May, 2015 Photos, Top, L-R: Buffco Engineering’s Karl “Buff” Jones Sr. Part of North Topeka Fabrication’s crew (see page 9). SWIC’s Mark Bosworth at the St. Louis NTMA meeting. Bottom L-R: C&R Mfg.’s Ron Wosel & Andrea Wosel with a laser marking system. A new CITIZEN M32-4M8 CNC lathe at Millennium Machine & Tool. Grain Belt Supply’s Doug Beauchamp at the Tulsa Industrial & Tool Show. MACHINE SHOP & CUSTOM FABRICATION Buffco Engineering, Mulvane, KS, Installs Toyoda FH800 HMC North Topeka Fabrication, Topeka, KS: 5 Years & Installs Laser With Tube Cutting St. Louis NTMA Tours Southwestern Illinois College’s Machining Facility C&R Mfg., Shawnee, KS, Celebrates 35 Years; Installs More Equipment Millennium Machine & Tool, Newton, KS, Installs CITIZEN M32-4M8 CNC Lathe Tulsa Industrial & Tool Show Photos CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED MACI Publishing, Inc., 2432 SW Pepperwood Rd, Topeka, KS 66614-5293
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May, 2015
Photos, Top, L-R: Buffco Engineering’s Karl “Buff” Jones Sr. Part of North Topeka Fabrication’s crew (see page 9). SWIC’s Mark Bosworth at the St. Louis NTMA meeting. Bottom L-R: C&R Mfg.’s Ron Wosel & Andrea Wosel with a laser marking system. A new CITIZEN M32-4M8 CNC lathe at Millennium Machine & Tool. Grain Belt Supply’s Doug Beauchamp at the Tulsa Industrial & Tool Show.
• More Value “Evolution and Innovation” is the Future
McClain Tool & Technology 106 Weldon Parkway, St. Louis, MO 63043(P) 1-800-886-5839 (F) 1-314-432-1180Serving: Kansas • Missouri • So. Illinoiswww.mcclaintool.com
Cincom Evolution Line from CITIZENM20/32 Sliding Headstock Type Automatic CNC Lathe
• Improved turret capability
• Y axis on the back tool post (type VII & VIII)
• B axis with 3 rotary tools on the gang tool post (type VIII)
Reducing Cycle Time And Power Consumption
4 MID-AMERICA COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Mid-America Commerce & Industry is published 11 times a year (June & July are combined) by:
MACI Publishing, Inc. 2432 SW Pepperwood Rd.
Topeka, KS 66614-5293
David Lippe, managing editor; Ray Lippe, editor. Published since 1973. Mid-America Commerce & Industry is a registered trademark of MACI Publishing, Inc.
Mid-America is sent to industrial purchasing managers, plant man-agers, industrial engineers, and company presidents in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas and Iowa.
sary and New Laser ............ 9PSS: 20 Years & Open House 11Haas Intros New Bar Feeder ... 12Tulsa Show Photos ................ 13Mfg. Confident About Economy ...15Hartwig KC Holds Open House ...16St. Louis NTMA Tours SWIC ..... 18Editorial ....................................... 20Upcoming Issues ....................... 23KC NTMA Tours Vista & A&E .... 24Buffco Installs Toyoda ................ 26Mo-Kan AFS: Safety Issues ...... 28Upcoming Trade Shows ........ 30
Our goal at Rose Metal Products is to furnish our
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MAY, 2015 5
Millennium Machine & Tool (MMT), Inc., Newton, Kansas, has recently installed a CITIZEN Cincom M32-4M8 sliding head-stock CNC lathe.
The company, which is a full-service machine shop, started in 1998 in an 1800-sq.-ft. building.
Today, the company operates with 43 employees working two shifts in a 38,000-sq.-ft. facility in Newton (just north of Wichita). Plans are underway for another expansion to the facility.
The CITIZEN, purchased from McClain Tool & Technology, was needed to increase the com-pany’s capacity and efficiency. It features 3-tool simultaneous machining capabilities, 32-mm diameter capacity, 8,000-rpm dual spindles and a 12’ magazine barloader.
This brings MMT’s CNC machine tool count up to 35. These include 6 CNC lathes, 22 CNC vertical mills, 5 horizontal machining centers and 2 CNC Citizen Swiss turns. “We have been very happy with our 2nd CITIZEN,” stated Kris Wondra, co-owner and founder. “It has gone beyond our expectations in reducing cycle times for complex and complete parts. The service from McClain’s crew has been excellent.”
MMT works with most metals and plastics and can handle ev-erything from prototypes to large runs.
