Springs, Spring 2023, Volume 62, No. 2

Cold Stress

The Problem

Cold temperatures are often associated with occupations that take employees outdoors during the winter months. In addition to the obvious outdoor cold condition jobs, many employees work indoors in refrigerated environments year round. Production facilities involving food and the distribution network required to get refrigerated food products to consumers require exposure to cold conditions. Prolonged exposure can lead to cold stress. Some employers fail to recognize and address cold stress hazards due to lack of monitoring and knowing the related signs and symptoms, which include:

•Hypothermia

•Frostbite

•Cold water immersion

•Dehydration

Solutions that Work

Even the most attentive, proactive worker can’t tackle the dangers of cold stress alone. A cooperative approach is important. OSHA’s guidance for cold stress prevention lists engineering controls, training, safe work practices and personal protective equipment (PPE), such as appropriate cold weather attire, as foundational components for employers to build into their work plans. Employers should:

• Provide engineering controls such as thermostats and door flaps to help control exposure

• Train workers on how to help prevent and recognize cold stress illnesses and injuries, and how to apply first aid treatment

• Give workers frequent breaks in warm areas

• Ensure employees are dressed properly in cold temperatures

• Reduce exposure time

• Allow workers to interrupt work if they feel a cold condition affecting them

How Grainger Can Help

Grainger has what you need to help keep your employees safe in extreme cold conditions.

Products

•Insulated Clothing

•Hand & Foot Warmers

•Portable Heaters

•Blankets

•Ice Melt

• Anti-Slip Footwear Attachments

•Work Shelters

Services

• Grainger Online SafetyManager Suite®

Expertise

• Technical Product Support

Email safetysupport@grainger.com

• Field Safety Specialists

Fast

4

MAIN FACTORS that contribute1 to cold stress:

•High or cold wind

•Dampness

•Cold temperatures

•Cold water

70°F

Hypothermia can occur in any water temperature below this level.2

2x

Twice as many people die of “excessive cold” conditions in a given year than of “excessive heat.”3

Resources

• Safety & Health Solution Center grainger.com/safety

• Safety & Health Catalog grainger.com/safetycatalog

• Grainger KnowHowSM site grainger.com/knowhow

Your Grainger Rep is Standing By

Contact your Grainger representative or login to Grainger.com/smi and view a list of the most common cold stress related products

©2019 W.W. Grainger, Inc. W-BMCL570-2 G0029

GRAINGER.COM/SAFETY

1 https://ehs.princeton.edu/workplace-construction/occupational-health/heat-cold-stress/cold-stress-facts

2 NIOSH, Cold Water Immersion, June 2018

3 CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality Database

President’s Message

Cellphones, Risk Management and Cybersecurity

I know I am dating myself by admitting this, but I can remember when I got my first cellphone and what a complete luxury that was because it was for “work only” and huge! That huge, work-only phone soon became a thing that could simply not be left at home.

So you might be wondering, “What is the purpose of this trip down memory lane?” Some of you might even be thinking, “Come on, Gene, get to the point!” As these cellphones became attached to us everywhere we went, their awesome capabilities became apparent as well as the dangers and risks.

As we speak, research is bringing to light some of the devastating effects that 24/7 social media access is having on our youth with depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide at record high levels among this group. My point is that with every advancement or reward we discover, there is also a risk or danger that we also must not only be aware of but manage in such a way to minimize the risk to our loved ones, our businesses and ourselves.

This issue of Springs is doing just that by focusing on cybersecurity, a term that might not have existed that long ago but has most likely been uttered inside of your businesses already. Like we enjoy the capabilities of our cellphones on an individual basis, we also enjoy and indeed need the free flow of information inside our businesses.

We do this with ERP systems, EDI, email, and several ways to track products, inventory, costs, and simply communicate. Some of us even use “cloud-based” software to manage our businesses as well. All of these tools come with benefits but also present the risk of someone outside our businesses gaining access to our systems with potential for great harm.

Navigating the management of this risk with tools like firewalls, detection software, and increasing your employees’ knowledge through training is the type of information we hope to give you with this issue of the magazine.

God Bless and Have a Crazy Good Day!

Gene Huber Jr.

SMI Executive Committee

President: Gene Huber Jr., Winamac Coil Spring

Vice President: Don Jacobson III, Newcomb Spring

Secretary/Treasurer: David DeVoe, Plymouth Spring

Past President: Bert Goering, Precision Coil Spring

At-Large: Dave Deerwester, The Yost Superior Co.

Executive Director: Lynne Carr, SMI

SMI Board of Directors

Jennelle Carlier, S3 Wireform • Kelley Christy, Diamond Wire Spring • Joe Devany, Betts Company • Chris Fazio, Diamond Wire Spring • Linda Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Agustin

Estalayo Ibanez, RPK Mexico SA de CV • Adam Jacobson, FENN/ Torin • Don Lyons, JonSpring • Rob Meyers, RK Trading • Alex Melnikow, Midstate Spring • Tony Pesaresi, Winamac Coil Spring

• Keith Porter Jr., Newcomb Spring • Michael Shapiro, Gibraltar Corp. • Tim Zwit, Motion Dynamics Corporation

Springs Magazine Staff

Lynne Carr, Advertising Sales, lynne@smihq.org

Gary McCoy, Executive Editor, gary@smihq.org

Phil Sasso, Managing Editor, phil.springs@sassomarketing.com

Gabriela Carrasco, Associate Editor, gaby@smihq.org

Lisa Plefka Haskin, Art Director, lisahaskin95@gmail.com

Springs Magazine Committee

Chair, Keith Porter Jr., Newcomb Spring • Reb Banas, Stanley Spring & Stamping • Lynne Carr, SMI • Hale Foote, Scandic Springs, Inc. • Patrick Gillum, Gilco Spring of Florida, Inc. •

Adam Jacobson, FENN/Torin • Lucas Karabin, Acme Monaco

• Gary McCoy, SMI • Phil Sasso, SMI • Michael Shapiro, Gibraltar Corporation • Bill Wynn, Gardner Spring, Inc.

Advertising sales - Japan

Ken Myohdai, Sakura International Inc.

Head Office: 3F,4F, ENDO Sakaisuji Bldg., 1-7-3, Bingomachi, Chuo-Ku, Osaka 541-0051, Japan

Phone: 81-6-6624-3601 • Fax: 81-6-6624-3602

Tokyo Global Office: 5F Kamei No. 2 Bldg., 2-17-13, Kiba, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, 135-0042, Japan

Phone: 81-3-5646-1160 • Fax: 81-3-5646-1161

E-mail: info@sakurain.co.jp

Advertising sales - Europe

Jennie Franks, Franks & Co.

63 St. Andrew’s Road

Cambridge

United Kingdom CB41DH

Phone/Fax: +44-1223-360472

E-mail: franksco@BTopenworld.com

Advertising sales - Taiwan

Charlie Yu, Worldwide Services Co. Ltd.

11F-B, No 540, Sec. 1, Wen Hsin Rd.

Taichung, 408 Taiwan

Phone: +886-4-2325-1784 • Fax: +886-4-2325-2967

E-mail: marketing@acw.com.tw

Springs (ISSN 0584-9667) is published quarterly by SMI Business Corp., a subsidiary of the Spring Manufacturers Institute: 2001 Midwest Road, Suite 106, Oak Brook, IL 60523; Phone: 630-460-8588.; Web site www.smihq.org. Address all correspondence and editorial materials to this address.

The editors and publishers of Springs disclaim all warranties, express or implied, with respect to advertising and editorial content, and with respect to all manufacturing errors, defects or omissions made in connection with advertising or editorial material submitted for publication.

The editors and publishers of Springs disclaim all liability for special or consequential damages resulting from errors, defects or omissions in the manufacturing of this publication, any submission of advertising, editorial or other material for publication in Springs shall constitute an agreement with and acceptance of such limited liability.

The editors and publishers of Springs assume no responsibility for the opinions or facts in signed articles, except to the extent of expressing the view, by the fact of publication, that the subject treated is one which merits attention. Do not reproduce without written permission.

Cover designed by Lisa Plefka Haskin utilizing Shutterstock photographic and vector imagery.

From Gene Huber Jr.

Ideal for torsion springs, tension springs, extended loop springs, and bent parts

FMU+ Series accomodates wire diameter ranging from .007”-.314”

Linear Transport Unit Option Available - Scan QR Code to View

• “Bend after cut” feature that eliminates need for secondary operations

• Second station increases production/output

• Allows for complex springs and bent parts with longer legs and loops to be produced

3-year license for spring+ now included in every FMU+ for easier set-up

• spring+ can be used for simulation of the production sequence, collision control, theorectical calculation of the output, and reduction of axis travel

17 Be Aware Safety Tips Keeping Great Employees: The

By Laura Helmrich-Rhodes

21 Dean of Springs

Stranded Wire Springs

By Dan Sebastian

23 Technically Speaking

The Impact of Wire Drawing Die Geometry on the Development of Residual Stresses and Potential for Improved Spring Fatigue Life

By C. Richard Gordon

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North America

Lee Spring, a global leader in stock and custom springs, has acquired Connecticut-based D. R. Templeman Company. Templeman, founded in 1938 and located in Plainville, Connecticut, specializes in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of springs, spring guides, rings and wireforms made from fine wire. Templeman has proprietary technology and deep experience in the manufacture of spring guides, also known as catheter coils and cable sheaths.

Templeman brings its more than 80-year track record of engineering experience and quality products to the growing Lee Spring operation. The acquisition expands the capabilities for both Lee Spring and Templeman with an expansion in both the products and services they can offer their respective customers.

“Templeman boasts an outstanding team and their highly skilled

Newcomb Spring Corp. , a worldwide supplier of custom manufactured springs, wireforms and metal stampings, has announced the launch of the Springulator 2.0, an advanced version of its popular spring calculator app. Available on Google Play and the App Store, Springulator is a tool for engineers and designers who wish to check the stress

specialization in miniature springs is in perfect alignment with Lee Spring’s growing business in medical devices, electronic components, and switches and inspection instruments,” said Steve Kempf, CEO of Lee Spring. “Their deep expertise in these critical sectors, combined with their unsurpassed reputation for quality, make this acquisition a natural fit for both companies.”

Consistent with Lee Spring’s longterm strategic vision, the merger will allow Templeman to continue to grow and expand services to their customers by joining with Lee Spring’s operations and wide range of products and capabilities, as well as a global presence. The combined operations will allow both companies to offer more products and services to their respective customers.

Richard Williams, president of Templeman stated, “In order for a transition

of a design, calculate spring functions and test spring capabilities.

The Springulator is viewed as the best and most robust spring design calculator resource by industry professionals, allowing users to calculate an array of information with minimal data input. With easy-to-use functions, reference diagrams and stress charting, it provides data for compression springs (one or two load, rate-based or dimensional), extension springs and torsion springs. Users can also provide calculation data to Newcomb for custom spring production.

New features offered in the 2.0 version include: added material types (including Inconel 600, Inconel X750, Hastelloy C 276 and Eligiloy) for all spring types;

of any business to be successful, it must be designed to meet the needs of both employees and customers. Templeman has very talented employees and many long-standing innovative customers. I am confident that the needs of both groups will be well served by the combined strengths of D. R. Templeman and Lee Spring.”

The acquisition was effective Dec. 1, 2022. Lee Spring has welcomed all Templeman employees and will continue to operate from their current facility.

finish-type specification for all spring types; choice of standard or crossover hooks for extension springs; suggested body length display for crossover hooks for extension springs; users can spec out coil gap for extension springs; users can spec out leg length for torsion springs; and supported on Apple iPhone and iPad, and Android.

“We’re proud to bring this new and improved Springulator 2.0 app to market for our industry professionals,” said Dan Kelly, corporate sales manager, Newcomb Spring Corp. “Offering seven robust spring calculators, Springulator 2.0 continues to be an unmatched tool for engineering support. Springulator 2.0 exemplifies Newcomb Spring’s commitment to innovation and service for our spring and metalform customers.”

FENN recently welcomed two new employees. Michael Koba is the company’s new controller with 15 years of experience in that role and more than 30 years of working in the manufacturing industry. Josh Maxwell is a new field service technician with 10 years of experience in the manufacturing industry.

The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. has announced the appointment of Kurt F. Breischaft as the 70th president of the association for a one-year term that commenced Jan. 1, 2023. Breischaft will chair the board of directors of the 93-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut.

Breischaft has more than 30 years’ experience in the copper industry. He is president of SDI LaFarga COPPERWORKS, a copper rod and wire mill in New Haven, Indiana, a post he has held since November 2013.

Breischaft holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the RoseHulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, and an MBA degree from

Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana.

The Wire Association International, Inc. is governed by a network of volunteers from around the globe. Joining Breischaft for the 2023 term are members of the association’s 2023 executive committee: First Vice President Daniel Blais, Prysmian Group; Second Vice President Eric Bieberich, Fort Wayne Wire Die; David Fisher, James Monroe Wire & Cable Corp.; and Immediate Past President James R. York, Insteel Industries, Inc.

Link Engineering Company (LINK), a global leader in customized testing solutions, announced in January that it has acquired the key assets and staff from Xytek Industries Inc. (Xytek), a Detroit company specializing in environmental and vibration testing of electrical and mechanical automotive components.

LINK also recently announced a strategic partnership with Maul-Theet, a leader in structural dynamics for more

Winona Powder Coating recently invested in a new GEMA Magic brand powder coating and reverse osmosis water treatment systems.

