Page 16 - MetalForming November 2009

Increased Productivity
Before: 12 parts/min After: 18 parts/min 50% more
Before: 25 parts/min After: 40 parts/min 60% more
Does it make you wonder how much faster your parts could run?
Are you running parts on presses in the range of 300 tons and up?
Schuler’s unique ServoDirect Technology could take your output performance to a whole new level as well. Our calculation program can predict your potential with high accuracy.
Curious? Make an appointment with us at Fabtech, booth#16054, and we’ll be happy to assist you in obtaining a free assessment of any part your company would like to investigate.
To schedule a Fabtech appointment, e-mail us at info@schulerinc.com.
Call us: 734-207-7200
Ask for ServoDrive Sales
Read more: www.schulerinc.com/SDT
Schuler.
Get more. Do more.
The Morality of Manufacturing
14 write no. 15
www.metalformingmagazine.com
Featured at the 45,000-sq.-ft. home of Zierick Manufacturing is a pressroom filled with 15 high-speed stamping lines equipped with Bruderer and Minster presses to 60-ton capacity. Here, toolmaker Luis Sanchez (left) confers with Jim Barra, production supervisor, on the quality of the stamped electronic components coming off of one of the lines. Typical dimensional tolerances are ±0.005 in.
at a further competitive disadvantage. Of immediate concern: burdensome tax hikes, labor-law reform and cap- and-trade legislation.
PMA, thanks to its ongoing and developing One Voice advocacy pro- gram in partnership with the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), will continue to work tire- lessly on Capitol Hill. One example of the two associations working together toward a common goal was the first annual One Voice Legislative Confer- ence, attended by nearly 100 NTMA and PMA members (including Zierick) in Washington, D.C. on May 12-13, 2009. Participants heard presentations from several members of Congress, and then spent a full day on Capitol Hill lob- bying more than 100 congressional offices on a variety of issues, including cap and trade, card check, taxes, health care, currency manipulation, the auto industry and workforce training.
PMA University
Soaring to New Heights
In addition to advocacy, Zierick also believes PMA, through the PMA Edu- cational Foundation (PMAEF) offers the industry a powerful platform from
which it meets the continuing and evolving educational needs of our industry. A 7-yr. member of the PMAEF board of trustees and past chair, Zierick helped the foundation create PMA Uni- versity in 2007, near the end of her 2-yr. term as chair. And, she testifies as to the value of some of the foundation’s train- ing tools.
“Our favorite training tool from PMAEF is the video-based series called Economics...Making Dollars & Sense,” Zierick says. This set of three lessons is designed for existing and new employ- ees in metalforming plants to help them understand the economic choices involved in the operation of their com- pany, and the role of the employees in making those choices.
PMA University started as a package of training and education resources and has grown larger with new Internet- based opportunities. This year, PMAEF rolled out a new Technical Training Library consisting of webinars and a series of PowerPoint presentations on traditional seminar topics.
“Our company participates in nearly every PMA webinar,” says Zierick, “and we typically have a group of people inter- ested in each topic, so the programs have