The Changing Landscape of Manufacturing
A Native American proverb teaches that: We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors – we borrow it from our children. Armed with this understanding, organizations across industries and people around the globe are taking an increasingly active role as caretakers of the planet.
Each step toward sustainability – no matter how small – is a good one. And every company – no matter how small – should scrutinize operations to identify and eliminate areas of waste and negligence. For some, such as professional organizations, placing a recycling bin in the cafeteria or reducing paper and water usage might represent the pinnacle of commitment. For larger organizations, a more comprehensive plan is in order.
Because of the nature of their business – along with their impact both at local and globally – manufacturers are often under a microscope to take on a leading role. From examining suppliers to reducing energy usage and emissions, these companies have a unique opportunity (and responsibility) to make a significant and far-reaching impact. But to be truly meaningful, and provide more than incremental results, the undertaking must be planned, managed, tracked, and supported at the highest levels.
As demonstrated throughout its existence, the CAVU Group takes social responsibility very seriously. The company routinely supports local and extended communities through a variety of volunteer and social outreach programs. The company’s commitment toward a sustainable planet is just one more example.
Recently CAVU unveiled and began implementing a corporate strategy designed to advance sustainability by 33%. The process is tracked against an internal scorecard that measures progress throughout the product development and manufacturing process. The initiative, encompassing the entire product lifecycle, focuses on sustainability improvement across three primary segments – environmental, economic, and social.
Product Introduction
“We have multiple ways of scoring ourselves on sustainability,” explained CAVU’s Marketing Director, Carissa Smith. “From a marketing perspective we do this in the early upstream stages of product planning with steps to determine if the new product is inherently sustainable. Assuming we can validate the sustainability, we craft messaging and create campaigns that clearly communicates this to the world.”
CAVU is also investigating ways to best understand a product’s relationship with the consumer in terms of how it might satisfy sustainability requirements. In this way, next generation products are guided by the voice of sustainable-conscious customers regarding the manner products are designed, developed, used, and disposed of.
Research has shown that younger buyers will actively seek (and in fact are willing to spend a little more on) products that adhere to sustainable practices. Hence, incorporating customer “green” requirements into products and processes is good for the environment, building brand loyalty, and the bottom line.
Product Development
When considering the introduction of a new product, manufacturers must consider the impact of that product on the planet. It’s important to quantify as much as possible to what extent the product will reduce waste and otherwise impact sustainability. Ask questions such as: Can the product be manufactured from recycled material? Is the product itself biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable? How, if at all, will such raw material changes impact quality, manufacturability, or costs?
“We implement best practices to ensure that we’re properly disposing of or reusing manufacturing bi-products and we look at how that product is distributed,” said CAVU Safety & Compliance Officer, Brian Walters. “For example, we examine if the product can be shipped via ground transportation. We look at ways to reduce overnight shipping for our temperature-sensitive products to decrease our carbon footprint. Our goal is to advance sustainability while maintaining the highest quality and service standards.”
Beyond Profits
Environmentally friendly actions don’t have to be large to have an impact. Consistently reducing the amount of energy, water, and paper our businesses use can make a huge difference, both to the environment and to our pocketbooks. How much paper would you save over the course of a year, for instance, if you always ran double-sided copies? How much water is wasted each day by that dripping faucet in the washroom? Small and easy ways to go green – but over time will generate big results!
Organizations, regardless of type, size, or industry are often judged by their commitment to causes greater than the bottom line. Corporate responsibility must reach beyond shareholders, employees, and business goals into the immediate and extended community. For many, this means a tangible, measurable, and on-going commitment toward advancing sustainability. At CAVU Group we are proud to do our part.
Easy Estimates
There’s a lot to like about that fabrication shop that you walk into every day – from the press brake in the corner to the fiber laser you purchased a few years ago. And you have to be excited with the talented new welder you just hired; and don’t forget about that new nesting software that’s going to cut those piles of scrap in half. Now all you need are jobs to run.
“Machines and metal processing services are obviously important,” says Brad Stropes, COO at SecturaSoft. “These things set you apart from competitors. But, as critical as they are, none of them matter without sales. Because of this, most managers take an active hands-on role in sales support, and companies generally assign some of their most tenured employees with estimating responsibilities.”
Read more here.
Building Operator Confidence Through Simulation-Based Training
Manitowoc Captures Market Share with Simulation Solutions
When Manitowoc implemented a common control system across its diverse line of cranes, it recognized an opportunity to leverage simulators to support the marketing and sales program behind the initiative, as well as for operator training.