“We work hard to deliver quality work, on time and at a good price,” commented Nick Messer, director of sales and mar-keting. “We are very flexible and can implement changes quickly.”
MMT serves numerous indus-tries in Mid-America including: motorcycle; automotive; agricul-
ture; aerospace; recreation; racing; and firearms.
Full-service polishing is also offered.
The company works with SolidWorks, Catia and Master-CAM software and is ISO and Aerospace AS9100C certified as
Kansas City Wichita Don Patterson Mitch Brown 913.558.2121 316.640.5893
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C&R Manufacturing, Shaw-nee, Kansas, is celebrating its 35th anniversary and has installed two new Hurco machining centers and a laser marking system.
The precision manufactur-ing firm, which offers machining, welding, assembly and inspection, started out in the basement of Ron Wosel’s home in 1979.
The Hurcos, purchased from Gage Machine Tool, include a VMX42i VMC and a second VMX30Ui 5-axis machining center with an integrated trunion table. Newer technology helps to keep customers’ costs down.
An Epilog FiberMark laser marking system (with 12” x 24” capacity) was also added to help improve efficiency and reduce turnaround times.
“We needed the additional equipment to improve our capac-ity and efficiency,” stated Wosel. “We now have eleven pieces of Hurco equipment. We are pleased with the equipment and the soft-ware is easy to operate.”
C&R’s 18 employees oper-ate in a 32,000-sq.-ft. facility with an impressive array of CNC equipment, including mills, live tool lathes, horizontal machining centers with pallets, and 5-axis waterjet cutting. Wosel noted that
the average tenure of the com-pany’s employees is 18 years.
“We have great employees that make our business efficient,” commented Wosel. “An experi-enced crew can identify ways to be more efficient like reducing
set-up times. On-time delivery is always a major focus for us. We are the top supplier (in quality and delivery) for many of our custom-ers, several who have been with us for 25-30 years.”
C&R serves a wide range of industries such as: medical, elec-trical, machine tool, automotive after-market, trucking, construc-tion, work-holding, rail, energy, material handling, woodworking and many more.
• Design and Build Jigs, Fixtures & Special Machines• Custom Fabrication & Welding
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“FULL SERVICE”Tool & Die Professionals
ISM-Kansas City, an affiliate of the Institute for Supply Man-agement, held a meeting on April 21st at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Overland Park, Kansas.
The featured speaker was Paul Buchanan, principal and founder of BUCS Analytics. His topic was, “Big Data: What is it? How can it help me?” Buchanan, a long-time industry veteran dis-cussed how predictive analytics can impact a company’s supply chain and financial results chain. His firm focuses on manufacturing and distribution companies.
In other chapter business of-ficers/directors for the next year were elected and past presidents were recognized.
ISM-KC can be contacted at: www.ism-kansascity.org.
ISM-KC Learns About Predictive Analytics; Recognizes Past Presidents
Above (l-r): ISM-KC Past Presidents (Front row) Al Gormly, Jr.; Kriss Pearson; Glenda Jobe; Robert Pyszka; Ellen Berry; Nancy Grasse; Janean Grogan; Robert McGowan; (Back row): Don Disbrow; Tom Brackhahn; Mark Smith; Larry Schmitt; Steve Sherman and Roxanna Swaney current president.
MAY, 2015 9
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North Topeka Fabrication (NTF) is celebrating its 5th an-niversary and has installed a new Amada 4,000-watt laser cutting system with a rotary indexer for tube cutting.
Owned by long-time industry veteran Jim Lee, NTF offers laser cutting (up to 14’ in length), form-ing, punching and welding. It has 20 veteran employees that work with a wide assortment of fabri-cating equipment.
The laser system, an Amada 4,000-watt FO RI 3015 MII, is one of the first in the region in a custom shop. It can handle steel sheet/plate up to 3/4” thick and 5’ x 10’ and round tubing up to 8.66” in diameter or 6” square tubing. Angle and channels can also be cut on the system. A dual-pallet setup helps the system’s effi-ciency.
“This adds to our ability to be a one-stop shop,” noted Lee, a 40-year industry veteran. “This is faster at cutting plate and expands the capacity and capabilities of
our operation,” stated Lee.“The new laser system will
help us serve new customers that will use its features,” stated Ryan Juhnke, inside sales.
Other equipment at the facility includes a 4,000-watt fiber laser, four turret punches (including a punch/shear and a punch/laser) two 2000-watt lasers as well as several press brakes (up to 14’), shears, saws and other shop equipment. The 14’ press brake was just upgraded to a new CNC version.
