Dot to Dot

Posted on October 16, 2016 by george

We all learned to create
pictures by connecting the dots.

A simple child’s task like connecting the dots matches a computer’s capability. This was especially true in the early days when computer numeric controls had a lot less intelligence. It was a stretch for the computer to perform a simple 2 dimensional connect the dot task. Even todays CNC (Computer Numerical Control) is based on connecting dots with straight lines.
We began the computer controlled manufacturing revolution by using simple 2 dimensional dot to dot. In the very beginning there were long distances between the dots. The parts that were CNC manufactured had facets like you see on diamonds. As Moore’s law has given us more computer memory and horsepower we use ever greater numbers of dots to the point where the facets caused by straight line connecting of the dots are perceived as a smooth blend. A simple 2 dimensional approximation of a circle using a ring of dots connected by straight lines has evolved into a the chain of connected dots that has lengthened to stretch many miles.

A string of connected dots, many miles in length guides the path of a cutter used to make a mold

As we acquired more computer horsepower we wanted to expand into three dimensional objects. We again looked for the simplest way. A straight line connecting two dots was evolved into a set of three dots connected by straight lines defining a plane in three dimensions. Computer defined three dimensional objects look a lot like geodesic domes

Tyranny of numbers came to get us. Whereas we were able to manually program CNC machining G-code and moon landings by creating the travel path dot by dot, it simply was not humanly possible to define all of the little triangles needed to define an object shape. The STL (STereoLithography) data format we created for the task actually is capable of defining just about any shape that we can conceive. It was the early 90’s before any version of CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software could generate a complete enough STL shape definition to be commercially useful. It was the turn of the century before any CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) software caught up to the same level. The underlying issue is that most of the part shapes that we use are not pure cubes,cylinders or spheres. In the classic example, three different radii meet at a corner. What is the shape at the corner? Turns out the computer does not know either.

The historic solution to the three different radii meeting at corner, was to instruct the pattern maker to do a blend. The digital solution started out in a very similar fashion. The STL file was manually adjusted by a person. This time consuming and costly step is one of the impediments slowing the adoption of 3D printing. The incredibly slow 3D printing speed is fast compared to the time need to clean a STL data file triangle by triangle. Moore’s Law keeps advancing. Each generation of software and 3D printing hardware opens the door for new affordable uses. Even though 3D printing theoretically has the ability to create any shape, in the near term it will have economically imposed shape limitations like any other manufacturing process

Bridging the Gap

Posted on October 13, 2016 by george

Many of us have taken a bridge loan to cover the gaps between employment. This is a feature of the “on demand” economy. As consumers we have been quick to adopt the concept of having what we want “on demand” It is easy to not think about who is funding the gap in demand. It is a lot tougher when the funding comes from our personal savings instead of a company reserve. We all like the concept of instant gratification. We react with dismay when we are expected to instantly deliver. I suspect that this is closer to the root of the gap issue.
We all hear about a skills gap. Will Rogers comes to mind when I consider the issue. He once quipped that it is easy to make money on the stock market. You buy stock and sell it after the price goes up. Someone asked him. “What happens if the price does not go up?” He said, “That is easy too, You don’t buy it.”

Will Rogers

Solving the skills gap is every bit as easy. In North America we universally have enough hours of education to be the envy of the majority of the world’s population. Any skill that our economy needs can be learned in within the number of hours of education that we have received. So how do we solve the skills gap? We quit spending our education hours learning unneeded skills.
This is a lot easier said than done. The “new” math that is taught as a part of STEM education was inverted by the Arabs before the birth of Christ. Initiatives like vouchers are vigorously opposed by the education hierarchy, most likely because they introduce the possibility that the students might gain some say about the skills that they are being taught. Ah Yes, The credibility gap.

