Springs winter 2011 vol 50 no1

T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L M A G A Z I N E O F S P R I N G M A N U FA C T U R E

Winter 2011, Volume 50 Number 1

A Publication of the Spring Manufacturers Institute

Aerospace and Aviation Markets: Springmakers with “The Right Stuff” 17 Meaningful Conversations in a High Tech World 36 Forecast 2011: Recovery Brings Opportunities 28

2001 Midwest Rd., Suite 106 Oak Brook, IL 60523-1335 Change Service Requested

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President’s Message From Scott Rankin

SMI Makes You a Bigger Company I have been a member of SMI for as long as I can remember. My father was president of SMI, so we have been involved for decades. I was recently asked how long I have been on the board of SMI and I believe it has been since the late ‘80s. I would never think of discontinuing my SMI membership. This got me thinking about why I am a member.

As a springmaker it feels many days like I am all alone.Yes, there are many other springmakers, but since we all specialize in a certain area, it gets lonely. There is not another person to call to get help with a spring design or to talk over general issues. However, as a member of SMI I have a group of people to talk with about many different issues, whether it is about springs, machinery, employee benefits, or the economy, I now have a group of people that generally speaks the same language and works with the same daily struggles.

Having just attended the CASMI show in Chicago I had many conversations with fellow springmakers about how the economy was affecting us. We also discussed machines and the new healthcare issues. And then, of course, we got caught up on all of the various gossip about people we have known and admired through the years.

Becoming an SMI member means much more than just being a part of a group of springmakers By joining you have immediately become connected with the most powerful group of springmaking minds in North America. You have the ability to get information and share information with people who know your industry and have amazing insights about their products.You get information about the SMI design software and all of the knowledge that went into building that product. And once a year you have the opportunity to attend our conference where speakers are brought in to specifically address the daily aspects of our business. You make friends and you get to be a part of a much bigger organization. Then there are member benefits, including a discounted rate on shipping and freight charges as well as an opportunity to save money on your company 401k. All of this is brought to you by the power of a larger group working toward your best interests. The savings could even pay for your SMI membership!

The SMI makes you a bigger company. This is the group that will help you grow and navigate through tough business environments. If you have not talked with SMI about membership, this might just be the right time to make that call. Just phone (630) 495-8588 and ask for Lynne Carr.

I was afraid this might sound like an advertisement — and actually I guess it is.

This group has been there for me when I needed them and I hope to be available to any member if there is any way that I can help them. To me SMI is THE spring family.

Succeed with Passion!

SMI Executive Committee President, Scott Rankin, Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing • Vice President, Steve Moreland, Automatic Spring Products • Secretary/Treasurer, Russ Bryer, Spring Team • Immediate Past President, Reb Banas, Stanley Spring & Stamping • At Large, Mike Betts, Betts Spring SMI Board of Directors Tom Armstrong, Duer/Carolina Coil • Dennis Backhaus, Spiros Industries • Jim Callaghan, MW Industries • Ron Curry, Gifford Spring • Ann Davey, John Evans’ Sons • Chris Fazio, Diamond Wire • Kurt Gillespie, Century Spring • Richard Guimont, Liberty Spring • Greg Heitz, Exacto Spring • Gene Huber Jr, Winamac Coil • Miko Kabeshita, Ark Technologies • Steve Kempf, Lee Spring • Brett Nudelman, International Spring • Hap Porter, SEI Metaltek • Byron Ress, Zapp Precision Strip • Richard Rubenstein, Plymouth Spring • Ted White, Hardware Products • Chris Witham, Motion Dynamics Springs Magazine Staff

Lynne Carr, Advertising Sales, lynne@smihq.org Dina Sanchez, Assistant Editor, dina@smihq.org Gary McCoy, Managing Editor, gmccoy@fairwaycommunications.com Springs Magazine Committee Chair, Richard Rubenstein, Plymouth Spring • Lynne Carr, SMI • Randy Deford, Mid-West Spring & Stamping • Ritchy Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Tressie Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Bud Funk, Fourslide Products • LuAnn Lanke, Wisconsin Coil Spring • Brett Nudelman, International Spring • Tim Weber, Forming Systems • Europe Liaison: Richard Schuitema, Dutch Spring Association • Technical advisor: Loren Godfrey, Colonial Spring Advertising sales - Japan Ken Myohdai, Sakura International Inc. 22-11 Harimacho 1-Chome, Abeno-ku Osaka 545-0022 Japan Phone: +81-6-6624-3601 • Fax: +81-6-6624-3602 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 Robert Yu, Worldwide Services Co. Ltd. 11F-B, No 540, Sec. 1,Wen Hsin Rd. Taichung,Taiwan Phone: +886-4-2325-1784 • Fax: +886-4-2325-2967 E-mail: stuart@wwstaiwan.com 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) 4958588; Fax: (630) 495-8595; 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.

Scott Rankin President,Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co. scott@vulcanspring.com

2 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Cover by Sue Zubek, Zubek Design, Inc. Cover art created using images from iStockphoto.com: ©iStockphoto.com/sergey shlyaev; ©iStockphoto.com/PLAINVIEW

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Table of Contents FEATURES 17

Aerospace and Aviation Markets: Springmakers with "The Right Stuff"

By Rachel Chole

26

Spring World 2010 Deemed a Success

28

Forecast 2011: Recovery Brings Opportunities

By Phil Perry

33

SMI Keynote Speaker Sees More of the Same Ahead for U.S. Economy in 2011

By Gary McCoy

36

Meaningful Conversations in a High Tech World

By John Passante

10

COLUMNS 13

Be Aware Safety Tips Punch Press Guarding, a Top Priority during OSHA Inspections

By Jim Wood

15

IST Spring Technology Cautionary Tale: Torsion Spring Stresses — Part 1

By Mark Hayes

17

DEPARTMENTS

26

28

4 SPRINGS Winter 2011

2

President’s Message SMI Makes You a Bigger Company

7

Global Highlights

10

Regional Spring Association Report

38

Flashback Supply Chain Management Strategies

45

Springmaker Spotlight Greg Heitz, Exacto Spring

51

Inside SMI SMI Annual Meeting Set for Doral in March; SMI Board and Committees Meet Before Spring World; SMI Sponsored Retirement Plan Program Arrives

56

New Products

59

Advertisers’ Index

60

Snapshot Mary-Anne Morris, Dendoff Springs, Ltd.

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Global Highlights North America Peterson Spring of Southfield, Mich., a longtime manufacturer of compression springs, extension springs, torsion springs, wire forms, small stampings, multi-slide products, clips, clamps and assemblies, announced a new agreement with Kokomo Spring of Kokomo, Ind. With a desire to grow and increase product offerings to valued customers, Peterson’s management group “found what we feel is a perfect fit” in Kokomo Spring. Don Lowe of Peterson Spring stated, “Kokomo Spring’s long and rich history in the spring manufacturing business, coupled with a matching high standard for customer service and progressive culture serve as the perfect complement for Peterson’s existing product line.

“We are proud to add Kokomo Spring’s business to our portfolio. We further feel that the now combined product line will bring added value to our customers through expanded product offerings, added engineering and design expertise, metallurgy and dynamics testing capability and multiple manufacturing locations, including locations in Europe and Mexico,” said Lowe.

Peterson Spring, a division of Peterson American Corporation, is the largest independent spring manufacturer in North America.

Wheelabrator Group announced that Linda McIntosh has joined Wheelabrator Plus as regional manager for Canada. She will lead the Burlington, Ontario-based sales and customer support team for aftermarket parts, service, equipment modernization programs and technical support requirements.

In her new role, McIntosh has overall responsibility for managing and directing sales growth and industry best practices for all aftermarket sales growth operations including OEM parts, parallel parts and equipment modernization programs (EMP) in Canada. She has worked extensively in the manufacturing sector and joins Wheelabrator from Virtek Vision International with 20 years experience in customer relationship management and industrial operations including sales, service, and marketing.

Wheelabrator Group is a global provider of surface preparation and finishing solutions. For more information, visit www.wheelabratorgroup.com or e-mail info@wheelabratorgroup.com.

Mid-West Spring & Stamping has announced that Michael Curran was elected as chief executive officer and chief financial officer, and C.J. Overmyer was elected president. Jeffrey Ellison will function as the chairman of the board.

Frank Cardile, chairman of The Interwire Group, was named Liver Champion of the Year by the American Liver Foundation Greater New York Division at their tenth anniversary Honors Gala in September. Cardile received a liver transplant in 2004 after battling Hepatitis C for many years. He has been a longtime supporter of the American Liver Foundation and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and helped fund research to make liver disease a thing of the past. Cardile established Interwire Group in 1981 as a leading national distributor of fine quality wires. The American Liver Foundation is the nation’s largest non-profit organization promoting liver health and disease prevention.

SAFECHEM™ North America LLC, a whollyowned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, introduced the COMPLEASE™ Cleaning Process Solution to the metal fabricating and manufacturing industry in North America during the FABTECH 2010 Exhibition, November 2-4, 2010 in Atlanta, Ga. FABTECH is North America’s largest metal forming, welding and finishing event.

For a fixed monthly fee, the COMPLEASE Complete Process Leasing Solution from SAFECHEM offers its North American customers the ability to lease state-of-the-art sealed solvent degreasing equipment combined with customized chemical services.

SAFECHEM’s services include the delivery of solvents (chlorinated and modified alcohols manufactured

by Dow) in the SAFECARE™ closed-loop delivery system, plus direct comprehensive supporting services that include waste management, technical support/training, and the use of the highest quality stabilizers, additives, test-kits, all in a single package.

According to SAFECHEM, customers can expect to lower solvent consumption by as much as 90 percent when compared to other traditional methods of metal degreasing. “This is a new and unique business model for companies in the automotive, aerospace, electronics or medical industry, where the need for precision solvent based cleaning is often critical,”

SPRINGS Winter 2011 7

said Ali Shah, Ph.D., business development leader for SAFECHEM in North America. “The COMPLEASE solution is solidifying our leadership position in promoting best practices around the use of chlorinated solvents. We have taken the power of the human element to provide our customers options that can enable worry-free use of the best degreasing solvents in the industry.”

For more information, visit www.dow.com.

Don Musielak, owner of Mastercoil Spring in McHenry, Ill., is pleased to announce the creation of Mastercoil Wire Products Division. The new organization will be housed in another location in The McHenry Corporate Center. Mastercoil Spring will continue to operate in its present location.

Michael Shapiro of Gibraltar Corporation, based in Buffalo Grove, Ill. has been named the North American representative for Japan-based spring forming manufacturer Morita & Company.

“After meeting with Michael and discovering the breadth of his industry knowledge, we’re delighted to have him representing Morita in North America,” said Eiji Morita, president of Morita & Company.

Morita develops spring forming equipment with a maximum diameter of 100mm and lines for leaf springs. Machine types include: taper rolling, hot coiling, pig tail forming, setting and testing machines, most notably used in automobile components.

Shapiro has been the North American rep for Taiwan-based spring manufacturer Simco for more than 15 years. He has been associated with the spring and wire forming industry since 1991. For more information, visit www.gibraltar8.com.

The new blog CustomCarbideTools.com aims to help manufacturers lower cost of project and increase cutting tool efficiencies.

The blog offers a meeting place for manufacturing engineers, fabricators and tool makers to review and share latest best practices, in response to a need for more efficient machining of carbon fiber composite parts.

Through articles, multimedia features and videos, industry experts and commentators seek to reduce cost of projects in the aerospace, automotive, marine, building supply and related industries. A robust comment and discussion function provides a forum for online interaction, sharing of information and research. The inaugural edition included excerpts from articles written by Jeff Sloan, editor of High Performance Composites, and Bill Kennedy, contributing editor for Cutting Tool Engineering, among others. CustomCarbideTools.com is published in response to the growing demand for solutions needed by manufacturers that machine and assemble parts made of Carbon Fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP).

International The United Kingdom Spring Manufacturers Association (UKSMA) has a strong heritage in providing knowledge and services to its members, who are very passionate about the spring industry. The UKSMA Council is elected from within the membership. Recently elected were Steven Boyd, G&O Springs, president, and John Clifford, Clifford Springs, vice president. With more than 65 member companies, UKSMA actively promotes the industry, its products and its members.

The association says tis is a period of great change for both the UKSMA and the UK industry. UKSMA is a member organization and encourages all UK Spring manufacturers to become more actively involved in the development of the association. UKSMA may be contacted at uksma@uksma.org.uk. ◆

8 SPRINGS Winter 2011

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Regional Spring Association Report

NESMA Holds Annual Golf Outing Above left: Mark DiVenere, NESMA board member and president of Gemco Manufacturing, and Lynne Carr, general manager, SMI. Above center: Cindy Scoville, NESMA administrator and a vice president of Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and Bill Lathrop, president of NESMA and president of Colonial Han Dee Spring.

Above right: Employees from the Barnes Group, pictured (l-to-r): Jack Goldstein, Jerry Burris, Paul Cestari, and Joel Rafaniello

10 SPRINGS Winter 2011

by Ted White The New England Spring & Metal Stamping Association (NESMA) held its annual golf outing on September 9 at the Chippanee Golf Club in Bristol, Conn. In this day and age of remote access, the annual golf outing and Christmas Party are the two major events where NESMA members actually see each other in the flesh.