“This new GEMA system brings us superior powder application technology,” said Winona CEO Jamie Visker. “It brings us quicker color changes and cleanup, reduces the amount of powder we use, prevents powder waste, and really increases our ability to recycle. That, and

than 25 years. Moving forward, LINK will leverage their global presence and begin marketing, sales, and support initiatives for the Maul-Theet product line at all LINK sites. Current and prospective customers can now work with the LINK global organization to purchase and service Maul-Theet products.

For more information, contact sales@ linkeng.com.

a cleaner and healthier environment for our employees.”

He further states, “It’s more efficient and cuts our powder consumption by around $20,000 a month. At the same time, we added a new reverse osmosis water treatment system for muchimproved water quality.”

Winona Powder Coating is a leading provider of powder coating and e-coat services for a wide range of industries. For more information, phone 574-8586082 or visit winonapowder.com.

Tammy Snider has been promoted to production manager at Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing in Telford, Pennsylvania. David Frederick, the company’s vice president of operations said that Snider joined the company in October 2019 and has quickly become a wellvalued and highly respected asset to the Vulcan team. He commented, “Tammy’s passion, hard work, and dedication to Vulcan Spring is something that is celebrated and admired by her peers.

“Tammy has shown that she has an eye for improvement and never accepts, ‘Because that’s how we’ve always done things.’ I am excited to see her take on this new role and make us even better at what we do,” said Frederick.

As production manager, Snider will not only oversee Vulcan’s production department, but also the areas of purchasing and planning to ensure that Vulcan Spring continues to manufacture the highest quality parts that exceed customer’s expectations.

Snider commented, “I always tell everyone that I jump out of bed to come to work at Vulcan. I’m jumping even faster now and so grateful for this new opportunity.”

Michael Koba Josh Maxwell

Kurt Breischaft

Pictured (l-to-r): Scott Eyink, Larry Beals, Jamie Visker, Larry Case and Bryan Zeigler of Winona Powder Coating. Winona Powder Coating’s new powder coating and reverse osmosis water treatement system.

Tammy Snider

The Japan Society of Spring Engineers (JSSE) held its semiannual lecture meeting, including a poster session and awards ceremony at Kyoto Tower Hotel and online via Zoom Nov. 2, 2022. An opening speech was delivered by Kei

Watanabe, vice-chairperson of JSSE and manager of Chuo Spring Co., Ltd.

Seven general lectures and one special topic lecture were presented to 78 attendees at the Kyoto Tower Hotel and 39 participants via Zoom.

Leaders In Double Disc Technology

1. “Development of TiNi Shape Memory Alloy with Functionally Graded Property of Shape Recovery Temperature,” Dr. Ryosuke Matsui, associate professor, Aichi Institute of Technology

2. “A Prototype Molding of a Hollow Coil Spring Made of Maraging Steel with a 3D Printer,” Konatsu Takasaki, Utsunomiya University.

3. “Large Deformation Analysis of Offset Beam with Fixed Supports under Compressed Forces,” Dr. Atsumi Ohtsuki, professor, Meijo University.

4. “Quasi-Optimal Design of a ParallelType Double-Mass Dynamic Vibration Absorber Equipped with a Damped Primary System,” Dr. Toshihiko Asami, professor, University of Hyogo.

5. “Fatigue Life Evaluation Method for Spring Materials Under Non-Proportional Loading,” Dr. He Lei, research associate, Ritsumeikan University

6. “Effect of Low Temperature Annealing on Athermal Stress Component in Stainless Steel Strip for Springs,” Dr. Takayuki Koizumi, professor, National Institute of Technology, Tokyo College

7. “Report from the Committee of Fractography for Springs,” Dr. Kenta Yamagiwa, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan.

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A special topic lecture, “Standardization Activities of the Japan Spring Manufacturers Association,” Shigeo Aoba, president, Togo Seisakusyo Corporation and Junichi Yano, NHK Spring Co., Ltd.

Seven technical posters were displayed in another hall. A brief explanation was given by a representative for each of the posters on the speaker’s platform for the lecture meeting, followed by a questionand-answer-session at the posters. The top two posters were selected based on the participants’ voting.

The first-place poster, “Evaluation of In-Plane Anisotropy on a Thermal Stress Component in Strip for Springs,” was

Certified to ISO 9001 since 1994.

Jack and Jeff Shoemaker, second and third generations continuing the tradition at Anchor Abrasives.

awarded to Momoka Kurita, National Institute of Technology, Tokyo College et al.

The second-place poster, “Improvement of Corrosion Fatigue Property for TiNi Shape Memory Alloy by Combination of Ultrasonic Shot Peening and Mechanical Polishing,” was awarded to Tatsuki Matsuda, Aichi Institute of Technology, et al.

The JSSE awarding ceremony was held prior to the afternoon session of the lecture meeting. For 2020, the Ronbun-prize, among papers submitted to JSSE, “Effects of Small Surface Defect on Fatigue Limit of Spring Steel,” was awarded to Takehiro Ishii, Dr. Koji Takahashi, Yokohama National University and Dr. Hideki Okada, NHK Spring Co., Ltd.

The Gijutu-prizes, (among other papers or articles) were presented to:

1) “Influence of Low Temperature

Annealing in Uniaxial Mechanical Properties of Cold Rolled Stainless Steel Strip for Springs,” Dr. Takayuki Koizumi, Polytechnic University (at that time) and now of National Institute of Technology, Tokyo College.

2) “Improvement of Fatigue Properties and Making Surface Defect Harmless for High Strength Steel by Ultrasonic Shot Peening,” Dr. Koji Takahashi, Yokohama National University and Dr. Hideki Okada, NHK Spring Co., Ltd.

Koseki-prizes, (among honorable achievements), were presented to Shuzo Ichi, Togo Seisakusyo Corporation, and Dr. Yoshiyuki Furuya, National Institute for Materials Science

For 2021–2022, the following awards were presented in the following categories.

The Ronbun-prize, among papers submitted to JSSE, included: 1) “Effect of The Microstructure on Strength Properties of the Duplex Stainless Steel Wire After Cold Drawing and Aging,” Shota Yamasaki and Koji Takano, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation. 2)“Analysis of Peculiar Fatigue Fracture Behavior of Shot Peened Steels

Focusing on Threshold Stress Intensity Factor Range,” Dr. Kotoji Andou, Dr. Koji Takahashi, and Takehiro Ishii of Yokohama National University and Dr. Ki Woo Nam and Min Heon Kim of Pukyong National University

Gijutu-prizes, among other papers or articles, were presented to: 1) “Influence of Iron Carbide on Mechanical Properties in High Silicon-added Mediumcarbon Martensitic Steels,” Dr. Shinya Teramoto, Dr. Yutaka Neishi, and Dr. Takahisa Suzuki of Nippon Steel Corporation and Yuki Masuda, Toshinori Ishida, and Masato Ohnuma of Hokkaido University. 2) “Development Of Copper-Coated High-Strength Electrical Wire,” Kenta Matsuoka, Akihito Hoshima, Hiromu Izumida, and Mitsuhiro Kimura of Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.

Koseki-prizes (among honorable achievements) were presented to: Haruhiko Shiba, FEC Chain Corporation, Dr. Hideki Okada, NHK Spring Co., Ltd., Atsushi Sugimoto, Aichi Steel Corporation, Takeshi Ishidzuka, Tokaibane MFG. Co., Ltd., Takayuki Akashi, Murata Spring Co., Ltd., and Kazuhide Isogai, JSSE.

A reception was held after the closing speech delivered by Dr. Masao Hayakawa, JSSE president and chairman of the researcher of National Institute for Materials Science, in another hall. Toshihiro Tachikawa, vice-chairperson of JSSE and managing executive officer of NHK Spring Co., Ltd. made an opening speech. This was followed by the guest speech by Shigeo Aiba, president of Togo Seisakusyo Corporation

Dr. Katsuji Tosha, honorary member of JSSE, made a toast to the development of the spring industry and the participants’ good health. This was followed by the guest speeches delivered by the winners of the prizes.

After plenty of mingling and exchanging of information, the reception was over with “iccho-jime,” a vibration consists of a single clap in unison led by Hiromichi Ooga, councilor of JSSE and managing executive officer of Suncall Corporation

Messe Düsseldorf recently announced several updates. wire China, the leading regional trade fair for the wire and cable sector, will be held from Sept. 4-7, 2023, in Shanghai. On display will be machinery and equipment for wire manufacturing and processing as well as wire and cable products.

Conferences and workshops will complement the trade fair which has been jointly organized by Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai and the Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute since 2004.

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at wire China 2023, visit www.wirechina.net.

Messe Düsseldorf recently announced that online exhibitor registration for wire and Tube, the world’s leading trade fairs for the wire, cable and tube and pipe industries, is now available at www.wire. de/2330 and www.tube.de/2330.  For the first time, early-bird discounts will be offered. The official registration deadline is June 1, 2023. wire and Tube will be held from April 15-19, 2024, at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

At the last staging of wire and Tube in 2022, 1,822 exhibitors from 50 countries presented their products on about 93,000 square meters of exhibit space.

For further information about wire and Tube 2024, visit www.wire-tradefair. com or www.tube-tradefair.com.

Messe Düsseldorf has also announced that new trade fairs wire Eurasia and Tube Eurasia will be held in Istanbul for the first time, May 24-27, 2023. wire and Tube Eurasia will initially take place as an investment business venture during the two Turkish trade fairs Wire Tech Istanbul and Tube + Steel Istanbul. These two events are organized by Tüyap Fair Istanbul, Turkey’s leading trade fair organizer and venue operator, at the Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center Starting in 2025, wire and Tube Eurasia will then be held every two years as independent trade fairs. Visit www.wire-eurasia.com or www.tube-eurasia.com.

Obituaries

Messe Düsseldorf says a special area of METAL & STEEL EGYPT will be held from Sept. 2-4, 2023. The four trade fairs GIFA Middle East Africa, METEC Middle East Africa, wire Middle East Africa, and Tube Middle East Africa will be held at the Egypt International Exhibition Center for the first time.

METAL & STEEL EGYPT, organized by AGEX (Arabian German Exhibitions & Publishing Ltd), has presented

Alloy Wire International (AWI) announced in January the completion of a management buyout. The company’s senior management team of Tom Mander, managing director, Andrew Du Plessis, technical director, and Adam Shaw, finance director, purchased the business from the former owners. The deal means all 33 members of staff have become shareholders in the business.

“This is another major milestone in the history of AWI and gives us the platform to capitalize on recent growth and massive export opportunities,” explained Mander.

In other news, the company announced the retirement of Bill Graham in November 2020 after a 50-year career with the company which included his role as chairman for the past nine years.

a wide range of machinery, equipment, and products from the steel and metal industries for the Near and Middle East since 2010. Visit www.wire-mea.com, www.tube-mea.com, www.gifa-mea. com or www.metec-mea.com.

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at any of the above events, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America at 312-781-5180, email: info@mdna.com or visit www.mdna.com.

“When I joined the business in 1972, I never expected to still be involved 50 years later. Alloy Wire International gets you like that,” explained Graham.

Alloy Wire International recently promoted Tom Mander to managing director, replacing Mark Venables who now serves as chairman.

AWI manufactures round, flat and profile wire in 60 exotic alloys. For further information, please visit www. alloywire.com or follow @alloywire on Twitter.

SMI mourns the passing of Don Wharin, 88, who died peacefully at his home Nov. 25, 2022, in Oakville Ontario, Canada. Wharin joined his father Douglas at Bohne Spring Industries in Toronto, Ontario, in 1956. Together they purchased the business from the Bohne family, a legacy carried on by sons Chris and Jeff Wharin after their father’s retirement in 1993. Wharin was predeceased by his wife Carol in 2019 and is survived by five children, 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

While golfing was one of Wharin’s frequent pastimes, he also enjoyed traveling, spending six months each year in Sarasota, Florida, at the family cottage where he enjoyed time with his grandchildren. While active in the spring industry, Don and Carol Wharin frequently attended SMI conventions with Wharin often winning the golf tournaments. Wharin also served on the SMI board of directors for many years. n

Pictured (l-to-r): Mark Venables, Tom Mander, Adam Shaw and Andrew Du Plessis

Bill Graham

Don Wharin

CASMI Report

By Kate Fueling, CASMI, Executive Director

CASMI Scholarship Program

CASMI is proud to sponsor a scholarship program to benefit dependents of the employees of primary member (spring manufacturers) and associate member (supplier) companies. Since the program began, CASMI has provided $911,250 in scholarships to both undergraduate and graduate students.

CASMI was founded in 1944 to promote the interests of the spring manufacturing industry in the greater Chicago area. It has engaged in many activities including sponsorship of the biennial SpringWorld Trade Show. The success of that event makes it possible to fund many significant programs, including this scholarship program. As a result, CASMI is grateful to the many industry suppliers and spring manufacturers from all over the world who make it possible to provide this support that helps recipients obtain the education that is so necessary to personal success.

Applications are due May 2 at 3 p.m. CDT, for the 2023 year. For more information, visit https://www.casmi-springworld.org/page/Scholarship.

CASMI Golf Outing Will Take Place in June

CASMI will host its annual golf tournament at the premier Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois, June 15. The facility is highly regarded for its class and beauty. It will welcome the average player as well as provide challenges.

The day’s activities include lunch, shotgun start golf tournament, cocktail hour and dinner and various prizes will be presented throughout the evening as well.

All CASMI members, SpringWorld 2022 exhibitors, and suppliers who are interested in exhibiting at SpringWorld 2024 are encouraged to attend this industry event. Start putting together your foursomes to join the competition and for a relaxed networking atmosphere with your industry colleagues.

For more details, visit the CASMI events page at https://www.casmi-springworld.org/events/event_list.asp

New Management Company for CASMI

The Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers (CASMI) is now being managed by Association Executives Group (AEG). AEG brings decades of experience in trade association management and will provide CASMI the dedication, professionalism, and organization efficiencies their members are used to.