A fissure

Gain

Posted on October 2, 2016 by george

Back in the early days of radio, the pioneering inventors determined that it was not enough to simply gather radio signals with ever larger antenna. They brought radio to the masses with the invention of the triode. This device amplified the small signal at the antenna to a level that a user could easily hear. The amount of amplification was measured as gain. The early triodes had gains of 10. The broadcast triods had gains many times that amount delivering broadcast powers of 50,000 watts. Even in today’s transistor world, we still use triodes to generate the final gain needed for broadcasting.
Arthur G McKee was the author of many of the patents that created the golden age of steel production in North America. He started an engineering firm, Arthur G McKee and Co, to gain from that talent. He needed to gather others to accomplish that gain. My dad, the son of immigrants, attended Fenn College an engineering school across the street from Mc Kee Company. Arthur worked with this school to find and train the best talent to become his workforce. An unwritten but understood bargain occurred between the selected talent like my dad and Arthur. Arthur transferred his engineering knowledge and paid professional salaries. My dad remained loyal to the company helping it make excellent profits for his entire career. Many of the colleges got their start this way. Fenn College is now Cleveland State University. With 25,000 students it has gotten away from training its graduates for a profitable lifetime.

The cost of a year of college has gone up 11 times what it cost in the seventies. We only wish wages increased to match

Now the millennials are entering the workforce. The old formula where employers would see a gain by investing in employee training has evaporated. In the short term we will experience a mismatch until a new pattern emerges that insures that a gain accrues to the people who invest in education. The thing that we know for sure is that the marketplace will reward the players who have the skills that are wanted.

Tools

Posted on September 18, 2016 by george

Early man evolved past the apes by
carrying a weapon just in case

In the early history of the human race, the invention of tools separated us from our ape ancestors. Yes, an ape will employ a convenient stick to defend itself during a attack by predators. Humans advanced because they had the foresight to carry that same stick as a tool in case it was needed. I suspect that the earliest tools were nothing more that sticks and bones that were the right size to be clubs. It is not surprising that the groups of humans who evolved and invented improvements to the tools in the form of spears had a better rate of survival.
Human history is a chronicle of improvements in tools. The application of fire added the sharp edges and strength of forged metals. Bronze is a lot sharper and durable than the wood and flint that is replaced. The earliest adopters of bronze had an advantage over the primitive tribes who were slow in adopting the new. Once recorded history set in, we see the record of the success of human groups like the Hittites. As an early adopter of iron, they dominated their era.

The steel swords of the Hittites overpowered their bronze predecessors

I can imagine the fear that a soldier with a bronze sword encountered when facing an adversary with an iron blade. The point being is that a tool is no longer useful when it cannot be employed to accomplish the needed task. I cannot picture carrying a spear to protect myself from identity theft.
The success habits that set the human race apart at the beginning still apply today. It is still important to carry tool to protect yourself from predators. It is too late to realize that you need a mileage trakker to tabulate your deduction when the IRS visits for an audit. At that point in time that predator takes away your hard earned cash with penalties.

Capture your full mileage deduction

The concept is the same. Humans with a survival instinct carry and work with the tools that can protect them from predators. Yes all tools require some training and effort by the beneficiary. Modern tools are no different than the early spears that only were helpful in the hands of a user who applied the time and effort to master their use.

Piece Count

Posted on August 14, 2016 by george

Adult puzzles have a much higher piece count than the simple puzzles of our youth.

We all played with puzzles when we were kids. These children’s puzzles had a limited number of brightly colored pieces. Training for the puzzles we face as adults starts in our youth. Many times the adult puzzle pieces themselves are not more complicated, it is just the piece count that goes up. I would not buy the blue puzzle shown in this picture. I would find it too time consuming and frustrating. However even with the deliberate camouflaging, this puzzle would be easy if it had the same piece count as a children’s puzzle.
I saw a great example of value of the piece count reduction technique in action back when Delco Remy of America was split off from General Motors. This flegling company had to launch a new generation of gear reduced starter motors to compete against Valeo.

Automotive starter motor picture by Wildre

In today’s lean fashion time and money were not in abundance. Their design team used the piece count of the Valeo starter as the design benchmark. My contribution as a supplier was to eliminate a $.01 washer. The piece cost reduction for the washer itself was not large, however the elimination of the machining to make a home for the washer was significant. Further compounding the gain was this machining cut away exactly the material needed to make the starter withstand harsh Quebec winters. Most engineers can count to 20, even if some need to take off their shoes to tackle the higher numbers. Since Delco Remy of America sells the majority of their starter motors offshore the piece count reduction technique also works in other languages. Only the historic Polynesian tongues lack the words to count to 100. (An historic Polynesian language switches to many for counts higher than 3)
A counter example is equally instructive. A bulldozer manufacturer elected to design a new generation vehicle in Europe.

