Springs, Fall 2018 Vol 57 No 4

FALL 2018

The International Magazine of Spring Manufacture

A Publication of the Spring Manufacturers Institute / Vol. 57, No.4

Growth and Capital Investment Plans The Impact of Tax Reform

p27

Writing It All Off After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act p28 Tracking the Elusive Business Loan p31 Value and Growth: An Interview with Paul Menig p34

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

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President’s Message From Steve Kempf

Invest When Times Are Good to Survive When Times Are Bad I still recall my mother’s dismay when my grandfather pulled up in his brand-new 1995 Mazda MX-3 hatchback. He could afford a nicer car, and at 86 years of age, he should at least have purchased a car with automatic transmission. But the car got him to our house just fine, he insisted, and at 34 gallons per mile he was in heaven. Now he could almost justify the 20 plus miles he always drove to save a few pennies on gasoline.

Those who know me well — especially those tasked with putting together our capital equipment budget at Lee Spring — would attest that my grandfather made a strong impression on me. As ridiculous as his behavior seems, I relate to it in a visceral way. To this day, I am still more comfortable saving money than I am spending money, even when the spending makes common sense. I fight against my overly frugal nature every day, because, intellectually, I understand that investment (and reinvestment) is the primary fuel for growth.

Aside from simply squirreling it away, there is ample competition for the hard-fought earnings of springmakers. A distribution of cash outside the company might make good sense for a variety of reasons, such as providing investment returns to outside equity capital, paying off business loans, diversifying personal wealth or just rewarding one’s self with automatic transmission.

But keeping our eye on the long-term, we need to reinvest wisely in our businesses. And, for many, now is an opportune time to put our capital back to work within the company. Though this may not be as robust an expansion as those in the past, we are now enjoying the second longest economic expansion in U.S. history. And, as you will read in this issue, the financing and tax environments are extremely attractive. But this too will pass. I firmly believe that one ought to invest when times are good in order to survive when times are bad. As Warren Buffett put it, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”

When he was in high school, Buffett purchased a refurbished pinball machine and placed it in the waiting area of a barber shop on the condition that he’d split earnings with the shop’s owner. The machine was soon busy and generating cash. Buffett used his proceeds to buy a second machine and struck the same deal with another barber shop, and continued reinvesting until he had eight pinball machines around town. Buffett knew from an early age that reinvesting profits is the key to growth and is adamant to this day that managers focus on the long-term: “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

SMI Executive Committee President: Steve Kempf, Lee Spring Vice President: Bert Goering, Precision Coil Spring Secretary/Treasurer: Dan Sceli, Peterson Spring At Large: Gene Huber, Jr., Winamac Coil Spring Past President: Mike Betts, Betts Company Executive Director: Lynne Carr, SMI

SMI Board of Directors John Bagnuolo, MW Industries • Dave Deerwester, The Yost Superior Co. • David Devoe, Plymouth Spring • Joe Devany, Betts Company • Frank Foernbacher, Kern-Liebers USA • Ritchy Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Brett Goldberg, International Spring • Agustin Estalayo Ibanez, RPK Mexico SA de CV • Don Jacobson III, Newcomb Spring • Matt Keats, Keats Manufacturing • Don Lowe, Peterson Spring • Daniel Pierre III, JN Machinery • Chris and Jeff Wharin, Bohne Spring

Springs Magazine Staff Lynne Carr, Advertising Sales, lynne@smihq.org Gary McCoy, Managing Editor, gmccoy@fairwaycommunications.com Dina Sanchez, Assistant Editor, dina@smihq.org Sue Zubek, Art Director, zubekdesign@gmail.com

Springs Magazine Committee Chair, Don Jacobson III, Newcomb Spring • Reb Banas, Stanley Spring & Stamping • Lynne Carr, SMI • Ritchy Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Bud Funk, Fourslide Products • Brett Goldberg, International Spring • Tim Weber, Forming Systems • Europe Liaison: Wolfgang Herrmann, VDFI • Technical Advisor: Dan Sebastian, Honorary Member 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) 495-8588; 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.

Steve Kempf Lee Spring skempf@leespring.com

2 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

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Contents

34

55

FEATURES

COLUMNS

61 Book Corner

25 Growth and Capital Investment Plans

17 Be Aware Safety Tips

63 CTE News

27 The Impact of Tax Reform:

Survey Shows Mixed Results

By Mark E. Battersby

28 Writing It All Off After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

By Mark E. Battersby

31 Tracking the Elusive Business Loan:

How to Build a Case for a Successful Application

By Phillip M. Perry

34 Value and Growth

An Interview with Paul Menig

By Gary McCoy

39 Flashback

CASMI Show Circa 1964

41 Troubleshooting Oven Issues

By Adam Jacobson and Daniel Pierre III

46 Newcomb Spring Steps Up 49 SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview

4 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Year One of OSHA’s Severe Injury Reporting: Impact on Spring Manufacturers

By Laura Helmrich-Rhodes

21 Dean of Springs

Unusual Failures, or “How Did That Happen?”

By Dan Sebastian

DEPARTMENTS 2 President’s Message

Invest When Times Are Good to Survive When Times Are Bad

7 Global Highlights 12 Regional Spring Association Report 55 Springmaker Spotlight

Keats Manufacturing: Firm Foundation and Passion Helps Multi-Site, Multi-Generational Family Business Thrive at 60

By Gary McCoy

65 Inside SMI 67 Committee Connection 69 New Products 71 Advertisers’ Index 72 Snapshot

Don Jacobson III Newcomb Spring

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Global Highlights North America Admiral Steel celebrated 20 years of business with SRI Quality System Registrar for ISO in March and was presented with SRI’s Presidents Award for Commitment.

Since 1949, Admiral Steel has provided the highest quality products with customer service second to none.

For more information, visit www.admiralsteel.com.

Stanley Spring and Stamping welcomed Mike Lee as vice president of operations in June.

“In this role, Mike will lead the operational team including production, planning, warehouse/shipping, quality and tooling. Mike will work closely with myself, Rob Rolbiecki and Tom Lusinski to drive long term strategy, grow sales and improve the overall business performance,” said Reb Banas, president and CEO. Lee has extensive hands-on experience in engineering, quality, business development and multi-site vice president of operations roles. His career spans small family-owned companies, midsize private equity owned businesses and large corporations and the fabrication of small, simple, standardized, high volume parts to large, very complex, low volume, one-off parts and assemblies.

Lee holds B.S. degrees in engineering and science from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. After graduation, he started his career with Chrysler in Detroit as a project engineer in their steering systems group. Lee spent the next seven years as chief engineer and quality manager at ADC, Ltd. in Wheeling, Illinois, a $25MM manufacturer of die cast, machined and assembled parts for the automotive, farm equipment and consumer product industries.

Lee also held positions at ATF, Inc. and Dresser, Inc. before joining Stanley Spring and Stamping. He lives on the north side of Chicago with his wife, Karen and son, Jack.

Newcomb Spring Corp. has relocated its corporate world headquarters from Decatur, Georgia to Alpharetta, Georgia. Newcomb Spring says that the move was instituted to physically reorganize and optimize space for its quality control, manufacturing and administrative operations. Newcomb relates that the move has no impact on the company’s workforce regarding jobs.

Company president Robert Jacobson explains that by moving the headquarters to Alpharetta, they opened space in the Decatur, Georgia facility to create new workspace and offices for the Decatur plant’s quality control department, and an expanded manufacturing floor. Management

From left: Kevin Averill, Admiral Steel Quality Manager, Glen Anderson SRI, Terry Summers Vice President Admiral Steel & Brett Zischke Sales Manager Admiral Steel.

a nd ad m i n i s t r at ive personnel benefit from a new 2,200 sq. ft. of office space better suited to intraoffice communications and day-to-day administrative duties, managing the company’s multiple facilities.

“Expanding our technology-driven quality assurance operations in Decatur created a demand for more space for the depa rtment,” Jacobson explains. “Newcomb Spring is committed to constant quality improvement. Moving the headquarters to Alpharetta gave us the space we needed for new quality control initiatives and provided advantages to our administrative operations as well. It was a win-win decision.”

Newcomb Spring Corp’s new world headquarters is located at 3155 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30005.

Visit newcombspring.com.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 7

Global Highlights

International From Nov. 27-29, 2018, the trade fair trio wire India, Tube India and Metallurgy India will return to the Bombay Exhibition Center in Mumbai. Organized by Messe Düsseldorf and its subsidiary Messe Düsseldorf India, the events will feature the latest machinery, equipment, technology and services for wire, cable, tube and pipe production as well as pipe processing and metallurgy. About 400 exhibitors from 25 countries and 12,000 visitors are expected to participate.

For further details on the trade fair trio, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit www. wire-india.com, www.tube-india.com, www.metallurgyindia.com; http://www.mdna.com; Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WireTube_MDNA

wire China, the 8th All China International Wire and Cable Industry Trade Fair, and Tube China, the 8th All China International Tube and Pipe Industry Trade Fair, will feature eight country group exhibits. To date, overseas exhibitors from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. have confirmed their participation. Both events will be held concurrently at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) from Sept. 26–29, 2018.

The event s w ill be joi nt ly organized by Messe Düsseldorf Shanghai, a subsidiary of Messe Düsseldorf in Germany together with the Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute (wire China) and the Metallurgical Council of (L to R) Jim Landis 43 yrs, Stephen Wagner 42 yrs, Richard Null 53 yrs, David Shelly Jr 43 yrs making wire China - Council for the Promo“ Yo u a r e n e v e r f a r f r o m o u r w i r e ” tion of International Trade (Tube China).

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at wire India, Tube India and Metallurgy India, wire or Tube China 2018, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, Five good reasons to specify Mount Joy Wire: 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: 1. 100% American made.

312-781-5180; fax:312-781-5188; MOUNT JOY 2. Dedicated workforce.

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8 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

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Global Highlights

Alloy Wire International

Major new orders to supply into the aerospace, petrochemical and nuclear sectors helped UK manufacturer Alloy Wire International (AWI) smash the £10m barrier for the first time in its 72-year history.

AWI, which supplies more than 60 different “high performance” alloys, has seen sales increase by £3m since 2016 and puts the sustained expansion down to its ability to offer three-week lead times and the growing demand for its emergency manufacturing service.

The company has also invested heavily in its stock, with 200 tons now available at any one time – the largest holding it has ever held.

Mark Venables, managing director, commented: “The recovery in oil and gas has certainly been one of the highlights of recent months and interest for our material has come from every corner of the globe…I think at the last count we were exporting to 55 countries.

“In order to cope with the increase in volumes we have taken on three new people in sales and in the dry drawing department, whilst investment in bespoke machinery and

an ever-growing international list of sales offices, gives us an ideal platform to grow sales even further at our sites in the West Midlands and in Yorkshire.”

Alloy Wire International makes round, flat and shaped wire in a range of material, with more than 60 currently available to choose from.

It has also recently invested in an additional 4,000 sq. ft. of production space and launched its own “Wire Finder App” as part of a marketing drive to help customers find the right wire for their applications.

For further information, visit www.alloywire.com or follow @alloywire on Twitter.

The Japan Society of Spring Engineers (JSSE) held its semiannual lecture meeting, including a poster session and Annual General Meeting at Meiji University in Tokyo June 5, 2018.

Eight general lectures and one special topic lecture were presented to 146 attendees in a hall on the Tokyo Surugadai Campus. The opening speech was presented

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 9

Global Highlights

Pictured (l-to-r): Haruhiko Shiba; Q&A at the Poster Session; Dr. Motoaki Osawa.

by Haruhiko Shiba, a vice-chairperson of JSSE in charge of research activities and a managing officer member of the board of Chuo Spring Co., Ltd. Titles of General Lectures and Presenters 1. “Stress Intensity Factors for Semi-elliptic Surface Cracks in Tension Coil Springs with Orthotropic Anisotropy and Those with Cylindrical Anisotropy,”

by Dr. Yuji Nakasone of Tokyo University of Science.