NTF works with sheet metal and plate up to 5’ wide and 3/4” thick including steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass, copper, galvanized and galvanealed. Lee
North Topeka Fab Celebrates 5 Years, Installs 4,000-watt Laser System With Tube Cutting
Topeka, Kansas
(Continued on next page)
Above: NTF’s new Amada FO RI 3015 laser system with rotary indexer for tube cutting. Inset: An example of the tube cutting capabilities.
Above: Part of North Topeka Fabrication’s crew including sales team (kneeling l-r) Mindy Worthing, Jim Lee, Scott Lee and Ryan Juhnke.
10 MID-AMERICA COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Scan to see more pictures of IMEC fabricated assemblies
...North Topeka Fabrication
...From Previous Page
noted that companies wanting parts in thicker material can call and find out what the options can be.
Industries served by NTF include railroad, storage, commu-nications, medical, food processing and de-icing equipment.
NTF serves customers across the six Mid-America states and of-fers delivery to local customers.
Scott Lee, NTF’s sales manag-er and a 14-year industry veteran, commented that the additional laser allows NTF to handle more projects in house. He also noted that the company’s website is now updated and more user friendly.
North Topeka Fabrication can be contacted at: (785) 234-2111; Fax (785) 234-2141; 3801 NW 14th Street, Topeka Kansas 66618; [email protected]; www.ntfab.com.
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PSS Celebrates 20 Years; Holds Open HousePSS (Professional Sales
Services), Wichita, Kansas, is celebrating its 20th anniversary and hosted an open house on April 23-24.
The machine tool sales and service firm offers several lines of machine tools and related products in Kansas, Nebraska and Western Missouri.
Several machine tools were up and running for the event and over 15 related suppliers were on hand to help customers learn to improve their operations.
“Our commitment to our customers is to help them be suc-cessful by offering the highest quality in machine tool sales and service staff,” stated PSS’ Aaron Daugherty.
PSS can be contacted at: (316) 941-4542; (877) 941-4542 or www.pssks.com.
Above: Part of the PSS crew at the Open House on April 23rd in Wichita.
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Haas engineers have gone back to the drawing board to make bar feeder operations easier, more ef-ficient, and faster.
The result is the all-new Haas Bar Feeder, which provides a simpler and more affordable way to automate part production on Haas turning centers. Designed and built by Haas Automation exclusively for use on Haas ST-10 through ST-35 and DS series CNC turning centers, the Haas Bar Feeder connects directly to the Haas control, and is powered by the turning center. Fast set up and quick changeovers are what sets the new Haas Bar Feeder apart from the competition.
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Tulsa Industrial & Tool Show Held April 22-23The Tulsa Industrial & Tool
Show was held April 22-23 at the Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Produced by EXPO, Inc, the event featured numerous equip-ment and services providers. EXPO can be contacted at (800) 648-2792 or www.expoind-ustrialshows.com.Photos from the event are on this page and the following page. I&M Machine & Fabrication Kansas-Oklahoma Machine Tool
Van-Am Tool & Engineering IMEC QTE Mfg. Solutions
14 MID-AMERICA COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
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MAY, 2015 15
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Manufacturers More Confident About the EconomyTim Reynolds, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Despite indications that stron-ger, more sustainable economic growth is finally catching up to them, manufacturing and distri-bution leaders still see economic uncertainty in their future. The good news is that, according to a CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) survey, economic uncertainty is no longer a top-of-mind concern.
For the third straight year, respondents to CLA’s annual survey of the manufacturing and distribu-tion industry have listed “economic and political uncertainty” as one of their top concerns over the next two years. But the trend is downward: In 2012, 51 percent listed uncertainty first; in 2013, it was 46 percent.
For 2014, it slipped to 36 percent and “pricing and margin compression” replaced it as the top concern.
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of their hands. “Economic uncertainty affects all
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downward trend over the past three years,” says Tim Reynolds, principal for manufacturing and distribution with CLA. “Economic uncertainty has become an accepted reality for business owners and leaders, along with the uncertainty that is inherent in virtually all supply chains.”
“The key focus right now is challenging their thinking around pricing and capacity management, and ensuring their pricing strategies are flexible enough to stay competi-tive with existing business while expanding into new markets and customers,” continues Reynolds. “This is essential for effectively uti-lizing existing capacity and reducing overall business risk and volatility.”
Reynolds says the drop is in-dicative of a broader trend of manu-facturers and distributors becoming more focused on the business issues that they can control, and not on forces that are, for the most part, out
16 MID-AMERICA COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Hartwig-KC Holds Grand Re-Opening & Technology Event
Hartwig’s Kansas City facil-ity hosted a Grand Re-Opening and Technology Event on April 28-29. The newly remodeled facility featured live machine tool demonstrations, inspection equipment demonstrations, seminars and numerous suppliers of equipment, software, tooling, work-holding, automation, transportation and financing. The company has become the largest distributor of machine tool solutions and inspection equipment in the Midwest and Mountain regions.