Please note the following change of address:

7044 S. 13th St.

Oak Creek, WI 53154 414-908-4941

info@casmi-springworld.org

SpringWorld 2024

SpringWorld 2024 will take place Oct. 2-4, 2024, in Rosemont, Illinois. CASMI is currently accepting contracts to exhibit from companies that exhibited at the 2022 event. Exhibiting information is available on the organization’s website at https://www.casmi-springworld.org/ page/SWExhibiting.

SpringWorld provides a unique opportunity for spring manufacturers, wire formers, OEMs, and their suppliers to network, including one-on-one discussions with colleagues to share challenges, discuss solutions, and provide new insights for business.

NESMA Report

By Lucas Karabin, Acme Monaco, NESMA President

NESMA finished 2022 on a high note as membership grew, and we can look back on this past year’s successes.

Our Dec. 1, 2022, annual holiday gathering included over 100 guests at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Bristol. The next day we held our annual meeting and awards ceremony. One of our guests was Paul Lavoie, Connecticut’s chief manufacturing officer, who reports directly to the governor’s office. He is the second person to hold such a position and he mentioned that other states are considering similar positions. His message rested squarely on building an available workforce.

At the Dec. 2 annual breakfast meeting we honored several deserving award recipients including Fourslide Spring and Stamping, a long time NESMA supporter, as they celebrated 60 years in business. President Bryan Funk accepted the award on behalf of the past generations that made it possible.

Don Jacobson II received a “Lifetime in Industry Commitment” award for his 50-plus year career in the spring industry. Don is a past president of both SMI and

NESMA. His stoic message of industry comradery was mixed with humor, family influences, learning experiences and professional development. He was proud to admit he no longer had a key to any Newcomb facility.  His son, Don Jacobson III, introduced his father and let it be known his absence was felt as they no longer shared an office. Don Jacobson III also made a brief address on behalf of SMI at the holiday dinner.

Our spring industry “Community Advocate Award” was given to Sharon Lutkus, interim director of Advanced Manufacturing Technology at Naugatuck Valley Community College. Sharon has tirelessly fought for training programs for both coiler set up and fourslide machines. A frequent participant on our NESMA technical development committee, she was presented with the award by our committee chairperson, Al Mangels of Lee Spring. To break up things up, trophies were presented to our 2022 golf tournament champions foursome led by Ted Lucas, NESMA board member and a CPA at Marcum LLP. Ted and his group vowed to defend their title later this year.

Education Spotlight

On the educational front, we were very fortunate to have factory tours arranged by our technical development committee through a Dec. 16, 2022, local career day that was held at Plainville (Connecticut) High School. There were many companies willing to provide tours because several NESMA members are only 10 minutes from the school. Rowley Spring and Stamping and Plymouth Spring are close by and heeded the call with participation from their executive level down to the shop floor. Students started the day with a career fair followed by a “choose your own adventure” where they were bused to different participating businesses. This was the first year Plainville High School ran the program, and we hope to see other schools replicate the event.

Our technical committee meets monthly and continues to work with various schools. We are attempting to bring SMI curriculum to students. A major initiative continues to be a new manufacturing center at Tunxis Community College, which is currently under construction. We are lobbying for a spring industry presence at the facility, due to its proximity to a large portion of our members. Ideally, they would have equipment which could host various training programs. If you’re a NESMA member, please let your voice be heard on our initiatives and you are welcome to join our monthly calls. Contact our chairperson, Al Mangels.

A Plethora of Events

Our events committee hosted our annual “NESMA Expo and Casino Night” March 23. Industry suppliers participated in the tabletop portion of our event to showcase their business, followed by dinner and

Front row (l-to-r): Sharon Lutkus, Don Jacobson II and Bryan Funk. Back row (l-to-r); Ryan Cutter, Ted Lucas, Allen Nadeau, Al Mangels, Charlie Radcliff, John Higginbotham, Jake Youmans, Andrea Tarantino, Lucas Karabin, Tom Barnes and Bruce Massey.

live table games such as roulette, blackjack and craps.  On May 24, NESMA will host UConn materials scientist Dr. Rainer Hebert. He will lecture on the materials of tomorrow and how they might play a role in the spring industry. We hope you can join us.

Finally, please mark your calendars for our annual golf tournament at Farmington Country Club Monday, Aug. 28. Ryan Cutter, president of FENN/Torin, chairs the committee which is making every effort to grow this event. He is focused on making sure everyone who attends has a rewarding experience.

Our Vanguard committee will once again host a Hartford Yard Goats minor league baseball game on May 17. The 2022 Yard Goats event was a great success thanks to our sponsors. In addition,

WCSMA Report

The West Coast Spring Manufacturers Association (WCSMA) held its 2023 Tabletop Expo, Feb. 16 at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in Buena Park, California.

The biannual event included more than 15 exhibiting companies and attendees from Argo Spring, Bazz Houston, C&F Wire Products, C&J Spring, Delgau Spring, Foremost Spring, FTR Associates, Inc., IDC Spring, Newcomb

the Vanguard committee was scheduled to host its first ever networking night at Toro Loco in Farmington, Connecticut, March 1. NESMA members who have a young executive looking to participate on our Vanguard board, please contact Jake Youmans of Connecticut Spring and Stamping.

Scholarship Awards Increase

Our NESMA Scholarship Committee has increased its offering through the Main Street Foundation. This year, thanks to your support, we will have the largest ever dollar amount awarded with two scholarship categories of $2,500 each. NESMA members who have a son, daughter, or grandchild graduating from high school or are currently enrolled in a college program, please encourage them to apply for

our scholarships. We have updated the website to offer an interactive link to the application. Our scholarship committee is led by Charlie Radcliff of Radcliff Wire Inc. We hope to see you in 2023!

Spring, Orlando Spring, Peninsula Spring, Precision Coil Spring, Quick Spring, Rev-Co, Speedy Springs, Spring Industries, Superior Spring, Titan Spring and Tru-Form.

Numerous raffle prizes were contributed by exhibitors. In fact, there were so many that most of the attendees left with a prize during the four-hour event which included a big screen television donated by WAFIOS. n

Vanguard Committee members represented NESMA at the Plainville High School Learning Adventure Day.

The WCSMA Tabletop Expo allowed local springmakers to visit with a variety of industry suppliers.

Keeping Great Employees: The Workers’ Comp Connection

By Laura Helmrich-Rhodes, CSP, Ed.D.

Considering the current labor market, keeping great employees is at the top of everyone’s priority list. Unfortunately, great workers get injured and employers have to do their best to get them back to work quickly and without becoming discouraged enough to move on. This discussion will cover some current research along with offering practical advice for creating and implementing an effective return to work program (RTW).

Finding good job candidates and keeping employees will be the key priorities for organizations in 2023, according to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released Jan. 30. The “2022-2023 SHRM State of the Workplace” report is based on findings from surveys of 1,793 human resource professionals.

The importance of effective employee safety programs cannot be emphasized enough since preventing injuries and illnesses means that no one ends up filing a workers’ compensation claim. Return to work programs focus on those who have been sick or injured at/by work and are receiving workers’ compensation (medical and/or indemnity.) Since workers’ compensation is state regulated, the reader is advised to check state mandates for each work location. Canadian readers are encouraged to read “WorkSafeBC Selective/Light Employment,” because U.S. and Canadian programs have distinct differences. (See relevant link at the end of this article.)

One U.S. state defines RTW as “a proactive approach, endorsed by many health care providers, designed to help restore injured workers to their former lifestyle in the safest and most effective manner possible. A partnership among workers, union representatives, employers, and health care provider stakeholders has been developed in a collaborative effort to return the injured worker back to his or her pre-injury status (Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation retrieved 2/6/2023 pa.gov). Note that this is not merely an employer or insurance company effort, but a collaborative commitment by many.

Laura Helmrich-Rhodes, CSP, Ed.D., is an independent regulations compliance consultant to the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI). A former member of PA/OSHA Consultation, she is an associate professor in the Safety Sciences Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she teaches graduate and undergraduate classes on topics such as OSHA standards, safety communications, workers’ compensation and human relations. Rhodes is available for safety advice and information. Contact SMI at 630-460-8588 or laurahrhodes@gmail.com.

Let’s look at the cost associated with workplace injuries to American employers and employees and why it is worth committing to an RTW program.

The National Safety Council (NSC) reports on data collected by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). According to NSC and NCCI, the average cost for all claims combined in 2019-2020 was $41,353. The costliest lost-time workers’ compensation claims by nature of injury are those resulting from amputation. These injuries averaged $118,837 per workers’ compensation claim filed in 2019 and 2020. The next highest costs were for injuries resulting in fracture, crush, or dislocation ($60,934), other trauma ($60,288), and burns ($48,671). The overall cost of workers’ compensation claims can be reduced by returning the worker to his/her job where at least a portion of the wages are not being paid by workers’ compensation. Although this will not impact the frequency of incidents for the employer, it will decrease what is calculated as the severity of the claim.

In 2020 (most recent data), the average days away for an injury/illness was 12. Further, NSC and NCCI estimate that 65,000,000 total days were lost in 2020 due to injuries (not including days lost to further medical treatment or check-ups after return to work). In today’s labor market, the loss of any employee for 12 days causes significant disruption in both manufacturing and supply chain.

Besides the obvious economic cost to the organization, there are many more benefits for both employer and employees by establishing a formal RTW program as outlined by Liberty Mutual Insurance (See link to “Liberty Mutual Building an Effective RTW Program” at the end of this article).

Benefits to employers:

• An employee that maintains a strong focus on returning to work

• Reduced costs associated with retraining, overtime, and hiring temporary help

• Minimizing possible negative effects associated with company productivity

• Retaining trained workers and reducing turnover

• Paying wages for work versus insurance carrier paying benefits

• Ensuring compliance with ADA requirements

Benefits to employees:

• May help to alleviate concerns over continued employment

• Providing a feeling of being needed and valued

• May help to shorten overall recovery time

• Reduces work disruption

Some key advice from more than 30 years of interaction in this arena include the necessity of choosing an insurance company that has high-performing claims management. Before workers’ compensation policy renewal, interview insurance carriers to assure they have skilled and committed individuals to help and encourage the injured employee. Don’t depend on their concept of return to work. Establish your own, companyled, formal, written program along with step-by-step procedures for which the insurance claims department is just one stakeholder/contributor. Assign a champion to interact with claims representatives so that your employees are at the top of their concerns.

Well-written job descriptions describing essential functions have to be created immediately. This is just one of many important reasons to have those ready. As noted above by Liberty Mutual, there are Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) laws with which employers must comply. Creating essential functions, prior to a disabled candidate applying for work, is a paramount HR obligation. Further, the job description with essential functions (lifting, standing, reaching, etc.) allows the physician to decide what the employee can do with and without accommodation. Make it one of the procedural steps to send the

job description, along with any other important papers, with the employee to the initial visit! Several helpful links regarding writing job descriptions and conducting hazards assessments are provided in the resources below. If the injured worker’s job is a highly complicated task or extremely physically demanding, be certain to consult the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) for help, otherwise, you may be faced with an ADA claim too!

The success of any RTW program depends on all the stakeholders understanding the magnitude of importance and working together (see definition of an RTW again above). All stakeholders need to understand the cost of employees staying home (use the Safety Pays link below to convince the doubtful). Working together requires great communication, even before incidents arise, so that employees are aware modified duty is available and expected. Be sure to publicize the intent to bring injured back to modified duty — perhaps when you share the doctor panel list.

Great communication extends to frequent follow-up contact with the injured employee. Early intervention with the injured employee (within a maximum of 24 hours) has been shown to have a positive impact for both the employee and reducing the potential for litigation. Timely contact helps to rapidly

identify modified work restrictions and ensures employees get the information they need. It further sends a message they are needed and valued at work. See research findings in “Managing Federal Workers’ Compensation Injuries and Cost” by Timothy Mallon et al, 2015.

As with any safety/HR program or initiative, measure your program effectiveness. How many workers are you getting back to work? How quickly? If you don’t have many claims, look further back to three or five years ago. What went well? What needs to be improved? Which doctors seem to have the best understanding of the demands in your facility and can develop quick accommodations? Do the panel physicians need to come to the plant to see work being done to have a better understanding of the array of accommodations available? Be objective in this assessment, and don’t get caught up in the weeds of the individual injuries. Just look at the RTW program and the overall effectiveness of those efforts. Did the stakeholders participate? Was a claims person assigned immediately and timely in shepherding the injured employee? Where can the procedure and/or communications be improved? Present those findings to your stakeholders as “needs improvement.”

Preventing injury through design and engineering controls is our first priority and it is worth repeating. Unfortunately, great employees get injured. Getting injured workers back is worth the effort for so many reasons. Make an effective return to work program a part of your company culture of caring. n

Key Advice

Choose the right claims department

Create a step-by-step procedure

Assign a champion to each claim representative

Create written job descriptions immediately

Invite physician panel to visit your facility to better understand work

Publicize the intent and expectation to return to modified duty

Communicate effectively and frequently

Always objectively measure any program’s effectiveness

Helpful Resources

Canadian Resource WorkSafeBC Selective/Light Employment

https://rb.gy/fwng1w

What is Return to Work?

https://rb.gy/72lycx

Workers’ Compensation Costs

https://rb.gy/oasscr

Liberty Mutual

https://rb.gy/uinpca

Job Accommodation Network

https://rb.gy/arbliq

Job Hazard Analysis (OSHA publication)

https://rb.gy/wqukfa

“Managing Federal Workers’ Compensation Injuries and Costs”

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Vol. 57, No. 3S, Federal Workers Compensation Supplement: Department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration (March 2015), pp. S12-S19 (8 pages) Published by: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Work Safe BC — Includes information on when there is a disagreement/refusal to accept Selective/ Light Employment (for employers)

https://rb.gy/wi9jkg

Risk Assessments

https://rb.gy/z5qsfl

https://rb.gy/mebsij

Work Safe BC — Example included regarding the details of light duty or alternate work

https://rb.gy/fvc3yl

Stranded Wire Springs

By Dan Sebastian

We have all seen the graphic images of the Tacoma Narrows bridge, twisting and undulating before it collapsed. If you haven’t, you can look it up online. For most of us, it is the first time we watched an object in its natural frequency.