The day’s events began with a luncheon and most participants arrived early to enjoy time socializing before the on-course competition began.

The attendees composed a virtual “who’s who” in New England spring manufacturing. The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) reinforced its commitment to the regional organizations by sending its general manager, Lynne Carr, to the event.

This year there were 15 teams playing the private course. In addition to the 60 golfers, 26 more members joined the group for dinner.

Dinner provided a great opportunity to renew acquaintances, make new friends, and contribute to the raffle in support of the NESMA scholarship fund. Over $1,000 in prizes were handed out, many of

them being contributed by various sources such as SMI, NESMA and Chippanee Golf Club. Many of the beverages were donated by Pepsi of Bristol.

After dinner, the plethora of raffle prizes were handed out to many different winners. One notable winner was Bud Funk, a member of the NESMA board and a former SMI board member. Bud was kidded by virtually every attendee because he won a set of balls, a stiff rod driver, and 300 dollars.

Bud, with his usual quick wit, stated that the combination of these things sharply increased the possibility of a wonderful evening which, in the end, is what everyone had.

WCSMA Establishes Presence on Facebook T h e We s t C o a s t S p r i n g Manufacturers Association (WCSMA) has established a fan page on Facebook.

WCSMA’s Facebook page includes many photos of recent gr oup events, including the organization’s trip to see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game on September 11, 2010 against the Seattle Mariners. The association hosted a tailgate party in the

parking lot of Angel Stadium of Anaheim before the game.

Members also turned out in force for WCSMA annual golf outing on November 11, 2010 at the Coyote Hills Country Club. This popular event was attended by approximately 100 members and included golf, dinner, and entertainment by funny comedian Laura Hayden.

Details for upcoming events will soon be posted and include the annual Spring Fling Outing which will take place May 20-22, 2011 at the Pala Mesa Resort in Temecula, Calif. Attendees will enjoy golf, a winery tour, and have access to nearby entertainment such as casinos, hot air ballooning, Old Town Temecula and more!

For additional information on WCSMA, visit their Facebook page or www.wcsma.us.

Success for CASMI “Day at the Races” The Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers, Inc. (CASMI) held its second annual “Day at the Races” on September 16, 2010 at Arlington Park Race T rack. CASMI members were joined by members of the Chicago Metal Finisher’s Institute (CMFI) for an afternoon of thoroughbred racing and a gourmet buffet in a

private suite overlooking the track in Arlington Heights, Ill. Attendance at 2010 Day at the Races exceeded attendance at the 2009 inaugural event by 59 percent. The 2011 event is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 22 at Arlington Park Race Track.

CASMI also held a Bears Tailgate Party at Colletti’s Restaurant in Chicago on November 18 and a Holiday Party on December 16 at Colletti’s Restaurant.

Many other CASMI events are scheduled for 2011. CASMI’s annual Valentine Dinner Dance will be held on February 12, 2011 at Twin Orchard Country Club in Long Grove, Ill. Monthly member dinners are planned for March 12 on employee benefits, April 12 on technology, and May 19 on financial/legal services.

CASMI’s annual supplier/ member golf outing is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 16, 2011 at Pheasant Run Golf Club in St. Charles, Ill. More details on all these events are available at www.casmispringworld.org. ◆

WCSMA members turned out for a tailgate party as part of the group’s September 11, 2010 outing to a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 11

Save e the D Date te

Tuesday April 19, 2011 Aqua Turf Club Mulberry Street Plantsville, Connecticut

For more information contact Cindy Scoville at (860)314-2101, c.scoville@CentralCTChambers.org or www.NESMA-USA.com

12 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Punch Press Guarding, a Top Priority during OSHA Inspections

By Jim Wood

I

n past issues of Springs, I have advised readers about OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on machinery that can cause amputations. This NEP, combined with an older NEP on punch press (power press) guarding, makes punch presses a real priority during OSHA inspections. Nearly every OSHA citation I reviewed has cited some part of the punch press guarding standards CFR 1910.217, many with very high penalties.

Punch press guarding can be very complicated and confusing, depending on the type of press, types of air and/or electrical logic, types of controls, guards, barriers and devices. The size of the punch press does not make a difference. Even the small bench punch presses are covered by the same guarding standards.

There is a misconception that if a punch press, either full or part revolution, is equipped with dual palm buttons, the point of operation does not have to be guarded. That is not necessarily true, because it’s not that simple. It all depends on the type of press, type of brake/clutch assembly, anti-repeat mechanisms, brake monitors and control reliability features. It also depends on the distance the palm buttons are located from the nearest pinch point of the operation.

In many cases the use of light curtains along with dual palm buttons is not legal or safe. Make sure your power punch presses are guarded properly. If you are unsure, consult an expert. Doing so could not only save you thousands of dollars in OSHA penalties, but even more important, it could prevent an amputation.

Jim Wood is an independent regulations compliance consultant to the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI). A certified instructor of the OSHA Out-Reach Program, Wood conducts seminars, plant Safety Audits and In-House Safety Trainings. These programs help companies create safer work environments, limit OSHA/Canadian Ministry of Labor violations and insurance costs, and prepare for VPP or SHARP certification. He is also available for safety advice and information by phone at (630) 495-8597 or via e-mail at regs@smihq.org.

Part of OSHA’s special punch press emphasis is to inspect safety, maintenance and training records.

Make certain you have formal documented programs and certified employee training records on the following areas: • Weekly safety inspections • Monthly maintenance inspections • Brake monitor testing records • Punch press operator training • Die setter training Additional recordkeeping is required if you use pullbacks, restraints, light curtains or presence sensing devices.

Other punch press requirements that are scrutinized during a typical OSHA inspection include the following: • Barrier guarding • Cage and barrier interlocks • Lockout/Tagout requirements • Spring loaded turn-over bars where required • Blocks for block-out • Belt and pulley guarding • Electrical power disconnect boxes that can only be locked in the “Off” position • Motor starters • Single stroke devices • Anti-repeat mechanisms • Foot pedal guards • Palm button guards • Press control “key” supervision • Lighting • Clearance around presses • Anchoring Jim’s Regulatory Tip: Be prepared and aware of OSHA guarding standards and the newest Electrical Safety Work Practices standards. All employees must be trained in electrical safety work practices; qualified employees such as electricians, maintenance and technicians must receive special training in personal protective equipment (PPE) and be supplied with the proper equipment. ◆

SPRINGS Winter 2011 13

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Cautionary Tale: Torsion Spring Stresses — Part 1

by Mark Hayes

D

Torque vs Deflection

Torque (N.m)

uring IST’s Techspring* project, we had reason to question whether the classical mechanics formula for calculating stresses in springs were correct. For compression and extension springs we found that the formulas were sufficiently accurate, but for torsion springs further investigation was required.

This was done by making open coiled torsion springs with tangential legs using 4mm square spring steel wire, and applying strain gauges with a grid size of 2 x 1mm, as shown in figure 1. To ensure the test spring was not subject to plastic deformation, the maximum deflection was limited to 45deg / 9.3N.m, equating to a theoretical uncorrected stress of 870MPa, or 52 percent of the wire UTS.

Figure 1: Gauge locations

Mark Hayes is the senior metallurgist at the Institute of Spring Technology (IST): The International Independent Centre of Excellence for Spring Technology. He manages IST’s spring failure analysis service, and all metallurgical aspects of advice given by the Institute. He also designs and delivers the majority of the spring training courses that the IST offers globally.

Readers are encouraged to contact him with comments about this cautionary tale, and with subjects that they would like to be addressed in future tales. Contact Hayes at (011) 44 114 252 7984, fax (011) 44 114 2527997, or e-mail m.hayes@ist.org.uk.

Deflection (deg)

Figure 2: Effect of mandrel size on Torque output

During testing, the spring was supported on interchangeable mandrels of Ø32, 30, 25mm diameter. The spring legs were loaded using Ø9mm pins at a radius of 40mm from the jig center.

Effect of Mandrel Diameter on Torque Output The spring was mounted onto the test mandrels and deflected from free to 45deg in increments of 5deg. The torque levels were recorded at each position, and results are shown in figure 2.

It can be seen that the torque produced by the spring and hence spring rate is directly influenced by the supporting mandrel diameter.

Spring inside Diameter (mm)

Mandrel diameter (mm)

ID to mandrel % clearance

Max torque N.m

36

32

11.1

9.09

36

30

16.7

8.92

36

25

30.6

8.30

Table 1: Mandrel diameter and maximum torque output

SPRINGS Winter 2011 15

Projecting the results back using a trend line indicates the torque with a minim um five percent clearance is approximately 9.3N.m, which equates closely to the 9.27N.m calculated by the IST version 7.5 CAD software. When small mandrels are used, the shearing and tilting of the coils becomes significant, producing a reduction in the spring rate. This would mean that the stress was lower when using a smaller mandrel, but the spring visibly sheared and so the stress will not be the same at each of the strain gauge locations. To a first approximation the max stress recorded with each mandrel was similar, but the difference in max and min was much greater with the small mandrel.

The first moral of this cautionary tale is that the torque output of torsion springs working on a mandrel will depend on the mandrel diameter, but the stress may not. The stress data will be quantified in part 2 of this cautionary tale. It will be shown that the corrected stress calculation is approximately correct, but the calculation formula is only right by accident.

A second moral of this cautionary tale is that the torque output of these springs was not the same in the wind up and unwind directions--the CAD program shows that it is, but inevitably there is frictional contact between the springs and mandrel and this leads to hysteresis or a difference in torque depending on the direction at loading, as shown in figure 2 in which the difference was about 10 percent--it can be greater than this, especially if not lubricated. * IST’s Techspring project was partially funded by the European Commission. It was completed to enable “advanced stress analysis methods to be evaluated so as to give advice to SME spring manufacturers concerning the relative technical and commercial usefulness of each method we knew of.� ◆

Correction: Study of Conical Springs with Non-Constant Pitch

by Manuel Paredes The article “Study of Conical Springs with Non-Constant Pitch� was published in the Fall 2010 issue of Springs and unfortunately contains two formulas that need to be corrected.

First, the stress in an elementary coil defined by its radius r, its wire diameter d and submitted to load P can be calculated by using the formula proposed by Wahl (referred to as equation 3 in the initial paper):

Y"

16 rP U d3

(uncorrected stress of a coil that is free to deflect)

Second, equation 7 that describes how to calculate the rate of a conical spring with a constant helix angle is:

R"

Gd Na

4

64 Âľ Ra dius(V )3 dn 0

U Gd

"

2U Na 3 1

4D

Âľ 0

4 3

 V Ln Šª D2 šº Ÿ ­ e 2 U Na  D1  ½ dV ½ž ­Ž

"

ŠD š 3Gd 4 Ln ª 2 º  D1 

8 N a D23 D13

Where R is the spring rate, G is the torsional modulus, D1, D2 are the minimum and maximum mean diameters, d is the wire diameter and Na is the number of active coils (θ is the angle that defines the position on the conical helix).

Manuel Paredes is associate professor, UniversitĂŠ de Toulouse; INSA, UPS; Mines Albi, ISAE; ICA (Institut ClĂŠment Ader);135, avenue de Rangueil, F-31077 Toulouse, France; phone +33 561 55 99 56, fax +33 561 55 97 00, or e-mail : manuel.paredes@insa-toulouse.fr.

16 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Aerospace and Aviation Markets:

Springmakers with “The Right Stuff”

By Raquel Chole

D

uring an economic downturn, when sales are slumping because volumes are dropping, the words most often heard spoken in a board of directors meeting are: go out and find us new markets. For most springmakers outside of the geographic areas closest to the aerospace and aviation OEMs, these markets are a natural target.

There’s the lure of springs that have a price point only dreamt of by springmakers who serve the mature appliance and automotive markets. Which begs the question: Do you have “the right stuff” to successfully fly in the atmosphere of aerospace?

SPRINGS Winter 2011 17

"[Having AS9100 certification is] like converting to a new religion and making sure everyone in the company converts with us."

Jim Glenn, president of Titan Spring, has been in the business a long time. He and his wife run the business his father-in-law started over 50 years ago.

Titan employs 25 people and has $2 million in annual sales, of which 65 percent are aerospace. For many years Titan manufactured in North Hollywood, Calif.; however, for the past three years, they have been in Hayden, Idaho. Regarding the work Titan does for aerospace, Glenn says matter-of-factly, “We save the day on a regular basis.” But, he explains, the business of serving this market gets ever more complicated.

Titan is one of the very few spring companies with AS9100 certification. AS9100 is a quality management system for the aerospace industry. It was created by the Society of Automotive Engineers in conjunction with the European Association of Aerospace Industries a little over a decade ago.

AS9100 goes beyond ISO9002 and TS16949 to include additional requirements related to quality and safety. While many aerospace manufacturers and suppliers require registration to AS9100 or at least compliance with AS9100 as a condition of doing business with them, there are many ways to serve the market without becoming AS9100 certified. For example, when supplying springs to a Tier I or II supplier who will use the parts in an assembly that is not critical to the core function of an airplane, certification to the AS9100 standard is not rigorously enforced.

