PM Blog

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in the U.S., manufacturers have turned to their cleaning OEMs, cleaning agent suppliers or other cleaning industry educators to find answers to their many questions. Like all employers, manufacturers want to know how to keep their building contaminant-free and their workforce safe from the virus, while also fulfilling customer expectations and reaching their company goals. But manufacturers that clean parts in-house have an escalated concern that not only are their manufactured parts cleaned to customer specifications on time but are also free from COVID-19 contamination.

Other concerns are an offshoot from some companies’ production modifications that have changed part volume or the kind of part they need to clean. Therefore, manufacturers need to know how to adapt their cleaning machines to meet these immediate needs.

Setting goals make most people more focused and effective at achieving their targeted successes. That’s why it’s not surprising that all Production Machining’s 2020 Emerging Leaders didn’t miss a beat when I asked them about their goals within their companies. Although they haven’t reached their goals yet, they know what they want in their careers because they’ve been thoughtful about their ideals.

This video spotlights the goals of many of these young, talented and enthusiastic leaders. Watch this video to see they are striving for learning new precision machining technology, implementing continuous improvement within their companies and even eliminating their own jobs! 

Precision machining manufactures critical components for advanced technologies where human safety is in the balance. How can risk be intelligently managed for all parties — ourselves, our customers, their customers and the public? The answer is an effective contract review process — one that covers both explicit (clearly stated) requirements and implicit (implied by application or process) requirements.

Purchase Order Issues

I have a “like/hate” relationship with social media. I say “like” because there’s nothing I really “love” about it. And I dislike it because some people take advantage of the open channels to unfairly paint with a very broad brush, instigate and bully (my daughter has been on the receiving end of that last point). For these reasons, I don’t really engage with social media on a personal level outside of the random non-work-related tweet from my @pm_derek Twitter handle. I also don’t have personal Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Social media can, however, prove valuable in a business sense. Machine shops, for example, can leverage it to their advantage in a few ways, and data from sister publication Modern Machine Shop’s Top Shops benchmarking survey shows that the most successful U.S. shops are more apt to use and benefit from social media engagement.

In the uncertain times we are living in, it is refreshing to hear uplifting stories about young talent in the precision machined parts industry who are striving to make a difference within their organizations. We call them our Emerging Leaders. Their eagerness and fast-learning, think-outside-the-box mentalities have shined through to their managers, co-workers and industry partners. They are selfless individuals, under the age of 40, who face — and even welcome — challenges head-on. Many have transformed the companies at which they are employed, making these businesses more competitive, efficient, organized and overall better places to work.   

After learning about each of these Production Machining 2020 Emerging Leaders, it’s easy to see why their nominators (their peers) chose them for this award. Our hope is that these stories inspire other individuals within the industry to do more than what is asked of them, and to be innovative, creative and enthusiastic team members who organizations do not want to function without, just as these Emerging Leaders have become.