Read the case study here.
Your Approach to Costing Might Be Killing Your Business
This from Plastics Today… Profitability is a delicate balancing act between what it costs to create the product and what the customer is willing to pay. As a plastics processing business owner, you probably have your way of calculating costs. While there is no single, best method, how you choose to implement costing can make or break your bottom line.
Congratulations — your bid won the job! You should be very proud, and maybe even a little worried. On the surface, winning any competitive bid sounds like a boost to your business. But if you’re not adequately covering job-related costs, securing that new business could become a money-losing proposition.
Unfortunately, far too many plastics manufacturing business owners and estimators operate by intuition with no real idea of the best way to account for costs. The good news is there are simple and proven methods that can help quantifiably determine profitability.
Read the story here.
Smart Training Technology: Real-World Operator Experience for Next Gen Equipment Training
Turbo Charge Innovation by Democratizing Simulation
Suppose that in order to drive a car you were required to be an expert in the dynamics, principles, and physics involved in exactly how a collection of parts interact to propel you down the road? The overwhelming majority of us would be walking. While this may appear to be an exaggerated example, one could argue that the manufacturing world has operated in this way for nearly fifty years.
The Advent of CAE
Today’s product development environment employs intelligent Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models to drive new product development. This is certainly no great revelation; it’s been this way since the 1970s. About that same time the engineering world began to investigate ways to analyze these models in order to validate parts and sub-assemblies. The idea was to significantly reduce (or even eliminate) the number of physical prototypes that needed to be built and tested. Time and cost savings associated with validating design early in the product development cycle are staggering.
The importance of this created a need that was quickly filled by engineers who would develop an expertise in the field. Software tools quickly emerged enabling these experts to put models into motion essentially replicating real-world movement, stress, strains, heat, and failure. The process came to be known as “simulation”. OEMs throughout such industries as automotive, aerospace, construction and off-highway quickly embraced simulation and continued to invest in the tools and resources to support its use and on-going development.
The ability to apply advanced tools, techniques, expertise, and experience is as much an art as it is a science. Consequently there remains a relatively small fraternity of CAE experts – many themselves early pioneers, or direct disciples thereof. These are the custodians of a level of expertise and experience relied upon to perform key analysis.
The dilemma is twofold. Limited expert resources create unnecessarily long analysis processes that impose time constraints. This reduces the number of design alternative that may be evaluated thereby stifling innovation. Second, as this generation exits the workforce there is concern that much of their knowledge will retire with them. The truth is that analysis/simulation is a critical competitive advantage for those who possess it.
What’s New: Simulation Applications
What if there was a way to capture and replicate this expertise? What if a way existed to embed such tangible knowledge and intangible judgement into a template extending capability throughout the product development team? The solution lies in Simulation Applications (SimApps), a new application software approach based not on custom programming but rather robust templates which can be easily built and modified.
Solution-specific SimApps are targeted, easy-to-use applications that drive complex simulation templates while speaking the language of the user/engineer. Project templates are generally set up by your in-house analysis expert as to replicate his/her expertise and your company’s standards. This service may also be provided by third-parties. Embedding expert knowledge and removing the complexity of general purpose CAE tools, SimApps allow product designers and engineers, without expertise in the use of simulation tools, to safely and quickly evaluate their designs using sophisticated simulations.
A SimApps library allows solutions to be built for virtually any industry or application. Manufacturers including Intel, American Axle Manufacturing (AAM), GKN, and Magna Cosma, and others are employing SimApps for Drivelines, Gearboxes, Electronics Reliability, and Electro-Optic Sensors to leverage simulation applications to globally enforce expert best practices while measurably increasing the impact of CAE investments on their business.
Extending analysis expertise is essential to innovation. The faster new designs can be analyzed the more alternatives that can be considered. It tells us quickly and with confidence which designs to reject and why without the need for expensive and time consuming physical tests. Yet innovation is unnecessarily held back given the expertise and experience necessary to perform CAE today. SimApps unleash innovation through the insights of a broader group of designers and engineers.
Local Responsiveness & Global Collaboration
Imagine what is possible with quick access information derived from this expert analysis. Think about how this new level of responsiveness changes the game. Sim Apps deliver the full power of simulation to everyone who needs it, from a salesman who needs to understand the feasibility and cost of a design that meets customer requirements, to a systems engineer who wishes to accurately compare the relative tradeoffs of various architectures, to design engineers who need accurate and rapid assessments of the change in performance of a design variation, to a junior engineer who is still learning the intricacies of CAE codes.