Bulldozers are a workhorse of the
construction industry

The European design team continued its historic design procedure which did not include tracking piece count. A 30% higher piece count in the new design increased the amount of time and money needed to create detail drawings and prototype parts. The 30% extra detail engineering time forced a drawing change freeze. The drawing change freeze did not correct the higher tooling bill related to the higher piece count. Hiring an US cost analyst after the real components part price quote started arriving did not correct the resultant 30% higher manufacturing cost. The cost analyst could not coerce the buyers to choose a 30% higher cost product. It is unfortunate that a number of long term employees who were my friends lost their jobs when the US bulldozer assembly plant closed.
Currently I am designing an accelerator pedal assembly for an electric vehicle manufacturer. A pair of redundant return springs are used on this pedal to insure that it does not self activate and injure people. Toyota paid a high bill for a similar unintended acceleration issue. I have elected to replace a bolt, two washers and a nut, used to anchor one end of the return springs with a welded in rod. This piece count reduction solves a potential bolt loosening issue which is the primary reason for the change. The fact that a saw cut rod is cheaper than a bolt is just a secondary benefit.
Designing products with fewer pieces usually requires more engineering skill. In many cases, a product designed with a lower piece count has a higher end customer value. Certain other popular measurables such as SKU reduction, supplier reduction, inbound freight cost reduction, inventory cost reduction, assembly cost reduction, quality improvement and profit margin become other ways of expressing the benefit of making a product using fewer pieces. Our tasks becomes less of a puzzle if we are fighting with a reduced number of pieces.

Generic

Posted on August 2, 2016 by george

Generic drugs by Chris Potter

We want all the drugs we need to cure our personal ailments to be available as generics. The invisible hand of competition as described by Adam Smith, reduces the price we have to pay. This is a good thing if you are the purchaser. On the flip side, none of us wants our market offering to be governed by world competitive pricing. It is very hard to live in an expensive city like San Francisco if you receive a world competitive wage of a dollar a day. Given the fact that most players wish to avoid trying to sell their product on price alone, it is not surprising that most of the products that we buy have non generic features.
. The pendulum swings back and forth. In the newspaper hey day, generic black ink was sold by the drum. The advent of Xerox machines and ink jet printer swung the pendulum back from the generic side. Even though the ink within the cartridges is generic, encapsulating it in a non interchangeable package made it no longer generic. We all end up paying more than $50 for an amount of ink that would cost a few cents if you could buy it by the drum. The pendulum usually does not remain at full swing. Clever entrepreneurs already sell refill kits, such that it becomes possible to use cheaper generic ink.

Ink refill kit by Daniel Deiz Sanquirce

Cost analysis in vehicle manufacture would be a whole lot easier if we could build a vehicle entirely from generic parts. This would be a good match to the management simplifications like competitive bidding. Certainly it would be convenient to believe that price is the only difference.

percentages apply to generic parts

The reality is that all companies strive to create competitive advantages. Even though it is possible in most cases to find three suitable suppliers for every component, swapping suppliers usually involves opportunity costs like drawing changes, testing, retooling charges and set-up bills. This spills over into even the launch process where modern MVP (minimum viable product) strategies cause drawing updates between prototype and product reflecting the part design differences between those made by vendors who specialize in low volume rapid delivery and those made by vendors who specialize in lowest manufacturing cost.

AC Induction

Posted on July 24, 2016 by george

AC motor cut away by SJ De Waard

I was a part of a discussion after a cost improvement session with one of my clients in 2000. This OEM supplier designed and made starter motors and alternators primarily for General motors. Due to the fact that I had invented a few actionable cost improvements, during the session I was asked what would be a long term cost improvement game plan. I suggested that they eliminate the starter motor to save cost. This suggestion was received with surprise, in that starter motors generated half of their sales. At that time the Prius had just come out. In this hybrid, an additional motor / generator was added to the starter motor and alternator that were already a part of the vehicle drive train. An average US passenger vehicle only uses 500 gallons of fuel per year. Even at $3.00 per gallon this only adds up to $1500 per year. Most people cannot justify a doubled vehicle purchase price, because it is both an electric vehicle and a gasoline vehicle, just to save fuel use.

