The company I work for was bought by an investment group, and they apparently know little about the business, and especially tool room work Here's the day I had recently:
I was making some heel blocks for a mold that we are rebuilding. They are D-2, which is a bear to begin with. First, I had to start with way oversized stock, because the size I wanted 'isn't available'. Why isn't it? Because their credit is so bad that they don't have a vendor for tool steel, so they order whatever is available from MSC or McMaster-Carr. I needed eight 2" long pieces; I started with an 8' long stick.
The only horizontal bandsaw is in the maintenance department, where they apparently use it cut rocks. They buy the cheapest blades, which don't hold up to D-2 even on the slowest speed and flood coolant. But on this particular day, the coolant pump was out anyway (and has been for about a month) so cutting it up on the bandsaw was out of the question. I set it up on my CNC bed mill, and wrote a program to cut it off using an end mill. No flood coolant on the mill, either, so you have to take it easy.
After cutting off the pieces, I had to cut down the big stock with a face mill to get the desired size. I can't take a big cut, because it's only a 5 hp bed mill. Now, there's a big, strong VMC about 30 feet away, but it doesn't work because they left it disconnected so long that the memory and parameters were lost. It's a companion piece to the CNC EDM, wire EDM, turning center, and CNC ID/OD grinder that are all non-functional (I already wrote a thread about that).
I did the math, and I spent most of a day making 7 lbs. of chips. That's more than the parts weigh! I used up about $100 in disposable tooling, and 8 hours making blanks, not to mention the 7 lbs. of D-2 all over the floor. I was told that 'labor doesn't count' as they were already paying me to be there. According to one of the middle managers, I'm really 'knocking it out of the park' with all of the work I'm getting done. That's because my predecessor spent his days playing on-line chess instead of machining.
Typical underling gripes, I know, but in my last job, I was the manager over the tool room and mold maintenance. I can see so many mistakes (many the same that my previous employer used to make), yet am powerless to do anything about it. I'm just trying to tough it out for a few more years to retire, but I worry that the company won't last that long.
Why won't management in a company like this not seek out the opinions of someone with 40 years in the business? In 1-1/2 years there, the general manager has never even spoken to me. I know; I should move on, but at 64, my resume gets ignored everywhere I send it. That, and this place is 10 minutes from my house; most jobs would be an hour away. So, I come in, do what I can, and keep my mouth shut. The dog is way too big for this old tail to wag.
I was making some heel blocks for a mold that we are rebuilding. They are D-2, which is a bear to begin with. First, I had to start with way oversized stock, because the size I wanted 'isn't available'. Why isn't it? Because their credit is so bad that they don't have a vendor for tool steel, so they order whatever is available from MSC or McMaster-Carr. I needed eight 2" long pieces; I started with an 8' long stick.
The only horizontal bandsaw is in the maintenance department, where they apparently use it cut rocks. They buy the cheapest blades, which don't hold up to D-2 even on the slowest speed and flood coolant. But on this particular day, the coolant pump was out anyway (and has been for about a month) so cutting it up on the bandsaw was out of the question. I set it up on my CNC bed mill, and wrote a program to cut it off using an end mill. No flood coolant on the mill, either, so you have to take it easy.
After cutting off the pieces, I had to cut down the big stock with a face mill to get the desired size. I can't take a big cut, because it's only a 5 hp bed mill. Now, there's a big, strong VMC about 30 feet away, but it doesn't work because they left it disconnected so long that the memory and parameters were lost. It's a companion piece to the CNC EDM, wire EDM, turning center, and CNC ID/OD grinder that are all non-functional (I already wrote a thread about that).
I did the math, and I spent most of a day making 7 lbs. of chips. That's more than the parts weigh! I used up about $100 in disposable tooling, and 8 hours making blanks, not to mention the 7 lbs. of D-2 all over the floor. I was told that 'labor doesn't count' as they were already paying me to be there. According to one of the middle managers, I'm really 'knocking it out of the park' with all of the work I'm getting done. That's because my predecessor spent his days playing on-line chess instead of machining.
Typical underling gripes, I know, but in my last job, I was the manager over the tool room and mold maintenance. I can see so many mistakes (many the same that my previous employer used to make), yet am powerless to do anything about it. I'm just trying to tough it out for a few more years to retire, but I worry that the company won't last that long.
Why won't management in a company like this not seek out the opinions of someone with 40 years in the business? In 1-1/2 years there, the general manager has never even spoken to me. I know; I should move on, but at 64, my resume gets ignored everywhere I send it. That, and this place is 10 minutes from my house; most jobs would be an hour away. So, I come in, do what I can, and keep my mouth shut. The dog is way too big for this old tail to wag.