As a spring engineer, one of the fundamental things we need to check in any design is the natural frequency. Then we must check the operating environment to make sure the spring is not subject to motions that are at or near the natural frequency or its critical nodes (3, 5, 7, 11, 13). This is critical in engine valve springs but may be equally as important in firearms. There are several different things we can do to dampen the frequency wave, thus controlling a potentially critical failure mode.

The firearms industry has used stranded wire springs to control surging in rapid-fire modes for many years.

troops were instructed to only fire the weapon in short bursts. Why have a fully automatic weapon that could only shoot in small bursts?

After many soldiers were found dead on the battlefield with jammed weapons, an investigation was conducted. They concluded that problems with the ammunition, were due to the barrels not being chromed on the inside which allows for a harder and smoother path for the bullets and poor maintenance. The fix, at best, was marginal. A special team looked further into the problem and took high-speed photography of the weapon in fully automatic mode.

A team of engineers from Associated Spring was asked to review the films. I was fortunate enough to be one of the team members. The high-speed photography was amazing in that it revealed the dynamic surging by the weapon in full automatic mode. We submitted our findings, along with a proposal to use a braided wire spring to fix the problem. The design was quickly processed and filed with the “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” treasure.

Why do Braided Wire Springs Work?

There are three key issues that make braided wire springs work so well.

A study of the literature on the use of stranded wire springs shows the first large-scale use goes back to the 1930s when they were used in rapid-fire machine guns used by the Spanish during their Civil War. The guns were largely provided to the Communists by the Soviet Union in their struggle with the Fascists.

The earliest published equation I discovered was in a July 1946 edition of Product Engineering. A series of protocols on design with the equation for spring rate and stress calculations can be found in the “Encyclopedia of Spring Design Compression, Extension, Garter, and Torsion Springs,” pages S21-S22.9 The use of braided wire springs proved so successful that when the Soviets introduced the AK-47 as a rapid-fire infantry rifle, they used braided wire springs.

In 1964, the U.S. Army began using the M-16 rifle which was supposed to be a lightweight, rapid-fire automatic gun, ideal for jungle warfare. From the beginning, it was plagued with problems. One problem was the jamming of the gun in full automatic mode which was, initially blamed on poor maintenance and cleaning. Its reliability was so poor that our special operating troops preferred the AK-47 which they secured from the enemy after an engagement. At the operating level, the U.S.

1. Each strand is significantly smaller than the single wire spring, thus yielding very different natural frequencies.

2. The friction between the braided wires is very effective in dampening the potential natural frequency wave.

3. In most cases, the tensile strength (and the fracture toughness) of each individual strand is higher than a single wire. In the end, stranded wire springs are more expensive than conventional springs due to the cost of materials and the complexity of the manufacturing process. The problem, in this case, boiled down to a failure to accept some increased cost of production that would have resulted in a good deal of unnecessary loss of American lives. n

Dan Sebastian is a former SMI president. He holds a degree in metallurgical engineering from Lehigh University and his industry career spans more than four decades in various technical and management roles. He may be reached by contacting SMI at 630-460-8588.

Figure 1: A stranded wire helical spring

The Impact of Wire Drawing Die Geometry on the Development of Residual Stresses and Potential for Improved Spring Fatigue Life

By C. Richard Gordon

(Editor’s note: This article describes the work presented at the 2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the impact of wire drawing die geometry on the development of residual stresses and potential for improved spring fatigue life.1 The presentation concluded with the proposal to produce test wires for spring manufacture and testing to demonstrate the concept. There was support from SMI members and associate members to conduct this work. Along with many other projects, in March 2020, COVID-19 postponed the experiments. It is hoped this work can be initiated soon.)

Background and Introduction

The presence of residual compressive stresses on the surface of springs is a desirable way to significantly improve spring fatigue life. Shot peening is a common technique used successfully in the spring industry to induce these compressive surface stresses in springs.

In the production of wire drawn through conical converging dies, conventional internal wire drawing die geometry and drawing reduction practices act to produce a nonuniform stress distribution in the wire cross section with tensile stresses present at the wire surface.

Research studies on the impact of changes to the internal wire drawing die geometry have shown that it is possible to change the stress state at the surface of the wire from tensile to compressive.

In this article, changes to wire drawing die geometry will be reviewed and the resultant improvements in stresses and mechanical properties of wire and bar products presented. The results suggest that it may be possible to achieve improved spring fatigue life in some springs using wire produced with an optimum surface stress condition.

A proposed research project is presented to determine how the residual stresses in the wire translate to residual stresses in the spring and the potential impact on spring fatigue life.

Materials Design Philosophy

In the Fall 2019 issue of Springs, 2 I discussed the engineering concept known as the materials design philosophy, which can be used as a tool to better understand composition-property relationships. Briefly, the materials design philosophy shows

the relationship between the composition of the material and the final product properties (Figure 1).

A material with a specific composition is processed in a given operation. The combination of the material and the processing results in a particular structure (metallurgical microstructure). The microstructure in turn results in the specific material properties. In reality, the process of design occurs from right to left. Engineers are interested in specific material properties, which in turn are dependent on the structure, which is a function of designed processing of a material with a specific composition.

Material properties such as tensile strength and ductility are determined through mechanical testing, which have been discussed in past Springs articles.3,4,5,6,7,8

Wire Drawing Overview

Wire/rod drawing is a metalworking process which involves pulling the workpiece through a single or series of conical converging die (or shaped wire dies) to reduce the diameter or area and increase its length.

Modern wire drawing can involve single or multi-pass operations. Stresses formed in wire drawing are due to non-uniform deformation and thermal gradients across the wire cross section.

Wire drawing was discussed as part of the Springs magazine series of articles: “Advances in Spring Making Materials — Part 3: Wire Drawing and Heat Treating.”9

C. Richard (Rick) Gordon is the technical director for SMI. He is available to help SMI members and non-members with metallurgical challenges such as fatigue life, corrosion, material and process-related problems. He is also available to help manage and oversee processes related to failure analysis. This includes sourcing reputable testing labs throughout North America, forwarding member requests to the appropriate lab and reporting results and recommendations. He can be reached at c.richard.gordon@gmail.com or 574-514-9367.

Figure 1. Materials Design Philosophy

Composition Processing Structure Properties

For the purpose of this article, Figure 1 was expanded to include the current process of interest, wire drawing. In terms of structure, we are most interested in the stress distribution at the wire surface and how we can modify that stress distribution through a change in the internal wire drawing die geometry.

Lasalle Steel Patent10

LaSalle Steel was issued a patent in 1964 describing the modification of the internal geometry of a wire drawing die resulting in the change in residual stress at the wire surface from tensile to compressive. Implementation of this technology resulted in the production of a new product line of cold drawn bar products. More recent research on wire has shown similar results.

Wire Drawing Die Geometry

Figure 3 shows a typical cross section of a tungsten carbide wire drawing die.9

Wire or rod enters the bell and entrance angle of the die, and these areas are intended to promote wire alignment and lubricant flow and reduce abrasion. Next, the wire enters the approach angle portion of the die, probably the most important feature, which establishes the deformation zone. As a general guideline, wire should make contact halfway to bearing. Next, the wire enters the bearing section of the die. Traditionally surfaces are parallel from entry to exit of the bearing. Bearing length is specified as a percentage of wire diameter. The traditional purpose of this section is to preserve drawn wire size. This is followed by the back relief section which is tapered to minimize scraping of the wire at the die exit.

Traditionally, wire drawing dies are produced with the bearing section with parallel sides. The innovation of the LaSalle Steel patent is to produce the bearing section with a taper as shown in Figure 4.

Methods for Evaluating Residual Stress in Wire

Methods for evaluating residual stress in wire include:

1. metal removal either mechanically or electrochemically

2. metal slitting (cutting)

3. X-ray diffraction and

4. neutron diffraction.

In the LaSalle Steel patent, the simple slitting method was used to demonstrate the concept as shown in Figure 5 with the optimum bearing angle ~ 0°58’ - 1°9’.

Figure 6 shows a) a schematic of the wire splitting geometry and stress calculation and b) a precision diamond saw for cutting small diameter wires.

Proposal for Future Study

In this work, experiments are proposed to determine how the residual stresses in the wire translate to residual stresses in the spring and the potential impact on spring fatigue life.

In part 1, wire coils from the same parent coil will be drawn using 1) conventional wire drawing dies and 2) experimental dies prepared with a tapered die section. Each wire type will be tested to confirm the surface residual stresses produced as a result of wire drawing.

Figure 2. Materials Design Philosophy — Expanded for Wire Drawing

Composition Processing Structure Properties

Change Wire Properties: Tensile Strength, Ductility, etc.

Cold drawn structure Wire Drawing Change Wire Size/Diameter

Figure 3. Cross section of a tungsten carbide wire drawing die. (Reprinted with permission of the Wire Association International. All rights reserved. www.wirenet.org).

Die or Nib

Figure 4. Tungsten carbide nib cross section showing the tapered bearing section.10

of Wire Travel

of the Die

Approach

Bearing

In part 2, if the compressive residual surface stress state is demonstrated using the experimental dies, springs will be produced from each wire type for characterization including spring fatigue testing.

Summary

This article describes the work presented at the 2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the impact of wire drawing die geometry on the development of residual stresses and potential for improved spring fatigue life.1 The potential for modifying the wire drawing die internal geometry to create favorable compressive surface stresses was demonstrated. A proposal for future study was presented and there was support from SMI members and associate members to conduct this work. COVID-19 delayed the start of the project. It is hoped this work can be initiated in the near future. n

References

1. Gordon, C.R., The Impact of Wire Drawing Die Geometry on Development of Residual Stresses and Potential for Improved Spring Fatigue Life, SMI Metal Engineering eXpo 2019, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2. Gordon, C.R., Springmaking Materials/Materials Design Philosophy, Springs, Fall 2019, p.23

3. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 1: The Tensile Test, Springs, Winter 2020, p.27

4. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 2: The Coiling and Wrapping Tests, Springs, Spring 2020, p. 27.

5. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 3: The Torsional Ductility Test, Springs, Summer 2020, p.17.

6. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 4: Hardness Testing, Springs, Fall 2020, p.19.

7. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 5: The Reverse Bend Testing, Springs, Winter 2021, p.19.

8. Gordon, C.R., Types of Tests Used to Characterize Springmaking Materials — Part 6: Fatigue Testing of Wire, Springs, Summer 2021, p.21.

9. Gordon, C.R., Advances in Springmaking Materials — Part 3: Wire Drawing and Heat Treating, Springs, Winter 2022, p. 21

10. US Patent No. 3,157,274, Method of Controlling Residual Stresses in Materials During Working, by F.A. Kyle et. al., November 17, 1964

11. Yoshida K / Koyama R, Reduction of Residual Stress of Drawn Wires, WAI Journal 2012 45(7):56

SMI has a team of experts, who speak the language of springs, ready to assist you. It could be a metallurgy question about fatigue life or corrosion, or perhaps you need help with a spring design and the use of materials when manufacturing springs. To find out how SMI Technical Services can help you, phone 630-460-8588 or visit www.smihq.org/springsadvice.

Correction:

In the Winter 2023 issue of Springs, Figure 1 in the Technically Speaking article was published in error. A correction was made and can be found in the electronic copy on the SMI website at shorturl.at/mAJUZ.

Figure 5. Effect of bearing angle on residual surface stress. Slitting (warpage) values less than zero are compressive stresses.10

Warpage Value Versus Bearing Angle C1144 Steel

Figure 6. a) Wire splitting geometry schematic with the equation for stress calculation11 and b) a typical precision diamond saw for cutting smaller diameter wires.

cybersecurity cybersecurity

In this issue of Springs we tackle the often talked about subject of cybersecurity. Gartner describes it this way: “Cybersecurity is the practice of deploying people, policies, processes and technologies to protect organizations, their critical systems, and sensitive information from digital attacks.”

In the 2022 Gartner Board of Directors Survey, 88% of board members classified cybersecurity as a business risk; just 12% called it a technology risk. Still, a 2021 survey showed that the chief information officer (CIO), the chief information security officer (CISO) or their equivalent were held accountable for cybersecurity at 85% of organizations.

“Organizations have become far more vulnerable to cyberthreats because digital information and technology are now so heavily integrated into day-to-day work,” reports Gartner. “But the attacks themselves, which target both information and critical infrastructure, are also becoming far more sophisticated.”

By Gary McCoy

Countering Cyber Fraud with Suspicion

In the Fall 2021 issue of Springs, we published an article by Phillip M. Perry, “Cybersecurity: How to Counter Fraud in a Digital World.”

As Perry pointed out, large companies are not the only ones at risk from cybersecurity threats. “Criminals often target smaller businesses because their protections are typically not as strong,” said Mary S. Schaeffer, AP Now’s president. “They are likely to have older, unsafe technology and lack the security personnel to keep software updated.”