Prius by JBleeker

Here we are in 2016, what has changed? The big item is power electronics. Back in 2000, some of my best friends made a good living simply replacing the power transistors in the Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) used to run AC induction motors. The best we had simply could not handle summer heat. The Prius had three separate motors simply to avoid using the unreliable transistors. Advancements in power transistors changed that equation starting about 2006. Certain visionaries like Elon Musk translated this technology advancement into a new generation of electric vehicle. Fundamental technology improvements are not just limited to high dollar luxury cars. Delphi has just introduced a 48 volt combo starter motor, alternator and hybrid drive motor / generator which is a single AC induction motor as I had suggested back in 2000. In today’s lean fashion, an affordable vehicle is the result of using fewer components instead of adding more.
AC induction motors are also coming to industrial vehicles. In the new generation warehouse electric vehicles that I am designing, an AC induction motor will be standard. The new generation of power electronics and control strategies and AC induction motors are giving us 60% more run time.

There just might be gold at the end of the rainbow

The range anxiety that is a part of using a personal electric vehicle also applies to warehouse vehicles. Many of our users are pleased that the extra range made possible by using AC induction motors lets them use the vehicle for a shift or two before recharging.

Bonus

Posted on July 4, 2016 by george

A U-Haul trailer is larger enough to carry furniture home from the store

I admit that the occasional need to move furniture is not a consideration when I buy a personal vehicle. This is probably why I am not driving a pickup truck like many of the commuters on the road. These days it usually takes a more substantial vehicle to even tow a U-Haul trailer. In actual practice we all push the limits to solve our difficult transport tasks. You will see me strapping a 4×8 sheet of plywood to the roof of my car. The trick is not to damage the vehicle by pushing the transport limits.
As a vehicle designer, my task would be a lot easier if the customer would go for buying a full size van. No such luck. The buying public wants a V6 engine stuffed into a minivan.

photo by CZmarlin-Christopher Zeimnowicz
Chrysler Mini-van V6 Engine

This marriage pushed the limits into the bonus category. Even though the minivan purchasers wanted V6 horsepower, the transmission case size was not a match. The drive gears were just not big enough to always handle the input torque. This is where bonus thinking fits in. Just because there are some situations where the engine is just too powerful, does not mean that it is not possible to take advantage of the extra power most of the time. Bonus. On the engineering side it causes some real scrambling. When we launched the Chrysler Minivan V6, the EPA tested engine set up, generated more torque than our transmission could handle. This was discovered at the 11th hour after it was too late to redo the EPA emission testing. Implementing the fix resulted in the only time that I have launched a part into full 1,000,000 per year production before receiving any drawings what so ever. Negative lead time. The stator for the torque converter, which connects the V-6 engine to the transmission, was reshaped to eliminate most of the torque multiplication. The trick is that the torque converter still needs to get the vehicle rolling again after it comes to a full stop. 25 years later the mini-van still uses this transmission set-up even though all of the other front wheel drive transmissions are now computerized.
It would be very convenient for the vehicle design engineers to not take the users tendency to overload the vehicle into account.

Loaded beyond maximum Haitien cart picture by Remi Kaupp

Since it is unlikely that it is possible to prevent this type of vehicle abuse, the best we can do is to reduce the likelyhood of damaging the vehicle. Control of the vehicle speed is one of the effective methods that we use. As a staring point the industrial vehicles that I design have a maximum speed governor. Since we know that the force levels increase with speed, this is most important when the vehicle is heavily loaded. The trailers that are towed are similarly affected. It is very easy to knock the wheels off by pulling the trailer at more than a fast running speed.

The new generation of industrial vehicles that I am designing have the next level of computerized vehicle damage protection. This will enable utilizing the vehicle closer to the limit.
In this lean era, success is based on learning to squeeze more performance out of the same resources. Embedding strategies that let us use a less expensive vehicle in a wider range of tasks will always be the goal. This is even more true as the manufacturing community copes with mass customization which generates a wider variety of transport tasks.

Lights Out Manufactuing

Posted on June 10, 2016 by george

It is hard to imagine a life before we used electric lights

The introduction of bright plant lights made 3 shift operations possible. Sufficiently bright lighting is interpreted by the workers internal clocks as sunlight. In most 24 hour settings it is important that the off shift workers are alert and attentive. This is only possible if their internal systems think that it is time to be awake. You would not want everyone to be asleep if you arrive at the hospital emergency room at 3:00 am.
Times when we are without lights turn into events in our lives. I can still remember one evening when we were having a boxed murder mystery party with friends. In the middle of the game our house lights went out. This looked suspicious because of a lack of bad weather and the neighbors houses with lights on that were visible through our windows. ” OK, How did you do it?” My friends know that I am an engineer.