2. “Report on High-Temperature Spring Set of Compact Compression Springs,” by Dr. Kazuhiro Kawasaki

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

of Neturen Co., Ltd., Takayuki Okamoto of Chuo Spring Co., Ltd. and Fuminori Okada of Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Research Committee on High-Temperature Spring Set of Compression Coil Springs of JSSE. “Elastoplastic Deformation Behavior in the Surface of Austenitic Stainless Steel by Peening,” by Ryo Ishibashi of Hitachi, Ltd. “Nonlinear Analysis on Advanced Restoring Spring Characteristics (Large Deformation of Fishing Rods),” by Dr. Atsumi Ohtsuki of Meijo University.

“The Thinner Type Suspension Seat for Commercial Vehicles Using High Performance Urethane Foam,”

by Shinji Uehara of NHK Spring Co., Ltd. “The Effect of Carbide Precipitation on Mechanical Properties of Tempered Martensitic Si-added High Carbon Steels,” by Takahisa Suzuki of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation.

“Micro Region Mechanical Characterization Approach to Tissue Changes in the Timedependent,” by Dr. Nobuo Nagashima of National Institute for Materials Science.

“Observation of Rolling Contact Fatigue Cracks

by Using Synchrotron Radiation Micro-computed Tomography Imaging,” by Yutaka Neishi of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation.

The special topic lecture was “Development of the Endoscope — Innovation on the Cancer Treatment for Digestive Organs,” by lecturer Yoshitake Saito of Olympus Corporation.

Five technical posters were displayed in the same hall.

A brief explanation was given by a representative for each of the posters on the speaker’s platform for the lecture meeting, followed by a question and answer session at the posters. The top two posters were selected based on the participants’ voting.

The first place poster was “Influence of Surface Defects on Fatigue Strength of Nitrided Steel,” by Jun Konya of Yokohama National University, et al.

10 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Global Highlights

The second place poster was “Application of the COα, Cosine Alpha, Method to Spring Steel,” by Tomohiro Yamazaki of Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co., Ltd., et al.

Four certificates of Spring Technological Heritage were presented to four parties to express JSSE’s appreciation for their preservation of springs and machines of historical value. The awarded springs and machines are as follows: 1. Oriental Lock (30 pieces), owned by Gallery Key and Lock.

2. Wire Forming Machine, TSF-8000 owned by Taihei Seisakusho.

3. Electric Powered C-Type Press, TP-25 manufactured

by Amada Co., Ltd. owned by Taga Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 4. Traditional Gun, owned by Sakai Gun Study Group.

The annual general meeting was held after the closing speech of the lecture meeting presented by Dr. Yuji Nakasone, JSSE chairperson and a professor of Tokyo University of Science, in a conference room on the same campus. The meeting was led by Yoshiharu Sugawara, a

director of JSSE and a technical director and sales procurement director of Horikiri Inc. During the meeting, six proposals, 2017 annual business report, 2017 settlement of balance report, 2018 annual business plan, 2018 budget, recommendations of honorary members and re-election of officers were approved.

A reception was held after the annual general meeting in a hall in the same campus. Dr. Motoaki Osawa, a vice-chairperson of JSSE in charge of publication and a professor of Tokyo Denki University, made the opening speech, followed by the guest speech by Kazumi Tamamura, a chairperson of the Japan Spring Manufacturers Association (JSMA) and a chairman & chief executive officer of NHK Spring Co., Ltd. Dr. Katsuji Tosha, an honorary member of JSSE, made a toast to the development of the spring industry and the participants’ health.

The reception ended with a closing talk by Noriyasu Kaga, a director of JSSE and manager, designing & engineering department of Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co., Ltd. n

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 11

©iStockphoto.com/Scott Hirko

Regional Spring Association Report

NESMA Has an Active Summer of Events

By Jim Mintun, Gibbs Th e Ne w E n g l a nd Sp r i n g a nd Metalstamping Association (NESMA) held sever a l event s du r i ng t he summer to help our members have some additional fun and take their minds away from the daily stresses in their businesses.

On June 16, NESMA held a leadership/empowerment team-building event at Empower Leadership Sports and Adventure Center in Middletown, Connecticut. We had 21 participants who were challenged by various tasks designed to promote teamwork and leadership skills. Some of us chose to participate in a scavenger hunt using a map and compass to locate various clues leading to a completion of a puzzle. Others decided to take an exhilarating zip line tour that included navigating several obstacles and stages, culminating in a return to mother Earth at the completion of the course. Both choices proved to be fun and challenging at the same time.

Safety was a top concern as our guides had us “gear up” with harnesses to prevent possible injury while in the tree canopy. After a 10-minute session devoted to basic training, we were off to our first zip line challenge. With a nice mix of younger and older NESMA members, and continuous encouragement from our helpful guide, we all completed the first step in our journey.

Many of us were novices at the skill of zip lining and our guides helped to assuage our initial fears at tackling the course. Boosted by the support of our fellow teammates, each of us were able to overcome our doubts and fears stepby-step as the challenges and obstacles of the course became more difficult. After two hours of navigating the course, we

12 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

congratulated ourselves for successfully completing it with no one hurt or left behind.

A l l a t t e nd e e s c a m e away with a great sense of pride and accomplishment whether they participated in the zip line course or scavenger hunt. Leadership and team-building skills were developed along each journey. All participants enjoyed the challenges presented and would recommend the excursion to all member companies looking to improve their teams and leaders. The event was followed by a catered dinner to cap a productive day. We hope to hold similar events in future years.

O n Aug. 11, sever a l members took a tour of the USS Nautilus Submarine and the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut. The tour was followed by a dinner to promote camaraderie and networking. Many of us hope to be able to support new defense cont racts wit h pa r ts to General Dynamics Electric Boat in the future. General Dynamics Electric Boat, established in 1899, has established standards of excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of submarines for the U.S. Navy.

NESMA’s annual golf outing was held Sept. 10 at Chippanee Country Club in Bristol, Connecticut. The golf outing is our most popular event of the season and capped a very busy summer. Over 100 golfers attended,

and we had an additional 60 members attend the awards dinner that followed the golf. Winners will be announced in the next edition of Springs.

Please mark your calendars and save the dates of Dec. 6 for our annual holiday party and Dec. 14 for our annual meeting. Details can be found at our new and enhanced website, www.nesma-usa.com.

Regional Spring Association Report

SpringWorld Takes Place Oct. 3–5

By Michael Bandy, CASMI Co-Executive Director Join your colleagues in Rosemont, Illinois for the 2018 edition of the SpringWorld Trade Show, presented by t he C h ic a go A s so c i at ion of Spring Manufacturers, Inc. (CASMI).

SpringWorld provides a unique opportunity to network with other spring manufacturers and wireformers, including one-on-one discussions with others who share your challenges a nd a re ready to discuss solutions providing you with new insights for your business.

On the trade show floor, you will see the latest technology available to improve your company’s productivity, quality and service. SpringWorld also offers free educational seminars, presented by our exhibiting partners, on the show floor.

CASMI offers free registration to spring, stamping, fastener, OEM customers of exhibiting companies, and wireform manufacturers. The pre-registration deadline has already passed, but walk-ins are welcome at $25 per person. Visit www.casmispr i ng world.or g a nd selec t t he SpringWorld tab for important details and to register. Questions? Call CASMI at 630-359-4273, or email info@casmispringworld.org.

CASMI Golf Tournament O n J u n e 19 , C A S M I h e l d i t s 2018 Annual Golf Outing at t he Bloomingdale (Illinois) Golf Club. It was a gorgeous day as more than 130 CASMI members and SpringWorld exhibitors took part in the 18-hole, best-ball tournament and dinner.

The event included lunch for golfers, and the tournament was followed by a reception, dinner and the presentation of awards. Awards were presented for the first and second place teams in two divisions (four total), as well as closest to the pin, longest putt, and longest drive for both women and men.

Additionally, several “wine and beer” gift baskets were raffled off as door prizes.

For the second year, CASMI designated charity support to Chicago Veterans, a nonprofit community of military veterans who share a common passion for helping fellow veterans, whether it’s veteran homelessness, PTSD awareness, trauma, benefits or camaraderie building. A total of $1,221 was donated by participants.

CASMI’s 2019 Annual Golf Outing will be held next June at the Bloomingdale Golf Club.

Annual Scholarship Award Recipients Recognized by CASMI On Thursday, Aug. 2, CASMI hosted its third annual reception to honor the recipients of the organization’s Annual Scholarship. Scholarship

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 13

Regional Spring Association Report

recipients, compa ny representatives, and CASMI board members were on hand for the celebration at Francesca’s Amici in Elmhurst, Illinois. During the event, all recipients were a n nounced a nd t hose present were presented with recognition certificates.

CASMI is proud to have awarded 16 undergraduate scholarships of $1,500 each, and one $2,500 Terry and Jerry Reese Postgraduate Scholarship, to dependents of CASMI member company employees in 2018.

This brings the total cash awards for CASMI Scholarships to $787,000 since the program’s inception in 1989.

The CASMI Scholarship Program is managed by Scholarship America, a not-for-profit foundation. Scholarship America receives and processes the applications, determines the awards and informs the winners, thus assuring impartiality in awarding the scholarships.

CASMI would like to congratulate this year’s scholarship winners for their academic accomplishments.

2018 undergraduate recipients: Joshua Bender Lydia Fess Tomasz Gruchala Mackenzie Howard David Kierpiec Kellie Kuehl Emma Lane Kailyn Lefeber Darian Los Claudia Morawa Kevin Niehaus Benjamin Salzman Sahar Virani Murphy Weiland Drake Wolan Garrett Wolan 2018 Terry & Jerry Reese Postgraduate Scholarship recipient: Erinn Komschlies

Upcoming CASMI Events • SpringWorld 2018 Oct. 3–5, Rosemont, Illinois • Monthly Membership Meeting/ Dinner, Nov. 15, Maggiano’s, Oak Brook, Illinois • Annual Holiday Party, Dec. 13, Carlucci’s, Rosemont, Illinois

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WCSMA to Hold Fall Golf Outing

WIRE DIAMETER

CMM-12-236 R 0.60 - 2.30 mm CMM-12-450 R 1.20 - 4.50 mm CMM-12-610 R 2.50 - 6.00 mm CMM-15-660 R 2.50 - 6.00 mm CMM-12-680 R 3.60 - 8.00 mm

14 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

The West Coast Spring Manufacturers Association (WCSMA) will hold its fall golf outing on Nov. 8 at Coyote Hills Country Club in Fullerton, California. The first group tees off at 11 a.m. and lunch will be provided for golfers.

The cost for the event is $125 per golfer if you are registered before Oct. 1. After Oct. 1, the price increases to $135 per golfer.

For more infor mat ion on t he WCSMA fall golf outing, contact Mike Tiedeman via email at Mark@ tru-form.com.

For more information on WCSMA, visit the group’s website at wcsma.us. n

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Be Aware Safety Tips

Year One of OSHA’s Severe Injury Reporting: Impact on Spring Manufacturers

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

T

here are two main objectives of this discussion. The first objective is to be able to compare your experiences to America’s workforce, especially to spring manufacturing. The second is to better understand the use of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data collection to make positive changes in your organization. A list of lessons learned is provided at the end of this article to help your organization improve in employee safeguarding.

The severe injury reporting requirement change went into effect Jan. 1, 2015. This was announced many times through SMI and the Department of Labor in 2014. Companies must report, within 24 hours, the hospitalization of one or more employees (a change from three), the loss of an eye, and any amputation, regardless of the extent. The reporting of a fatality within eight hours is unchanged.

