Page 36 - MetalForming November 2009

The Morality of Manufacturing
ing back ideas and opportunities for improvement back to Zierick Man- fuacturing,” says Zierick. Asked to describe one recent example, she recalls a recent district meeting attended by a few employees from the toolroom where they heard a presentation on various types of carbide. “They came back from that meeting and couldn’t wait to apply what they had learned,” Zierick says. “They immediately recommended we look at new materials for a particularly high-maintenance die we run.”
In addition to district meetings, Zier- ick sends key personnel to PMA’s focused annual roundtable meetings, including the Human Resources Roundtable, QC Roundtable, Sales and Marketing Round- table, CFO Roundtable and IT Round- table. And, Zierick herself belongs to two PMA networking groups —a CEO group and the Women in Metalforming net- working group. All of these networking groups correspond regularly—sometimes daily—via e-mail lists.
“The CEO networking group circu- lates very informative e-mails at least once a week on an important topic that generates extremely informative and worthwhile discussions,” Zierick says. “We cover the gamut of issues that all small to medium-sized businesses deal with—environmental policies, how to handle layoffs and recalls, materials availability, new technology for the pressroom, etc. Our group comprises about 20 CEOs from around the coun- try, a very manageable number when it comes time to meet face to face, which we do three times each year.”
PMA manages two CEO networking groups, each of which comprises about 20 members. “These groups function best when they are kept reasonably small and made up of noncompeting companies,” Zierick says. She encour- ages other CEOs from the industry interested in starting a third CEO net- working group to contact PMA.
“I did just that to get the Women in Metalforming group going,” Zierick continues. “The goal was to develop a forum for women working in a variety of roles within the metalforming indus- try to share information away from the
bars and golf courses that so often serve as the forums for these discussions,” Zierick says. “Our group con- sists of women work- ing in upper manage- ment, sales, marketing, human resources, IT and other disciplines. And again, I encourage other women in the industry to contact PMA if they would like to join us.”
Feasting on Technical Knowledge, Training
The bevy of train-
ing resources offered
by PMA also impact
day-to-day opera-
tions on the plant
floor of Zierick. The
company trains every
press operator using
PMA’s Coil Fed Press Operator and Die Setter Training System. And, in 2007, it contracted with sensor expert George Keremedjiev—long-standing PMA METALFORM speaker and Metal- Forming magazine columnist—to upgrade its mistake-proofing capabili- ties.
“With George’s guidance, our sensor expert Dave Caulford and his team set up a sensor lab,” says Zierick. “We’ve fully sensored several new dies since then and are working to retrofit our existing dies with sensors. And we’re also using sensors in other areas, includ- ing automation equipment.”
Zierick Manufacturing has a long history of leaning on PMA for technical expertise and building its inhouse knowledge base. Vice president of engi- neering Frank Lynster participated on the PMA Technical Research Commit- tee, and chaired the committee for sev- eral years. The TRC was established by PMA decades ago as a means for com- panies to discuss their technical chal-
34 METALFORMING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009
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Zierick’s toolroom stays busy mistake-proofing all of the firm’s dies, having implemented an aggressive and sophis- ticated sensor program in 2006 and upgrading the con- trols on four of its presses in 2008-2009. Sensor expert Dave Caulford (far right) leads the team, which includes (from left) toolmaker Charlie Neshawat, apprentice Chris Reynolds and toolmaker Mario Rojo.
lenges, and find solutions. It lost its momentum some 10 years ago, but Zierick believes it could and should come back, in some form.
“Technical expertise and in particu- lar the research and development of new products and processes has become the lifeblood of our industry,” says Zier- ick. “And that surely is the case at Zier- ick Manufacturing. The patents we’ve developed over the years have provided our company, as well as our customers, a significant competitive advantage.
“We focus a lot of time and resources on researching new ideas and looking for opportunities to improve,” continues Zierick. “Janos Legrady (vice president of research and development) and Frank Lynster work together to bring us new and lucrative ideas all the time— Janos develops a new product design and Frank finds a way to tool up to manufacture it.”
Zierick imagines a reconstituted technical research committee at PMA that helps companies develop a core