Monthly Archives : April 2019

CNC machines at the plant for the production of valves. Factory workspace

10 Amazing Benefits of One-Stop Machine Shop Employment

Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in manufacturing? Whether you realize it or not, there are lots of hidden benefits for working in a CNC Shop. Like buried treasure in a forgotten hill, machinists and manufacturers have lots of career perks that most people overlook. Let’s review the Top Ten benefits of working at a machine shop that can do just about anything!

1. An Easy Educational Foundation

Many jobs in the medical, educational, and legal industries require at the minimum a bachelor’s degree, but you only need a degree from a technical college as a foundation for a great machining career. From there, you can enroll in a state sponsored apprenticeship at a machine shop. This combined time is about the same as getting a master’s degree, but it’s a lot more affordable and you’ll already be working by the time you become a journeyman and the apprenticeship ends.

2. Creative Problem Solving

Machines are anything but boring! Smart career machinists look at manufacturing problems that pop up as career opportunities. If you love to tinker with parts and find new creative ways to engineer things and solve intricate problems, a machine shop career is the perfect fit. You just might solve a production issue that other machinists won’t have to encounter again in the history of manufacturing!

3. Lasting Relationships

One of the most important things about a manufacturing career is building lasting relationships with your customers and those who work in your environment. With this in mind, you’ll enjoy new opportunities that open for you if you carefully cultivate these relationships.

4. Opportunities with Innovation

What an exciting time to be in the manufacturing industry! Each year, new technologies are implemented in manufacturing plants that produce more products faster and make workers safer. From tool and die to robotics, young career mechanics and machinists have awesome things to look forward to at a precision machine shop as products in many industries are becoming more automated for the Internet of Things, a not-so-distant future where many common household items like cars, appliances, and even clothing will be connected to the internet. And as a machinist, you know what that means – more things to fix!

At Tag Team, automation is coming alive through the CMM and Smartscope.

Meanwhile, Tag Team Manufacturing has innovation right inside the CNC Shop. The Smartscope and the Coordinate Measuring Machine offers remarkable precision and ensures quality for checking thousands of parts in a single day. This helps ensure that the high demands of delivery schedules are met for each client we work with. These innovations and more are what make the manufacturing industry all the more exciting!

5. A Steady Income

Dedicated machinists who have completed their apprenticeships and become nationally certified enjoy good and dependable wages. Depending on where they work, they may also have good health insurance and vacation time benefits too. These factors help secure a steady income and a good retirement down the road. For more information about Tag Team Manufacturing’s competitive benefits package, contact our CNC Shop for more information.

6. Consistent Work

Thanks to an increasing interest in American made products, demand for skilled manufacturing has gone up, and that’s not diminishing anytime soon. In fact, manufacturing companies are seeking to fill more job openings now than ever before. In some cases there are more spots to fill up than they can keep up with! That’s good news for the career machinist. Work certainly won’t run out for a very long time.

7. An Active Lifestyle

Can’t stand the thought of being chained to a desk job? Do you like to get your ‘hands dirty?’ Manufacturing just might be your thing. Work life on the plant floor and job sites connected to manufacturing is as different from an office like night is to day. It can be very physical and hands-on. You’re very much a part of the action, so to speak. There’s a lot of strategy and critical thinking involved. And machine grease. Lots and lots of machine grease.

8. Made in America – by You!

Whether it be a old school metal machine shop or a modern CNC shop, there’s something wonderful that happens inside the first time you make something all on your own with your hands. A spark ignites, and you feel satisfied that you made it. Right here in America. And your customer will use it to suit their purposes. No matter how long you’re in the business, that feeling never gets old. That alone is a great reason to start a manufacturing career!

9. Making a Difference

It’s one thing to do a job well, but it’s completely another matter when it’s a job that makes a difference in society. A one-stop metal machine shop can make parts for many industries, from hospital cardiac devices to aerospace plane parts to decorative ironwork that makes a homeowner feel good about where they live. A machinist’s valuable skills can do a lot of good in American society, in many ways. And that’s what makes this industry a rewarding experience.

10. Work with a ‘Smart Robot!’

Who says you can’t have fun with manufacturing? Meet Sawyer, the Smart Robot at Tag Team Manufacturing. With his state of the art technology, Sawyer directly communicates with the machine at the CNC shop to perform multiple tasks at metal fabrication, procedure testing, box assembly, and more with his robotic arm. With Sawyer’s help, Tag Team Manufacturing has multiplied annual productivity and workers are safer. Plus, it’s just plain fascinating to watch Sawyer work on his own!