Tens of thousands of men and women continue to be severely injured at work. OSHA describes amputations and hospitalizations as “sentinel events” that uncontrolled hazards exist in the workplace. The data collected is to help reduce those devastating injuries by targeting OSHA resources to trends. Like other pieces of regulatory change for OSHA under the previous administration, the increase in workload for the field inspectors may not have been adequately considered. Some action must be taken by OSHA with each of these reports.

In 2015, federal OSHA responded to 62 percent of the reports, including 69 percent of the hospitalizations, not by sending an inspector but by asking the employer to conduct their own investigation and recommendations to prevent reoccurrence. OSHA did respond to 58 percent of the amputation reports with an inspection by a compliance officer.

OSHA estimates that possibly 50 percent or more of severe injuries are not being reported to them. This is based on their review of state workers’ compensation data. Also, most of the reports were submitted by large companies, which is an indicator that small and medium size companies are either not aware of the change or choosing, in error, not to report.

OSHA estimates that possibly 50 percent or more of severe injuries are not being reported to them. This is based on their review of state workers’ compensation data. Also, most of the reports were submitted by large companies, which is an indicator that small and medium size companies are either not aware of the change or choosing, in error, not to report.

A Closer Look at The Numbers In the first year of this initiative, federal OSHA was notified of 10,388 incidents, including 2,644 amputations, and 7,636 hospitalizations. It should be noted that the 2015 data is the most recent available at the time of this publication.

Drilling down, we see in the category “Other Fabricated Metal Products Manufacturing” (NAICS: 3329) that 112 severe injury reports were submitted. In the Spring Manufacturing (NAICS: 3326) category, 27 severe injury reports were submitted resulting in 18 inspections. This is a 67

Laura Helmrich-Rhodes, CSP, Ed.D., is an independent regulations compliance consultant to the Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI). A former member of PA/OSHA Consultation, she is an associate professor in the Safety Sciences Department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she teaches graduate and undergraduate classes on topics such as OSHA standards, safety communications, workers’ compensation and human relations. Rhodes is available for safety advice and information. Contact SMI at 630-495-8588 or laurahrhodes@gmail.com.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 17

From October 2016 to September 2017, 38 spring manufacturers were inspected.

Certainly, our readers will be interested to know that lockout/tagout and machine guarding were the No. 1 and two most frequently cited standards. These top two represented 33 percent of the total number of citations to the industry in that year. Of course, these two standards correspond directly to amputation prevention. percent inspection rate, which is higher than the overall inspection rate. There were 18 amputations in the spring manufacturing group, which resulted in 15 inspections.

This is an 83 percent inspection rate, which is once again higher than the national inspection rate for amputations.

Also, in the spring manufacturing segment were 8 reported hospitalizations, of which two resulted in an

inspection. This would be a significant increase in reporting prior to 2015, since only incidents with three or more injured in a single occurrence had to be reported to OSHA. It is also possible that this number is under reported. As mentioned above, OSHA in its work with workers’ compensation carriers is looking for the data to be similar.

Another informative piece of the total data presented is that temporary workers incurred more than 6 percent of the severe injuries. A lesson learned here is to consider how you are training and supervising your temporary workers. Is safety a priority with these individuals, or merely production?

Temporary workers are more likely to be injured and need more training, as well as greater supervision during hazardous work.

According to Dr. David Michaels, former assistant secretary of Labor for OSHA, the data show that “Most of the hazards that led to these severe injuries are well-understood and easily prevented.” In modern safety management, it is known that through engineering controls (which eliminate

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or isolate the risk from the worker) and administrative controls (for example training, use of permits, signage and excellent supervision), injuries can be prevented.

Dr. Michaels’s quote serves as a reminder to react to near misses, not just injury producing or property damage accidents. If a potential for a severe injury occurred and only resulted in a near miss, then the control of those hazards is paramount. Further, it underscores the need for pre-task hazard assessments. During a recent employee safety training I presented at a spring company, a small group activity was well received that involved creating job safety analyses (JSA) of hazardous tasks in each department. Employees often know the potential hazards and the control measures needed, but often do not take the time to really analyze what could happen and how to avoid it.

It is worth noting that conducting JSAs are an excellent way to comply with several OSHA standards too.

Dr. Michaels also noted that the inspections allowed OSHA to see firsthand the immediate causes of the severe injuries. “These inspections opened the door to some emerging and fast-changing industries that have had relatively few inspections, such as suppliers to oil and gas operations.”

Despite the more conservative presidential administration, the overall number of federal OSHA inspections has increased and the total penalty to the spring industry has

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now exceeded 1 million dollars. From October 2016 to September 2017, 38 spring manufacturers were inspected.

Certainly, our readers will be interested to know that lockout/tagout and machine guarding were the No. 1 and two most frequently cited standards. These top two represented 33 percent of the total number of citations to the industry in that year. Of course, these two standards correspond directly to amputation prevention.

Lessons Learned Severe injuries do occur in this industry and can be prevented. Collecting meaningful data can lead us to better understanding and controlling workplace hazards. This preliminary data does just that. Based on this discussion consider the following: • Develop a strict and comprehensive accident investigation including near-miss incidents.

• Conduct a JSA of work tasks.

• Institute a comprehensive temporary worker safety program.

• Develop a contractor safety program, including a safety review, prior to hire.

• Prepare for an OSHA inspection. A preliminary review of the data indicates that the spring industry is more likely to have an inspection than general industry severe injury reporters. Know your obligations and your rights.

• Know the recordkeeping and reporting definitions.

• Implement lockout/tagout hazardous energy control procedures on every hardwired piece of equipment.

• Conduct machine guarding assessments. Eliminate and or isolate point of operation and power transmission equipment. n Sources Michaels, David (2016) “U.S. Department of Labor, Year One of OSHA’s Severe Injury Reporting Program. An Impact Evaluation” U.S. Department of Labor “Number of Severe Injuries Received by OSHA by Industry, 2015" https://www.osha.gov/injuryreport/2015_by_industry.pdf

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Helpful Resources Recordkeeping Fact Sheet https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014/OSHA3744.pdf FAQs –Frequently Asked Questions regarding Recordkeeping https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014/faqs.html How to Conduct Job Safety Analysis/ Job Hazard Analysis https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3071.html#R2

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Dean of Springs

Unusual Failures, or “How Did That Happen?”

By Dan Sebastian

O

ver my many years in the world of springs, I encountered many different problems, but there were two that, at the time, seemed to be a real “Gordian knot.”

After we got through with the analysis, the problems were the result of not understanding the application and applying the basic rules of springmaking and metallurgy. In addition, we did not have all the information about the application and how it was assembled. The two problems we will review were from very different industries and end use applications, but could be found almost anywhere.

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I was blessed with the opportunity to lead a plant that became one of a few world-class engine valve spring manufacturing facilities. In my early days at this plant, it was apparent that we had lost our way in how to be the best and were simply making springs using a “cookbook recipe.” The team addressed the issues implementing SPC (statistical process control), lean manufacturing principles with a focus on continuous improvement, while investing in dynamic testing equipment, finite element analysis, solid molding and other high-end engineering design tools. We approached Six Sigma capabilities with world-class product reliability. You can imagine our surprise when, after an extensive design and testing program in collaboration with our automotive customer, we suddenly had a series of premature valve spring failures (needless to say, the reaction from the customer was a little irrational).

As we began to study the problem we became even more confused. The root cause was easy to see but made no logical sense. The failures all originated from the outer diameter (OD) of the spring near the middle, not the usual interior diameter (ID) near the driven end that is typical of most valve spring failures. To add to the mystery, the failure occurrence stopped and then reoccurred. Normally in this type of failure, there would be a flaw or mark at the origin of the failure. In this case there were no defects either in the material or from handling. In fact, the area in question exhibited excellent peening coverage and the initial check of the effective depth as measured with X-ray diffraction; all looked good. A review of the assembly process did not raise any “red flags.” As we eliminated each potential cause

and every test we performed to simulate the failure brought no results, we and the customer became more frustrated.

When one of our engineers reviewed the X-ray data, he noticed a small anomaly that we initially dismissed as a measurement error. The areas around the failure site all indicated good compressive residual stresses, but at the epicenter of the failure we noticed some tensile stresses.

After re-running the test several times, the results were the same. From that small piece of data, we formulated a theory that the spring may have been deformed by a compressive force to the OD. Measurements did not indicate any deformation in diameter or out of roundness.

We then conducted a series of tests by applying a controlled load to the OD and then performing fatigue test-

We approached Six Sigma capabilities with world class product reliability. You can imagine our surprise when, after an extensive design and testing program in collaboration with our automotive customer, we suddenly had a series of premature valve spring failures. ing on the samples. Springs that were measurably deformed by the load all failed like the premature valve spring failures. Additional testing found a load at which there was no measurable deformation, but the failures occurred. We had found our “smoking gun,” but had no explanation as to what caused it. After several calculations, we discovered that the force exerted exceeded the compressive stresses

Dan Sebastian is a former SMI president and currently serves as a technical consultant to the association. He holds a degree in metallurgical engineering from Lehigh University and his industry career spans more than four decades in various technical and management roles. He may be reached by contacting SMI at 630-495-8588.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 21

from peening. Now we already knew that was happening. At the fulcrum of the bending forces (tensile), a shear wall was created between the residual compressive stresses from shot peening. That interface was now an infinite sharp crack that became the starting point for a progressive failure. Repeating the test allowed us to verify that we could duplicate the failure mode.

Now we had to identify what caused the problem. We discovered that the assembly equipment pushed the spring into place with an air cylinder. When we questioned the equipment set up people, we learned they had added a pressure regular valve sometime after they started building engines, because they did not like the loud noise the machine made when the air cylinder “slammed” the spring into position. This also explained why the problem went away some time after production started.

After we reviewed the FMEA (failure mode effect analysis) we did prior to launch, no one identified the possible problem of a spring being stressed past the yield point of compressive stresses that did not leave measurable deformations. We presented our finding to the automaker, who was very skeptical (auto companies never make mistakes and always record changes to the setup procedure, which means it is always the supplier's fault). Later, when they started up

If a failure occurs from other than the highest stress point, something other than stress is the likely cause of failure. The fact that the fracture topography revealed no apparent defect to start a failure clearly pointed to a residual stress problem.

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another new assembly line and it happened again, we now knew what to look for and what to put into all future FMEA’s.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

The second unusual failure involved a customer who used springs in a vibratory conveyor. They experienced a low level of failures despite relatively low levels of stresses. This was a very aggressive fatigue environment because, despite what would appear to be very safe stress levels, they were actually much higher than the absolute value would suggest. That’s because the springs are stressed in both compression and extension (the stress field goes through the zero-stress point). In the process of going through the natural zero point (operating in two completely opposite stress fields), the effective stress is significantly maximized.

You can see what is happening if you conduct a simple experiment. Bend a paper clip from 180˚ to 90˚ and repeat the process, counting how many times it takes to break it. Now repeat the process by going from 180˚ to 90˚ and then back to 180˚ to 90˚ in the opposite direction. In most cases you will get five times less from one experiment to the other, despite the fact the force to bend to 90˚ in either direction is the same. This is why going through zero (180˚) greatly magnifies the effective stress.

The customer based his design by calculating the safety factor by dividing the maximum useable stress by the actual stresses (they calculated the maximum usable by taking a percent of the tensile strength). Using this design model, they decided they could reduce the nascent failure rate by using a higher tensile version of the material, which would materially improve his safety margin as the tensile strength was higher. They issued orders for the improved design, but soon experienced higher failure rates. They were confronted with the problem that higher safety margins resulted in worse results. What went wrong?

