Page 35 - MetalForming Magazine March 2022
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  Doug Johnson, PMA board chair for 2022, acquired metal former Marion Mfg., Cheshire, CT, in 2015. The firm, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021, operates an array of fourslide machines and 20 high-speed stamping presses, primarily Nidec Minster and Bruderer. The newest press to hit the floor: this Nidec Kyori Anex-30II 30-ton high-speed link-motion straightside press, rated to 1000 strokes/min. (with a 25-mm stroke).
larger metal forming community also allows PMA to spearhead new training programs and expand its menu of net- working opportunities for human- resource professionals, quality man- agers, company owners and CEOs, and others.”
Hence Johnson’s theme for his year at the PMA helm: “Building Momen- tum, Strengthening the Metal Forming Community.” A challenge laid out to the association and its members, to be sure, but Johnson has never been one to shy away from a challenge. He recalls the struggles facing Marion Mfg. in 2010, as the recession wound down. As vice president of operations, he set out to meet with prospects and drum up new business.
“One prospect in particular,” he recalls, “had been offshoring a lot of work, mostly small parts that I knew would fit our core capabilities. Even though I knew it would be difficult for us to compete, I said to the purchasing manager there, ‘Challenge me.’ So they allowed us to bid a relatively low-vol- ume job stamping cable-terminal con-
In the Marion Mfg. pressroom, production manager Sal Rubano checks on the firm’s automated, high-speed visual-inspection machine as it directs its three cameras to inspect 11 critical dimensions of stamped ECG electrode connectors. Rubano joined the firm just a few years ago as a tool and die apprentice, “but he quickly took an interest in our EDM department,” says company president and owner Doug Johnson, “so we gave him an opportunity there. Then he showed a lot of interest in our new cloud-based ERP system, and now helps there as well. We look to provide opportunities to employees that want to learn, so we recently made him our production manager—and he still takes care of the wire EDM room.”
 nectors with initial orders at 500,000/ month. I knew the potential was there for much greater volumes, so I called our entire team together and chal- lenged them to be creative, and we wound up winning the job. Fast for- ward to 2015 and we were shipping 9 million parts/week on that job.”
That customer allowed Marion Mfg. to “turn the corner,” Johnson adds, “and we were able to acquire a new high-speed press (a Nidec Kyori model).”
Now, Johnson brings that “challenge me” attitude to PMA as it sets forth on a mission to build momentum and strengthen the metal forming commu- nity.
“We Have an Industry to Protect”
Just as he accepted the challenge from his potential customer, Johnson now takes head-on the challenges and opportunities facing PMA and the metal forming industry in the coming years. Tops among them:
“We have an industry to protect, especially in the wake of the pandem- ic,” Johnson says. “We must protect the companies under the PMA umbrel- la, and the industry as a whole. We’re doing so via multiple avenues, most notably through workforce develop- ment and advocacy. The PMA advocacy team, under its One Voice partnership with the National Tooling and Manu- facturing Association, has really
     Coming Soon from PMA: A Bevy of New Educational Content
The next couple of years will see several new content pieces developed by PMA for its online training package, METALFORM EDU. Designed specifically for the metal forming industry, the training source includes 37 PMA-exclusive courses and more than 650 general manufacturing courses in skills such as pre- cision measurement, blueprint reading, SPC, CNC, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing and safety.
Among the new programs on the drawing board for 2022-2023:
• Press brake setup and operation; safety; and piece-part inspection
• Die protection and sensor setup, for gauging end of strip, short feed and part out • Advanced press operator/die setter
• Introduction to sheet metal forming lubricants
• Sheet metal forming lubricants—Lubricant types: An intermediate course
• Lubricant use and disposal
• Understanding flywheel press capacity (tonnage, energy and derated tonnage)
• Understanding servo press capacity (tonnage, energy and drive systems)
• Unsticking a press and how to avoid sticking a press.
 www.metalformingmagazine.com
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