Perry wrote that fueling the rise in cyber fraud is the growing digitalization of business transactions, a long-term trend given further impetus by a greater reliance on electronic communications during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Flaws in firewalls and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), as well as in videoconferencing systems, have exposed more businesses to incursions,” said Robert M. Travisano, an attorney in the litigation practice of Epstein Becker Green. The rapid expansion of devices on the typical employer’s computer network has given cyber actors still more opportunities.

I encourage readers to reread Perry’s entire article (an electronic copy is archived on our website) for helpful advice on electronic payments and how to protect accounts. He also delves into the subject of damaging malware and cyber insurance.

Perry wrote that even the best insurance policy is no substitute for operating procedures that help stop cyber theft in its tracks. Employees from the CEO on down need to be trained on the most effective responses to thieves who are skilled at social engineering. “The one piece of advice I have is to be suspicious,” says Schaeffer. “Make sure everyone knows that if something looks a little odd, or if someone asks for something out of the ordinary, speak up. It’s better to go overboard on security than to go the other way.”

Helping Those Who Serve the Defense Industry

Spring manufacturers selling to the Department of Defense (DoD) are facing a critical deadline. By October 2025 they will need to ensure their security procedures comply with the requirements of a uniform set of standards designed to protect national security.

Perry presents a different cybersecurity article in this issue, “The Road to CMMC Compliance.” It is a sobering look at the challenge springmakers face to comply with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), “the mandated policies and procedures that govern practices for restricting access to sensitive data on a need-to-know basis, and

protecting such data from both accidental loss and transmission into the wrong hands through cyberattacks.”

Perry quotes Neil Jones, director of cybersecurity evangelism at Engyte, who points out that CMMC compliance is a must-have, not a nice-to-have. “Every DoD contractor or sub-contractor, regardless of size, will need to comply.” Read Perry’s entire article on page 28.

NESMA board member Ted Lucas, CPA, and his co-worker, Jason Kane, CPA, CISA, of Marcum LLP, contribute with the article, “Software for Federal Agencies: New Orders and Their Downstream Impact.”

This article looks at the Biden Administration’s Executive Order 14028, issued in May 2021, which covered “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.”

Some of the directives in the order included implementing stronger security standards in the federal government, creating a cyber safety review board, developing a standard playbook to respond to cyber incidents, and improving software supply chain security.

Lucas and Kane help guide readers to what is needed to ensure that software is compliant with the new directive, NIST 800-218. Deadlines loom by the end of this year.

Noting a bit of good news, Lucas and Kane say that NIST 800-218 requirements may trickle down into non-federal agency software vendors.

“This should generally be received as positive news for the users of software, including spring manufacturers with proprietary information that should be kept secure. As more software becomes cloud-based and more responsibilities of running the software become the responsibility of the software producer, users and companies can have stronger peace of mind knowing that their data is secure, as assessed against an established framework.”

Read the entire article on page 31.

Be Aware and Get Help

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure. CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Five products in the National Cyber Awareness System offer a variety of information for users with varied technical expertise. Those with more technical interest can read the alerts, analysis reports, current activity, or bulletins. Users looking for more general-interest pieces can read the tips. For more information, visit www.cisa.gov/uscert/securitypublications. n

The Road to CMMC Compliance

By Phillip M. Perry

Spring manufacturers selling to the Department of Defense (DoD) are facing a critical deadline. By October 2025 they will need to ensure their security procedures comply with the requirements of a uniform set of standards designed to protect national security.

Dubbed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), the mandated policies and procedures govern practices for restricting access to sensitive data on a need-to-know basis, and protecting such data from both accidental loss and transmission into the wrong hands through cyberattacks.

“CMMC compliance is a must-have, not a nice-to-have,” said Neil Jones, director of cybersecurity evangelism at Egnyte, a content security and governance platform. “Every DoD contractor or subcontractor, regardless of size, will need to comply.”

Getting it Done

While the road to certification will vary widely by company, the experience of one spring manufacturer suggests that applicants can face significant challenges. Precision Coil Spring needed to comply with CMMC requirements because of its heavy defense work, making parts for weaponry such as stealth bombers and fighters. About 80% of its production is destined for aerospace; the rest goes into commercial, medical, and nuclear.

Precision Coil Spring began working on its compliance program in late 2020. “It’s been a real struggle because there are so many facets involved,” said William Turek, the company’s vice president of

manufacturing. “There are a lot of controls to put in place and a lot of software to deal with.”

From the very beginning, Turek had a sense that the job would be complex. He sought outside help from California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC), a nonprofit that provides a variety of support services for the state’s manufacturing enterprises. CMTC was able to get about half the job done before state funding ran out.

Turek’s second stop was at a consulting firm, which managed to get the job to the 80% completion point before something became painfully evident: It lacked the expertise to push the project over the finish line.

“We realized we could not go forward with them,” said Turek. “They had never done a CMMC compliance project before, and it became clear that we were their experimental customer.”

After looking around for a replacement, a process that involved interviews with three potential companies, Precision Coil Spring settled on a cloud-based consulting firm with some 50 CMMC projects under its belt.

Like other firms, Precision Coil Spring has discovered it must invest in some new hardware to ensure CMMC compliance. It had to upgrade its firewall along with security cameras that could send notifications

when someone approached a building’s doors. “Luckily our computers are not too old, or we would have to replace them, too,” said Turek.

With transition to the new firm now underway, CMMC compliance is expected by the end of 2023. The end result for the company will be a dramatically different IT structure. “Things will be cloud-based, so we will no longer be operating our server on-site,” said Turek. “All our workstations will log in to a cloud-based interface and will also have cloud-based backup software. And all our desktops will access data in the cloud.”

Precision Coil Spring estimates the project will require an investment of as much as $200,000 the first year, and then $135,000 annually for its outside consulting firm. There are significant staff hours involved, since the project has required the ongoing attention from Turek, as well as two other company employees and an IT representative. Time must also be spent on internal training to ensure that someone can take over when Turek retires. “The project can’t rely on just me,” he said. “The outside consulting firm will always need a point person in the facility to help push the project along.”

Reaching Out

The Precision Coil Spring story illustrates an important truth: Achieving CMMC compliance can take longer than some companies expect. Just how long? Companies with a capable staff who try to undertake the program on their own might require up to two years, said Jones. Outside help can cut the process down to a few months. “Many smaller and medium-sized organizations start with a do-it-yourself approach,” said Jones. “The pro is that it’s a lot less expensive; the con is that it often takes a long time.”

For many companies, outside help is essential. “One of the best things you can do is reach out to an organization that’s an authorized CMMC accreditation body and have an assessor do a basic readiness check,” said Keatron Evans, principal security researcher at Cengage

Know the CMMC Lingo

The path to compliance with CMMC is strewn with acronyms. Here are the ones you need to know:

CMMC 2.0. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification

Assurance that an organization has instituted the required cybersecurity practices and hardware to protect government data. Version 2.0 is the latest iteration of the mandated protocols.

CUI. Controlled Unclassified Information. Data created or possessed by the government, or another entity, related to products or services contracted to the DoD by a vendor.

C3PAO. Third-Party Assessor Organization

An organization certified to conduct an on-site investigation to determine that a vendor has become compliant with the requirements of CMMC.

Group’s Infosec Institute, a provider of CMMC certification courses. “They can then guide you through the process, give you pointers on what you need to do to get yourself ready, and what they will look for when they come to do their assessment. They’re very good at giving out that information.”

While costly, taking on the help of an outside firm ensures that the security program is thorough. However, the total cost remains a bit nebulous. “The DoD has been planning to provide a potential cost outline but has not yet done so,” said Jones.

Part of the expense can be mitigated by outsourcing compliance to an infrastructure provider offering both consulting services and a pre-built comprehensive technical solution in the form of a secure data enclave that satisfies CMMC requirements. This infrastructure provider will secure the data the DoD needs protected, said Jones. “The pro here is the solution can be less expensive; the con is that companies have a little less autonomy than if they did the projects on their own.”

Levels of Security

Whatever the solution path, a company’s first step is to determine in which compliance level of cyber maturity it belongs. Ranked from low to high in terms of required security protocols, here are the three levels specified by the CMMC:

Level 1 (Foundational)

Organizations in this group must protect Federal Contract Information (FCI)—a term which refers to non-public data contained in documents provided by the government for the development of a product or service. This level requires the lowest degree of security protocols since contract details are less sensitive.

Level 2 (Advanced)

These organizations must protect data that fall into the category of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). That term refers to sensitive government-owned data describing the products or services

DIB. The Defense Industrial Base.

The compendium of data controlled by the Department of Defense (DoD). Includes information about contracted products and services.

FCI. Federal Contract Information.

Non-public data that is part of a contract to develop a product or service for the government.

(POA&M). Plan of Action and Milestones.

A roadmap for bringing a noncompliant vendor into compliance with the requirements of CMMC. Subject to approval by the DoD. Companies may obtain more information about the CMMC program at the Department of Defense website: https://dodcio.defense.gov/CMMC/

under contract. Most spring manufacturers are likely to fall into Level 2, since details about specific types of springs produced in support of a DoD contract will likely be considered CUI.

Level 3 (Expert)

Organizations assigned the highest level of security sensitivity will likely be providing pure intellectual property such as software programs, the loss of which could cause significant damage to the DoD.

First Steps

To determine its level of security, the business must start by analyzing how much FCI and CUI it possesses. “FCI is fairly easy to determine, since it is clear which federal contracts are in effect,” said Jones. “CUI can be more difficult to identify.” Here’s where a practiced consultant will be of help.

After determining a company’s maturity level, the next step is to define the scope of the CMMC compliance project. This begins with an analysis of the security protocols in the organization’s current technical environment. The company can then design and carry out a program to bring those protocols into CMMC compliance.

There’s another dimension to the CMMC picture: staff training. “Decisions need to be made about who can interact with FCI and CUI data, and when and how they can do so,” said Jones. “Access must be restricted based on a business need to know. Does the CEO, for example, really need day-to-day access? Finally, those employees

How Complete is Your CMMC Program?

How close is your company to full compliance with CMMC? Find out by scoring 10 points for every “yes” answer to the following questions. Total your score and check your rating at the bottom of the sidebar.

1. Is your CMMC compliance program a company-wide effort rather than a specialized IT initiative?

2. Have you analyzed the security protocols currently in place in your company?

3. Have you designed a realistic plan to achieve compliance?

4. If you do not have a sufficient level of internal expertise, have you obtained help from a consulting firm experienced in CMMC?

5. If you have acquired the services of outside consultant, have you designated internal personnel to coordinate their efforts?

6. Have you analyzed the amount of FCI and CUI data your company possesses?

designated to put hands on the data must also be trained on the correct procedures.”

Self-Assessment

Once procedures have been put into place, the company normally undertakes a thorough self-assessment. Do all processes comply with CMMC standards? And if not, is there a plan in place to bring the operations into compliance within a reasonable time? That process can be outlined in a document called a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M). “The DoD will assess whether that POA&M is acceptable,” said Jones. Faced with a formidable project, spring manufacturers will need to marshal all available forces to bring their projects to completion. “The sooner you jump on it, the better off you’re going to be,” said Evans. “The biggest mistake companies can make is not taking CMMC compliance seriously and waiting until the deadline arrives to get a handle on things.”

Achieving CMMC compliance is not a one-and-done affair, added Jones. “Organizations must continuously safeguard their CUI and improve their data security processes to make sure only the right people have access to their protected information.”

It’s an all-hands-on-deck affair. The entire company must get aboard the CMMC bandwagon. “Executive buy-in is critical,” said Jones. “If a company tries to do CMMC compliance as a one-off IT initiative rather than a company-wide project with sufficient managerial and budgetary support, it is doomed to failure.” n

7. Have you determined in which of the three compliance cybersecurity levels your company belongs?

8. Have you created a list of people who will need to have access to FCI and CUI data?

9. Have you trained individuals on how to access protected data in a secure manner that conforms to CMMC?

10. If you have completed your compliance program, have you conducted a thorough self-assessment in preparation for a visit by an assessor from an authorized CMMC accreditation body? What’s your score? 80 or more: Congratulations. You have gone a long way toward achieving the level of security required to sell to the DoD. Between 60 and 80: It’s time to light a fire under your CMMC compliance program. Below 60: Your business is at risk. Act on the suggestions in the accompanying story.

Software for Federal Agencies

New Orders and Their Downstream Impact

By Jason Kane, CPA, CISA, and Ted Lucas, CPA

Cybersecurity has become a growing national threat in the United States. According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), 47% of American adults have had their personal information exposed by cyber criminals. In May 2021, this threat was recognized by the Biden Administration when Executive Order 14028 was issued, which covered Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.

Some of the directives in the order included implementing stronger security standards in the federal government, creating a cyber safety review board, developing a standard playbook to respond to cyber incidents, and improving software supply chain security.

In Sept. 2022, as a follow up to the Executive Order, a memo was sent out to the heads of Executive Departments within the government and federal agencies stating that federal agencies are required to use only software that is compliant with the NIST 800-218 guidance (Secure Software Development Framework).

Additionally, it is now required that software producers selfattest or obtain attestation from a third party that their software is compliant with the framework prior to a federal agency’s use of the software. Self-attestation will entail completing a form and checklist, where each requirement stated within NIST 800-218 will be listed.

Requirements

NIST 800-218 has over 40 requirements spanning four different areas of focus for companies that produce software. Some of the requirements include:

• Having written policies and procedures over software development practices

• Configuring tools to generate artifacts in support of software development

• Securing access to any code by the principle of least privilege

• Using risk modeling in the software development process

• Creating a baseline of security requirements for developed software

• Having a vulnerability disclosure and analysis policy, and to analyze the root cause of any identified vulnerabilities

Timeline

Compliance and self-attestation will be required before the end of 2023. The self-attestation form for software producers

was posted in Jan. 2023. For software deemed critical, selfattestation is required by June 11, 2023, and by Sept. 14, 2023, for all software used by federal agencies.