Having AS9100 certification is a marketing and sales asset, according to Glenn. Titan receives inquiries for springs from all over the world. Many of these inquiries are generated by the AS9100 certification. “It is recognized as a very tough quality standard — like ISO on steroids,” he explains. “With

18 SPRINGS Winter 2011

AS, it’s a flow down and fly up situation: upper management must have a complete understanding of AS and that flows down to every member of the staff.

The staff has to embrace it and help it flow through every part of the company. It’s like converting to a new religion and making sure everyone in the company converts with us. It requires a high level of internal communication throughout the company.”

New Breed of Buyer One of the major challenges Glenn faces daily is dealing with the new breed of aerospace buyer.

He hearkens back to the days when he was on the other side and made his living as a buyer in the aerospace industry. “We were trained to function with a high level of understanding so we could buy parts knowledgeably. Back then, buyers came from the manufacturing sector. We understood blueprints and mechanical issues. We went to spring companies to learn how springs were made and how spring companies operated so we could be informed buyers.”

The buyers at most of the companies he talks to now are hired because they have a college degree, he says, but rarely because they understand springs or other mechanical issues, and they definitely are not able to read a blueprint even on the most basic level.

One ramification of this hiring trend is that the new breed of buyer does not always understand the consequences of manufacturing issues. For example, Titan was making parts for a time-critical project.

As is standard in the aerospace industry, they used a Nadcap approved heat treater (which means the heat treater has a certified manufacturing process).

Despite that precaution, the heat treater made two critical errors in processing Titan parts. According

to Glenn, the parts were heated at twice the prescribed temperature for twice as long as the spring should have been heated. “When they were done, the parts were as brittle as potato chips,” says Glenn.

“I tried to explain the issue to my buyer and he said something like, ‘well that won’t cause the deadline to slip, will it?’ Well, hell, yes it will.

I couldn’t make him understand the scope of the problem.

“Years ago, the buyer could come to you and say that they desperately needed a part and because you had a good relationship with them, you’d find a hole for it or run someone else over a weekend and you’d be their friend forever. Now, they’ll dump you for a nickel.”

Changing Customer Type The type of customer Glenn serves has changed, too. Titan used to serve the OEMs directly, including Raytheon, Boeing and others. Now, Glenn finds that his bread and butter customers are the Tier II vendors who supply the mega companies. How he serves these companies is different from the old days: “They want all the buyer benefits of Just-in-Time timing but they want to eliminate any portion of the deal that would provide a benefit to the seller. The presidents of these companies all have their financial guys sitting on their laps telling them they can’t keep any inventory.”

A prudent buyer would keep some safety stock on hand but buyer intelligence is being replaced by fiscal management and that is dictating how parts are ordered, according to Glenn.

“For example, an OEM might have an urgent need for a fuel pump. The vendor might have a pump housing and hose but not the spring and there’s a plane on the ground that can’t take off because of one spring not being on the shelf,” says Glenn. “As a vendor, we just can’t keep parts on hand anymore – we might never sell that inventory -- so when the order comes in for that pump spring, I might even have to order material before I can start processing it – all because the buyer did not have the foresight to have some safety stock. And all this time, a plane is on the ground no longer generating income for the owner.”

Probably the worst outcome of the changes in the industry, from Glenn’s perspective, is the entry into the business of springmakers who are not well versed enough in the industry to survive the impact on their business. He feels that new vendors very often take on aerospace business without full realization of what they are getting into. At that stage, the aerospace buyers often tie up an unsophisticated vendor in a book of business that will be theirs for the long term.

Titan Spring

Once they’re locked in, the newbie discovers that the contract allows the customer to release three pieces at a time with 90 day terms. At one point, when a buyer made the decision to pull business from him and give it to a lower cost vendor, Glenn asked the buyer what would happen when the new vendor’s business failed due to the burden of making the parts at below cost pricing. The buyer replied that she would come back to him and offer him the chance to bid the business and recapture it.

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SPRINGS Winter 2011 19

"Aircraft companies are famous for taking an aeronautic engineer and having him design a spring that has a critical function. That’s where our experience comes into play and we can help guide the engineer through the design process. Customers rely on us for that.”

Mystery Parts Aside from those negative issues, working on the cutting edge of aerospace development can be very exciting and sometimes mysterious. “We’re working on an antenna array for a satellite. It’s a flat spring operating like a torsion spring. The part is actuated by a pin and when it gets the signal, it opens the satellite like an umbrella,” says Glenn. Jobs like this

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20 SPRINGS Winter 2011

use exotic materials and movements and the project can be worth $20-30k even though the total number of springs might be 20-50 pieces for the life of the part. “Once the project is over, they’ll be on to the next one and this spring will never be used again.”

Glenn enjoys the enigmatic aspect of serving this market. One of his favorite stories is about the engineer who showed up at the reception area of his shop with a hand drawn design in hand. “He left no clues to his identity beyond his first name, permitted no contact information to be exchanged; he paid in cash for all orders. He would call us for status but we couldn’t call him. When the parts were ready, he picked them up personally. He could never say how the parts were used.” But, says Glenn, discretion in transactions is fairly common in the aerospace industry. He learned never to ask how a part is used unless that information is freely offered by the buyer.

Mission Critical Mentality Precision Coil Spring in El Monte, California, is also heavily vested in the aerospace market. Of their $10-12 million in sales, 60-70 percent is aerospace.

Bert Goering is president of Precision. His company focuses on components for auxiliary power units for running various backup systems in planes and on parts in the airplane structure, like wing assemblies, tail and fuselage structures and nosecones.

Many of his parts are flight critical, meaning that a failure can be catastrophic to the aircraft. This type of part has higher acceptance standards and typically requires special handling. For example, redundant NDT (nondestructive testing) may be required in several different modes and cycle testing could be required for every lot.

One of the highest stress situations an aerospace vendor can have is an AOG (aircraft on the ground) scenario, says Goering. When a plane or —worse yet— a fleet is grounded, it’s an incredibly high pressure situation.

“It’s rarely a spring issue at the core of the problem, but it is typically an assembly that includes a spring that has to be retrofitted and the lack of a spring can hold the whole thing up.” In a situation like this, the FAA makes the judgment call. “It becomes a 24/7 issue for us, because the cost of keeping an airplane grounded is very high. We’ll work around the clock to replace that part and get that plane back into the air.”

It’s not always a part critical to flight operations that can keep a plane down, though. Goering recalls when his shop had to work Easter and over weekends because a buyer forgot to order the clip assembly for a pilot’s clipboard. “It wasn’t heroic or interesting; it was just a stupid error on the buyer’s part, but that’s the mentality of aerospace manufacturing.”

Vendor Lock Down Another trend Goering sees is that aerospace is aggressively trying to lock vendors into multiyear contracts that proscribe increases in raw material and outside processing costs. “It’s nerve wracking,” he says. “You’ve got to have one hell of a Ouija board or crystal ball to know how pricing will look in 2014 and 15, but that’s what we’re being asked to quote.

Military wants us to lock in till 2018 and they’re applying this standard in a soft market, so most springmakers have no choice but to take their chances and comply.” It’s a highly competitive world and it’s not a great time to be in this sector, says Goering. “We understand aerospace and we know what our customers expect of us. Aircraft companies are famous for taking an aeronautic engineer and having him design a spring that has a critical function. That’s where our experience comes into play and we can help guide the engineer through the design process. Customers rely on us for that.”

Goering says his customers are continually looking for advances in alloys, including various kinds of

Innovative ‘Spring’ Tire Developed by Goodyear and NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company received an R&D 100 Award for an airless tire capable of transporting large, long-range vehicles across the surface of celestial bodies such as the moon or Mars. The 44th Annual R&D 100 Awards ceremony, billed as the “Oscars of Innovation,” was held last November in Orlando, Fla. The tire, developed in 2009, is constructed out of 800 load bearing springs. It is designed to carry much heavier vehicles over much greater distances than the wire mesh tire (which Goodyear also contributed to) that was previously used on the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The new tire could allow for broader exploration and the eventual development and maintenance of planetary outposts. It might also have applications on Earth.

According to Vivake Asnani, principal investigator for the project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the tire being recognized for an R&D 100 Award had to meet a significant change in requirements that required innovation. “With the combined requirements of increased load and life, we needed to make a fundamental change to the original moon tire,”

he said. “What the Goodyear-NASA team developed is an innovative, yet simple network of interwoven springs that does the job. The tire design seems almost obvious in retrospect, as most good inventions do.”

The Spring Tire was installed last year on NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover test vehicle and put through its paces at the “Rock Yard” at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it performed successfully.

“This tire is extremely durable and extremely energy efficient,” noted Jim Benzing, Goodyear’s lead innovator on the project.

“The spring design contours to the surface on which it’s driven to provide traction. But all of the energy used to deform the tire is returned when the springs rebound. It doesn’t generate heat like a normal tire.”

According to Goodyear engineers, development of both the original Apollo lunar mission tires and the new Spring Tire were driven by the fact that traditional rubber, pneumatic (air-filled) tires used on Earth have little utility on the moon. This is because rubber properties vary significantly between the extreme cold and hot temperatures experienced in the shaded and directly sunlit areas of the moon. Furthermore, unfiltered solar radiation degrades

rubber, and pneumatic tires pose an unacceptable risk of deflation.

Asnani notes that the Spring Tire does not have a “single point failure mode. What that means,” he said, “is that a hard impact that might cause a pneumatic tire to puncture and deflate would only damage one of the 800 load bearing springs. Along with having this ultra-redundant characteristic, the tire has a combination of overall stiffness yet flexibility that allows off-road vehicles to travel fast over rough terrain with relatively little motion being transferred to the vehicle.”

SPRINGS Winter 2011 21

Steve Boyd, managing director of G & O Springs in Redditch England

titanium. “They’re always trying to take weight out of a part.” Material issues have an impact in this industry, where exotic materials are the norm. Experimentation with different forms of titanium give an edge to companies like Precision, who work toward developing lighter weight parts but that requires having material available when needed. “I don’t have endless racks of material, but it does take an extensive inventory of high cost materials to service this market,” says Goering.

Dealing with Hidden Costs Beyond the operational costs faced by all springmakers, Goering says there are many hidden costs associated with serving this market. For example, Precision is covered by an aircraft product liability insurance policy and is subject to government oversight and regulations, which escalate his administrative quotient to levels above the norm.

“Do you like to deal with lawyers and read 200 page contracts?” asks Goering with a wry laugh. If so, the aerospace market might be the right industry for you.

It’s no longer the right market for Paul DeSantis, owner of DeSantis Industrial Spring and Stampings in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He employs a staff of 30 for annual sales of $5 million and serves a diverse number of markets these days. Aerospace is five percent of his business now, but it used to have a much bigger impact on his business mix. “I used to sell to Canadair till they sold to Bombardier,” says DeSantis. “We don’t do large volume. I make 10-20 pieces of each part. These parts have extremely tight tolerances and they’re very technical. Then, after

22 SPRINGS Winter 2011

9/11, I lost 80 percent of the aviation market due to procurement rules about buying American.”

The profit margin is surprisingly slim on aerospace parts, despite the high piece prices they can command. “Parts I would sell to the automotive aftermarket for $2-3 each I can sell to the aerospace market for $20-30 each. But, then, on 10 parts, I’ll need to send 10 pages of quality certifications. Plus, the part is made out of, say, 17-7 stainless and has to be heat treated by an aerospace approved source,” says DeSantis. There’s not much left after that.

“I look at companies trying to enter this market and I think, ‘What if I tried to get into your special market?’ An uninitiated company wouldn’t have the material sources and there’s no margin, so no room for error. End result: You’ll kick my ass.” That is what happens when new spring companies try to become players in aerospace against the companies that have been doing this for years, explains DeSantis.

Entry Barriers Like Goering, DeSantis sees issues that should be barriers to entry into this market, but can be overlooked because they are somewhat hidden. “Tell your insurance company that you’re going to sell to aviation/aerospace and you’ll see a major increase in your premiums — if they don’t drop you.” DeSantis explains it this way: “If a spring fails in a car, one person may die. If a spring fails in an aircraft, you can kill a whole lot of people.”

Heiplex is also located in Canada and aerospace is the primary market for their company. Heiplex has

sales of $1 million per year. Their targeted customers are airframers. Heiplex springs can be found in landing gear, flight controls and lock assemblies.

Kevin Heistermann is vice president of the company.

So far, he has found it possible to comply with his customers’ quality standards without having to register as AS9100.

“We’ve considered AS9100 certification,” says Heistermann, “but so far we haven’t needed it.”

Heiplex manufacturing is largely done manually.

Most forming – even grinding ops – is done by hand after the machine coils the part. Only loops are done on hard tools. Most quantities are very small and, says Heistermann, “you can’t afford to have nicks or surface roughness on these parts.”

Despite Heiplex’s reputation in the market, there are barriers to entering this market, even for them.

“We have a reputation for dealing with aerospace and so far we haven’t let anyone down. In trying to expand, though, we’ve tried to target companies before and, even with our reputation, we could not get in because they were happy with the vendors they had,” says Heistermann. “It would be very difficult for a nonaerospace springmaker to crack this market.”

Steve Boyd, managing director of G & O Springs in Redditch, England, agrees. His company is dedicated to aerospace and sales to that market comprise 80

percent of revenue for G & O. “We work hand in hand with our customer base to design parts based on their needs. They do the drawing then we check their designs for validity,” says Boyd. It takes a long time to get that close to a customer, but Boyd and his father before him have been doing this since 1973.