There is nothing wrong in using the tensile strength to help determine the maximum usable strength of a spring.

In matters of cycle life, it is only one factor, and in some cases it may not be the determining factor. In this case they failed to consider two basic metallurgical fundamentals.

The first area that should have been reviewed was the “critical crack” size, which is the smallest size crack that will start a failure. This was not considered. A general rule of metallurgy indicates that the higher the tensile strength,

the higher the hardness. As hardness increases, the “critical crack” size goes down. The material selected was simply a higher tensile version of the same material with no change in processing. As a result, a crack that was forgiving in the original material now was in danger of starting a failure.

If they had changed to a surface prepared rod, the probability of improved life could have gone up.

The second metallurgical fundamental not considered was the fracture toughness K1c of the material. By using the same material chemistry at a higher tensile/hardness, the fracture toughness (as measured by the area under the tensile curve) likely went down. There are some alloys that, when added to the steel chemistry, can add additional toughness.

That very dangerous combination of critical crack size and fracture toughness caused a very serious problem. Improving the safety margin by reducing stress or increasing tensile can be a useful tool, but in this case the laws of metallurgy were against them.

Summary In the words of one of my mentors, “When you look at a failure it talks to you, telling you the story of how it happened; you have to be smart enough to listen.” In these seemingly unique failures they were talking very loudly, it just took us a little time and imagination to hear them.

In the case of the valve spring failures that started from an unusual point, we can learn a few things.

First, if a failure occurs from other than the highest stress point, something other than stress is the likely cause of failure. The fact that the fracture topography revealed no apparent defect to start a failure clearly pointed to a residual stress problem.

In this case, the shear wall created by back bending to exceed the elastic limit by only a small amount, causing a very sharp invisible defect. Second, keep in mind that any residual stress-induced failure may emanate from a surface defect (that may have been sub-critical), but because of the residual (or lack of) stresses a failure can occur.

The failures in the vibratory conveyor were the result of stress being magnified beyond the actual calculated stress because they were used in both extension and compression, which caused the stress field to go through the zero point. In any design that is subject to a higher number of cycles, you should always try to avoid operating near the zero-stress point. When selecting materials for high cycle environments, you need to choose a material with the highest fracture toughness, which could limit your choices in high strength materials. n

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 23

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Growth and Capital Investment Plans

By Gary McCoy

What is business growth?

According to BusinessDictionary.com, it is: “The process of improving some measure of an enterprise’s success. Business growth can be achieved either by boosting the top line or revenue of the business with greater product sales or service income, or by increasing the bottom line or profitability of the operation by minimizing costs.”

That definition only tells part of the story. Growth can also occur through acquisitions and by purchasing more equipment to help satisfy the demands of new and prospective customers. Talk to any SMI member and they will cite many other things they see as part of the process.

To lay the groundwork for this issue, we surveyed SMI members regarding the impact of the December 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Has is it helped or hindered business? Find out the answers on page 27.

Diving further into the nitty gritty details of the TCJA is an article by Mark Battersby, “Writing It All Off After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” Battersby guides readers through the TCJA changes and the impact it is having on whether to acquire equipment or other business property and how the cost of those business assets can be best reduced — via the immediate write-offs, or by taking a more conservative approach. See his article on page 28.

There’s no doubt that the lending environment has improved for springmakers who seek cash to renovate or expand operations. An article by Phillip Perry on page 31, “Tracking the Elusive Business Loan: How to Build a Case for a Successful Application,” tells readers how to put your best foot forward with lenders. Perry says the positive lending environment is likely to continue for several reasons. “One is the anticipated loosening of federal regulations that have restricted bank lending practices. A more immediate force, though, is the higher cost of money.”

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 25

Finally, we feature an interview with Paul Menig. Menig is the leader of Business Accelerants™ and focused on helping companies drive faster, profitable growth, enabling leaders to get more money from the business and time for their lives. Menig is very familiar with our industry. He spent approximately 16 months gathering information from SMI members to prepare a white paper on the future of the spring industry, “Observations of the Spring Industry; Recommendations for the Future.”

To explore the theme of this issue on growth and capital investments, I conducted a video conference with him from his office in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. See “Value and Growth: An Interview with Paul Menig” on page 34 for his insights on the subject.

As I have traveled the country over the past 10 years to meet springmakers and tell their stories, I have always been struck by how one key

26 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

event served as a turning point in the growth of their company. It wasn’t necessarily anything large. Often it was a new prospect who took a leap of faith to believe in their fledgling enterprise, a first order that started a firestorm of growth.

I recently interviewed Wade Keats, president and CEO of Keats Manufacturing, for our regular “Springmaker Spotlight” feature. Keats Manufacturing is a third-generation family owned company that has experienced tremendous change in its 60 years of business. Starting out in a simple storefront on Cicero Avenue on the Northwest side of Chicago with three employees and two machines, the company has grown by leaps and bounds with operations in two different states (Illinois and Texas) and most recently opened a new facility in the country of Mexico. Read the entire story, “Keats Manufacturing: Firm Foundation and Passion Helps

Multi-Site, Multi-Generational Family Business Thrive at 60,” on page 55.

It was brothers Bert and Glenn Keats who started the company in 1958.

The simple principle they followed: “Produce the best quality product at the best price, delivered on time.”

Who was the first person to believe in them? Of course, it was their mother Agnes. This was no simple belief though. She literally put her money where her mouth was. Agnes supplied her sons with a $5,000 check to help finance the business and get it off the ground. Most likely she was not steeped in strategies for capital growth and investments, she just knew a good thing when she saw it!

That capital investment by a loving mother, what you might call a “angel investor,” has paid off handsomely!

Gratef u l employees a nd fa m ily members continue to reap the benefits of her prudent investment. n

The Impact of Tax Reform: Survey Shows Mixed Results

A

ccording to the Tax Foundation, the nation’s leading i n d e p e n d e n t t a x p ol i c y research organization, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is projected to add 215,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2018 alone, and 1,443,000 cumulative full-time equivalent jobs by 2025. One of the major goals of Tax Reform 2.0 is to extend job growth beyond 2025 by making the recent federal individual income tax changes permanent, says the Washington, D.C.-based organization that was established in 1937.

According to a recent SMI survey of spring manufacturers, 73 percent said that the TCJA has already had a net positive impact on their businesses.

At nearly the same rate, 75 percent, springmakers said they are waiting for full implementation of the Act before they can assess the benefits of the legislation.

A little over one-third of respondents (37 percent) said they have already or will increase domestic employment due to the TCJA. The SMI survey further found that 42 percent have already or will increase employee salaries, bonuses or benefits due to the TCJA. When it comes to new equipment, 53 percent said they have already or plan to make future investments due to the TCJA. Finally, when asked about current or future plans to invest in research and development due to the TCJA, 21 percent answered in the affirmative.

When asked about items in the TCJA that need to be fixed, one respondent said they were not aware of any, and another said since they are a Canadian company they had no comment. Here are several recommendations.

• “Need the domestic products deduction reinstated!”

According to our members...

73%

37%

say the TCJA has already had a net positive impact on their business

say they have or will increase domestic employment due to the TCJA

75%

42%

say they are waiting for full implementation of the Act before they can assess the benefits of the legislation

say they have or will increase employees' salaries, bonuses or benefits due to the TCJA

• “I believe this is all temporary so President Trump can gain a better base for renegotiating trade agreements. In one year, this will all be behind us.”

• “Needs to be made permanent.”

• “The $10K limit on state and local tax deductions.”

• “We will have a better idea after filing 2018 taxes.”

In the category of “additional comments,” several respondents said the TCJA’s positive impact has been overshadowed by recent tariffs.

• “We are still assessing as the tariffs have negated some of the positives from the tax cuts.”

• “Our company has been profitable most years in business. We have been extremely profitable the past few years and this one appears to be the same. Our employees have received raises this year and will once again

• •

•

•

receive substantial bonuses. We do not feel this is due to the TCJA act, though.”

“We will run our company in the same manner based on our customer’s requirements.”

“Very encouraging but tempered, because of fear that all this could be reversed with a swoop of a pen.

So hard to figure how to run a business with a government that is so unclear of its direction.”

“The vast majority of our vendors are U.S.-based and with U.S.made product. We expect to compete better versus overseas competitors.”

“The tariffs are overshadowing the tax cuts.”

To read more about the work of the Tax Foundation and its projections regarding the impact of the TCJA, visit taxfoundation.org. n

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 27

Writing It All Off

After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

By Mark E. Battersby

L

ast December’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) allowed many within the precision mechanical spring industry to expense and immediately write off more — including 100 percent temporary expensing deduction for adding needed equipment, vehicles or even a new warehouse, factory or plant. In addition to the increased write-offs available to help offset the cost of acquiring needed business assets, changing limits on Section 179, first-year expensing, further reduces out-of-pocket costs.

Writing off the cost of much of that newly acquired property in the year it is placed in service has long been possible under the Section 179, first-year expensing rules. The TCJA increased the maximum deduction for Section 179 property while also ramping up the other major write-off, the so-called “bonus” depreciation, raising it from 50 percent to 100 percent for property placed in service before 2023.

First Year Write-Offs

Section 179 is an incentive designed by lawmakers to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in their operations. It allows a spring manufacturer or supplier to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased during the tax year. In other words, if qualifying equipment is purchased, the full cost can be deducted as an immediate expense.

Under our tax rules — and the new law — the spring business can choose to treat the cost of any Section 179 property as an expense and deduct it in the year the property is placed in service.

The new law increased the maximum

28 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

amount that can be deducted from $500,000 to $1 million. The phase-out threshold, after which the Section 179 deduction is reduced, dollar-for-dollar, was also increased from $2 million to $2.5 million.

Under our tax rules — and the new law — the spring business can choose to treat the cost of any Section 179 property as an expense and deduct it in the year the property is placed in service. The new law increased the maximum amount that can be deducted from $500,000 to $1 million.

The TCJA expanded the definition of Section 179 property to include improvements made to nonresidential real property after it is placed in service. In other words, improvements to a building’s interior. Of course, they don’t qualify if they are due to: • The enlargement of the building • Any elevator or escalator • The internal structural framework of the building

Viva La Differences

Unfortunately, the new law keeps the general 39-year recovery period for nonresidential real property, such as a shop or plant. Qualified leasehold improvement property, restaurant property and retail improvement property are

no longer separately defined or given a special 15-year recovery period under the new law.

The most important difference between the Section 179 first-year expensing allowance and bonus depreciation has long been that both new and used equipment qualified for the Section 179 deduction. Today, however, used equipment can qualify for bonus depreciation.

The Section 179 deduction is usually taken first, followed by the bonus depreciation. Generally, bonus depreciation is useful to very large businesses spending more than the Section 179 spending cap (currently $2.5 million) on new capital equipment. Of course, businesses with a net loss are still allowed to deduct some of the cost of new equipment and carry the loss forward.

That “Bonus” Write-Off

For all property acquired by the spring manufacturer or supplier and placed in service after Sept. 27, 2017, the TCJA requires a full 100-percent deduction of the cost of eligible new and used property — unless the business chooses not to claim the depreciation write-off for any class of property.

The definition of property eligible for 100-percent bonus depreciation was expanded to include used property. The new law eliminates the requirement that the original use of the qualified property begin with the spring manufacturer or supplier, so long as it had not previously used the acquired property and the property was not acquired from a related person or entity it will qualify.

Paybacks Are Expensive

Although Section 179 is a write-off rather than a depreciation deduction, many springmakers feel that no records must be kept. The write-off is, however, comparable to claiming all the depreciation allowed in one year.

Should the business asset or property be sold or otherwise disposed of, a portion or all of that write-off may have to be recaptured or paid back.