Downstream Impact

Required Federal Agency compliance with the NIST Guidance will have an impact on software producers on a more global scale. As time elapses and agencies start using different software solutions, or even perform vendor due diligence over potential software vendors, it will become a requirement and an attraction for more software producers to be compliant with NIST 800-218.

Due to this necessity on the federal agency side, NIST 800218 requirements may trickle down into non-federal agency software vendors. This should generally be received as positive news for the users of software, including spring manufacturers with proprietary information that should be kept secure. As more software becomes cloud-based and more responsibilities of running the software become the responsibility of the software producer, users and companies can have stronger peace of mind knowing that their data is secure, as assessed against an established framework. n

Ted Lucas is a partner in Marcum LLP’s Hartford, Connecticut, office. Lucas has more than 20 years of experience conducting and performing audits and reviews for both publicly traded and privately held companies in the manufacturing, technology, retail, real estate, construction and alternative energy industries. In addition, Lucas serves as treasurer and a member of the board of directors for NESMA. For more information, email Ted.Lucas@marcumllp.com.

Jason Kane is manager in the Marcum LLP’s Boston, Massachusetts, office. Kane is a supervisor in the firm’s risk advisory and consulting practice with nearly 10 years of professional experience in a wide range of client services. Kane’s portfolio of clients spans several industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail, banking and health care. For more information, email Jason.Kane@marcumllp.com.

Why Would a Family Business Create a Board with Independent Directors?

By Rob Sligh

The most important reason why family businesses create a board with independent directors is better company performance in the long run. Better performance allows families to build wealth inside and outside the business, contribute to their community and causes that are important to them and create opportunities for next gen ownership and leadership development. No wonder many business-owning families say years later that creating a board with independent directors was one of the best decisions they ever made.

Our research shows that family businesses with independent directors on their boards have much higher levels of board effectiveness than those with no independent directors. Effectiveness increases with the amount of independent representation.1 That’s powerful support for creating and maintaining a family business board with three or more independent directors.

Overall, the board’s role is to see that the company is well-led to achieve the owners’ vision, values and expectations for business performance. The board is active in providing inputs for the owners’ vision, values and expectations; evaluating viability and fairness; seeing that they are measurable; and evaluating leadership progress. An effective board’s demeanor is collaborative and collegial. Specifically, the board’s role is to share experiences, act as a sounding board, and contribute fresh ideas and insights in areas like:

• Shareholder returns, risk and liquidity

• Ownership interests and ownership succession

• CEO selection, compensation, evaluation and succession

• Oversight of top leader development, feedback processes, compensation and succession

• Strategic planning and competitive positioning

• Sources and uses of capital

• Sounding board for important initiatives, divestitures and acquisitions

• Supportive guide, validator and accountability forum

• Stewards for company culture

Building Trust and Family Harmony

Independent directors create trust by influencing decisions like how much to reinvest in the family business, how to mitigate or diversify risk, and what portion of capital can be set aside for redemptions and what should be distributed to shareholders.

Independent directors give credence to the board’s oversight of leadership performance and compensation. Independent directors can see to it that leadership compensation is marketplace-competitive and based on performance. When leadership succession and compensation are seen as fair and objective, it helps create and maintain harmony among family owners whether or not they are involved in the business.

For example: A multi-generation, business-owning family was experiencing disharmony. Family owners outside the business felt the family insiders were paying themselves too much at their expense. Insiders felt needed reinvestments in machinery and equipment were unduly constrained by the outsiders’ insistence on higher dividends.

Fortunately, the company’s independent directors had earned the trust of family members both inside and outside the business. They organized studies of peer-company returns, dividends, and executive compensation and oversaw the creation of a strategic plan that specified the needs for capital investment. The result was a balanced plan for capital allocation that took all owner goals and business needs into account and brought about much better family harmony.

What is an Independent Director?

A director is independent when they are not a family member, close personal

friend, professional advisor to the family or company, or a current or recent employee. An independent director is not a supplier or customer and not a financial partner with a family member in another venture. On a well-designed board, independent directors bring skills and experiences that the family enterprise needs for the future. They have been where the enterprise wants to go in terms of things like scale, geography and new markets. They are perceived as fair by the full range of owners, family members and other stakeholders.

On effective boards, pre-read information distills background relating to the high-level issues and opportunities to be discussed at the board meeting. Prereads identify what leaders want from the board. That way, time in the board meeting itself is largely invested in valuable, interactive discussion.

In the context of a board with independent directors, the chair or CEO can spark productive experience sharing at board meetings with a variety of prompts:

• I see this as a tough decision…

• I’m torn between two alternatives…

• I can’t see any good options…

• I’m having second thoughts about our direction on this. What do you think?

Diversity and its Role in Better Board Decision-Making

Boards often look to CEOs of a company of the same size or a little larger in a market or industry with relatable characteristics. At times this amounts to adding directors by cloning themselves.

But often there are particular skills, experiences, or backgrounds needed for the envisioned future of the enterprise when filling a seat on the board. It may be in the area of corporate finance, including the evaluation and integration of acquisitions. Or systems experience including cybersecurity or e-commerce. Or the board may be looking to improve diversity in perspective, experience,

Adding Independent Increases Board Value for Leadership

54%

geography, age, generation, gender, race, and/or cultural background.

These are all forms of diversity that add value to a board when they are aimed at supporting the intended future of the business enterprise. A collegial board that listens respectfully to a variety of views and considers a broad range of options makes better decisions than boards that essentially clone themselves when adding new members.

When to Form a Board with Independent Directors?

The impetus to add independent directors to a board takes a variety of forms:

• When the person responsible for business operations isn’t the sole owner

• When other members of the family share ownership but not leadership responsibilities

96%

83% Majority Independents

• When ownership is spread across a large group of shareholders in increasingly smaller percentages

• When the business is transitioning to the second generation and beyond and ownership is seeking more effective corporate governance

But anytime is a good time for a family business of sufficient scale to set up a board with independent directors. After all, who doesn’t want better company performance in the long run? n

1. Adapted from Jennifer Pendergast, John Ward and Stephanie Brun de Pontet. Building a Successful Family Business Board: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 17-23. Reprinted with permission from The Family Business Advisor®, A Family Business Consulting Group, Inc.® Publication.

Adapted from Building a Successful Family Business Board

Rob Sligh is a senior consultant with The Family Business Consulting Group, Inc., a leading management consulting firm serving the unique needs of multi-generational family businesses worldwide. To learn more about The FBCG and how it serves families, phone 773-604-5005, email info@thefbcg.com or visit www.thefbcg.com.

Overcoming the Skills Gap

By Harry Moser, Founder/President, Reshoring Initiative®

Is Critical to Reshoring Essential Supply Chains

Global disruption and geopolitical risk created by phenomena like the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in unreliable global supply chains and shortages of essential goods. This type of unpredictable disruption highlights the urgency to invest in reshoring essential product ecosystems. Overcoming the manufacturing workforce skills gap is critical to this effort.

Unfilled jobs were the primary reason that 70% of companies fell behind in scheduled production, leading many industrial leaders to identify labor shortages as a challenge to growth. The skills gap must be resolved in order to reshore supply chains that are crucial to U.S. national and economic security.

The Reshoring Trend and the Metrics of TCO

Much of the strength of the reshoring trend has been due to more companies becoming familiar with a broad range of factors (costs and risks) they had previously ignored. A broad range of costs and risks can be quantified using the Reshoring Initiative’s online Total Cost of Ownership Estimator®

The impact of using TCO shows that shifting decisions from a price basis to TCO can be expected to drive reshoring of 20% to 30% of what is now imported. The percentage would be higher in heavy fabrications and tanks where the freight cost is relatively high versus the labor savings offshore.

About 60% of companies make import decisions based on price instead of TCO. In Figure 1, the percentage of the cases that the U.S. wins increases from 8% based on price, to 32% based on TCO, to 46% if a 15% tariff applies.

Building a Comprehensive Labor Pool

It is fundamental that we engage a broader labor pool by: increasing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); adding flexibility models to attract and retain talent; overcoming misperceptions of manufacturing careers; re-skilling

and up-skilling existing workers; and adopting public-private partnerships to provide training that aligns with the needs of industry. Simply put, we must train a larger and more diverse skilled workforce.

Figure 1: Chinese price & TCO as a percentage of U.S. price & TCO Source: TCO User Database Reshoring Initiative

DEI and Flexible Workplace Benefits

Women in manufacturing are a prime DEI example. Although women make up 47% of the total workforce and earn more than half of the associate, undergraduate, and graduate degrees awarded in the U.S., they make up only about 30% of the people employed in manufacturing industries. Manufacturers should tap into this highly educated labor pool.

Implementing flexible work models such as flextime or hybrid work will expand and diversify the talent pipeline and result in higher employee engagement and increased productivity.

Manufacturing Misperceptions — Recruitment is Key

Overcoming two common manufacturing misperceptions is key to recruitment. First, let’s look at training versus degrees. Multiple government websites show income as a function of the number of degrees while failing to mention that an apprentice graduate has an income similar to a fouryear university graduate. I convinced the Labor Department to change one page but there are many more online. This data is the basis for the unrelenting societal pressure to go to university. See an example: “Education pays, 2021: Career Outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics” (bls.gov).

Second, change the misperception that manufacturing careers are dark, dirty, dangerous, dead-end and declining — the “5Ds.” To overcome these misperceptions, the industry needs to demonstrate that modern manufacturing is a high-skilled, hightech, high-paying, stable, safe career choice. By promoting the success of reshoring, we overcome the “declining” issue.

Re-Skilling and Up-Skilling

Many manufacturing jobs now require higher-tech skills to support advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), all of which increase productivity, drive innovation and boost U.S. competitiveness.

New methods of training like Industry 4.0 are improving instruction and safety conditions through remote experts, 3D work instructions, augmented reality, real-time monitoring and more.

For example, aerospace giant Lockheed Martin has embraced MR (mixed reality) headsets for training, manufacturing and assembly, boosting productivity while saving time and money.

Training Initiatives

Today, just 0.5% of global gross domestic product is invested in lifelong learning but broad investment in re-skilling and up-skilling will likely boost the global gross domestic product by $6.5 trillion by 2030. Here are some initiatives that are collaborating to close the U.S. manufacturing skills gap:

• The National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) is recognized by the Department of Labor as an Apprenticeship Ambassador, focusing on filling the skills gap through access to training and

educational resources that are industry-backed, industry-tested and industry-proven.

• In 2022, 12 Midwest institutions partnered to form a semiconductor-focused network. The collective, named the Midwest Regional Network to Address National Needs in Semiconductor and Microelectronics, will develop innovations in higher education to prepare the workforce to support the reshoring of the semiconductor and microelectronics industry.

• The Center for Manufacturing Advancement (CMA) is a Virginia state-funded project at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR). “There has never really been a program designed like this to take someone that walks off the streets that may have never been exposed to welding or machinery or anything and then in four months be able to walk in and get an attractive job with a salary that supports themselves and their families,” said IALR President Telly Tucker.

Let’s collaborate to support skilled workforce development and reshore supply chains that are essential to U.S. national and economic security. n

Article reprinted courtesy of STI/SPFA (www.stispfa.org).

Harry C. Moser is the founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative®

The mission of the organization is to bring good, well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States by assisting companies to more accurately assess their total cost of offshoring and shift collective thinking from offshoring is cheaper to local reduces the total cost of ownership. It is a nonprofit organization that offers many free tools to advance its mission. Visit www.reshorenow.org or email: info@reshorenow.org.

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▪ A real-time report including min, max, average, sigma, Cp, and Cpk statistics can be displayed and printed.

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By Edward Lanke

There is More to Springmaking Than Just Making Springs

(Editor’s note: In this edition, we wind the clock back to October 1989 to reprint part of Edward H. Lanke’s President’s Message. Lanke, who died March 10, 2010, was the founder and longtime president of Wisconsin Coil Spring. Lanke wrote numerous articles for the magazine and was beloved by many in the industry. His message, from nearly 35 years ago, rests squarely on the continued need to develop a skilled workforce. This should sound familiar to those who currently operate spring manufacturing businesses.)

Within the past 15 years we’ve seen computerized equipment make inroads in spring companies—all part of the changing technology. This equipment requires special training, a combination of computer programming and mechanical skills.

Manufacturing managers state that it is hard to find skilled workers for certain jobs and see the lack of such workers as a prime limitation to growth, as the workforce continues to age while fewer young workers enter the market. Many who do enter, lack the mechanical skills or general shop background of their counterparts of a decade or two ago.

This will continue to be a difficulty until it is recognized that the schools or the classifieds will not solve the skilled worker problem. There has to be more in-house training if we are to maintain and protect our position in the world manufacturing environment.

No one is exempt from this responsibility. Job training programs will have to be implemented where none exist or expanded where they do.

Richard Dauche, director of training for Chrysler, says that to get the full yield out of new workplace technology, a dollar must be spent on training for every dollar spent on technology.

Companies use consultants to train employees in SPC and safety-related subjects. Consultants could be used effectively to select employees with mechanical ability and train them in shop math, basic reading skills, as well as blueprint reading, inspection, machine maintenance and supervision.

As springmakers, our responsibility if we are to remain viable in a changing industry, is to train others, as others have trained us. We cannot rely on the “next guy.”

There certainly is more to springmaking than just making springs. n

NIMSCO

Five Questions provides an opportunity for SMI associate members to tell the spring industry about the products and services they offer. In this edition, we talk with Jerry Ashdown, President, Nichols International Machinery Systems Co. (NIMSCO).