Founded in 1960, Hartwig has grown to more than 180 employees covering eight office locations in 15 states.
Hartiwg Inc. can be contacted at www.hartwiginc.com. Photos from the event are on this page.
Above: Photos from the Hartwig Grand Re-Opening in KC.
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St. Louis NTMA Tours SWIC Machining Tech Facility The St. Louis Chapter of the Na-
tional Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) toured the Precision Ma-chining Technology (PMT) facility of Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) in Granite City, Illinois.
The PMT program has seen rapid
growth in the last few years after Mark Bosworth took over as leader. PMT is partnered with several local high schools to grow and feed the pipeline for machining students.
The NIMS accredited program has added several pieces of CNC equip-ment and has more plans for expansion. SWIC students have had tremendous results at national SkillsUSA competi-tions.
In other chapter business: Herb Homeyer was recognized for being installed as the National NTMA Chair-man; R.L. Industries was welcomed as a new member and Haas Factory Out-let was welcomed as a new Associate Member.
The St. Louis NTMA can be contacted at: (314) 378-1293 or [email protected].
Above: Part of the dinner crowd at the St. Louis NTMA meeting at SWIC.
Above: SWIC’s Mark Bosworth.
Above: St. Louis NTMA’s Nick Berilla (right) presents a membership plaque to R.L Industries.
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During the spring months, hundreds of elementary students visit the Kansas History Museum in Topeka and walk the dirt trail to a one-room country school-house surrounded by tall prairie grasses.
These 4th and 5th graders
will pull down the world maps hanging above the blackboard, check out the pot-bellied stove, the gas lights and use the ink wells in the desk. And, some will have brought their lunch in a dinner pail or old lard bucket.
Usually, students are surprised at how much is expected of them in arithmetic, reading, spelling, geography, writing and history. Since most farm families in those early years considered school-ing a privilege, they saw to it that homework was completed on time. Yes, students did have to take the grade over again if they “flunked.” We mention the one-room school, not because we want to get nostal-gic about those days, but simply to remind us of the basic education goals at that time.
Parents expected their children to be able to read any type of book, instructions or contract; to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide; write a coherent essay or letter, and know something about U.S. and world history.
Music, school plays, art, health and science depended somewhat upon each teacher’s training and background and if the PTA would help out. In those early days, many students would not get to attend high school, so the teacher had just a few years to prepare students for careers outside of farming.
Not everyone was fond of one-teacher schools. Here’s a comment from the Tuscaloosa News in 1931.
“Modern roads, modern transportation and modern minds open to the future, cannot tolerate the condition that attends the one-teacher school.” (At that time there were still a reported 150,000 such schools nationwide.) “Their aboli-tion is certain and every decrease in their number means increased intelligence for the children of the present and of posterity.”
Now that we’re down to about 200 country schools, how is that
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“increased intelligence” expecta-tion working out today? It’s hard to tell since school districts and states can be so different, but with the breakup of families, the growth of political correctness, emphasis on diversity and social concerns and threats of lawsuits, the paperwork and topics to be covered have sky-rocketed. Time for the old “basics” and even a recess period is often limited.
Since the 1970s, employ-ers have complained to us that too many high school graduates couldn’t read well enough to complete a simple job applica-tion form without help. All public schools aren’t failing their students, but some are when their graduates have to take remedial courses when entering college.
Terry Jeffrey, columnist for Creators Syndicate, recently checked on the Baltimore school system. He found that Baltimore City Public Schools spent $17,329 per student in the 2010-2011 school year. (That would be $18,083 in 2015 dollars.) Yet, eighth graders in the city continued to have reading and math scores lower than nation-al and state averages.
Jeffrey writes that Balti-more had 5,380 teachers in the 2012-2013 school year, making a student-to-teacher ratio of about 16 students per teacher.
The Baltimore public schools also had “1,690 ‘instructional aides,’ 422 ‘school administra-tors,’ 482 ‘district administrators,’ approximately 508 ‘school admin-istrative support’ personnel, 628 ‘student support services’ person-nel, 116 ‘guidance counselors,’ 86 ‘librarians’ and ‘media specialists,’ 75 ‘instructional coordinators and supervisors,’ and approximately 1,150 workers providing ‘other support services,’”
These 10,165 teachers and other staff made a ratio of about
one for every 8.3 students, which would often have been better than that at the one-teacher school. Perhaps more money and lots of staff aren’t the only ways to turn out well- educated students.