Obviously, the best approach is to treat all qualifying purchases like fixed asset acquisitions, retaining all documentation for at least four years after the property or assets are disposed of.

Above all, don’t forget about the property or assets being replaced. The sale of business equipment or property can generate a short-term loss. A sale that produces a gain generates ordinary income up to the recapture of depreciation, after which it produces a capital gain, if held long enough.

What happens when equipment, vehicles, fixtures or other business assets or property are no longer useful

to the spring manufacturing operation or replaced with Section 179 or bonus depreciation acquisitions?

Fortunately, many businesses can claim an “abandonment” loss.

Of course, in order for the IRS to accept a bona fide abandonment write off of any business asset there must be an actual intent to abandon it. There must also be an “overt” act to abandon the asset. Not too surprisingly, this two-pronged test can frequently be difficult to document.

Like-Kind Exchanges

When it comes to exchanges of property, trade-ins and swaps, Section 1031 of the tax law allowed for socalled “like-kind” exchanges. In a like-kind exchange no gain is recognized unless “unlike” property is received in return. Gain isn’t avoided, it’s just deferred until the property received in the exchange is eventually sold or otherwise disposed of.

To qualify, the two properties must be of like-kind and must be held for

productive use in a trade or business.

Section 1031 tax-free exchanges do not, of course, apply to stocks, bonds, notes, partnership interests, livestock or foreign property.

Today, under the TCJA, like-kind exchanges apply only to real property.

While most larger like-kind exchanges involve real estate, trade-ins of business vehicles, machinery or other equipment also allow the deferral of gain and any loss. Under the new law, gain will have to be recognized or loss each time equipment is “traded in.” Fortunately, because of the changes to the depreciation rules, this may not make much difference for federal tax purposes.

Special Rules for Cars and Personal Use Property

Several years ago, Section 179 became known as the “SUV Tax Loophole” because so many businesses were writing off the purchase of what were then qualifying vehicles. While that Section 179 benefit has been severely reduced, special rules — and limits

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 29

— remain on deductions for cars and personal use property.

New limits on the write-off for the cost of so-called luxury automobiles and personal use property were included in the TCJA. For passenger automobiles and light trucks placed in service after Dec. 31, 2017, where the additional first-year depreciation deduction is not claimed, the maximum amount of allowable depreciation is increased to $10,000 for the year in which the vehicle is placed in service.

For those eligible for a bonus firstyear depreciation, the TCJA retained the $8,000 limit for additional firstyea r depreciation for passenger automobiles. In 2018 the maximum first-year write-off is $18,000.

Similar rules apply to not only passenger automobiles, but to any property used as a means of transportation, as well as for property used for purposes of entertainment, recreation or amusement. Computers and peripheral equipment have been removed

from the definition of listed property and are no longer subject to the increased substantation requirements.

Let the Write-Offs Roll

Lawmakers are strict when it comes to allowing deductions. Just as there can be no business until the operation “opens its doors” for the first time, buying equipment or other business assets doesn’t mean that the cost can be immediately deducted or written off — they must first be “placed in service.”

Determining the date property is placed in service for depreciation or other write-off purposes requires looking at factors such as the property’s assigned function, and when the property is in a condition or state of readiness and available for specifically assigned functions.

Caveat: Expensing Is Not Always the Best Option

Buying may not always be the best option even with the new 100-percent write-off. Expensing drops the book

value or basis of the business asset to zero. If the asset is sold, any amount up to the purchase price will be ordinary, fully-taxable income.

Spreading the expense through depreciation deductions will reduce taxable income down the road when the spring manufacturer or supplier may be more profitable and have higher tax bills. Another time expensing may not be the most economic route is when the asset might be sold in the near future, and/or it is one that holds its value.

The changes in the cost recovery rules are already having a significant impact on whether newly acquired equipment or business property should be depreciated or expensed and whether to choose bonus depreciation or choose not to claim bonus depreciation for any class of property. Because the new rules interact with other provisions of the law, every spring manufacturer and supplier should seek professional advice and assistance in planning to maximize their write-offs for business property and assets. n

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Tracking the Elusive Business Loan:

How to Build a Case for a Successful Application

By Phillip M. Perry

H

ere’s good news if your business needs money for renovation or expansion: Financial institutions are more eager to lend than at any time since the Great Recession.

“As more banks have worked their way back to profitability in recent years, there has been a loosening of the purse strings,” says John McQuaig, managing partner of McQuaig & Welk, the Wenatchee, Washington-based management consulting firm.

The trend is likely to continue, for several reasons. One is the anticipated loosening of federal regulations that have restricted bank lending practices. A more immediate force, though, is the higher cost of money.

“Rising interest rates improve banks’ margins, and if they become more profitable they can potentially lend more,” says Linda Keith, an Olympia, Washington,-based CPA with a niche practice in lender credit training.

Of course, higher rates are a twoedged sword. They also increase the costs of money for business customers, and the higher payments make it harder to qualify for loans. “Most small businesses that obtained variable interest rate loans in 2016 or earlier will see an increase in their monthly payments,” says Denise Beeson, a small business consultant based in Santa Rosa, California. “For some borrowers, this increase may not be substantial. However, we anticipate further rate increases in 2017.”

Even so, the nation’s historically low interest rate environment means there is still some room for rates to grow without having a huge impact.

Real Estate

An improving commercial real estate market is also driving more business lending in most regions of the country. That’s good news for anyone using property as collateral. “Many banks are now willing to lend up to 80 percent of property value, higher than the 65 to 70 percent in the years following the Great Recession,” says McQuaig.

That happy condition is not universal, however. In some areas the real estate market has overheated, sparking fears of overvaluations. As a result, some banks are reducing the amounts they will loan on appraised value.

“Banks need confidence in the local market and in real estate appraisals to support loans,” says Keith. “They will ask themselves, ‘Do valuations really reflect what a seller can get for the property?’”

Despite the improving lending environment, one thing hasn’t changed since the dark days of 2008: A heightened banking interest in customer cash flow. Indeed, while collateral can be important for the lending machine, it is no longer a driving gear.

“Banks are looking for quality performing loans,” says Keith. “They want to see, first, that the business borrower can repay a loan using cash flow generated from operations.

Second, they want to see good liquidity, so if the operations don’t come off as planned, the borrower has enough money to pay as agreed.”

As a third line of defense, adds Keith, banks look for a personal guarantee: Does the owner have enough f unds to backstop the business?

And finally, what’s the current debt load? Does the business have room to borrow more?

How to Land a Loan How can you prepare for a successful business loan application? Follow these tips from Denise Beeson, a small business consultant based in Santa Rosa, California:

1|

Understand how much money you are seeking and why.

What are the uses for the proceeds?

2|

Check the quality of your credit score and that of your business partners.

3|

Automate your business. Are you using a good accounting software program and do you have an active website so you can show your business is up-to-date financially and technically?

4|

Will the banker be impressed by your professional team? Even the smallest of businesses can assemble an experienced accountant, attorney, industry consultant and marketing advisor.

5|

Shop around. Some financial institutions offer business expertise assistance and a competitive basket of services.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 31

It all comes together to produce a loan decision. “With those various potential sources of funds,” says Keith, “the bank hopes it will not have to collect on the collateral.”

Of the four indicators mentioned above, the most critical is the first: debt coverage (the ratio of net cash flow to annual principal and interest payments).

Banks expect business borrowers to generate 120 to 130 percent of their total loan payments in net cash flow.

Here’s an example: Suppose your annual payments for principal and interest come to $100,000. Then you need to generate at least $120,000 in cash flow after all other expenses are paid.

And that 120 percent figure is a bare minimum today, says Keith. Banks are more comfortable with 125 percent.

For reference, back in the Great Recession they were requiring 135 percent.

Small is Good

“Finding the right bank for your deal is important,” says Brad Farris,

“Start talking with bankers to build relationships long before you need money,” advises Clarke. “If bankers know you to be a reliable, serious person, you will have a much better chance of getting a loan approval. That’s true even though small bankers do not have much direct authority, since underwriting decisions are often made elsewhere.

Even so, they can grease the wheels.”

principal at Chicago-based Anchor Advisors. “A big megabank offers complex and large financing, and the decision to lend is all about the numbers. Your local community bank, on the other hand, provides leasing and lines of credit and SBA real estate loans, and the decision to lend often depends on your relationship with a human being.”

Th at per son a l touc h c a n b e critical. “You want a bank that understands what you are doing and what your plans are,” says McQuaig. “A

community bank is more likely to do that. While bigger banks are looking to serve big customers, smaller ones may use other means to qualify business loans beyond a simple analysis of cash flow.”

Credit unions, too, says McQuaig, are expanding their commercial activity, but are still not terribly experienced in that area.

Smaller banks are of special importance because of their dependence on small business lending, says Keith.

“Their very survival depends on

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finding quality loans. This is great news for small businesses with good fundamentals.”

But know the downside. “The smaller banks have to be very careful how much they lend, because they have a smaller pool of funds,” says Andrew Clarke, president of Chicagobased small business consultancy Ground Floor Partners. “A $100,000 loan default is a much bigger hit on a $20 million portfolio than on a $500 million one. Bigger banks might have tougher terms, but at least they have money to lend.”

Communicate

When it comes to landing a loan, numbers alone won’t carry the day.

“Start talking with bankers to build relationships long before you need money,” advises Clarke. “If bankers know you to be a reliable, serious person, you will have a much better chance of getting a loan approval.

That’s true even though small bankers

do not have much direct authority, since underwriting decisions are often made elsewhere. Even so, they can grease the wheels.”

Successful communication is an ongoing process. “Market to your banker like he’s a business prospect,” says Farris. “You need a plan for feeding your banker news about your company and what is happening, so the banker feels comfortable with what you have borrowed. Manage the perception of what is going on with your business.” (For more ways to cultivate bankers see the sidebar “How to Land a Loan.”)

Com munication is a two-way street: Keep yourself tuned to what is happening at your bank—especially about any changes that might disrupt your credit line. Business people often assume their line of credit is safe as long as they maintain their covenants.

But that is not always the case. “When a bank wants to pull your loan, it can come up with a rationale,” says Clarke.

“It can find some financial ratio it doesn’t like.”

Be especially wary of bank mergers.

“When a big bank buys a small bank, there always seem to be unwanted assets that do not fit well with the portfolio,” says Farris. “So the combined bank often refuses to renew certain lines of credit, or refinance loans. And that creates a lot of disruption in the customer base.”

Finally, be alert for a common pitfall: The tendency of small business bankers to move from bank to bank. “You build a good relationship so your banker will help you out when the time comes to borrow money,” says Clarke. “But all of a sudden you find your friendly banker has gone to a new employer and has not yet cultivated those internal relationships required to help you get your loan.” n

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SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 33

Value and Growth: An Interview with Paul Menig

By Gary McCoy

P

aul Menig is the leader of Business Accelerants™ and focused on helping companies drive faster, profitable growth, enabling leaders to get more money from the business and time for their lives. He’s held leadership positions at General Electric, Eaton and Daimler. Since leaving the corporate world Menig has worked with startups, helped small businesses as a SCORE business mentor, and continued consulting with family-owned, private and public companies.

Menig is no stranger to the world of springs. Menig spent approximately 16 months gathering information from SMI members to prepare a white paper on the future of the spring industry, “Observations of the Spring Industry; Recommendations for the Future.”

To explore the theme of this issue on growth and capital investments, I recently interviewed Menig to gather his insights on the subject.

Q|industry for 16 months, you After studying the spring

provided a report to SMI in the spring of 2016. In your report, you referred to what you cover in your new book “Accelerating Start to Finish: Align 7 Forces for Business Success.” How do you see those forces affecting the growth of a company, its ability to finance itself, and even to sell it?