The Nadcap Advantage A key differentiator for G & O as an aerospace supplier is their status as a Nadcap approved vendor.

According to Boyd, there are only a handful of companies with that status in the world and G & O is one. They are approved for special processes, such as heat treatment, stress relieving, plating, welding, etc. “This really ups the game,” explains Boyd. Nadcap approved processes have a litany of procedures attached to them. For example, in heat treating, “we can’t use in line ovens and the max allowed temperature variation is five degrees on furnaces,” says Boyd. “You can’t just apply for Nadcap and get it. It took us about 18 months of serious effort.”

Most parts that G & O makes go into aeroengine controls. Their specialties are fuel pumps and fuel metering pumps, flow valves, anti-icing valves and landing gear components. Since these parts are critical to protecting the lives of passengers and crew, Boyd recommends that any company wanting to take

SPRINGS Winter 2011 23

on this type of business is truly capable of making parts to the highest level of quality.

“The tolerances we work to are very strict. We have 100 percent inspection and load testing. Most parts are actually individually packaged and labeled with the loads they produce at loaded lengths,” explains Boyd. “Most mechanical machines cannot produce the parts to a sufficient level of quality, so we make our parts by hand. We coil them around a mandrel to make sure we don’t damage the material surface – especially when we are using titanium or inconel.

Veterans and Apprentices “We’ve got a lot of time-served staff. They are very hard to replace but we have a solid apprentice program. Our first apprentice started five years ago, but he has about five more years to go before he reaches the top of the tree because it takes around ten years to reach the top standard.”

In looking for the right apprentice, Boyd seeks someone who has a good attitude and wants to “get on and learn.” He wants someone who is reasonably intelligent, and someone who has a good aptitude for the business; someone with mechanical comprehension and facility with numbers.

Snapshots of Success In looking at these snapshots of companies who serve the aerospace and aviation market, the common thread is dedication to quality to the most minute detail. Most of the companies would be considered small businesses, in the range of $1 to 12 million in sales and most of them are fairly dedicated to the business, with greater than 50 percent of their sales focused in that market. It is a challenging business to enter at the engine parts level; however there seem to be some opportunities in the noncritical parts arena.

Margins can be a little above ordinary; however, if quality issues escalate, they can prove devastating to the vendor.

One key factor is the vendor’s ability to maintain an appropriate level of raw material on hand, which can include expensive, exotic materials. A second key factor is the vendor’s coping skills relative to the level of relentless paperwork to read, to understand, to generate and to process. This level of documentation adds significant cost that can be underestimated by the uninitiated supplier.

The aerospace and aviation market is a growing industry, with high demand for new planes as well as aftermarket parts. It can be a developing market for the springmaker who has the right level of quality, the patience to grow slowly but deliberately, and the tolerance, willingness and fortitude to weather the risks that seem to be a constant companion for the springmakers who navigate this market. ◆

24 SPRINGS Winter 2011

SPRINGS Winter 2011 25

Top left: The show committee for SpringWorld officially opens the 2010 event. Bottom left: SMI leaders enjoyed the all-industry reception. Pictured (l-to-r): past president, Dan Sebastian, MW Industries, immediate past president, Reb Banas, Stanley Spring & Stamping, current president, Scott Rankin, Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing, and vice president, Steve Moreland, Automatic Spring Products. Above: Attendees enjoyed the opening night, all-industry reception sponsored by SMI.

Spring World 2010 In spite of the continuing sluggishness of the economy, most exhibitors at SpringWorld® 2010 were pleased with the attendance figures and the quality of those in attendance. While exhibitors registered eight percent fewer staff in 2010, attendee registration for spring and wire form manufacturers in 2010 exceeded 2008 totals by nine percent.

In addition, attendance by other industries involved in forming wire products increased by 16 percent.

26 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Highlights of SpringWorld 2010 included the inauguration of the SpringWorld education sessions held at no additional cost to registered attendees. The educational sessions were well attended with many sessions having “standing room only.”

In addition to the education sessions, the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) again hosted attendees at their popular all-industry reception on opening night.

Top (3 photos): Attendees scattered the show floor to see new products, equipment and services and to get their questions answered by exhibitors. Above: Todd Piefer of UTS hosted two seminars to provide SpringWorld attendees with a basic introduction to ASD 7 software. Right: John Guest of Jubilee Springs in Australia is pictured with his wife, Wendy, outside the SMI booth. Guest was the winner of SMI’s SpringWorld 2010 Apple iPad giveaway.

Deemed a Success Evaluations from the 98 exhibiting companies indicate this year’s show consistently rated SpringWorld 2010 a successful show. Exhibitors reported quality leads indicating that despite the condition of the economy, they were happy with the quantity and quality of the leads and contacts made at this year’s show. At the end of the show, 16 percent of this year’s exhibitors had reserved their space for 2012 before they had

finished taking down their booths.

The Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers (CASMI), sponsor of SpringWorld®, is currently accepting space reservations for 2012. SpringWorld® 2010 exhibitors can reserve their same space for 2012, or ask to improve their location on the show floor at the next show. Spaces not reserved by January 1, 2011 will be made available to new exhibitors after that date.

The show will be returning to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 17-19, 2012. Exhibitor setup is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, October 13 and 14. Preliminary floor plans and space applications/contracts were distributed to all exhibitors at the 2010 show and can be downloaded from www. casmi-SpringWorld.org.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 27

Forecast 2011 Recovery Brings Opportunities

by Phillip M. Perry

W

hat lies ahead in 2011?

If you’re like most business owners you’re ready for a rebound in sales after two years fighting the recession dragon. But maybe you’re dogged by a common question: How will the unsettled economy affect the success of your marketing programs?

Here’s some good news: You are now operating in an economic environment that is slowly but surely on the mend.

“The recovery will start to ramp up in 2011, then really expand quite strongly in 2012 and 2013,” says Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director of industry economics at Moody’s Analytics, a research firm based in West Chester, Pa. Recalled to Life Most economists concur with that assessment. Today’s economy is like a patient in convalescence:

28 SPRINGS Winter 2011

It needs more time to return to full health, but at least it’s no longer on life support.

Consider the most common thermometer of economic health: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or the yearly total of goods and services produced in the United States. In a healthy economy this measurement of general business activity increases at a robust pace.

“We estimate that GDP will grow at 2.7 percent for 2010 when numbers are finalized,” says Koropeckyj. That number represents a growth rate which is virtually flat, considering that it comes off a GDP decline of 2.6 percent in 2009.

The good news is that GDP is expected to grow by 3.1 percent in the coming 12 months, according to Koropeckyj. That’s a much healthier number since it’s calculated from a decent previous

year figure. (To put these numbers in perspective, the annual GDP increase for an economy in average growth mode is 2.5 percent).

Strong Profits Some current factors are especially conducive to a rebound.

Perhaps the most important is the healthy state of corporate profits.

“Medium and large companies have been very profitable over the past twelve months, thanks partly to low interest rates, minimal hiring and no wage pressures,” says Koropeckyj. Coming off a pretty flat 2009, corporate profits are expected to increase by some 28 percent in 2010, by 4 percent in 2011, and a healthy 14 percent in 2012.

These enterprises are accumulating lots of extra cash, earning close to zero percent interest. “They are well positioned to expand both hiring and capital investments,” says Koropeckyj.

That would have a stimulating effect on consumers and retailers.

Unfortunately, for the most part companies large and small are refusing to invest aggressively in the future. They cite a number of concerns, including the negative effects of the unstable housing market, the European debt crisis, and the unsettled nature of federal laws in many areas such as taxation, health care and the environment.

Perhaps the most important concer n of business owners, though, is the low level of consumer confidence. The public’s faith in the future is critically important for a healthy general market place since consumer activity represents 70 percent of the economy.

Here, unfortunately, things are not so good. “Consumers are majorly depressed,” says Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer

economics at Moody’s. “Consumer confidence has been at levels characteristic of a deep recession for over a year.” That’s inconsistent with what one might expect, given the fact that the recession officially ended in 2009.

Stubborn Unemployment Why the gloom? Consumers are clearly worried about jobs: The recovery has not yet been accompanied by an uptick in employment. By late 2010 unemployment was running at 9.6 percent, according to Moody’s.

That figure, up slightly from the 9.3 percent of 2009, is actually expected to increase over the coming months.

“Once job creation kicks into higher gear people on the sidelines will perceive the labor market as more hospitable and will start applying for work,” says Koropeckyj. She expects unemployment to average 9.9 percent for 2011, eventually easing down to 9.5 percent later this year.

The rate in 2012 is expected to average 8.3 percent.

Those numbers are enough to keep consumers restrained. “When people hear the unemployment figures they are not going to tell anyone they are happy,” says Hoyt.

Additionally, consumers have lost massive amounts of wealth in their homes and stock portfolios, and are making very little money on their savings because of low interest rates.

Corporations will remain shy of investment as long as they see consumers parked on the sidelines.

“Investing in a business has a lot to do with confidence—in yourself, your market, and your customers,” says Michael Smeltzer, director of the Manufacturers Association of South Central Pennsylvania, a trade group whose members

Manufacturers Hopeful For Economic Uptick The second annual ASQ Manufacturing Outlook Survey shows a vast majority of manufacturers are optimistic about an economic uptick in 2011 at their organizations. The survey conducted

by ASQ, the world’s largest network of quality resources and experts, states 68 percent of respondents employed in the manufacturing sector predict their organizations will experience revenue growth.

Despite the economic landscape, a year ago, 64.7 percent of respondents predicted that revenue would grow in 2010. This year, when asked if their organization did experience revenue growth in 2010, 67 percent indicated “yes.” More than 1,200 manufacturing professionals from the United States and Canada responded to the online survey October 24 – November 5, 2010.

The two areas from the survey that showed the most promise were in the area of payroll and operational budgets. Only 18 percent expect a pay freeze in 2011, as compared to 44.8 percent in 2010 at their organizations. Eighteen percent also predict mandatory budget cuts in 2011, whereas 35.2 percent did in 2010.

The top four tips to manufacturers for 2011 from respondents were: continue to take part in continuous improvement practices, and increase use of quality processes; increase customer satisfaction; implement more lean processes; and reduce costs/eliminate waste.

For more information, visit www.asq.org.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 29

employ some 220,000 workers.

“That confidence is where the weakness is today.”

Companies with cash to invest are also concerned about the erosion of the middle class—a population segment that has long been the bulwark of the nation. “Too many governmental policies are encouraging

30 SPRINGS Winter 2011

companies to expand offshore where gover nments embrace the opportunity to host new businesses,” says Smeltzer.

“Manufacturing has always been a great wealth generator for our country and is the number one driver for middle class prosperity.

Offshore migration is a significant risk for the future.”

Housing Woes Consumers, like business owners, are also concerned about the continuing glut of homes. “The housing market is still performing quite poorly and is not expected to stabilize until later in 2011,” says Koropeckyj. “The big problem is the huge inventory of unsold homes.”

Housing starts were expected to total 590,000 when 2010 numbers were finally tallied, up from the 550,000 of 2009.

They are expected to rebound to 830,000 in 2011. While that figure looks like a huge improvement, Koropeckyj points out that “it’s not really a boom historically. Housing starts were averaging 1.6 million before the recession. The 2011 rebound represents some renewed activity in select undersupplied markets.”

A related problem, equally serious, is that existing home owners won’t benefit from increased value in their properties for the foreseeable future. The median price for existing home sales is expected to be $162,800 in 2011. That’s actually a decline from the $171,400 average for 2010, despite the fact that existing home sales are expected to rise to 5.9 million in 2011 from the previous year’s 5.2 million.

Why the disparity? “Many foreclosed homes are still going on the market and being sold at big discounts,” explains Koropeckyj.

“Sales of foreclosed homes do affect the selling prices of other houses.” Stable or dropping home values make consumers feel less flush, and that has a negative effect on spending.

Concerns about unemployment and housing are reflected in the numbers for the economy’s retail sector. At first glance recent store performance looks good. Hoyt expects core retail sales (which exclude the volatile auto and gasoline segments) to increase some 3.6 percent when 2010

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numbers are finalized. However, that increase is calculated off the results of a dismal 1.9 percent decline in 2009.

Even so, Hoyt expects the gradually improving economy to enliven consumers because retail sales are expected to improve by 4.2 percent in 2011.

“We ar e expecting better per formance in almost every segment of retailing,” said Hoyt.

(To put these figures in context, average annual core retail sales growth has been running at 4.6 percent in recent times).

Shy Borrowers Until consumer confidence rebounds, companies with money to spend are not only closing their purses but also shying away from taking on more debt. This reluctance to borrow comes at a

time when the recession-based credit freeze has largely thawed.

“Banks are now open to lend and the money is available, but demand from entrepreneurs is down,” says Walter Simson, principal of New York City-based Ventor Consulting (www.ventorllc. com). “Banks are telling me they are having trouble finding people who want to take business risks.”

Consumers, for their part, are also borrowing less. “Three years ago people were spending their home equity at retailers,” notes James Dion, president of Dionco Inc., a Chicago-based consulting firm. “Then all of a sudden that money disappeared.