1

Can you tell us about the history of NIMSCO?

NIMSCO (Nichols International Machinery Systems Company) has been supplying machinery and providing technical services to the spring and wire industry since 1977. We became the North American distributor for Bennett Mahler and Simplex Rapid in 1983 and those relationships continue today. I have been with NIMSCO since 1999 and took ownership in 2019.

end grinding machines, spring coiling lathes, and other specialty items such as chamfering machines and auger coiling machines. Simplex Rapid supplies the highest quality precision CNC spring coilers, garter spring machines, payoffs, torsion coilers, precision tooling grinders, and SECEM straighten and cut machines.

Can you tell us about a recent challenge that you were able to solve for a customer?

Our machines and vendors are adaptable and flexible. Recently, we interfaced a Simplex coiling machine with a preexisting external inspection device. This enabled our customer to measure specific dimensions in real-time and automatically correct the dimension if needed.

2

What are the latest trends in springmaking and wireforming equipment?

The industry is continuing down the path of high-speed production, reducing waste and decreasing labor costs. Our machines are easy to operate, utilize sophisticated software, and have a highly intuitive Human-Machine Interface (HMI). This results in fewer mechanical adjustments, faster changeover times, less scrap material and reduced expenses.

Having worked with these companies for 40 years, NIMSCO has the advantage of providing springmakers with the highest quality and reliability in the industry. The machinery lines we offer complement each other well and allow us to offer multiple solutions to meet our customer needs.

How have the challenges of the past several years impacted your business?

We recently designed a specialized jig on a Bennett Mahler machine that, to our knowledge, has never been done before. This will minimize scrap, save time and lessen company costs. n

Nichols International Machinery Systems Co. (NIMSCO) 5115B Tremont Avenue

Davenport, IA 52807

Phone 563-391-0400

j.ashdown@nimsco.com

www.nimsco.co

3

NIMSCO represents several different machinery and accessory manufacturers. What advantage does that provide to springmakers?

Bennett Mahler and Simplex Rapid are both global spring industry leaders. Bennett Mahler offers a range of spring

NIMSCO, our suppliers, and our customers have had many challenges in the past several years in regard to logistical delays and material shortages which have resulted in longer lead times. Our customers are also experiencing a reduction in the labor force. We have all worked together to find solutions to tackle these issues to ensure our customers are getting the increased production and efficiency they need.

Jerry Ashdown

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A Legacy of Spring Expertise

A Profile of FTR Associates/Foremost Spring

By Gary McCoy

The tie between FTR Associates and Foremost Spring in Santa Fe Springs, California, is linked by the legacy and friendship of two men and their families with many years of experience in the spring, wireforming and stamping industries.

Dennis Trepanier met Forrest Gardner when the two worked together at Western Spring in Downey, California. Both men eventually ventured off to start their own companies.

“We were work colleagues, but we were first and foremost friends,” said Trepanier. “I was pretty close to Forrest.”

Dennis Trepanier and Debra Kolodge

Gardner was a machinist for a spring company in Connecticut before serving in the U.S. Army as a Signal Corps Lineman. He was honorably discharged in 1967 and started Foremost Spring a short time later.

Gardner started Foremost Spring in Downey in 1968 with a partner, while Trepanier started Tru-Form Tool and Die (now called Tru-Form Industries) out of his garage in the late ‘60s with his partner, Vern Hildebrandt, Sr.

Trepanier later sold his interest in the business to Hildebrandt and sat on the sidelines for nearly two years. He eventually got a call from Gardner, and Trepanier went to work at Foremost Spring as an employee for about six years in the company’s metal stamping and fourslide areas.

Sensing it was time to go back into business for himself, Trepanier started FTR Associates with two employees in Downey in 1991. The business grew quickly, and five years later he moved the company to Whittier, California, and operated from that location for the next

six years. He moved FTR Associates to its present location in Santa Fe Springs, nearly 21 years ago.

At its heyday, Foremost Spring occupied more than 20,000 square feet in a facility in Downey with nearly 50 employees. After operating the company for more than four decades, Gardner retired to Maine to live on the family’s potato farm in Blaine. Christine Brown, who had been with the company 40 years, first as quality manager, then as vice president, continued to manage Foremost for the next several years until Gardner made the decision to sell.

“Forrest said he would make me a great deal and he didn’t want much for the business, he just wanted to make sure it kept going,” said Trepanier.

Regarding the sale, Debra Kolodge, Brown and Gardner’s daughter, said, “It was important to my father that the company not just get bought and pieced out. He wanted to ensure that all of his employees would remain with the company, and he knew that Dennis would take good care of them.”

FTR Associates and Foremost Spring occupy buildings next door to each other in Santa Fe Springs, California.

Gustavo Lucatero has been with the company for 27 years.

Forrest Gardner

The guiding principles of Foremost Spring have always been quality, service and delivery.

Kolodge has worked for Trepanier since 1996, first as production control manager until 2008, and since then as FTR’s vice president.

Gardner died in Presque Isle, Maine, on May 14, 2015, but his legacy of hard work carries on.

Two Companies, One Mission

Knowing he couldn’t run Foremost Spring from Downey, shortly after buying the company Trepanier moved it into a building that became available next to FTR Associates. Now the two companies sit side-by-side in Santa Fe Springs, with only a parking lot and a sidewalk between them. Foremost Spring is operated separately, as a division of FTR Associates.

The space for Foremost at its current location is about half the size of its old building. “But we’ve been able to make it work,” Trepanier said.

“We have separation between FTR and Foremost Spring, but we essentially operate as one entity,” explained Kolodge.

Brown continued to manage Foremost Spring until her retirement five years ago, but Kolodge says her mother is still available for consultation on difficult spring designs and remembers minute details about most of the products the company continues to manufacture.

Kolodge worked a little bit at Foremost Spring during summers and school breaks before going to work for Trepanier.

Kolodge added the title of vice president at Foremost Spring five years ago, and Trepanier says she is the one who is

responsible for the day-to-day operations there. “I really don’t get involved much with the business at Foremost,” said Trepanier. “Debra does a great job running it.”

“The guiding principles of Foremost Spring have always been quality, service and delivery,” explained Kolodge. “From design to delivery, Forrest took a very active role in all aspects of his company.” She would like to continue that tradition.

A Range of Products

Foremost Spring manufactures precision compression, extension, and torsion springs, power springs, Belleville springs, wave springs and curved springs, in addition to wireforms and metal stampings. They also offer heat setting and square

under load capability, essential processes for many of the valve springs they manufacture.

FTR Associates manufacturers compression, extension and torsion springs, wireforms and metal stampings with an extensive punch press department in a range of 30-to-150-ton presses. FTR also has a large fourslide department with 23 machines, a full-service tool room, and is constantly updating their equipment with newer CNC coiling and wireforming technology.

“We have a lot of capabilities, and we try to do it all for our customers,” said Trepanier.

Between the companies, they serve a variety of industries including medical,

FTR has a full-service tooling department.

Carlos Morales has been with the company for 28 years.

We have a lot of capabilities, and we try to do it all for our customers.

dental, electronics, aerospace, lighting, displays, sporting goods, fasteners, building hardware, furniture, computers, R/C toys and cars, automotive aftermarket, firearms, and refrigeration.

Work done by Foremost Spring and FTR Associates in the scuba diving and

skydiving industries grew out of hobbies between Gardner and Trepanier. Gardner was the scuba diver, while skydiving was Trepanier’s passion. Trepanier started jumping in 1967 and continued nearly every weekend for years, even participating in world record-setting jumps. He

logged 3,280 jumps before completing his last about five years ago. Gardner also participated in skydiving occasionally with Trepanier.

The companies continue to make numerous springs for parachutes, including pull pins, and also manufacture items for the high-end scuba diving industry.

Trepanier has been a licensed pilot since 1971. Most days he makes the 75-mile trip to the company’s headquarters in Santa Fe Springs in his single engine Cessna 182 that seats four. He leaves from an airport near his home in Agua Dulce, California, flies to an airport in nearby Fullerton and then makes the short drive to Santa Fe Springs. If he’s not able to fly due to the weather, the drive for Trepanier in brutal Southern California traffic can sometimes take more than two hours.

For longer trips, Trepanier also owns a twin-engine Cessna 337G Skymaster. The plane seats six and is known for its unique push-pull configuration between the two engines.

Trepanier has more than 50 years of experience in the industry. As the company says on its website about Trepanier, “His expertise, hard work, and dedication to customer satisfaction has helped FTR to enjoy steady growth and a solid reputation for quality, precision products.”

Serving the Industry

With a career in the spring industry spanning more than three decades, Kolodge says, “I love how the individual companies within our industry are so friendly and supportive of one another.”

Trepanier describes Kolodge as one of a kind. “She is fantastic at whatever she does. She is so smart and does a great job managing people. And she can run any part of our business.”

Like others in the industry, Kolodge is sad to see that parents are no longer passing the knowledge of their trade on to their children. “I think the knowledge and skill required to tool and operate a fourslide machine, set up a CNC

I love the individual companies within our industry that are so friendly and supportive of one another.

Jaime Reyes has been with the company for 22 years.

Whether small or high-volume, both FTR and Foremost Spring take pride in providing high-quality products and great service.

wireforming machine, or operate a coiler are dying out.”

She worries that the spring industry hasn’t been proactive enough to prevent this labor shortage. “We’re at the point where if you want to hire somebody that operates a fourslide, it is difficult to avoid stealing somebody from another company,” she explained.

In 2012, Kolodge and Colleen Trost, president of Vaga Industries, joined the board of the West Coast Spring Manufacturers Association (WCSMA), becoming the first two women to serve in that role. Trost went on to become the first female president of WCSMA and Kolodge later followed in her footsteps, serving as president from 2016-2017.

Kolodge continues to serve as a board member and believes the association serves an important purpose that contributes to the industry. She adds, “I love that SMI supports the WCSMA, and our company has greatly benefited from the spring design classes and other educational opportunities they offer.”

All in the Family

Trepanier lives on a 5-acre ranch in Agua Dulce with his wife, Serena, who owns three horses. His daughter, Brianna, also lives there and has three horses. Brianna is a nationally known professional barrel racer. They also board several horses at the ranch and have a menagerie of animals including a 600-pound pig and several chickens. “It’s really beautiful there,” he said.

Trepanier’s daughter, Lisa, works at FTR in inside sales and quoting. She’s also very active in WCSMA activities. Trepanier’s son, David, previously worked at FTR but pursued his passion as a chef and now works locally in Long Beach operating Crack, a restaurant with a strong cult following. Trepanier’s youngest daughter, Demi, studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Kolodge lives with her husband Scott, an electrician for the city of Newport Beach, and has two grown children.

Her daughter, Kara, 33, lives in Oregon serving the shipping industry at the Willamette River port. Her son, Patrick, 26, works in security after serving in the Marine Corps.

When she’s not working, Kolodge enjoys reading, spending time with

family and friends, and traveling to breweries and wineries with Scott. Kolodge is still very close to her mom, Chris Brown, who lives nearby.

Between the two families there is a lot of love and respect and a legacy of spring expertise. n

Starrett offers a complete line of innovative force solutions for spring testing. High volume production testing solutions are available with both basic (L1) and advanced (L2) software.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Reviewed by Gary McCoy

In the 25th anniversary edition of the “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” author John C. Maxwell provides a revised and updated version of his popular book. The book’s subtitle encapsulates his view on the subject, “Follow Them and People Will Follow You.”

I had heard of Maxwell’s book on leadership but had never read it before, so I have no frame of reference to compare with the original version published in 1998. An introduction to the book states that, “Maxwell has gone through every word of this book and updated it for the next generation of leaders. He has added new insights to these timeless laws and included lessons learned since he originally wrote the book. And he has included some exciting new stories that apply the laws to today’s world of business.”

I have to say each law is very easy to understand, and Maxwell’s stories provide real-world examples of how the laws operate. What I appreciate about Maxwell is that he admits, “Nobody does all the laws well. That’s why you need to build a team.”

Maxwell is a firm believer that: “Any endeavor you can undertake that involves other people will live or die depending on the leadership.” As you work to build your organization, Maxwell exhorts readers to remember five things:

• Personnel determine the potential of an organization.

• Relationships determine the morale of the organization.

• Structure determines the size of the organization.

• Vision determines the direction of the organization.

• Leadership determines the success of the organization. At the end of the book, Maxwell encourages readers to examine themselves by using his “21 Laws of Leadership Evaluation.” When considering the 21 laws, if you score from 8-10 (with 10 being the highest) on any of the laws, this is what Maxwell deems your strength zone. If you achieve a score of 6-7, then these are

areas to target for growth. If you score from 1-5, then this is a weakness where Maxwell encourages you to “hire staff or partner with others in this area to lead successfully.”

Whether you are an experienced leader or just beginning your journey, this is a book that has valuable insights to offer. n

Have a favorite business book you would like to tell us about or review? Send your suggestions to Springs magazine editor Gary McCoy at gary@smihq.org.

Factory Tours Attract Students to Manufacturing Careers

By Hale Foote, Scandic

Our factory recently had three very different groups of students visit our facility. I always learn as much from our visitors as they do from us.

Stanford’s ME219 class, “The Magic of Materials,” comes every semester to Scandic. Thirty smart masters/undergrad students roam our plant all morning. They interview our staff about stamping, ROI on tooling, mechanical coiling versus CNC, and more. I have to be nimble to explain fourslide versus progressive die stamping, or why beryllium copper (BeCu) has to be on the waterjet and not the laser. Our operators love showing off what they do to the “college kids.” These bright students will leave Stanford with a better appreciation for how things actually get made. And some call us years later to help on their project at Tesla, Medtronic, or HP. It’s a win-win.