I wrote a report and had a chance to visit a lot of different facilities who are members of the Spring Manufacturers Institute. What did I see and how does it relate to the seven forces?

The seven forces look at customers and their marketing and sales channels, it looks at the supply chain, it looks at your internal people,

34 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

products and processes. It looks at areas of disruption, it looks at competition, it looks at technology and it looks at marketing and government constraints.

In technology, what impressed me was the breadth of technology in the spring industry. I saw machines from 1920 that were still chunking out material. And then I saw the most effective, modern machines that could make 12 types of bends to make the most complicated little springs.

Some spring companies had graveyards of old equipment for no reason that I can think of, that were just taking up space and eating up money.

Maybe they thought someday they’d be able to use a spare part from the old machine. And then there were others who, with the new equipment, were almost equivalent to the

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To take the survey, visit: https:// score.valuebuildersystem.com/ business-accelerants/paul-menig Menig is offering SMI members one to two hours of his time, free of charge, via web video to discuss the results.

cleanrooms I would see in other types of manufacturing.

If I’m going to value a company, guess which company I’m going to value better? The one with the cemetery, or the one with the cleanroom?

As a potential buyer of a company, I’m more interested in where you’re going than where you’ve been in the past. If I’m going to look at your books, then I’m going to look at the past because that’s all you have. But I’m also interested in whether that can continue and whether your company is going to grow.

The customer issue is big. There wer e some or ga n i z at ion s, st i l l family-owned, who rely on just a few customers rather than having many customers. To increase its value, it’s important that a company have a lot of customers, because a customer can walk away at any time. I talked recently with a company that was producing about $18 million a year in sales, and they just had a customer of about $1.5 million walk away.

Well, that’s not too bad, because it was around 10 percent of their sales.

But for this company, it was serious for them to lose a customer of that size. And I’ve seen businesses where 80 percent of their income comes from one customer.

When I’m looking at the value of a company and the ability to take it over, it’s important for me to know that there’s a diversity of customers.

The final force is government constraints, and I did not see a lot of issues with that for spring manufacturers when I completed my report, though I’m sure that your members have been affected more recently by the tariffs on steel imports.

So those are things that I look at to value a company.

Q|your son spent most of 2016 :You indicated that you and

and 2017 looking to buy a business north of Seattle that he could run.

Did you buy anything, and what did you learn about the value of a business during that process?

We hired a buy-side broker to help us find a business, because some of the best businesses that you might want to get for a reasonable price are probably not on the market today.

We went through that process, and we talked to brokers in the Seattle area and said, “Do you have a business available?” I was shocked by the poor service that the brokers were providing to businesses. They would get a two- or three-year financial statement and they would do a very poor job of dressing it up and trying to understand it. The No. 1 thing that I learned is that brokers are getting a lot of money for not doing a whole lot for their clients.

We tried to understand whether we could take over the business.

Whether or not we’d have to hire the owner to run it. Why? Because some owners knew all the customers, conducted all the business and had never trained anyone to take over certain tasks.

We looked at whether we could outsource certain things, such as accounting, and what we could do to run the business successfully. We learned about earnouts and how to make those contingent. I’ve seen situations where an owner sold a business and they had an earnout to meet over a three-year period. I have seen that, at the end of those three years, they ended up owning the business back, because whatever was expected didn’t happen. So, the owner didn’t end up with much money and they got their old job back.

We looked at businesses from software to manufacturing to landscaping. The closest we got to buying something was a franchise commercial and home painting company. It looked very promising. The husband had unexpectedly died, the wife was

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 35

running it and she really couldn’t handle it. The franchisor liked my son and I and thought we would be very good. We had to go through behavioral tests and my son had to go to Chicago for a couple of days of training and meet a bunch of people, including the other franchise owners in the area.

They all weighed in positively for him. We ended up not getting the business, because the franchisor refused to implement one of the little regulations they have in their contract. The woman ended up selling to a friend of the family who was not liked and didn’t meet all those other criteria.

After two years we couldn’t find anything to buy.

Q|some support of people

I understand you’ve done

through crowdfunding, being an angel investor, helping companies raise money from private equity and venture capital, as well as to obtain loans from banks. We often say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” You’ve recently suggested that, “Value is in the hands of the money holder.” What are some things you’ve learned about the process and how a money holder values a company?

I continue to deal with the transportation industry and know some high-level people at a company called Tesla. Most people in your organization have heard of them, and I would expect that two or three of your members are providing springs or other small items to that company. Tesla hasn’t made money in nine years, and yet it’s got a value that is huge. So, what does value mean?

It’s not necessarily earnings; it is more future potential than it is past profits. So, a small company, that is crowdfunding (in which they have no financials), is basically begging people for money. I do some work for an organization called SCORE. It’s a nationwide organization that helps small businesses. I’ve had a couple of people not succeed with a Kickstarter, and I had one who reached their goal in July. This person has the money that

36 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

New Book Available “Accelerating Start to Finish: Align 7 Forces for Business Success” is a new book by Paul Menig. He argues that the seven forces affect every business, every day.

1. Sales and Marketing Channels 2. Supply Chain and Outsourcing 3. Competition 4. Risk of Disruption 5. Market Constraints and Government 6. Internal People, Products and Processes 7. Technology The book is available at Barnes & Noble in paperback or for Nook, and at Amazon in paperback or for Kindle.

she needs to go forward, but now she’s worried about the next step of having to deliver on that product.

In this case, the people who knew the owner, basically friends and family, contributed to her fundraising goal. I’ve seen others who raised $13 million through crowdfunding and then couldn’t deliver the product. In that case it went beyond friends and family. The investors were saying, “I really like what you’re doing and the product that you say you can give me.”

In this case, it’s more about the future potential of the company than past success.

With angel investing, you put together a pitch deck. It’s about 10 slides and it basically says, “Here’s my idea, here is my target market, here is how big I think it can be. Here’s why I’m different from somebody else, here’s my really top-notch group of people who are managing this and maybe they’ve done it before, and maybe they haven’t.”

The premise is, “If you give us $10,000 now, if you’re lucky we’ll give you $100,000 or 10 times that later on.”

Only about one in 10 companies that go through the angel investing process deliver on that kind of a promise.

When it comes to a bank loan, for instance, you’re only looking at being able to make your interest payments.

The investment and commercial bankers are still interested in the future

because they look at the five Cs, such as your character and your capital and what you have in assets to back up the payments. But that’s as close as you can get to somebody who really cares more about the past than they do about the future of your company.

Everybody else, they’re looking to the future of what you can provide to them and how you can pay them back and make them a lot of money.

Q|on to build value?

:What should a company focus

We talked about a couple of them already. Your readers can take a free survey and get an idea from the eight value builders. It shows how they’re doing compared to other companies (see sidebar on page 34).

If they have only one supplier of something, that’s a problem. Even Ford Motor Company earlier this year ran into problems, when there was a fire at a supplier. They had constrained their supply chain so much that they had just one plant providing something, and when it had a fire they were out and had to halt production of the Ford F150 for about a week. I’m sure it hurt several of your members as well, who were unable to ship springs for a week’s time because Ford had no way of building trucks and getting the rest of the supplies.

Processes are an important thing.

Even in my little consulting business,

I publish audio podcasts and video podcasts, I close my books and other things, I have that all written down in a document so that I know what to do when something happens. In the spring industry, you have a lot of older people who are retiring. Sometimes it’s harder to get new people who are in their 20s and 30s to consider working in manufacturing. They don’t like regular work hours and would like more freedom. Having things written down as to how a process should be done is extremely important to what they’re doing.

As we’ve talked about before, financial statements are important. If you can’t convince somebody that you’ve got future potential, you haven’t shown that you’re making progress from the past.

One of the things owners can do is make sure that they are moving money out of the business to their own personal financial statements. It depends on how their company is set up, whether it’s a C Corp, an S Corp or an LLC. Their financial advisers and tax consultants can help them understand how to move that money to their own balance books for their own purposes. It can help them see what’s happening because when they go to sell, they’re going to have to figure out how much money they need out of the sale. The more money they’ve already got stashed away in their own personal account, then the less dependent they are on trying to get a huge sum out of the sale.

Those are a few of the value builders. There are eight total value builders that John Warrillow came up with. I have videos available on my website, where I give a short, 90-second introduction to each of the value builders.

I’d be happy to send some information to someone or talk with them further about it.

Q|impediments you’ve seen that What are some of the biggest

can hold a company back from growing?

You must have people who are out there selling, talking to customers and

finding opportunities. I talked with a gentleman from Union City, Indiana.

It’s in the middle of nowhere. But he’s done a good job of doing a variety of things that when somebody has something unusual that they need, they come and talk to him and say, “Well, if anybody can do it, this guy can do it.”

One of his most recent success stories was somebody in the Detroit area, who was talking around and said, “Well, you know, we do laser cutting, we do this and that, I suppose we could do that.” A salesman or distributor was talking with a potential customer and put together in his head, “Well, that’s not exactly what we offer, but maybe we could.” And you know what, they brought it in, they gave it a try and it wasn’t really what they did, but it has turned out to be very profitable.

It is important to have someone out there who can help you expand your business. The salesman I referenced earlier helped move the company to a new set of customers in a new industry. It helped the company diversify its portfolio of customers and what they are capable of doing. That’s one of the first things a company can do to increase its value.

The other is always watching the expense side. In the trucking industry, we’re always concerned with how often a trailer is actually being used with a load on it. How often is a truck pulling a trailer, rather than running what we call “dead-headed.”

I come out of the auto industry where it was customary to have more than 85 percent utilization of the factory machines, sometimes up to 92 or 93 percent. At that point they would get worried because they didn’t have enough time to do the maintenance and things that were needed on the machines.

I n t he spr i ng ma nu fact u r i ng industry, I saw people running at 30 or 50 percent utilization. I saw scrap rates that would make the automotive industry and the aerospace and defense industries go crazy. There was far too much scrap going on, because

those machines weren’t producing quality parts that were needed. Those are just two areas where people can go to improve the value of their company: better utilization of factory machines and lower scrap rates.

Q|before we close?

Anything you’d like to add

I would encourage people to take a hard look at their business, to have a plan and be looking at each of those seven forces and those eight value builders. They’re certainly welcome to take advantage of the free 13-minute survey I mentioned earlier.

By answering a few questions about their processes and their sales and some other things, they’ll get a brief report card on how they compare to about 34,000 other companies.

I’ve seen compa nies who a re getting only two to three times their earnings. If they work on these eight value builders, they could get six times their earnings when they try to sell the company. That’s a whole lot of money!

Any owner should be thinking eight to 10 years ahead before they’re thinking of selling their business. In the future they may sell the business to a competitor, a strategic buyer, or a dedicated employee they really value.

Or they could be trying to take a step back and pass the business on to their own family members. But even then, you must put a value on the business.

Owners should always be thinking about who would buy my business and how much it is worth. To me, it’s part of strategic planning. n To contact Paul Menig, email: Paul@BusinessAccelerants.com or phone 971-222-5683.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 37

Flashback

CASMI Show Circa 1964

In this edition of our regular Flashback feature, we look back to the November 1964 issue of Springs. Above is a report from the 1964 Technical and Product Show sponsored by the Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers (CASMI) at the O’Hare Inn in Chicago. Commonly known then as the “Chicago Show,” it would later be renamed “SpringWorld.” According to the book published

by SMI in 1983, “History of the Spring Industry,” the first show sponsored by CASMI was held in 1959.

This year’s show will take place Oct. 3–5 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 39

Troubleshooting Oven Issues

By Adam Jacobson and Daniel Pierre III, JN Machinery

J

N Machinery receives a lot of phone calls related to the technical aspects of stress relief or whether an oven can handle a specific task.