Also, credit card issuers have tightened up credit lines. People who had $2,000 limits before might only have $900 or $1,100 now. As a result, the use of credit

cards has dropped dramatically in favor of debit cards and cash.”

Ready to Spend In the longer term, consumers refinancing their mortgages will end up with more cash to spend as a result of lower debt payments. This trend is being fed by low interest rates and minimal inflation, two conditions that economists expect to remain through 2011.

When will a robust rebound happen? When consumers decide they have reset their balance sheets sufficiently.

“At some point consumers are going to say ‘I have started saving, my finances are in better shape, and now I need to replace my car and buy some new things that I have been avoiding,’” says Simson.

“Then demand will be back and it will be dramatic.” ◆

SPRINGS Winter 2011 31

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SMI Keynote Speaker Sees More of the Same Ahead for U.S. Economy in 2011

The 2011 SMI Annual Meeting at the end of March at the Marriott Doral Resort will feature an appearance by Dr. Jeffrey Rosensweig, an associate professor of international business and finance at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is also director of the school’s Global Perspectives Program. Dr. Rosensweig specializes in global strategy, global economics, and international finance.

Dr. Rosensweig is frequently quoted by the media for his insights on the U.S. and global economic situation.

Springs editor Gary McCoy recently interviewed Dr. Rosensweig to get his take on the current economy and to preview his upcoming presentation for SMI.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 33

I see the U.S. economy muddling along, growing but not fast enough to reduce unemployment or really boost business.

Last year you said in an Atlanta Journal Constitution article that “the economy will continue to bring more pain than joy.� That was your outlook on 2010. How did we come out in 2010, and what do you see ahead for the U.S. economy in 2011?

Perhaps I was a bit too pessimistic on 2010. I was correct in that we would have a slow recovery, whereas many economists did not predict recovery from the Great Recession. However, we did create

jobs, albeit way too few, and the stock market rose, so there was some joy amid the gloom.

I see the U.S. economy muddling along, growing but not fast enough to reduce unemployment or really boost business. Thus, my forecast is that 2011 will turn out much like 2010. The good trends will continue: economic growth, rising profits, more jobs, and more exports underpinning the manufacturing sector.

However, the growth will once again be below what is needed. The economy is likely to grow about two percent, whereas we need to exceed our long-run average of three percent to start closing the huge gap we fell into during the Great Recession.

Two difficult areas during this recent downturn have been high unemployment and a struggling housing sector. Where do you see things on those two fronts?

Housing will continue to struggle. The good news is that home sales are beginning to rise and I predict the rise will continue. This will seed a return to growth in housing construction. The bad news is that growth, even what sounds like high percentage growth rates, will take years to get us back to normal levels of activity, because it is growth off of such a depressed level.

Unemployment will remain high, with very little relief in sight for the job market. We are creating jobs nearly every month, which I predict will continue.

The problem is that our working-age population is still growing solidly, as the echo-boom generation is ready to start working — if only there were jobs.

Thus, we need to add 125,000 jobs a month just to hold unemployment steady. This is likely, but it is unlikely we will gain many more jobs than this, so the job market will remain dismal.

Since we are in a global economy, what is your 2011 forecast for the worldwide economy?

34 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Thus, my forecast is that 2011 will turn out much like 2010. The good trends will continue: economic growth, rising profits, more jobs, and more exports underpinning the manufacturing sector.

The global growth forecast for 2011 is encouraging.

Led by the big emerging markets, the world economy is likely to grow at least four percent. Indeed, by far the most populous nations on earth, China and India, likely will each achieve economic growth of eight percent.

Other populous nations also have economies that have been growing fast enough and long enough to create a new generation of middle-class consumers. Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Thailand — there are a lot of budding success stories executives need to learn about.

continue, so we will see what its drivers are, what forms it could take, and how those could impact the industry. However, we live in uncertain times. I predict that there is a 25 percent chance of a “double-dip recession.” What could cause it, how severe would it be, and how should the risk of it impact strategy?

Finally, the spring manufacturing industry is ultimately tied to demographics, so we will examine

What are some global factors that spring manufacturers should consider in making business plans?

The world economy is growing faster than the U.S. economy and that should continue. Do not be fooled by the problems in Europe. The Americas and Asia are achieving significant growth that is likely to be sustained. The U.S. always had to be the locomotive for the world. Now, we can hook onto emerging locomotives, and as they steam ahead it helps us grow.

Our exports are booming, especially in manufacturing instead of service industries. As the global economy grows, we can sell more product to them.

The global growth also means continued growth in demand for commodities. Their prices have rebounded quite high since they plunged during the Great Recession, but there is no reason to set your plans expecting that just because they have jumped up that they will fall back sharply.

SMI members are looking forward to your presentation at the 2011 meeting in March. Can you give us a preview of what you’ll be talking about in your keynote address?

Where the U.S. economy is likely headed, and what do the various scenarios that might unfold imply for the executives in the meeting. Growth is likely to

SPRINGS Winter 2011 35

Meaningful Conversations in a High Tech World

by John Passante

W

ithout question the Internet and Google have changed the world forever. We live in a world with access to as much information as we need or seek on a particular subject, and for the most part this is a good thing.

My concern is this: Has our business world lost the art and interest in having a conversation with the customer? Are we relying too heavily on e-mails, text messages, blogs, etc.? That is the question behind the question! We have content for customers, but do we have contact?

Relationships in every industry I’ve been associated with have for years been built and nourished on meaningful conversations. Few things are in fact more pleasurable than engaging in a good talk. Conversations with other people are how we learn how the world works. They force us to clarify our perspective, as well as recall our experiences.

The pressures in today’s business environment can result in the lack of time to focus on this most basic human activity. I am sad to say, but non-goal-oriented conversations are a luxury in business today. We are all “time poor.”

I see people checking their Blackberries in business meetings, over dinner, at sporting events, while pushing their son or daughter on a swing and yes, even during church services. This method of “conversing” makes a loud statement!

Texting is more important than listening and actually paying attention to the situation (meeting, etc.) that we are in. We choose not to stay in the moment.

Ask yourself this question: “Are healthy human conversations an endangered species?”

36 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Looking down at a handheld device rather than into the eyes of your conversation mate is, in my opinion rude, and it prevents the exchange of nonverbal cues that help generate rich and meaningful attachments. We “touch” people with our eyes.

Face-to-face conversations are the foundation for understanding, problem solving, healthy debate, intimacy and knowledge. They are also a form of touch.

Looking down at a handheld device rather than into the eyes of your conversation mate is, in my opinion rude, and it prevents the exchange of nonverbal cues that help generate rich and meaningful attachments.

We “touch” people with our eyes.

Spencer M. Free stated it well, when he said: “Tis the human touch in this world that counts, the touch of your hand and mine, which means far more to the fainting heart than shelter and bread and wine. For shelter is gone when the night is o’er, and bread lasts only a day. But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice sing on in the soul always.”

We cannot touch others over the Internet.

As Stanford sociologist Clifford Nass, author of “The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships,” puts it, “Face-to-face social interaction is hard. If we don’t go through a period where we’re forced to master the hideous process of learning how to talk with other people, we never will.”

Digital communication can breed confusion. As e-mail communicators, we “hear” what we are writing based on our intentions. On the other hand, the recipient of our e-mail may miss the nuance. We can all cite experiences where we sent a well-intended e-mail and received the opposite intended reaction.

Ponder this: Would you rather receive an e-mail telling you that your promotion has been approved or would you rather be congratulated face-to-face? The written word does not always convey our true emotions expressing joy, love, concern, compassion, etc.

Quite honestly, we all seek the full attention of others.

There is nothing like a person who is there just for you!

Clearly, e-mails and texting allow us to stay in touch more than ever, but perhaps in a less thoughtful way.

It is a fact that e-mail and social networking sites like Facebook encourage a quantity of relationships over quality. Today, people share intimate details through e-mails, and these powerful technology-driven communication tools are efficient and productive.

Let the word go forth. I am not against technology, e-mails, web blasts, texting, blogs, etc. As an industry, let’s find quality time for open discourse and active conversation. Leaders need to allow time for creative conversation to foster solutions and stoke the fire of passion that made the spring industry what it is today.

Anyone can use Google to find the answer to any question in seconds, but the real learning takes place in the ability to discern which information is factual and how to utilize the knowledge.

I believe in the power of the human spirit and the power of conversations. Consider this: Conversations give us energy; they also generate energy and act as a catalyst for action. Conversations help us to relate to others (customers, employees, family, friends, etc.).

They also help us to think and to develop new ideas and concepts. Conversations help us see the world from a different perspective. Conversations assist us in understanding the need for change.

Technology has indeed enhanced our ability to stay in touch, but conversations provide the true “human touch.”

Let’s all ensure that the art of a “good conversation” does not get lost in today’s high tech world.

Content and human contact is a winning combination and the base for a great conversation.

So if you would like to talk, call me and I promise to listen! ◆ John Passante is the president and CEO of The Organizational Development Group Inc. He is an executive coach, recruiter and frequent speaker. He has a keen interest in leadership and brings over 30 years of experience to bear upon the subject. He has worked in many areas--from manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing, human resources and administration--for notable companies such as Delphi and CARQUEST. Most recently he was named president of Brenton Productions. You can reach Passante at (401) 252-9430, or e-mail: theorgdevgroup@gmail.com.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 37

Flashback

Supply Chain Management Strategies (Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from an article that originally appeared in the Winter 2000 issue of Springs.

It is a partial transcript of the Spring Manufacturers Institute Annual Meeting General Session, which was presented in October 1999 in La Costa, Calif. In this aviation themed issue, we present the remarks of Boeing’s Chris Bailey.)

38 SPRINGS Winter 2011

M

y name is Chris Bailey. I am a senior manager for The Boeing Company for Supplier Management located in Long Beach, Calif. It is my pleasure to be with you, and I would like to thank Allan Burke from Precision Coil for extending the invitation to speak. Precision Coil is one of our high performance suppliers that we deeply value. My presentation will be on supply chain management. I would like to talk about three themes: change, partnership and leadership. Before I begin, I will share a little bit about The Boeing Company As you may well know, Boeing and McDonnell Douglass merged about three years ago. When that first happened, it was important for our leaders to try and sit down and write where we think we want to go in 20 years, because we won’t know how to get there unless we lay that foundation and establish the road map right now. We are still in the process of this merger, which is an ongoing activity.

It is not an easy sign-the-paperwork-andgo-forward kind of thing.

I work in what used to be called “airline logistic support.” We have expanded that role and it is now called “customer airline services.” We deal with the in-service aircraft. Part of what we do today, and what we all need to do in the future, is to know our customers better than they know themselves. At the end of the presentation I would like to share a little bit more on that, in terms of what we did with British Aerospace. We penned a purchase agreement with them to take over their material management function starting right now on a pilot program. And we are starting a real process of evolution, beginning with a revolutionary concept with one airline.

In the 1990s, digital technology was probably the single most powerful change that we have seen within The Boeing Company. We are absolutely an Internetbased company today. And for our suppliers and our customers, we are changing from paper, phone and fax to everything over the Web inside and outside. So as I travel, I carry the pager, I carry the cell phone, I carry the laptop and, once in awhile, I even get to talk on the phone to a real person.

But it is the same kind of thing in our business; large-scale systems integration is a part of The Boeing Company It is one of our core competencies that we continue to work through. Another is the Lean Efficient Design and Production Systems. Airplanes have lots of parts; 250,000 part numbers go into a typical aircraft. So for us, that means we work with suppliers to ensure that the airplane goes together in a timely and cost-efficient manner because our customer does not accept anything less.

Every day, millions of people fly billions of miles and depend on our airplanes to be safe, reliable and economical. The products we build with your parts are the very best. Thank you for that. That is why our customers buy and operate our airlines. But our customers’ expectations are extremely high, and for us to continue to enjoy them as customers, we must meet their expectations. This means we must listen to them carefully and provide solutions that address their needs. Companies that don’t listen to their customers or fail to adapt to changing market conditions are destined to have short marks. The size of a company does not guarantee long-term survival.

Neither does a good reputation. Business depends on how we adapt to change and how we meet our customers’ expectations.

The long range goal of The Boeing Company is to remain the number one aerospace company in the world. For us to realize this goal, we must continue to work closely together to design, build and deliver the finest aircraft in the world. Our success and yours are tightly connected. Like links in a chain, each of us is affected as the market demand for new airplanes ebbs and flows. We are mutually dependent on one another, and by partnering together we can prosper together.

The Boeing Company is in the business of moving people and information around the world, whether in the form of aircraft, satellites or space and military systems. In fact, we purchased $37 billion worth of parts, components and systems from suppliers around the world in 1998. We planned

to purchase more than that in 1999 to hit that delivery. As you can see, a tremendous opportunity exists for our suppliers. Taking advantage of that opportunity means partnering and working together to communicate key ideas and new technology. How you benefit from the considerable dollars we spend each year depends on how well you work with us to increase value for our airline customers.

As I said before, you are important to the success of our business operations. In fact, 50 percent of our total production costs comes from our suppliers. We receive 100,000 part numbers every month to support our production lines and support the in-service fleet of over 10,000 Boeing aircraft — that is one aircraft taking off every four seconds 24 hours a day. Being the preferred customer or supplier means being the best, and being the best takes commitment by everyone.

