ensure that students are gaining the skills that you are looking for, and then you can create a candidate pool of fresh graduates who are already trained in your areas of need. Schools are often interested in working with potential employers, as it encourages students to enroll if they know there are job opportunities at the other end.

If you want skilled workers, you need to put your job advertisement out there where the skilled workers are going to see it. Finding the right candidates can reduce your training costs significantly, helping you to focus more on production and sales, which is what is going to help your business grow.

urban manufacturing

Urban Renewal: The Manufacturing Movement From Urban Areas To The Suburbs

Open any newspaper (or rather click into your favorite publication) these days and you’d think the manufacturing industry is dying out. Headline after headline proclaims that urban manufacturing is a dying beast. Though the face of manufacturing is evolving and changing thanks in part to computer numerical control (CNC) automation of machine tools that have traditionally been managed by hand wheels or levers and more mechanical means of operation.

Though the method has evolved somewhat manufacturing in the United States is still undergoing a renaissance. Yet as the country begins to replace the millions of industrial jobs that were lost in the recession of 2008, it’s growing in part thanks to CNC production and CNC machine shops. These sectors have been crucial in bolstering the local economies of rural and suburban areas, while also reinvigorating the former ghost towns of urban city centers.

Indeed larger, more developed metropolitan areas such as Houston, Seattle, Oklahoma, Nashville, and Salt Lake City are reaping the benefits of urban manufacturing. Their economies are all supporting higher overall job creation in the manufacturing industry. In some cases, such as Houston, the manufacturing industry is growing by leaps and bounds, exceeding the overall rate of economic growth. They also provide attractive living options and amenities that aren’t as readily available in more rural areas, which helps to drive a potential workforce into the region. There is often a domino effect to manufacturing growth as it often also stimulates positive developments in professional, business, and construction service industries.

Though the growth isn’t confined strictly to vastly populated, cosmopolitan areas. Manufacturing industry growth, aided by CNC production, is also impacting on smaller cities and towns. More mid-sized areas such as Tulsa, Anchorage, Baton Rouge, and Port Arthur and even small towns such as Odessa and Midland, Texas are all experiencing a manufacturing renaissance.

The recovery of the auto industry has played a significant role in bringing jobs and growth to these towns. Both carmakers and their suppliers, especially in the Midwestern and Mid-Southern regions, are bouncing back from the tough recession years. Cities in Michigan, known as car production corridors, are transitioning from hand or machined production methods to more automated, CNC methods which in turn has increased industrial jobs over the past few years. One of the most dominant developed urban areas benefiting from this resurgence is Detroit which has experienced an uptake in manufacturing employment and high-tech growth.

The success of large car manufacturing industries of the larger, more urban cities is trickling down to the small towns that are home to many of their suppliers. Auto suppliers in more suburban areas across the country and benefitting from increased demand for their goods and services from urban manufacturing in the metro areas.

In other areas, more diverse or specialized demands and even business abroad are driving economic growth in development in the industry. From aerospace to automobiles, to fabricated metals, more niche requirements are leading expansion that bolsters smaller cities. Generally, lower energy costs and freer regulations are attracting business to towns that once didn’t have the capacity or infrastructure to handle the demand.

The revolution still hasn’t fully spread across the country, but in examining the positive correlation between both small and large cities and a rejuvenated machining sector, the outlook appears positive to move forward.

Contact Tag Team Manufacturing today. 303-841-5697