As mentioned before, now is a great time to begin a rewarding career in manufacturing! Did you know that Tag Team Manufacturing is hiring? Check out our positions here to see if we’re a good fit together. You can also contact us directly. We’d love to get in touch with you!

If you’re a potential client interested in Tag Team’s manufacturing services, you can find out more of what we do here. Thanks for visiting! We look forward to meeting you soon.

OEM concept blurred background 3d render illustration

Benefits of Working with an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)

Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) parts make a difference and that variation is amplified in precision machining. The benefits of OEM parts are important and will make a difference in any industry, some are just more pronounced than others. To make this case obvious, we should begin by looking at the difference OEM parts make in general.

The OEM Difference

From quality, fit, and time, there are many benefits to working with an OEM, regardless of what industry you work in. The difference is evident right from the start, from the moment you order your first part…

The Right Parts Faster

When ordering from an OEM, the time it takes to find a part is generally quicker because so many other variables have been eliminated and part identification is that much easier for the clerk. This also means it takes less time for the warehouse or stockroom to locate and pull the part. On the shipping end, an OEM will generally always be able to have the part packaged, labeled and shipped faster than a broker or distributor. That is in large part due to the aforementioned factors and the elimination of needing to order a part from a supplier because the OEM is the supplier. 

The Right Fit

Nobody should knock the concept or use of “universal” parts, they can and do serve a very important purpose in many different sectors. It isn’t that universal parts don’t work, they do. The question is, do they work best? This isn’t an issue of aesthetics and function. This is a matter of performance, efficiency, durability, and money. The right parts are the parts that were made to fit, specifically designed for a machine, motor, component or part. We don’t have to look far to find out why OEM parts are the best option, the reason is quality. OEM manufacturing affords customers parts that perform better because of the advantages of having the original part design. That performance is often recognized in efficiency as the right parts promote the best possible operation of the tool or machine the part is for and the better the part works the more durable it will be. This all eventually results in savings, from lower production costs to increased profitability because of parts that help motors and systems run precisely as they were designed and built to.

OEM Quality

Original equipment manufacturers are putting their name on every part. They work directly with their customers and they have the original design, plan, and blueprint for their parts. All of that adds up to simply being able to produce the highest quality parts possible and more than a few reasons to do so. OEMs depend on keeping their customers satisfied and their parts working properly because that is their business and the business relationship depends on being able to deliver. The robotics, medical, electrical and aerospace industries are just a few of the fields that rely on quality parts that do more than work but work exactly how they were designed to work. That is the quality difference and this is where quality and precision machining go hand in hand.

OEM in Precision Machining

The best technology and software, the most advanced CNC, Lathe or machining tools and even the highest quality materials aren’t enough to deliver the finest in precision machining. It doesn’t matter how smart your system is or if you are working with plastic, stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum or brass. Getting the best results won’t happen without the most talented machinists who know how to utilize today’s technology. It is this mix of talent, that kind of technology and the best machining equipment that set OEM parts apart.

The Little Things Matter

It could be the precision used in billiards, the precision required in the medical arena or demanded of space exploration, the little things in precision machining matter. Reaching out to an OEM will mean getting that kind of precision for your parts, the parts that make you tools accurate, your motors run perfectly or that enhance your efficiency and production. A little part on an assembly line can stop everything. Small parts in a motor that aren’t perfectly calibrated will reduce efficiency and increase cost by creating wear or causing the engine to work harder than it should. Businesses and organizations everywhere and from every industry rely on parts to fix, replace, upgrade or improve their tools, their motors, their operations and in the end, their business. It’s the little things.

From ball racks to perfectly measured calipers, small factors like calibration and tolerance range measurements determine if a part works and how well it works. Working with an original equipment manufacturer helps companies to not only get parts that work but parts that work properly and well. When companies can operate, run and work at optimal levels, how big do those little things become?

The OEM Advantage for Tomorrow

Keeping your business and your operations running smoothly today also means being prepared for tomorrow and the future. With upgrades to equipment and tools and the need for companies to continually upgrade and keep up with competition, the benefits of working with an OEM go far beyond the here and now. An OEM will always have an advantage when changes or improvements are made or needed to existing parts because they have the original plans, molds, designs, and measurement. This simply results in being able to more accurately adjust or update parts to meet whatever changes are needed. This benefits those who are using OEMs by getting faster updates to parts, by having more accurate adjustments or changes made and by receiving those parts sooner.

People choose to work with an OEM because of their quality, expertise and the relationship they forge. Having a partner who understands what your business does, what it needs, and with the tools to help is an advantage of working with an original equipment manufacturer – not just today but for the future too. There is a place for aftermarket parts but the front of the pack is reserved for OEM parts. 

Where is your company at in the race and how can the OEM difference make a difference for you?