On occasion, we get calls because an older oven is not acting like it should, or an oven has been ignored way too long. This article will focus on those calls, and what an operator or maintenance person can do for themselves to troubleshoot. When we categorize the themes of these calls, there are two that stand out: the (non) heating function and the (non-moving) conveyor function.

Technical Issue #1: “My oven is not heating.”

The heating system in an oven consists of five components or parts. Elements, thermocouples, thermocouple lead wire, element contactor and temperature controller. (There is a sixth: a high-limit controller, and we will address this at the end). Any one, or a combination of these issues, can be the cause of heating issues. Troubleshooting should start from inside the oven and then work toward the control cabinet.

Elements The elements either work or fail and there is no in-between with them.

Make sure to routinely check whether your wire is securely tightened to the element via the element wire nut. They can loosen up as the oven heats and cools over time. The loose connection can lead to early element failure. When everything is functioning correctly, all the elements receive power at the same time to maintain the desired operating temperature.

Check ing for bad elements is accomplished using an amp reading multi-meter in the location shown in

Figure 1: Check for bad elements using an amp reading multi-meter.

figure 1. If the reading comes back with an unbalance for one high voltage wire to another, it is likely related to the elements. While there is always a slight imbalance from wire to wire, we are referring to a significant change in amperage from one wire to the next.

Simply remove the necessary covers to gain access to the elements and do an inspection of the wiring. If the wiring is OK, use the amp meter again to test every wire on the elements until you find the bad one. A bad element will be displayed on the amp meter as zero amps. This entire scenario can be avoided if your oven is equipped with burnout detectors. Burnout detectors have lights that will flash on and off as the elements have power. If one element on a pair of elements goes out, the indicator light will no longer display. This saves time and makes it easy to replace the bad element.

Thermocouples The thermocouple is the most important thing that keeps an oven heating

properly. We always recommend you annually change your thermocouples, depending on use. Think of their function as being like your car’s thermostat. If they are gooped up with carbon residue from oily springs, it can’t provide your oven with accurate readings. Thermocouples are an inexpensive part to replace to keep your ovens functioning at a high level.

If the amperage is balanced across all three high voltage wires of the element contactor and the oven’s temperature isn’t going up, or goes up very, very slowly, you have a thermocouple problem. Either the thermocouple is damaged in some way, or it has a loose connection to the thermocouple holder. There is a 1 percent chance of this scenario in that somehow the oven lost an element on each of the three phases of power.

The only time we see this happen is on larger ovens, when, over time, you may not notice one or two elements being out. Again, if element burnout detectors were installed, this scenario

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 41

could be avoided. See figure 2 for an example of working burnout detectors.

Thermocouple Lead Wire A thermocouple lead wire is the wire that connects the thermocouple to the temperature controller. It is an easy thing to overlook. The wire itself is signal stranded, which means after a long period of time the wire can

become brittle and inaccurate. If the thermocouple has been replaced and the temperature controller is working properly, it may be time to replace the thermocouple lead wire.

Element Contactor The element contactor lets 3-phase power go on and off to the elements, based on the temperature control

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signal. The element contactor works about as hard as any component on the oven. It is constantly switching on and off to maintain the desired oven temperature. The element contactor should be upgraded if it is using mercury. Mercury contactors are banned now in some states. The direct replacement is a solid-state relay, which will last longer as well.

Testing for a bad element contactor isn’t difficult. Test for high voltage going across all three legs and high voltage going out. If the oven is on and calling for heat and there are no burned out elements, the voltage will equal. If you see that the voltage is significantly different, it is time to replace the element contactor with a new solid-state relay.

Temperature Controller

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When you turn an oven on and select your temperature, there is a lot going on to make this simple for our customers to operate. The thermocouple is communicating its temperature reading to the temperature controller.

The temperature controller checks that reading against your desired operating temperature. If the temperature inside the oven is too low or too high, the temperature controller will send a signal to the element contactor accordingly.

The temperature controller, like anything else, can fail after years of use and abuse. We have our own program on our temperature controllers that is designed specifically for our ovens. Buying a replacement temperature controller from anywhere other than JN Machinery will not have this program installed.

You can investigate the temperature controller by testing for voltage on the control power terminals of the element contactor. If there is no voltage, turn the controller on and off as it could be related to the temperature.

Once the faulty temperature controller has been discovered, it can only be replaced. There are no replaceable components inside the temperature controller.

5/9/18 2:04 PM

High Limit Controller The high limit controller is the last component to check. It is simply a safety device with its own thermocouple and thermocouple lead wire. The high limit controller is set for a very high temperature, say 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The control voltage to the element contactor runs through the high limit controller. If the element contactor is damaged in such a way that it holds the elements on the high limit, the controller will kick out the power to the element contactor. Doing this will prevent a “runaway oven.”

The high limit controller rarely if ever fails and only should be looked at if all other parts are functioning properly.

Technical Issue #2: “My belt is not moving.”

Of course, heating an oven is only one part of a conveyor oven. There is also the conveyor function side of the oven. Conveyor related or “belt is not moving” problems can be more complicated. The complications are due to the constant and continuous improvements JN makes to the oven to keep up with current technology and custom feature requests from customers. In fact, right now we are in the process of switching our current single-phase motor to threephase motors. The change is due to our dwindling supply of the obsolete SCP-11L controllers. If you have this type of controller, we advise that you stock up on spares.

3 for an example of this failure. JN can quickly build most JN replacement drums within a day, and all competitors drums with a little more time. However, what is that down time costing you that could have been avoided with simple maintenance?

Part jams can also be related to, you guessed it: part jams. We have seen several JN oven rebuilds go through

our shop that have had a mass number of products lodged between the underside of the belt on the conveyor bed.

It is important to keep product out of this area, as the movement of the belt can grind down the conveyor bed over time and shorten belt life. When enough product gets in this area, it can bring the oven to a standstill.

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Part Jams Part jams are a common problem that are usually related to something mechanical on the conveyor. The two major mechanical parts of the conveyor are the drums and bearings. Like any bearing, it is important to keep it greased with the proper amount. The right kind of high temperature grease is equally important.

Failure to do this can cause bearings to freeze. With a frozen bearing, stainless steel conveyor belts will grind through the carbon drums. See figure

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SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 43

always be easier to use as opposed to a pot.

Motors

Figure 2: Working burnout detectors.

Figure 3: Example of a frozen bearing causing stainless steel conveyor belts to grind through the carbon drums.

Belt Tension Belt tension is a subject for more information that we will cover in a follow-up article. Improperly set belt tension is currently the No. 1 issue we see that causes premature part failure to conveyor ovens. Over the coming months, we will be working on a study to help our customers set the belt tension for our most popular ovens. The study will focus on the correct amount of torque in relationship to proper belt tension, and how to set that proper tension through the takeups.

Motor Controls The trickiest part of troubleshooting a nonmoving conveyor belt is on

44 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

the electrical or control side. As I mentioned earlier, our controls have improved over the years, which has led to many different variations of wiring diagrams, motors and motor controllers. To keep this easy, check the simple things first. Check to see if there is any wiring that is damaged.

Next, go through each wire terminal connection and tighten them. Some screws will vibrate loose over time.

Ovens will have either a potentiometer (pot) or a digital speed controller that are independent of the motor controller. The pot or digital speed controller sends a signal to the motor controller to set the oven to a desired speed. These items too can fail over time. Digital speed controllers will

Some motors are DC voltage, some are AC voltage, some have sprockets and chain, while others are a right-angle style. The point is, there are many different motors and it can be tricky when trying to troubleshoot them.

Always check to make sure the oven is switched to the forward position.

Check the voltage at the motor, be it AC or DC for power. If you don’t have any voltage, investigate the wiring to the motor further; whether a circuit breaker or motor capacitor, the motor doesn’t have power. If the motor has good voltage, it could be that the motor has burned out. Don’t be afraid to give that motor a smell, because we all know that burned electrical smell.

We have only scratched the surface of many different troubleshooting scenarios. We would like to remind you that if you are attempting to do any of these repairs, be safe and know your limits. All conveyor ovens operate with high voltage, so make sure you are comfortable working with it.

At JN, the most import thing to us is your safety. If these procedures are more than what you’re capable of doing, you can always contact us to arrange an on-site visit or to have the oven sent back to us for a rebuild. Be safe and remember that electricity flows like a garden hose. n Adam Jacobson is the general manager and Daniel Pierre III is the president of JN Machinery in East Dundee, Illinois. For more information, contact Jacobson at 224-6999161, ext. 120, email: adam@jnmachinery.com or visit www.jnmachinery.com.

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Pictured (l-to-r): Don Jacobson III, Newcomb Spring of Tennessee, interns Gabriel Loureiro and Jarren Carr, and Jeff Rector and Stacey Lightfoot, Step-Up Chattanooga.

Newcomb Spring Steps Up

A

n ice cream party was held in early August at Newcomb Spring of Tennessee for interns Jarren Carr and Gabriel Loureiro. Employees gathered to wish the students good luck as they enter their junior year of high school. The two had just finished spending the past nine weeks working at Newcomb as part of Chattanooga’s Step-Up Program. It was a busy summer for the boys as they learned about spring manufacturing and working on several projects with office staff and engineering teams.

The goal of the program is to offer quality paid internships to local students who meet the program’s four eligibility requirements: “Students that are (1) currently enrolled in a Hamilton County high school without discipline issues, (2) will be 16 by May 1, 2018, (3) have financial need or on free/reduced lunch, and (4) have a good school attendance record.”

Don Jacobson III served as the interns’ supervisor. “This is such a great opportunity to energize the next generation of manufacturers and hopefully springmakers.”

According to Jacobson, the Step-Up program brought in students from all over Chattanooga with the goal to match them with a quality internship in their future field of study. The program started by teaching students about how to write a resume and perform interviews, which are life skills not normally taught in high school. Each student was sent to an employer to interview for a summer position. Each position had two students interview for each opening, so students had to understand how important that first impression was to their potential employer.

“Our goal was to hire one intern like we did in 2017,” according to Jacobson. “But both students were so passionate about having an opportunity in manufacturing that we ended up hiring both of them.”

Carr and Loureiro worked three days a week and helped with several projects around the facility. They spent time early on learning how to model in a 3D environment and were encouraged to print one item a day on Newcomb Spring’s 3D printer. They spent time sitting in on conference calls and visiting customers with the sales team.

There were some typical intern activities sprinkled in, like sorting quality samples and reorganizing storage locations.

Loureiro summed up his experience, “I have learned so much about manufacturing. I have learned that it is 46 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

about working as a team to meet customers’ demands, I have also learned that every different aspect and person involved is very important for this process. As the summer progressed, I learned a lot about spring manufacturing and how the machines work. Even after the many tours we gave to customers, it still amazes me to see the machines do their work. Most importantly, I learned that it is not just the machines that are important, it is also important to have the right people to help set up and run the machines.”

Carr said the internship changed his perspective about working at a springmaking company from the initial impression he had after his interview. “My first impression was that it would be super boring and predictable,” said Carr. “It didn’t turn out that way. There was something different to do every single day and there was not one boring day.”

When asked about the likelihood of working at a manufacturing company in the future, Carr replied: “Very likely.

There will always be a need for manufacturing facilities, and even if they get taken over by automation, someone still has to make the robots and machines first.”

Carr said the internship helped expand his resume and gave him a few of the skills he needs to succeed in his career path of becoming a mechanical engineer.

The summer wrapped up with a final project based on the internship goal to design and build a spring powered catapult that could be used during Newcomb’s Manufacturing Day tours in October. Utilizing their 3D CAD modeling skills the interns developed over the summer, several prototypes were designed and printed before a final design was settled upon. After some testing and tweaking, the catapult was successfully throwing baseballs, softballs, and even some bananas at the end-of-the-summer ice cream celebration.