We have established a set of behaviors or expectations Describing the attributes of a preferred customer and a preferred supplier. The attributes of a preferred customer are:

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Providing best value.

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Ensuring stable production.

Being profitable.

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Meeting customer expectations every time.

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Being resourceful, disciplined and flexible.

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Our success is absolutely interdependent, and we

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The size of a company does not guarantee long-term survival. Neither does a good reputation. Business depends on how we adapt to change and how we meet our customers’ expectations.

must have high expectations of one another if we are to be the best.

I am pleased to say that we are making the procurement process a better one for Boeing and for our suppliers. We have established a Supplier Management Process Counsel (SMPC). We needed to establish procurement practices across the enterprise.

The SMPC is one of many process counsels operating in the company aimed at standardizing practices for greatest efficiency and effectiveness.

The SMPC brings together procurement leaders from the four operating groups of The Boeing Company to streamline how we select, develop and establish relationships with suppliers company-wide.

This is very important because, as we go through and try to merge Heritage Rockwell, Heritage Douglas Aircraft, McDonnell Aircraft Co. and The Boeing Company, each one of us in our little vertical silo believes that the way we do business and the way we work with our suppliers is the best. It this tunnel vision that this counsel is trying to mull over while trying to come up with one way of doing things, not four or 10 as you may have experienced before.

So what does this mean to you? We will clearly define and establish partnership-style relationships.

We will measure supplier performance using uniform standards across The Boeing Company I have a lot of fun when I go to some of the different suppliers. In the past, I have seen that when we walk into a supplier that does business for multiple Heritage companies, they would have banners identifying the different product centers they were supporting. That was great.

One of the concerns we had, though, was that the supplier was absolutely perfect, a high-performing gold-ribbon supplier for a particular component, and not very good for a different one. Yet they are all The Boeing Company So there was some confusion as to who got top billing. Who was the preferred customer?

Today, in a consolidated effort, The Boeing Company

is the customer, irrespective of which Heritage Co. we may have done business with in the past.

We will establish the proper utensils to help work with and listen to our suppliers, and we will install processes to ensure that customers receive affordable products. It all boils down to something very simple: We want to change, and we are changing the way that we work with you. In the past, we talked about it; today we are doing something about it. Our goal is to continually bring more value to our customers, and we will do this by changing what we do and how we do it.

I would like to highlight some of the elements of change that you will see in the future and talk a bit about each one of these. The elements of change are: • Cost and price reduction.

• Separation of material into materials management and purchasing.

• Consolidation of purchasing.

• Supplier report card.

• Strengthening supplier relationships in establishing supplier councils.

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Let’s start with cost reduction. This is the Continuous Cost Improvement Process, what we term CCIP. In order for us to experience growth in business, market share and profitability, we must provide affordable products to our customers. That means that my No. 1 job is to drive costs down and thus lower prices. The equation is that simple. Our traditional negotiations focused on price reduction.

CCIP emphasizes cost reduction through lean manufacturing techniques, process improvements and other means of enhancing productivity. Cost reduction that leads to price reduction is the goal.

Value engineering offers potentially one of the largest opportunities for product cost reduction. Your ideas and input can help us to achieve savings, which can potentially and dramatically impact the price of our airplanes. We’ve identified drivers of cost and systematically work to bring those costs down. We’ve opened the door for continued business opportunities.

When I started, I was an old industrial engineer on the floor doing all the kinds of stuff that industrial engineers love to do, and in 19 years, I have never

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seen a change that is more significant in my mind.

We have a new chief design engineer for the material management in The Boeing Company. He reports directly to our vice president/general manager. That guy was a former design chief on the 737, and his job today is to change the way that we are working with the material management organization in our supply base.

If I look at this in the old way— solution at any cost—I am creative; I get paid to do the best thing.

Today we are going to change it and do the right solution at the right cost. Now we are talking cost structure with engineers. We are sharing data. We are starting to change the way that engineering is organized. Our executive vice president of engineering for commercial aircraft has changed a functionally based engineering organization into what he calls “platform teams,” similar to the automotive industry.

I have cabin, I have nose, I may have the tail. I am not a systems guy. I am not an avionics guy. I am not anybody else that is a functional designer. I am now part of an organized structure to support that part

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I can tell you that we will manage our future by making those changes necessary to keep us at the forefront of our industry. As we work with one another in defining our future, how we change individually and collectively will determine our success. of the airplane. I have to do my job to support that part of the airplane, not create the perfect avionics electrical engineering schematic.

So now we are going to take that platform concept and work with suppliers. We’re going to say, “If we gave you a design that isn’t the best that creates all kinds of costs for no value, we want to know about it.” We have a dedicated engineering community that is going to look at it from a business case perspective and make a determination of what we should do next.

This is a huge difference in the way we want to work together; in the way that we want to make change.

An important element is price. We come in, and we are the big bad procurement guys, and we want to come and beat you down on price. However, I am not interested anymore in going to a supplier and saying, “I want a 20-percent price reduction.” We want to go in there and talk about drivers of cost. How do we do that? We say to you, “You are a high performance supplier. For you to keep that position, you have to meet some significant kinds of expectations. But I want you to stay around and be profitable. So what do we do to take the cost out that is not value-added for our customers?”

Value engineering the right requirement at the right cost. We need your help. In the past, we probably haven’t been very good at this stuff. You have submitted some interesting engineering, and we didn’t look at it very hard. The finance guys don’t get it. They say, “Customers won’t buy it. It won’t work.” But now, we want to look at your ideas. We have a dedicated engineering team that is going to evaluate them from a business case proposal. If it makes sense, if it adds value, if it reduces cost, let’s do it. Your procurement agent is the vehicle to start the process. Clearly, we understand that there is a huge opportunity for us to work together to take a bold step forward.

Earlier, we talked a little bit about changing our procurement process. We organized ourselves into

two separate specialties. The left side was Materials Management and the right side Purchasing.

Materials Management is being co-located with our operations group on the floor. It is closer to the manufacturing process to foster speed in the flow of materials and more timely scheduling, focused on packaging improvements and assuring quality.

Material Management personnel, not procurement agents, will be responsible for scheduling and ordering parts from you on the basic agreement.

Purchasing is consolidating top-level procurement practices through centralized contracting, supplier development and supplier quality assurance.

Our procurement agents are responsible for all contractual matters.

So Materials Management, on the left side of the floor, is for real-time application. They are responsible for those issues. The Purchasing guys are Materials Management’s direct interface; they negotiate and sign the basic agreement.

We have supplier development so that we have the right size supply base. Remember one of the charts

said we are going to 3,600 suppliers next year. Which are the right guys? How do we know we have enough commodity coverage all the way across? It is up to our purchasing organization, and then supplier quality assurance, which says that suppliers are in control of their internal processes for reliable product.

As we consolidate our contracting processes, we are moving toward common contracting language.

How many of the Boeing people work with more than one Boeing organization? Difficult, huh? That’s why we’re establishing common terms and conditions to simplify suppliers’ relationships with Boeing. Our target is one contract, one Boeing. Right now, we may give you two different quality specifications.

However, we are making efforts to bring some of that DQS 100 and DIN 9000 in an integrated package so that there is one.

Again, Heritage Companies is working with the FAA to buy off their own internal quality systems, and we now have to merge those two. It is probably a more difficult situa-ation for us to have the FAA offices merge and agree than it is to unify different

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product design requirements because now we are talking about quality assurance systems.

For us to partner and work closely as a team, we need to establish expectations that are clear. From the highest level, we expect 100-percent quality, 100-percent on time delivery and focus on continuous improvement to lower prices and reduce lead times.

Our customers demand this from us, and we expect that from you. That is absolutely the essence of supply chain management.

The last element of change that I am going to talk about today is supplier counsels. Our goal is to bring industry leaders together to share ideas on mutual issues. We are forming three counsels in North America, Europe and Asia. Each council will consist of eight to 10 of our suppliers who will join with Boeing procurement. Our plan is to periodically rotate membership on the counsels to allow greater opportunity of participation. Listening to our suppliers is going to be one of the key elements of the counsel. Listening, not telling; asking for your input.

In summary, I shared with you how in Boeing we are embracing and initiating change. We firmly believe in the idea that if you don’t manage your future, someone else will. For us, that someone else is Airbus. I can tell you that we will manage our future by making those changes necessary to keep us at the forefront of our industry. As we work with one another in defining our future, how we change individually and collectively will determine our success. With this in mind, I would like to emphasize some shared responsibilities: On Boeing’s part, we are committed to doing those things that make Boeing your preferred customer.

Listening to our customers in the industry so we understand their changing needs, and improving our purchasing and materials management processes to be the very best.

On your part, we are looking for you to adopt and embrace change with us. Engineer your products for greatest value, implement lean manufacturing technologies in your plant to improve material flow and product flexibility, and continue to reduce cost and prices so we both benefit. Accepting and acting on these responsibilities requires open and effective communication. If we do this and continue to work together, the future is ours for the making. ◆

Springmaker Spotlight

Celebrating 50 Years With a Popular Board Game A Profile of Greg Heitz, Exacto Spring Corporation

by Gary McCoy

M

ilestones are meant to be celebrated. So when Greg Heitz contemplated how he wanted to mark the occasion of Exacto Spring Corporation’s 50th anniversary in 2010, he decided to do something different and unique.

Heitz, president of Exacto Spring, developed a one-of-a-kind version of the popular board game Monopoly called “Exacto-Opoly.”

“Historically we’ve done giveaways of pens and mugs and things like that. But for our 50th I wanted to do something really special,” explained Heitz. Instead of a plate or a history book, Heitz decided to do something “totally off the wall and create a game about our first 50 years of business.”

The idea was to put together something unique as a present for current employees, future employees, along with customers, vendors, and friends of the company.

“It took about a year and half to two years to make,” said Heitz of his unique project. “I told nobody about it, not even my sister who is half owner. I wanted to surprise her, too! Exacto-Opoly is a timeline through Exacto’s history from the beginning through today.”

On the back cover of the game box, Heitz stated: “My goal for our 50th year in business was to honor our founders, all Exacto employees, and of course our customers.

SPRINGS Winter Winter2011 2011 45 SPRINGS

“Incorporating our history in the number one played game of all time was a privilege and I hope you enjoy Exacto-Opoly. For all of you, who play this game after the year 2010, enjoy learning about Exacto Spring and our first 50 years in business.”

The game pieces—five springs and one wire form— were all made by Exacto employees. Each piece is perfectly balanced to stand on the board for play.

Every space on the board and each game card have something about the company’s history, founders, employees and other Exacto tidbits. The box and game board contains a collage of old photos and company milestones. One thousand copies of the game were

manufactured and Heitz plans to give it to all future employees to help them understand the company’s first 50 years. “I might even make all new employees play a game in our conference before work one day,” Heitz stated with a chuckle.

His favorite part of the game is a signed statement from his father to all the employees in 1995 regarding and to plan for the 50th anniversary. “He was traveling on our 35th and faxed in a written statement to the employees. At the end of the fax, he mentioned get ready for the 50th, etc. I have kept that fax for 15 years and thought I would use it someday, of course I have and to me, it’s the most special part of the game.” Heitz said.

Back to the Beginning Exacto Spring started in 1960 through the vision of three men in Rockford, Ill.—William J. Heitz, the company’s first president, William R. Green, former vice president and Keith Quillen, former secretarytreasurer. All three men were independent thinkers who entertained the idea of starting their own business.

Quillen stated back in the early days, “I was working on a big job for Bill Heitz when another manager came around and told me to tear it down and start working on an order he had for some hobby horse springs,” recalled Quillen.

Quillen said Heitz came to him and wanted to know what happened. “I told him and then I said to him, ‘Why don’t we get a machine and start our own business?’”

Heitz made no immediate reply, but Quillen could see the wheels were turning. The next day Heitz returned to Quillen and asked him, “Are you sure about what you said yesterday?”

“Sure,” replied Quillen. “Let’s get the machine and start our own business. Then we can run it the way it should be run.”

The two met several times and agreed they needed Greene’s talents as well. With little more than ambition and their own abilities, the partners opened for business at a rented a 2,000 sq. ft. storefront

46 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Box for Exactopoly board game, created by Greg Heitz in honor of Exacto Spring's 50th year.

in downtown Rockford, Ill. Their eir first machine included parts from m a Kenmore washing machine, e, although Greene pointed out with h a chuckle, “There was a lot more to it than that—those stories got magnified over the years.”

“We have memorabilia from those days in our lobby and conference rooms,” said Heitz.

Heitz says his father came up with the name, Exacto Spring, on the many trips he took k between Illinois and Wisconsin to visit customers. stomers.

“My father went through a lot of toll booths and he always saw the sign: ‘Exact xact Change,’ which inspired his thinking,” explained plained Heitz.

“He thought about precision springs, springs tight tolerances and the exact tolerances required; thus the name Exacto Spring Corporation was born.

“For 50 years that’s been our philosophy, the commitment to high quality and holding to tightt tolerances,” said Heitz.