Even though I was the murderer in our game, the loss of lights was the local utility company transformer giving up the ghost.
Lights out manufacturing is one of those “overnight” revolutions that have been in the works for more than 20 years. In the 90’s there were very few pieces of manufacturing equipment that you could trust to run overnight unattended. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) was one of the first manufacturing processes to be used in a lights out fashion. Yes, we did need to add automatic halon fire extinguishers just in case.

The highest precision manufacturing processes like EDM occur at slow speeds

This process is heavily used in mold making. It was a natural for unattended operation because some of the cuts can take days to accomplish. Many mold shops run their expensive EDM machines unattended overnight and over the weekend.
Lights out manufacturing has emerged from the bowels of tool and die manufacturing. A couple factors are responsible because implementing lights out manufacturing is not as simple as running over to the electrical breaker panel and snapping off the lights. ( Usually chaos ensues when the lights fail while people are working.) First our control systems are more reliable. Second, we can include more sensors to handle adjustment or shutdown if we are not present. Third we have adopted more slow speed manufacturing processes like 3D printing which take long periods to accomplish.

Photo courtesy of i.materialize.com

A good modern example of lights out manufacturing is the Amazon (Kiva) robots that happily operate in a dark warehouse because they are part of a system that was initially set up to operate in that fashion. Welding robots are another good example because they have the sophisitcated controls the enable then to run unattended. Welding robots can finish the job they are on after everyone goes home because of proper engineering design.

Sophisticated computer controls allow welding robots to run unattended

Laser and water jet cutting machines for sheet material can operate in a lights out manufacturing environment. The usually means that the jobs are packaged into full sheet set-ups so that sufficient time is gained by finishing jobs after everyone goes home.
We all remember the fairy tales of our youth where the elves came and did our work while we slept. It is more than a fairy tale. I still find it amazing seeing the progress that occurred while I slept when I arrive at work in the morning. Manufacturing will come back to North America. Some of it will come back as lights off manufacturing. Innovators in the manufacturing space have discovered that it is necessary to implement the latest manufacturing techniques and equipment to make a profit at an attractive selling price.

Carts

Aside

Carts carry much more than sledges

The wheel is always touted as a revolutionary invention. However the wheel without the cart is just a lawn ornament. Combining the wheel with a cart creates the advantage that makes it possible to transport additional material. The Indian travois is an example of a transport device that predates the wheel. As you can see from the comparison picture it only carries a fraction of the weight that a cart can handle.
When I began my career in automotive parts manufacturing, it was possible to accurately predict both the design of the manufactured part and the volume required five years into the future. It is not surprising that we created some plants where both the layout and the equipment were locked in place. My modular process equipment designs that could be moved with a lift truck were considered radical. This is not true today. In this era of mass customization the entire manufacturing floor is set up like roller derby. It is not just the “in process” material that is delivered on carts. Most of the equipment, racks and tables are also on carts.

Heavy equipment manufacturing floor

. The locations of these carts is regularly rearranged to match both the volume and the option mix of the customer orders. In this lean era we cannot afford any loss of time related to an inefficient or unbalanced assembly line. The other benefit was unplanned. It is very easy to achieve a through floor cleaning by pushing the equipment out of the way.
The use of carts has spread to the grocery store. Successful grocery stores have discovered that you can increase sales by rearranging the stock on a regular basis. They always seem to do it when you are in hurry. A quick trip turns into a scavenger hunt. Innovation is all about finding a new way to sort the stuff. Not only to they use carts to deliver the merchandise, but the shelves themselves are now on wheels.

In our fast changing world, you cannot get used to the locations of merchandise

Carts are affordable mobility on demand. Yes, it is possible to move the items that surround us with modern equipment like cranes. In most cases a crane is not available when you need one. Going back to the wheel and cart that began our engineering revolution, we can arrange our world around us. You never know a cart may save your life.

US Navy photograph showing EMT moving a person on a wheeled streacher

US Navy photograph showing EMT personnel moving a person on a wheeled streacher

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Lean Engineering Solutions to Improve Profitability in the Areas of Manufacturing, Material Handling and 3D

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