May 2024 Volume 6

AUTOMATION

‛Not Your Typical Made-In-The-USA Job Shop’ Reshores With Automation By Harry Moser

The hazards of supply chain gaps and the advantages of domestic manufacturing became crystal clear during the pandemic, compel ling companies to innovate and reshore production back to the United States. Reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) manufacturing job announcements outpaced recent records, adding 101,500 jobs in the first quarter of 2023. If the current rate continues, new job announcements will reach over 400,000 by the end of the year. “Not Your Typical Made-In-The- USA Job Shop” Some 30-odd years ago, when I was president of Charmilles, an EDM machine tool supplier, I had the good fortune to be involved in the sale of EDM machines to the New England Die Company Inc. (NEDCO). That’s when I first met its president, Joe Almeida. “It’s not uncommon to get panicked calls hoping we still make tooling, carbide tooling, polished carbide tooling,” Almeida told me recently. NEDCO produces tungsten carbide and hardened tool steel tools, plus some aluminum and plastic components. “I’m not your typical made-in-the-USA job shop,” Almeida says. “Business has been good for NEDCO.” U.S. Versus Chinese Pricing China is the largest producer of carbide in the world by a wide margin, and it’s able to produce carbide products more cheaply without U.S. quality standards and stringent EPA environmental protections. China’s carbide product prices can range from 50%-75% cheaper than U.S. prices. NEDCO was finding it difficult to be competitive with Chinese prices, and long-standing customers were being forced to offshore to China to cut costs. One of NEDCO’s best customers was told by corporate to reduce spending by 25%. The buyer admitted the offshore quality was not good, but reluctantly offshored the work to China for the prices that satisfied the corporate budget. A Reshoring Success Story Long-term manufacturing growth depends upon U.S. competitive ness and reshoring. With carefully chosen capital investment, process improvements and new technologies, manufacturers can increase capabilities, capacity and innovation, leading to new levels of effi ciency, quality control and competitiveness. Building a competitive advantage unlocks more reshoring opportunities. Almeida wanted NEDCO to become globally competitive and reshore its customers’ work, so he decided on a capital investment strategy and started working with Ryan Michels, regional sales

Joe Almeida, president at NEDCO, and the Universal Grinding Studer S33.

manager for United Grinding North America. “Ryan was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in selecting the right machine and config uration for my shop’s needs,” Almeida recalls of his initial conver sation. Shortly after some trials and tests, NEDCO invested in a Studer S33 Universal Grinding machine with quick changeover capabili ties that helped them achieve ROI — even with batch sizes of one or two workpieces. About one year later, the customer who offshored was so tired of reworking products from China that were “never right” that NEDCO was given a good-sized order for tools, still in small quantities. “At NEDCO, the quantity had always been one,” Almeida says. “I looked at it as a new way of processing it with the new equipment investment. I was able to shave the cost over 25% while making more profit, and they bought on. He (the customer) told me, now they get a box of NEDCO tooling, and they gather around to open it up like it’s Christmas.” Using the new automated machine with lot sizes of one, NEDCO cut labor hours per part by 90%. Manual labor took six to seven operator and machine hours per part. The Studer takes two machine hours and 0.5 operator hours per part. Scrap rate is down from over 10% to zero. Almeida has never scrapped a part on the machine. Auto mation enabled NEDCO to increase production while overcoming cost and skilled workforce availability issues. Automation overcame two problems. First, pricing versus offshore. Second, skilled workforce availability. In the past, NEDCO had three skilled manual machine operators grinding these parts. All were lost to retirement, death or non-work-related injury. The Studer produces more per day than the three operators combined had achieved.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2024 34