Moving North to Wisconsin In 1964, the company moved to its present ent location in Grafton, Wis., building a 4,000 sq.. ft. building on one and a half acres of land. In addition ition to the three owners, there were only three full-time time employees. The company grew quickly with a vast array of customers and has had 10 additions to o the original building all made possible through organic growth. The company now occupies nearly 100,000 sq. ft. of space covering seven acres of land.

The original founders are no longer involved in the business. Ironically, Bill Heitz and Ken Quillen passed away on the same day, February 17, eight years apart of each other with Heitz in 2000 and Quillen in 2008.

Greene still lives in the area and enjoys coming in to Exacto and seeing all the changes that go on with each passing year.

Heitz said Exacto expanded through its first five decades due to a growing customer base that covered all industries. “There isn’t an industry out there that we haven’t been involved with,” said Heitz, who took over as president in 2000. “We have been fortunate to work with amazing companies and if we needed to expand due to their requirements, we did it.”

The company makes custom compression, extension and torsion springs, along with wireforms

and wire related products. Their smallest part ever made was out of .0005” diameter wire where tens of thousands of parts would fit in the palm of your hand.

The largest part was over 1,000 feet long.

“Both of those parts were interesting to say the least. For the smaller one, we had to use high end cameras to see and coil the part and then immediately have it fall on small magnets to avoid losing them,” says Heitz. “The big part was always coiled on a sunny day as we had to open our back door and let it run outside with our employees holding it in 10 foot sections.”

In keeping with their anniversary, Exacto underwent a “complete makeover.” The company introduced a new logo, advertising materials, freshened up the inside and outside of the plant with new paint, carpeting, signage and landscaping.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 47

Getting Fired Before coming to work full-time at Exacto in 1993, Heitz, like many children in a family-run spring business, got an early start. It was in the seventh grade that he got fired by his father, because “I wasn’t a hard worker yet,” explained Heitz. “All my friends were collecting baseball cards, swimming, playing capture the flag and here I am up at Exacto working.”

He came back to work at Exacto in high school and during summer breaks from college, doing a variety of projects and tasks for the company.

After graduating with a degree in public relations from Winona State University in 1991, Heitz worked in sales for radio and television stations in Milwaukee before he decided to return to the family business.

Heitz enjoyed the seven years he worked with his father. “A lot of people knew my dad through SMI, because he was very involved and was well-respected in the industry,” said Heitz. “One of his goals from the late ‘90s was making sure the business would be properly cared for and structured through the second generation.”

Heitz’s sister, Stephanie Fleming, who worked at an advertising agency before joining Exacto in 1988, is three years older. She’s vice president, overseeing the company’s finances and benefit programs. Her husband, Peter Fleming, also works for Exacto.

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Both of them also worked at Exacto in high school and college. They were high school sweethearts and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in business and economics.

Like most companies, Exacto experienced the boom of the ‘90s and was bigger during that time. Heitz says sales have pulled back some this last decade due to overseas competition and from the Internet.

The company today employs 140 workers.

“We’ve got a lot of second and third generation people here...brothers and sisters, dads and sons. It’s a family friendly environment,” said Heitz.

A very hands-on owner, Heitz extols the virtues of getting involved with employees on the floor and to hear about what’s going on with them.

He especially enjoys joining Exacto employees in sporting event pools. “I always tell people that if there’s a pool going on that I’m not involved with, then there’s going to be a problem,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t allow it, if I’m not involved.” His favorite employee pool is for the popular television show, “American Idol.”

The Exacto Spring Quality Policy states that: “Exacto Spring is committed to exceeding our customers’ expectations, continuously improving our customer service and the quality and value of our products at all times. This is a responsibility we all share.”

The company has many traditions each year with cookouts in the summer, turkeys at Thanksgiving, Christmas parties and many other different outings.

They’re also very serious about health screenings for all employees and offer a variety of other benefits.

Owing to his love for sports, Heitz gives a jersey to any Exacto employee who’s worked at the company for over 35 years. “It’s similar to an arena where you hang up the jersey when someone’s number is retired,” explained Heitz. “In our lunchroom we have framed jerseys with the name of employees who’ve hit that milestone and we’ve got some others who are getting close. We even have a retirement ceremony, just like they will do some day when they hang Favre’s jersey at Lambeau Field, ” he laughs, being such a huge Packers fan.

Customer Changes Heitz says the sales side of the business is something at which he’s always thrived and that he enjoys. “Being a guy in public relations and sales, I like to get to know the customers.”

He says now that he’s over 40, the roles have slightly reversed. Instead of most customers being older than him, they are starting to all be younger. He also says it is more difficult these days to get to know customers and have a personal relationship with them. “Technology has caused this change,” he says.

“It’s even difficult to take someone out to lunch,” he lamented. “A lot of customers don’t allow that. I’m

Greg Heitz of Exacto Spring

not trying to earn business that way; it’s just hard to get to know your customers and that is still the most traditional way.” He even had a customer that could not accept the Exacto monopoly game. “Don’t worry, she’ll get one, even if I have to babysit her kids and bring games to play,“ he laughs.

He says with customers moving around much more than in the past, “you just have to tell your story again when you meet a new buyer or ship to new locations.”

Other challenges include decreased pricing. “We’re selling springs for less than what we did in the ‘70s.

New technology and machinery obviously is a factor in this, but still have to pay our people,” explained Heitz.

Going hand in hand with this, Heitz says the loyalty factor has decreased in the industry. “ He’s resisted the calls over the years from customers to open a plant in China. “I’m truly an American made kind of guy,” explained Heitz. “I buy American made cars and I try to buy everything American made. I would like to keep Exacto Spring and all future expansions to here in the United States and specifically Wisconsin.”

The “Just-In-Time” era has really changed things for Exacto and the industry according to Heitz. “In

the past, we would ship to a firm schedule once a week, month, etc., but now, we ship daily and don’t know what to ship until we log on the computer each morning.” The planning process on our end has really changed over the years.”

When it comes to a business philosophy, Heitz believes it boils down to providing a high quality product at a price that is appropriate for the part. “I still think that philosophy will continue to prevail.”

Social Media With a communications-oriented degree, you might think Heitz would be pushing Exacto Spring toward using social media. “I’m not one of these guys who believe you need to be on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to advance your business,” said Heitz.

He’s taken time to attend seminars to examine the whole social media phenomena, but says he’s yet to see the benefit for the spring industry and other industrial type businesses. . “I will wait for the next big thing in social media, maybe it will be Facebook 2, Computer Me, Don’t Talk Again, Never Meet Me, etc. ” as he chuckles. “Seriously, we’ll stay current with technology to advance our business if it makes sense.”

SPRINGS Winter 2011 49

He’s optimistic about the spring industry and believes it will always be around “as long as people are buying things� and doesn’t foresee the business becoming obsolete. “Even with the whole green movement, there will be springs, � he states.

Different and Unique Heitz says one of the things he wants to be known for in the spring industry is “being different or unique.� He says things like the Exacto-Opoly game are testimony to that.

Heitz enjoys time with family and pursuing his hobby of collecting movie and TV memorabilia from the ‘70s and ‘80s. His most unique item is an actual 1976 “Starsky and Hutch� Ford Gran Torino. “They made one thousand of them, and I have one of those,� said Heitz. “My wife hates hit and she thinks it stinks when it runs, so I keep it at the plant,� he laughs. “You got to love the smell of those muscle cars.�

He also collects sports memorabilia. In his office is a framed picture of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver doing the “Lambeau Leap� (a unique Packer end zone celebration). Heitz is pictured in the background of the image celebrating with him.

In addition, Heitz has outfitted the company’s shipping department with the actual scoreboard clock

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that once hung at Milwaukee County Stadium before it was demolished to make way for a new stadium for the Milwaukee Brewers. “It was slightly larger than I thought and it would not fit in my basement, so the next best place was on the walls of Exacto.

There are many other Milwaukee Brewer and other County Stadium memorabilia around the plant for the employees to enjoy,� said Heitz.

The Next Generation Heitz has three daughters, 11, 9 and 7. They enjoy coming to Exacto on the weekends when he’s working and their artwork adorns the walls of his office. “All three came to pour coffee and pass out doughnuts to the employees this past summer. I didn’t have to pay them for their time. They just wanted money for the vending machines. That is their favorite part of the plant.�

Also in the next generation are the two daughters of Stephanie and Peter, ages 17 and 15. “So we’ve got five girls for the next generation,� explained Heitz. “My kids are beginning to understand what springs do and what I do. I recently gave a presentation on springs and their applications to a third grade class. Now that is sure different than in a customers conference room with a bunch of engineers,� he said.

Heitz says his father always treated Exacto like another son or daughter. “My philosophy is to make sure I treat it like a brother. So my sister and I treat it as a brother,� Heitz elaborated. “My dad loved this business so much and it’s our job to make sure we love it as well and to carry on what the founders created. I want to provide a good environment for all the people that work here and their families. “ Regarding the future of Exacto Spring, Heitz says “we have to continue to work hard, be creative, provide a good quality product and let’s just hope the economy is strong and it remains in a position where people continue to buy stuff.�

He reflects that, “Exacto has met all the challenges that have been put on our table since I started. We’ve survived all the challenges and we look forward to new ones.� ◆

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Gary McCoy is the managing editor of Springs magazine and the president of Fairway Communications. Readers may contact him by phone at (847) 622-7228 or e-mail gmccoy@fairwaycommunications.com.

Inside SMI

SMI Annual Meeting Set for Doral in March A noted economist and an uplifting inspirational speaker will headline the SMI 2011 Annual Meeting to be held March 25-29 at the Marriott Doral in Miami, Fla. D r. J e f f r e y R o s e n s w e i g is an associate professor of international business and finance at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is also director of the school’s Global Perspectives Program. Dr. Rosensweig specializes in global strategy, global economics, and international finance. Prior to joining Emory in January 1988, he was senior international economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He has also taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in the economics department and the School of Management at Yale University.

Dr. Rosensweig’s research into global trends leads to frequent keynote lectures to business and academic audiences. Be sure to read his insights on the current economy in an interview he recently completed with Springs on page XX. John Cassis has been described by audiences as “fun, uplifting

and humorous.” He will blend those elements together when he addresses SMI’s meeting in March.

After earning a bachelor of science degree from the University of Cincinnati, Cassis spent three years playing professional baseball. He then earned a master of divinity degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

Cassis has a diverse background. From 1973 to 1975, he directed a youth counseling center. In 1975, he became a minister of a small church in Colorado, where the congregation grew from 80 to 2,000 in five years. Then in 1980 as director of special projects for World Relief, he accepted the challenge to motivate people across the country to help feed hungry children and their families.

As a professional speaker, he encourages people to step into the arena and live their dreams.

In keeping with his philosophy, he became a professional golfer in 2002. In the last U.S. Open Qualifier he was featured on the Golf Channel for the unique accomplishment of being the oldest to qualify to the last round of the sectionals!

Cassis incorporates real life examples into his presentations by sharing his experiences as an athlete, minister, publisher, company founder, pr e-game inspirational speaker for the Chicago Bears from 1983-1995, loving husband and father, and an extremely perceptive human being.

For more information or to register for 2011 Annual Meeting, contact the SMI office at (630) 495-8588.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 51

SMI Board and Committees Meet Before Spring World Just prior to the start of Spring World 2010 in Rosemont, Ill., the SMI Board of Directors and its committees met to discuss a variety of issues.

Jim Gorand of CPS Financial and Todd Smiser of ING introduced the new 401K SMI MEP program

to the board. Gorand explained that the fiduciary responsibility for the program will reside with Morningstar and each SMI member has the ability to choose their own funds. Gorand said there would be a substantial reduction in fees that would save both employers

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and employees money. (See related article on page xx for more details about the program.)

SMI has joined American National Standards Institute (ANSI) at the request of Tom Armstrong of Duer/Carolina Coil, Inc. Armstrong has been an integral part of the TC227 committee, which is in the process of establishing a new standard for hot wound springs.

The next meeting to discuss TC227 was held in November in Osaka, Japan and Rick Eitel from Duer was scheduled to attend. As the U.S. delegate, Armstrong had previously voted no on the hot wound standard due to technical problems. It was noted that India has proposed standards on leaf springs. The only standard that has been adopted by TC227 is on shot peening.

SMI is the designated delegate to TC227, which translates to one U.S. vote. There are 14 voting member countries on the TC227 committee, which has been in existence for 12 years.

In addition, ANSI is looking at a new chart of spring symbols to establish a worldwide standard.

SMI president Scott Rankin is reviewing the chart of symbols, with the assistance of Loren Godfrey. Rankin and Godfrey are concerned that changes to the symbols could affect SMI’s spring design software.

A focus group scheduled to meet in Rosemont was postponed due to a conflict with Spring World 2010. It is hoped that the group can be brought together in the fall of 2011 in Las Vegas during SMI’s Technical Meeting. The focus group is being convened to help SMI in formulating a new strategic plan.

The boar d voted to allow classified ads to appear in Springs beginning with the Winter 2011 issue. Ads will be accepted for used

SMI Mourns Passing of Members It is with deep regret that Springs announces the passing of the following members.