Today, there are so many ways to get a basic education when students can reach into thou-sands of libraries for information and communicate with teachers and specialists around the world. But, a growing percentage of high school graduates could be left be-hind simply because they lack the reading, writing and math skills to take advantage of the opportuni-ties.
Fortunately, more communi-ties are putting pressure on school districts and unions, charter and private schools are grow-
ing, some 2.2 million students are being home-schooled, and school vouchers may help identify dysfunctional schools. And, tech schools, which have always been important, are finally getting some national attention.
The good news is that with on-line classes students that missed the basics can still catch up with a little help and some de-termination. As job requirements change rapidly, “lifetime learn-ing” is a necessity. But, of course, manufacturing people have always been on the cutting edge, adapt-ing to new processes, materials, equipment, tools and regulations.
So, students might marvel at the old school house, but they’ll be even more excited if you invite them to visit your shop or plant and show why manufacturing is the place of the future.
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machin-ing Association (NTMA) toured Vista Mfg. and A&E Custom Mfg. in Kansas City, Kansas on April 16th. Over 80 attended the event.
Vista, a 40-year-old firm of-fers precision sheet metal fabrica-
tion, CNC machining, industrial electronics and mechanical as-sembly.
A&E, a 55-year-old firm, offers a wide range of manufac-turing services including: metal stamping; CNC turret punching; laser cutting; tooling & machin-
ing; metal fabrication; wire EDM; Mig & Tig & resistance welding; assembly and packaging.
After the tours a dinner was held at the Argosy Hotel where economist Chris Kuehl brought the group up to speed on economic trends impacting manufacturing. He discussed credit conditions, trends in numerous sectors, interna-tional trends and the national debt.
The KC NTMA chapter can be contacted at (816) 739-4422 or www.kcntma.org.
Photos from the event are on this page and are also available at the chapter’s website www.kcntma.org.
KC-NTMA Tours Vista Mfg. & A&E Custom Manufacturing; Hears From Economist
Above: Economist Chris Kuehl.
Above: KC NTMA’s Michael Bohning.
MAY, 2015 25
Superior Aluminum Castings, Inc.1211 South Powell Road • Independence, MO 64057
Above: Part of the crowd at the NTMA dinner that followed the tours of Vista Mfg. and A&E Custom Mfg. in April.
Above: Touring A&E Custom Mfg.
26 MID-AMERICA COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Buffco Engineering, Mulvane, Kansas, has recently installed a Toyoda FH800 HMC.
Founded in 1996 by long-time industry veteran Karl “Buff” Jones Sr., the firm offers precision CNC machining (3-5 axis) to the aerospace industry (private, commercial and defense). It is ISO and AS9100 certified.
The new Toyoda, purchased from Maruka USA, was needed to keep up with Buffco’s strong growth. It can handle parts up to 58” x 48” and features a 14K spindle and a 130-tool magazine. “We have dealt with Maruka for many years, buying nine pieces of equipment, and have been happy with their service,” stated Jones.
Starting with just a Bridgeport mill, Buffco now has 11 pieces of CNC equipment in its 12,000-sq.-ft. facility and is continuously developing its lean processes, including going to manufacturing cells.
An addition to the building to make room for more equipment is being planned.
The firm works mainly with aluminum, steel and titanium and serves customers nationwide.
Buffco Engineering Installs Toyoda FH800 HMC
Mulvane, Kansas
As he considered the rapid growth of his company, Jones commented, “It’s all about never giving up and being a good partner.” He also noted that Valley State Bank of Wichita has really helped the firm grow.
Buffco Engineering can be contacted at: (316) 777-2100; Fax (316) 777-2102; 200 Industrial Drive, Mulvane KS 67110; www.buffcoeng.com.
Above: A Buffco crew member working with the Toyoda FH800 HMC.
Above: An example of Buffco Engineering’s precision machining.
Mo-Kan AFS Hears from Safety Consultant About OSHA Compliance
The Mo-Kan Chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) met on April 16th at the Argosy Casino in Kansas City.
The featured speaker was Bill Alpert of Compliance Professionals, Inc. Alpert is a retired OSHA inspector who now teaches safety classes for the firm. His talk covered: company’s rights, how to deal with OSHA and where to find additional resources.
The AFS exists to provide and promote knowledge and services that strengthen the metal casting industry for the ultimate benefit of its customers and society.
Mo-Kan AFS can be contacted at: (913) 621-1320 or www.afs-mokan.org.
MAY, 2015 29
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Above: Compliance Professionals’ Bill Alpert with Mo-Kan AFS’ Paige Vallet at the April meeting.
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