We also had a team from UC Berkeley start a senior class case study to embed

in a factory and identify a process they could improve. (I’m sure we have lots of possibilities!) We are honored that Berkeley professors named Scandic as a manufacturing center where their students could learn. I think they will be with us all semester. We have a war room reserved for them. Again, another win for both of us.

Finally, we had 30 rambunctious 10th graders from Castro Valley High School (CVHS) visit. It’s great that CVHS has a longstanding “Principles of Engineering” class, taught by Jessica Porter; we have always thought that the key to learning about manufacturing and engineering careers is exposing teens to real examples. “There’s a machine making a catheter; look, there’s a big press stamping a squeegee handle.”

I love the raw energy of high school visitors. Some are just flirting on their field trip, some are texting, but there are

always a few who are laser-focused: Why is that machine not running? Can this waterjet water be recycled? (Yes, it is!); What does it take to work here? How much money do you make? High school students are a long-term investment, and we like doing it.

Three groups of students, three goals. Years ago I wrote an article for Springs (“Why and How to Conduct a Factory Tour,” Spring 2012), and our student visitors covered most of those bases.

I think there is a great match between SMI members and their local high schools. The key is to educate your employees about the purpose and goal of hosting a group of visitors, and to find the right contact at the school or county CTE office. We have hosted student tours for so long now that it’s barely a blip in our schedule. And a lot of our employees really enjoy the interaction with students! n

Students regularly visit Scandic to learn and grow in their knowledge of manufacturing.

strip: cold rolled high carbon/pre-tempered spring steels, coated, low carbon stainless, copper based alloys and aluminum ultra-narrow width, close-tolerance slitting edging: round, square, semi-round, deburred, custom, etc. oscillate (traverse) and ribbon wound coils ISO 9001: 2015 certified 43 years servicing the industry

SMI Welcomes New Team Members

SMI Executive Director Gary McCoy has announced the hiring of Phil Sasso as managing editor of Springs and Gabriela “Gaby” Carrasco as the association’s new communications and administrative coordinator.

Sasso has more than 25 years’ experience in marketing communications and journalism with a strong background in the automotive aftermarket. He was a contributing editor for Professional Distributor, writing a sales and marketing column for 12 years. He has also been a contributor to Restyling, Performance Business and Service Station and Garage Management magazines.

“I have known Phil for many years through our mutual work in the automotive aftermarket and I have come to respect his hard work and dedication to his craft,” said McCoy. “He is a technical marketing specialist with a strong background in journalism that will be an important addition as I hand off the editorial management of the magazine to him.”

As president of Sasso Marketing, his firm develops advertising, public relations, and promotional campaigns primarily for professional service providers and tool and equipment manufacturers. Sasso also serves as social media manager for several associations. He has presented marketing seminars for organizations including the Small Business Development Center and the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

Sasso holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with a minor in communications studies from Northern Illinois University. He is former adjunct faculty for the School of Continuing Education and interim director of the Weekend College at Triton College. During the pandemic, Triton asked him back to develop a marketing curriculum for their proposed Entrepreneur Institute.

Outside of work, Sasso enjoys playing bocce on a team with his son at an Italian cultural center in suburban Chicago.

In her new role with SMI, Carrasco will help support various aspects of the association’s communications and administrative functions, including social media, to help boost member recruitment, engagement and retention. She will provide support for SMI programs, member communications and associated administrative office needs.

Carrasco graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with majors in television production and Spanish and a minor in creative writing.

“Gaby brings a younger perspective to her work with a strong background in communications, especially in the areas of social media management, website development and copywriting,” said McCoy. “In addition, her recent work in an administrative role presented me with an ideal candidate who can handle a variety of tasks.”

Carrasco’s career started as an account executive for Franchise Elevator PR, where she served as a liaison between franchise clients and media. Her work also included the preparation and distribution of news releases for use in pitching traditional print, TV, online and influencer media.

From 2019 to 2022, she was a communications specialist for the Village of Villa Park, Illinois. Carrasco managed the design and layout for various written publications, including e-newsletters, news releases, a quarterly print newsletter and the village’s website. In addition, she established Villa Park’s presence on multiple social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She also coordinated publicity

for special events as well as developing PR materials and other outreach efforts. Most recently she has worked in a part-time role as an administrative assistant for D&G Hauling.

In her free time, Carrasco enjoys reading and going on long walks with her husband and daughter.

Phil Sasso

Gabriela “Gaby” Carrasco

SMI Will Host 2023 ISO/TC 227 Springs Meetings in Las Vegas

The U.S. will host the 2023 ISO/TC 227 Springs meetings at the South Point Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Thursday, Sept. 14, and Friday, Sept. 15. The resort is in the heart of the premier southwest Las Vegas valley, just minutes away from the famous Las Vegas Strip.

The SMI executive and board of directors will meet a day prior on Wednesday, Sept. 13.

More than 28 people from 10 contributing participating-member countries (China, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and India) participated in the 2022 meetings held virtually. The 2023 event will mark the first time the event is held since the COVID19 outbreak in 2020.

SMI serves as the technical advisory group to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for ISO/TC227.

The role of the U.S. delegation is essential to ensure that the interests of American spring manufacturers, designers, and consumers are represented in international standards development.

The U.S. delegation is led by Tom Armstrong, retired chairman of Duer/ Carolina Coil, and Rick Gordon, SMI’s technical director.

Working group 2 (WG2) is scheduled to meet Thursday, Sept. 14, followed by a plenary session on Friday, Sept. 15. SMI technical experts bring many years of manufacturing experience to the ISO/ TC227 working group 2 that is developing new standards.

Anyone interested in participating in the ISO standards process should contact either Rick Gordon at c.richard. gordon@gmail.com or Tom Armstrong at tgarmstrong@outlook.com.

Calendar of Key Events for the Global Spring Industry

2023

April 22-25

SMI Annual Meeting

Waldorf Astoria, Disney Property Orlando, Florida

https://smihq.org/

2024

April 15-19

wire and Tube

Düsseldorf, Germany

https://www.wire-tradefair.com/ https://www.tube-tradefair.com/

Oct. 2-4

SpringWorld/Metal Engineering eXpo

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Rosemont, Illinois

https://www.casmi-springworld.org/ http://www.metalengineeringexpo.com/

Robust Spring Design Training Program Planned for 2023

SMI spring design training sessions continue to be well received by both members and non-members. To the right is the remaining 2023 training schedule.

The SMI Technical Committee plans to introduce two new courses in 2023: 205 — Beam, Torsion Bar and Constant Force Spring Design and 207 — Strength of Materials and Spring Material Manufacturing. Dates for these offerings will be announced soon.

SMI’s training program consists of three fundamental, seven basic and four advanced spring design training classes. Fundamentals courses were developed with new hires and non-technical staff in mind. Basic classes are designed to meet the needs of production and technical staff, including engineers, designers and inspectors. Advanced courses address a higher level of expertise for engineers, designers and other technical staff. The SMI technical committee has been working to develop these programs.

2023 Training Schedule

Two fundamentals training modules, “Spring Fundamentals” and “Overview of Springmaking Materials,” are available to the public on the SMI website: www. smihq.org. SMI member feedback for these modules has been very favorable.

Courses are organized as focused, real-world spring design training programs, combining basic spring design content for each spring type with practical

hands-on use of SMI’s Advanced Spring Design 7 (ASD7) software.

Classes benefit students by increasing their spring design knowledge and benefit their company by having an SMItrained associate as part of their team. For more information and to register for classes, visit smihq.org/page/ spring-design-training-program.

SMI Benchmarking Opportunities

SMI regularly surveys its members to help them understand how they are doing relative to others in the industry. Confidentiality is important when SMI conducts each survey. No company data is ever shared with SMI members or SMI itself.

Here’s the schedule of surveys for 2023 and into 2024.

Send Us Your News

SMI members receive priority placement for their product, company, personnel and events announcements in the magazine. Your news releases should be roughly 50 to 100 words and may be accompanied by color photos (high-resolution .JPEG photos at 300 dpi preferred). Send to gaby@smihq.org.

New Products

WAFIOS FUL 226 CNC Spring Coiling Machine

The FUL 226 from WAFIOS is the company’s first high-end spring coiling machine to produce cold-coiled compression springs made of high-strength wire of up to 22mm diameter and a tensile strength of 2,000MPA or from mild steel wire of up to 30mm and a tensile strength of 800MPA. The modular design offers the most flexible application possibilities and includes a wide range of options, like the “PTP” coiling finger for initial tension control during the production of springs.

The FUL 226 features a new dual-coil pay-off unit, resulting in less downtime and minimum setups. The unit features all the familiar advantages of WAFIOS’ “FUL” series which includes the company’s programming system “WPS 3.2” and numerous “iQ” functions for optimizing processes, like “iQautopitch” for the automatic correction of the diameter and pitch while setting up a spring, or “iQcontrol” for in-process spring length measurement. “iQspring2FUL” for automatically generating a spring program

after scanning in a reference spring is a new feature that has been added.

The machine is ideal for producing larger suspension springs that are used in electric vehicles and technical springs with large diameters.

For more information, visit http:// www.wafios.us/us/home/

New Portal for U.S. Manufacturers

Manufacturers across the country are joining together to improve the U.S. economy by domestically producing products and promoting them on a new platform that showcases products made in the USA. MadeInUSA.com offers U.S. manufacturers a robust platform to promote products through an easy-to-use vendor portal which allows manufacturers to upload product images, pricing and descriptions for free.

While there is no cost to join, the rewards are significant. MadeInUSA.com offers a drop-ship model, and collects

and pays all sales tax and shipping costs. The manufacturers only need to do what they do best, which is build and ship products.

Products may be listed as “Made in USA,” “Made in USA with Domestic and Global Components,” or “Assembled in the USA,” and businesses may identify as Minority, Women, Veteran or Small Businesses owned, which can increase eligibility for grants and tax benefits.

Manufacturers and vendors can apply by visiting https://madeinusa. com/vendor

Claro Enterprise Solutions Launches Asset Insights Solution

Claro Enterprise Solutions, a leading source provider of network connectivity and communication, cybersecurity, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and IT managed services, has launched Claro Asset Insights to provide clients with the ability to track assets and shipments autonomously, manage them digitally, and gain valuable insights into their condition, status and critical events.

IoT Product Management Director Patrick Verdugo said, “High-value industrial and commercial assets and shipments lack proper visibility and control. Claro Enterprise Solutions Asset Insights provides tracking location, as well as visibility to asset condition,

including movement, shock, geofencing and temperature. Sensor behavior can be controlled remotely via the platform. Shipment tracking fully supports ERP integration and provides custom location alerts to the receiving customer. Claro Enterprise Solutions Asset Insights is secure by design with 24/7 customer support.”

With increased theft and hijackings, businesses transporting valuable goods need assurance that their orders are shipped promptly and securely. Claro Asset Insights provides a global asset and shipment tracking service using robust IoT technology and fully customizable alerts to notify the operation status and

critical events on the road. Simultaneously, teams can track and set alerts for essential internal equipment to help ensure devices stay updated and within company property.

For more information, visit https:// www.usclaro.com/ n

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Admiral is a registered trademark of Admiral Steel LLC. Alsip, Illinois. Reg. No. 2430959. All rights reserved.

It’s your world. Shape it as you please.

SMI members get priority placement of their product news. News releases should be roughly 50 to 100 words and may be accompanied by color photos (HiRes .JPEG at 300 dpi preferred).

Adam Jacobson • FENN/Torin

Name: Adam Jacobson

Nickname (if any): Pickles

Company name and city: FENN/Torin

Brief history of your company: FENN has been in the business of making precise, high-quality metal forming machinery in the U.S. since its founding in 1900, but the spring industry knows us best for our fantastic Torin coilers.

Job title: Technical Sales Manager.

Spring industry affiliations

(Names of organizations you’re active in and title of elected position, if any): Chair for the SMI Avante-Garde group and a member of the SMI board of directors.

Birthplace: Burlington, Wisconsin.

Current home: Bartlett, Illinois.

Family (spouse, children, pets, etc.): My lovely wife, Kate, plus our two wiener dogs, Frankurter Heinz and Piper.

What I like most about being a springmaker: While I am not a springmaker, working with FENN has allowed me to serve this wonderful industry. It has always amazed me to see how close this industry is and how it shares everything from raw materials to manufacturing information, all in the best interest of the customer.

Favorite food: Anything with rice.

Favorite movie: “Independence Day.”

Hobbies: I enjoy camping, golfing, traveling and fishing. I am also a proud Green Bay Packers fan.

Favorite places: Poolside, sporting events, or in the great state of Wisconsin.

Best times of my life: Are the nights we get home late.

A really great evening to me is: My wife and I enjoying dinner at Etta in Chicago with friends before doing some sort of activity.

The one thing I can’t stand is: People parked in the fire lane in front of the grocery store.

My most outstanding qualities are: A glass half-full mentality and a willingness to help.

People who knew me in school thought I was: That goofy kid.

I knew I was an “adult” when: I had to pay for my own health care.

If I weren’t working at FENN, I would like to: Be a weatherman.

The most difficult business decision I ever had to make was: To leave the industry I knew (plastics), for the one I didn’t (springs) that I now love.

I wonder what would have happened if: We did find intelligent life outside of earth.

Role models: Grandma Jacobson.

I would like to be remembered in the spring industry for: Creating a successful Avante-Garde group for the next generation of the spring industry.

But people will probably remember me for: Cruise Ship Adam.

Adam and Kate Jacobson