R i c h a r d J . G r e g g (formerly Grzeszkiewicz), 52, president of O&G Spring & Wire Form Specialty Co. in August 2010. Gregg, a resident of Elmhurst, Ill., was a member of SMI and the First Congregational UCC of Elmhurst for over 25 years. He is a former chairman and member of the church’s mission board. He also served as Elmhurst PADS coordinator. Gregg is an alumnus of I.I.T. and St. Rita High School. He is survived by his wife, Mary, a son, Jonathan, a daughter, Samantha, his mother, Alina Grzeszkiewicz and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Ted Grzeszkiewicz.

Margaret Burda, 87, a co-founder of Master Spring & Wire Form in River Grove, Ill. in November 2010. Burda was a longtime resident of River Grove and a member of St. Cyprian Church.

Burda was preceded in death by her late husband, Emil Burda. She is survived by

equipment and surplus materials.

In addition, blind ads will be permitted for companies who wish to advertise that they are for sale.

The magazine committee approved the themes for Springs in 2011: • Winter 2011 – Springs and Aviation • Spring 2011 – Sustainability • Summer 2011 – Social Media in the Workplace • Fall 2011 – Springs and the Medical Industry Dennis Backhaus of the benchmarking committee indicated that participation in the Annual

James (Judy) Burda, Jeff (Lory) Burda, and Judy Skolozynski, along with many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In addition, she is survived by her sister, Charlotte Durante.

Leonard “Len” Mueller, 62, president of Marquardt Engineering in Huntley, Ill., on November 28, 2010. After graduating from Conant High School in 1966, Mueller was employed as a machinist for a couple of businesses, before going to work for Marquardt Engineering in 1985.

Mueller bought the company in December 2001. He was a resident of Lake Marion, Ill. He loved his family and especially his grandchildren, and was always there to cheer them on. He enjoyed his trips to Las Vegas, classic cars and cruise nights, and especially his Friday night dinner with friends. He is survived by a son, Brian (Sue) Mueller and a daughter, Krista (Tim) Kuhns of Montgomery, four grandchildren, a brother, Leroy (Fran) Mueller and a sister, Lynette (Jack) Edwards.

Market Survey has been dwindling over the past 10 years. Ideas were discussed for increasing awareness and demonstrating the value of the survey to help springmakers in operating their business.

Finally, Jim Wood, who is an independent regulations compliance consultant to SMI, told board members that OSHA is very active right now. He said they have made numerous audits in the spring and stamping industry and fines are quite high. He encouraged everyone to establish a safety committee in their facilities and to properly train employees.

Bjorn Hestad, 84, the founder of Tool King, Inc., on November 28, 2010.

A resident of Northfield, Ill., Hestad was a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps who served during World War II. He started as the director of purchasing with Switchcraft and worked at the company for 27 years before starting Tool King in 1976 in Wheeling, Ill. Hestad continued to be actively involved in the company until 2000. He was active with the Northfield Lions Club and donated his time to the Northfield and Northbrook Hockey Leagues. He enjoyed boating and fishing.

Hestad’s son, Peter, said his father was “an inspiration to all of us concerning ethical business practices and creating a friendly work environment. One of his great enjoyments was taking customers, vendors and other friends salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. Bjorn will be missed by all of us.”

In addition to Peter (Jackie), Hestad is survived by his wife of 62 years, Florence Anne, two daughters, Marsha Anne Hestad and Patricia L. (Stephen) Krueger, and two grandchildren.

SMI Welcomes New Members SMI is pleased to welcome its newest members.

Alex Industries Des Plaines, Ill. Anchor Danly Beaver Dam, Wis. J and J Spring Shelby Township, Mich.

Lewis Spring & Mfg Co Niles, Ill. Resortes Y Partes Mexico Rotor Clip Company Somerset, N.J.

SPRINGS Winter 2011 53

SMI Sponsored Retirement Plan Program Arrives After more than a year in the development stage, the SMI board of directors gave formal approval to proceed in offering members the SMI Sponsored Retirement Plan Program (The Program).

The Pr ogram is designed to provide solutions to get SMI members, their employees and their

401(k), pension and profit sharing retirement plans from where they are now to where they need to be. SMI’s advisor, Jim Gorand, has developed a partnership incorporating Morningstar Associates, ING and National Benefit Services.

Unlike the usual association plan, The Program allows each member to have their own custom plan design that meets their needs and objectives and provides specialized fiduciary features that protect the business

Copyright © 2010 Precision Steel Warehouse

NeedThin?

Come OnIn! Need shim steel down to 0.001 inch thick?

Only skilled operators, using the best equipment, can slit it right. PSW has them.

Perfect Slits For Perfect Fits

We also custom slit most Premium Precision Steels that meet ASTM, AMS, AISI specs.

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54 SPRINGS Winter 2011

What The Program Provides to Your Company • An opportunity to reduce existing plan costs for both the employer and employees.

• Total fee transparency between your real current costs, and what your costs could be.

• Total state-of-the-art-customer support system for both employers and participants.

• Complete administrative support and guidance.

• Off-loads fiduciary risk to the owner by using a full scope ERISA 3(21) named fiduciary.

The Program Addresses Your Concerns • Are you getting the best value for our plan?

• Are you meeting all of your fiduciary obligations?

• Do you have the right investment lineup?

• Do you provide an employee communication program that works?

• Are you receiving the type of service you need?

• Is the plan effectively meeting your goals?

• Are you taking advantage of all the available tax benefits?

For OVERSTOCKS See Our Website

PRECISION STEEL WAREHOUSE, INC. Franklin Park, IL 1-888-365-2239 Fax 847-455-1341

owner from risk and improves outcomes for participants.

SMI is excited to offer members of all sizes an approach which allows them to maintain the unique designs of their current plans, while leveraging the buying power of SMI to get aggregate pricing. This combination allows SMI members to have a state-of-the-art plan at pricing and service levels that allow for their employees to increase their retirement income.

Charlotte, NC Fax 704-393-3312 A Berkshire Hathaway Company

®

If you have not received the answers to those questions lately, you may want to look at what SMI’s program has to offer. For a custom analysis of any of your existing plan or plans, contact the SMI office at (630) 495-8588. ◆

SPRINGS Winter 2011 55

New Products

Gateway Safety’s Serpent™ Ventilated Safety Helmet According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, workers in hot environments face significant danger of heat stress. Wearing semi- or non-permeable personal protective equipment can add to the risk of a worker overheating or becoming fatigued, which can lead to more accidents on the job.

Gateway Safety’s Serpent™ Ventilated Safety Helmet can help minimize heat buildup under the shell of the helmet, while offering optimal head

injury protection. Its CoolSense™ airflow system, along with six vents along the peak of the helmet, promotes heat release and keeps workers cool. A comfortable, cushioned brow pad absorbs moisture and perspiration, promoting wearability and worker compliance.

Serpent is superbly comfortable and extremely lightweight at just 13.1 ounces, with a sleek, snakehead shell style that appeals to workers. A sixpoint nylon suspension and sturdy yet lightweight high-density polyethylene

material provide both comfort and exceptional impact absorption. Serpent is available with a pin-lock or ratchet suspension, which adjusts to fit 6-5/8 to 8-¼ head sizes. A rain trough also diverts water from workers’ faces.

The Serpent safety helmet complies with the ANSI Z89.1 Standard for Type I, Class C helmets.

For details, visit www.GatewaySafety. com or call (800) 822-5347.

New Tool Technology Developed Exclusively for WAFIOS Machines WAFIOS Machinery Corporation is proud to announce the launch of a new product line of precision tooling. WAFIOS understands that, in order to achieve superior performance and zero-defect manufacturing, manufacturers need high performance tools that are available on demand.

“We want our customers to achieve maximum productivity with their WAFIOS

56 SPRINGS Winter 2011

machines. Our new line of precision tools represents a commitment to providing manufacturers with high quality, affordable production solutions,” said Robert Tichauer, president of WAFIOS Machinery Corporation.

Tool technology changes rapidly and WAFIOS places a great emphasis on creating tools that meet the latest production requirements and achieve optimum per-

formance. Additionally, an expert team of in-house engineers is on hand to develop custom tools.

WAFIOS Tools are available for quickest delivery by calling their Tool Hotline at (203) 481-5559.

Rotor Clip Releases 2010 Catalog Rotor Clip Company, Inc., a leading manufacturer in retaining rings, hose clamps and related products, has released its 2010 Product Specifications catalog.

The catalog lists full engineering specifications for tapered section retaining rings, constant section rings, spiral rings, wave springs and hose clamps in inch and metric configurations. Installation tools for rings and clamps are also included.

A section on load capacity and other retaining ring formulas was added, as well as other technical information on Rotor Clip products.

Visit www.rotorclip.com for online specifications, sample requests and quotation requests. To request a hard copy of the 2010 catalog, email adv@rotorclip.com.

Technomark® Intelligent Marking Solution An expert in traceability and permanent identification solutions, Technomark® has designed the first “intelligent” marking equipment. This entirely new concept is based on innovative control of an electromagnet that functions like a dot matrix printer, which ensures perfect marking and guarantees repeatability regardless of the item’s shape, surface condition or material.

The indelible marking equipment uses dot peen marking and scribing technologies, meeting the requirements and standards of numerous business sectors. Its products ensure rapid, aesthetically pleasing, permanent and above all economical marking since it is possible to mark on all media accepting deformation, including plastic, aluminum, copper, bronze, brass, stainless steel, titanium, wood, glass and steel.

Technomark®’s Multi4® marking machine is a fully modular machine, capable of working in four distinct configurations. Portable for marking medium and very large pieces or ones that are difficult to access, it can be fixed on a bench for marking small pieces. Multi4® is becoming multipurpose, both portable and fixed, for marking all pieces, or integrated for marking in an automated production line. Simple to use, flexible and requiring moderate investment, Multi4® is a suitable solution for meeting various identification and traceability requirements.

For more information, please contact Rick Pentz at Technomark®,(860)286-8728, or in Europe, Mustapha Boulkouane at +33 4 77 22 25 91.

Received photo, but no copy for D-Tangler

SPRINGS Winter 2011 57

SMI AD

58 SPRINGS Winter 2011

Advertiser’s Index A Admiral Steel (800) 323-7055 / 52 Alex Industries (847) 298-1360 / 17 Alloy Wire International (866) 482-5569 / 86 C Century Spring, Division of MW Industries (800) 237-5225 / 20 Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers Inc. (630) 369-3772 / 32 D Diamond Wire Spring Co. (800) 424-0500 / 11 Dispense Works, Inc. (815) 363-3524 / 22 E Elgiloy Specialty Metals (847) 695-1900 / 24

Larson Systems (877) 780-2131 / 49, 75 N NIMSCO (563) 391-0400 / 9, 28 P Precision Quincy (800) 338-0079 / 78 Precision Steel Warehouse (800) 323-0740 / 15 Proto Manufacturing (800) 965-8378 / 55 Pyromaître Inc. (800) 231-7976 /53 R Radcliff Wire (860) 583-1305 / 76 R RK Trading (847) 640-9371 / 44, 45 S Seneca Wire/FENIX, LLC (419) 435-9261 / 88

Simplex Rapid (563) 391-0400 / 80 Spring Manufacturers Institute (630) 495-8588 /83 Suzuki Garphyttan (888) 947-3778 /6 T Tool King (800) 338-1318 / 59 U Ulbrich Stainless Steels (203) 239-4481 / 18 United Wire Co. (800) 840-9481 / 56 V Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing Co. (215) 721-1721 /61 Z Zapp Precision Strip (203) 386-0038 / 23

F Forming Systems Inc. (877) 594-4300 / inside front cover, back cover, 66, 85 G Gibbs Wire & Steel Co. Inc. (800) 800-4422 / inside back cover I Instron (800) 564-8378 / 29 InterWire Products Inc. (914) 273-6633 /1 J JN Machinery (847) 439-0866 / 34 K Kiswire (201) 461-8895 / 13 Koswire xxxxxxx / 16 L Lapham-Hickey Steel (800) 323-8443 / 30

SPRINGS Winter 2011 59

Snapshot Mary-Anne Morris Dendoff Springs, Ltd.

Nickname: Mare Company name, city and country: Dendoff Springs Ltd., Surrey, British Columbia, Canada Brief history of your company: Founded in 1906 as a foundry and blacksmith’s shop.

Mary-Anne Morris

My most outstanding quality is: My compassion.

People who knew me in school thought I was: A daydreamer.

Job title: Managing Director

I knew I was an “adult” when: My boys started college.

Birthplace: New Westminster, BritishColumbia

If I weren’t working at Dendoff Spring, I would like to: Be traveling.

Current home: Abbotsford, BritshColumbia

The most difficult business decision I ever had to make was: To streamline staff.

Family: My husband, Walter and my sons: Reece, Mason and Dustin. We have far too many pets to mention!

What I like most about being in the industry: The diverse and interesting companies we service.

Favorite food: Italian Favorite books/author: Margaret Atwood Favorite song/musician: George Strait Hobbies: Horses, beekeeping, horticulture, boating, and music.

Favorite places: Home and the spectacular outdoors!

Best times of my life: An ongoing work in progress!

A really great evening to me is: Good food, good wine, and good friends!

60 SPRINGS Winter 2011

The one thing I can’t stand is: Procrastination.

Role model: My parents.

I would like to be remembered in the spring industry for: Managing an ethical and honest company.

But people will probably remember me for: Taking over the business as a very young woman in what was once a man’s business.