Today, like never before, product development hinges on collaboration. Leveraging the SimApp approach allows companies to work with disperse departments, suppliers and partners confident that they will maintain control, that standards will be enforced, consistency will be maintained, and ensuring that the results of the analysis will be valid.
While this may be a difficult cultural shift for many organizations, it delivers tremendous benefits for cost of product development and innovation. As an example, American Axle Manufacturing reports the following major benefits from SimApps for automated NVH analysis of driveline systems.
- Average 75% time reduction for each analysis iteration.
- Approximately $130,000 in annual cost savings at a single engineering site.
- Improved quality through globally enforced standards and practices which remove human error.
- Ability to run many more analysis iterations, leading to more design decisions, earlier.
- Ability to redeploy resources as less experienced engineers are now able to safely run simulations.
Empower to Innovate
Simulation has been the exclusive domain of too few for too long. It’s time to put to rest the notion that simulation cannot be safely used unless you have deep expertise in the art of extracting reasonable results from today’s simulation software. The confluence of simulation methodologies, software, automation templates, and accessible computing hardware, aided by the advent of mobile devices with ubiquitous high-bandwidth access to the Internet, has the potential to magnify the number of users of simulation by an order of magnitude, over the next decade. The results are more innovative products, less engineering rework, and lower product development costs.
Local 14 Elevates Training for NYC Crane Operators
Imagine the responsibility of operating a 300’ boom crane in North America’s most densely populated setting and you’ll understand why a New York City (NYC) crane license is arguably the most difficult of its kind to obtain in the United States. Even under ideal and open conditions, the operation of construction equipment has its risks. And within the confines of an urban environment such risks increase exponentially. International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 14 members sit behind the controls of NYC’s heavy equipment ranging from cranes, excavators and drill rigs, to boom trucks, pavers, and forklifts, etc.
As construction equipment becomes more sophisticated, the importance of training is amplified. Under the direction of IUOE 14 Business Manager, Ed Christian, training and safety have taken on new levels of importance and urgency. With a mission to maintain its rank as the highest skilled trade in the city’s construction industry, Local 14’s training center (Montrose, NY) provides instruction for new and advanced users alike. Among the school’s six training simulators is a 300’ boom crane simulator developed by CM Labs.
Coronavirus and the Supply Chain
The good news is that today’s supply chains are more extended and integrated than at any time in history. The not so good news is that today’s supply chains are more extended and integrated than at any time in history. While this global network allows manufacturers to leverage more resources, advance quality, boost innovation and lower costs – this same connectivity makes companies increasingly vulnerable.
After the global economy took a hit in 2008, many manufacturers adopted lean manufacturing strategies such as Just-in-Time (JIT) and other inventory reduction practices. With support from dependable suppliers, maintaining lower levels of raw materials, parts, and products on-site has become an effective cost-saving practice. But, as we are discovering, it is not without risk.
As a world-leading supplier of raw materials (some estimates are as high as 70%), China is a critical linchpin in the global supply chain. Directly or indirectly, nearly all manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are dependent on materials from China – whether they know it or not.
With the recent coronavirus outbreak, China has slashed production considerably. Consequently, many of its Asian customers have slowed production and even closed factories. And while regional automotive companies have been hit especially hard, this setback is by no means limited to any one industry. When supplies from China are scaled back the ramifications are felt globally.
Intelligent Curtains?
There’s little doubt that the world’s climate is changing. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) twenty of the warmest years ever recorded have occurred in the past twenty-five years. Increasingly hot summers and cold winters will further strain energy consumption and the environment as we become even more dependent on fans, HVAC, and other energy-consuming solutions. How can the average household or business reduce energy use without sacrificing comfort or safety? Is there a solution that is both practical and affordable?
In 2019, University of the Arts Berlin students Anna Koppmann and Esmeé Willemsen were presented with just such a challenge in a course project: Past Present – Conservation for Innovation. As the project’s name suggests, students were asked to identify past artifacts, objects, methods, systems, rituals, etc. that could be adapted to solve today’s challenges. “Esmeé and I were interested in historical methods of controlling climate within the home,” explained Anna. “We wanted to explore the use of common items to address the effects of climate change by regulating indoor temperature in a sustainable, cost-effective, and simple way.”
The classmates found inspiration in a simple and common household item dating back thousands of years: curtains. In addition to restricting airflow, curtains have a long history of insulating and protecting against direct sunlight and drafts. Excavations at Olynthus, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and other ancient sites reveal evidence as to some of their earliest use.
Read the case study here.