Newcomb looks forward to working with the Step-Up program again in 2019 and would highly recommend other spring manufacturers get involved that may have never considered offering a high school summer internship program. “It’s just another way to help spread the word about the amazing job opportunities in springmaking and manufacturing in general,” according to Jacobson. “It goes along with our Manufacturing Day celebrations and SMI’s Dream It. Do it. program vision.” n

New Ideas and Innovations Welcome Here!

©iStockphoto.com/Izabela Habur

Call for Papers 2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) invites authors to submit abstracts for the 2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo. As the largest North American event for key decision makers in the spring and metal forming industry, the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo is the best place to expose the industry to your new ideas and innovations.

It is preferred that papers are submitted in English with sufficient detail included for the fair evaluation of your proposal. Those submitting abstracts should limit their submission to 75 words and indicate which of the following session(s) the presenter would prefer to participate in: • New and upcoming materials or alloys • Automation/robotics • CNC repair and diagnostics • Spring manufacturing setup practices • Tooling materials selection • Stress relieving best practices for various materials • Coatings science • Future manufacturing processes and rapid prototyping

October 1–3, 2019

david l. lawrence Convention Center, pittsburgh

Abstract deadline: September 1, 2018 Acceptance notification: November 1, 2018 Manuscript deadline: March 2, 2019

See submission form on the reverse side.

Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) 2001 Midwest Road, Suite 106 Oak Brook, Illinois 60523-1335 Phone 630-495-8588 Fax 630-495-8595 www.smihq.org

www.metalengineeringexpo.org SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 47

About SMI Metal Engineering eXpo 2019 The eXpo is designed to meet the needs of and advance the industry of springmaking and wireforming. The offerings are meant to provide information and learning opportunities to industry professionals, suppliers, customers, floor managers and machinery operators. The gathering offers a full spectrum of information on the latest business, technology and market trends and developments in the global springmaking and wireforming industry. Focused on the science of all facets of this industry from design to manufacturing, the eXpo brings the latest technology and innovations to improve product quality, productivity and profitability.

The eXpo and symposium also provides an excellent forum for expert discussions, continuing education, networking opportunities and more.

Abstract Submission

In order for SMI’s Trade Show Committee to fairly assess the scope and content of your proposed technical article please submit a 75 word abstract.

Papers

Accepted speakers for the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo will receive an Author’s Guide with details about the proper presentation of your manuscript and presentation.

Registration Form Check your area of interest: Author(s)

n New and upcoming

materials or alloys

Contact Author (designate only one)

n Automation/robotics n CNC repair and

diagnostics

Company (affiliations for each author)

n Spring manufacturing

setup practices

Address

n Tooling materials selection n Stress relieving best

City, State, Postal Code

practices for various materials

Country

n Coatings science

Telephone (include country and area code) Fax (include country and area code)

n Future manufacturing

processes and rapid prototyping

Email

Abstract (75-word maximum)

Please type your abstract in English. If you need additional space, please use a separate page.

Please submit your completed form to:

Lynne Carr, Executive Director, Spring Manufacturers Institute, 2001 Midwest Road, Suite 106, Oak Brook, Illinois 60523-1335 or via email lynne@smihq.org.

The SMI Trade Show Committee reserves the right to screen all abstracts and reject those abstracts deemed unsuitable or inappropriate for presentation or publication. Everyone who submits an abstract will be notified whether the abstract has been accepted.

SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview

SpringWorld 2018

Exhibitor Preview A&D Trading LLC Booth #533 A&D Trading prides itself on the products and companies we represent and the service that comes along with them.

We represent Primera Precision, distributor of world-class Taiwanese spring and wire forming equipment, featuring brands like KHM, CSM, TCIM and our newest addition, SHA. We are also the U.S. agent for Shinko, the Japanese technology leader in spring and wire forming equipment.

Admiral Steel Booth #1117 Premier flat rolled specialty steel service center. Grades include 1008, 1010, 1020, 1035, 1050, 1075, 1095, 4130, 6150, 5160. Tempers include annealed, hard rolled, blue tempered. Processing includes shearing, slitting, edging, gauge correction, saw cutting, cut to length and precision blanking. Quantities 10# to truckload.

AIM Booth #1405 AIM presents the AFC Compact 3D Bender, the AFC 6, popular due to the small investment, versatility, small footprint and low-cost maintenance, enabling smaller companies to bring in automation and larger ones to offset current capacity. AIM also introduces the Learning Management System, an online virtual platform that offers training and contentrich resources at the click of a button.

Alloy Wire International Booth #1021 Alloy Wire International offers an extensive range of 60 "high performance" nickel alloys to spring manufacturers looking for wire in small, medium and large quantities. With over 200 tons of raw material in stock, we can supply your round, flat and shaped wire needs with a three-week turnaround time.Â

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 49

SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview production equipment – ovens, payoffs, parts collectors; OMD spring grinders – down-feed, wet, crush; SAS spring testers – torsion, tension, compression, fatigue; Jaykase programmable tabletop benders; Whitelegg 2D wire formers and ring machines with welding.

Gibbs

Bennett Mahler / NIMSCO Booth #905 Bennett Mahler (UK) designs and manufactures a full range of springmaking equipment with over 60 years’ experience.

Machines include spring end grinders, spring coiling lathe machines (Maxicoil), hand coilers, auger coilers, bending machines and more. NIMSCO is the North American distributor offering service and after sales support. On display will be a lathe coiling machine (MC8) and several new and used spring grinders.

FENN Booth #1221 FENN is pleased to offer a variety of Torin® spring coiling equipment, including the versatile FZ series of single point coilers, the Revolution series of dual point coilers, and mechanical rebuilds and CNC control upgrades for aged machines. Visit FENN at booth #1221 to learn how Torin® machinery can help your business succeed.

Fives Group/Gardner Abrasives

CAMFART / NIMSCO Booth #908 Camfart (Italy) is a grinding wheel manufacturer new to the North American market. Camfart is well-known throughout the world as a top provider of high quality grinding wheels. Utilizing the best techniques and top-quality components, they also provide environmentally safe products. NIMSCO is the North American distributor offering full service and after sales support.

Booth #926 Fives is a leader in spring grinding abrasive technology. Gardner Abrasives are custom engineered, with a consistent manufacturing process, higher speeds and stock removal rates, and advanced bond technology. They have over 110 years of abrasive expertise.

Booth #1114 Gibbs is a leading distributor of metals in North America, with a strong reputation for superior service and quality metals. Gibbs supplies both wire and flat-rolled precision strip products.

Gibbs is a company of engaged diverse individuals of high integrity, who are very focused on the customer.

Gibraltar/Delta Booth #501 Gibraltar will exhibit the eco line of Delta D-808 and D-226 CNC coiling machines, and the Delta SGM9-400 18” downfeed grinder. Stop by and see the machines in booth 501.

CWI

HSI

Booth #829 CWI is a domestic stainless steel, nickel alloy, copper, brass and bronze wire producer. We draw wire to customer specifications, as well as stock common sizes at our Illinois, Texas and California locations. Finishes include soap, clean and nickel flash coating.

Booth #613 HSI will be exhibiting at this year’s SpringWorld 2018. Key personnel will be there to demonstrate and answer questions regarding conveyor ovens, box ovens, part collectors, payoff reels, spring length gages, vision system gages and electro-static air filters.

50 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Forming Systems Inc. Booth #613 Forming Systems Inc. will be at SpringWorld 2018 to demonstrate and answer questions regarding HTC spring machines – coilers and formers; HSI

SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview to ensure customer satisfaction through our quality management system.

Industrial Steel & Wire

HTC Booth #613 HTC will exhibit at SpringWorld 2018 and answer questions regarding: HTC Spring Coilers, including the new 30PX 12 axes, HTC-60CL 5 axes and HTC-28CF 4 axes coilers; HTC Spring Formers with wire ranges from 0.2mm up to 7.0mm (.008-.276); and HTC Spiral Spring machines, including the new 3 axes SS-3410 spiral spring machine.

Booth #1014 Industrial Steel & Wire is one of the largest stocking distributors of round, flat, and shaped wire products in the world.

Count on ISW for a complete inventory of competitively priced carbon, stainless and non-ferrous wire, and more than 400,000 square feet of warehousing, strategically located throughout North America.

InterWire Products Booth #1415 InterWire is truly a one stop shop. Strategically located throughout the United States and Mexico, InterWire is able to maximize your ability to receive your material “Just-in-Time,” while minimizing your freight cost. All InterWire’s nine locations are ISO 9001:2008 compliant,

Jaykase Booth #613 Jaykase will be represented this year at SpringWorld 2018. Key personnel will demonstrate the Jaykase line of programmable tabletop bending machines, available in two sizes: The JK-250 has a maximum mild steel wire size of .250” and the JK-625 has a maximum mild steel wire size of .625” inches.

Jowitt & Rodgers Co. Booth #1015 Manufacturers of grinding wheels, discs and segments, custom designed

FIVES, A LEADER IN SPRING GRINDING ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY GARDNER ABRASIVES: — Custom engineered — Consistent manufacturing process — Higher speeds & stock removal rates — Advanced bond technology — Over 110 years of abrasive expertise Visit us SPRING at WOR Booth 9 LD 26 www.fivesgroup.com — Cutting Tools | Abrasives E: cuttingtools.abrasives@fivesgroup.com - Concord Twp., Ohio - South Beloit, Illinois - USA

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5/14/2018 1:50:41 PM SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 51

SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview abrasives based on application needs.

On-site engineering and support services evaluate grinding operations to develop the most efficient abrasive formulation and design. Specializing in double disc and surface grinding, our abrasives are free cutting and highly efficient, providing prolonged dressing cycles.

Systems or our handheld mXRD Ultra Portable System.

Simco Booth #501 Simco will exhibit the all new SFX-20 and SFX-40 4 plate high speed forming machines featuring our easy to use timeline software. We will also exhibit a YSM36TC which is a 4 axes CNC vertislide.

Kiswire America Booth #733 Kiswire maintains strict quality control, continuous technology renovation and new product development. The world is our workplace, and the future is our biggest market.

Mount Joy Wire Corporation Booth #1216 Mount Joy Wire has been a global leader in the specialty wire industry for more than 20 years. As a trusted manufacturer of high quality spring and oil-tempered wire, we have brought value to a diverse mix of customers. Mount Joy Wire is proudly made in the U.S.

Radcliff Wire Booth #1100 Radcliff specializes in stainless steel, copper, beryllium copper, brass, phosphor bronze, nickel-silver, carbon steel, and nickel alloy quality precision shaped wire. Fifty seven years ago, the company began by servicing the spring industry.

Today Radcliff Wire, Inc. provides wire for applications in the aerospace, medical, electronics, telecommunications, automotive, computer hardware and consumer products industries.

Simplex Rapid / NIMSCO Booth #1005 Simplex Rapid (Italy) designs and manufactures a full range of state-ofthe-art spring coiling, torsion coiling, wire decoilers and spring tool grinding machines. They include the full option MX series, FX series, MT torsion coiling machines, P series payoffs and AFC tool grinders. On display will be the highly anticipated MX15 and MX30 as well as the FX10, MT15R, AFC1 and AFC0.

RK Trading OMD Booth #613 OMD will be represented at the SpringWorld 2018 show. Personnel will demonstrate and answer questions regarding all forms of spring grinding, including downfeed grinders, wet grinders, crush grinders, ID chamfering, OD chamfering, special ventilation air flow systems, automatic dressing and wheel compensation.

Proto Manufacturing Booth #933 At Proto, we offer an extensive range of residual stress XRD products to ensure that the most suitable equipment is available for your measurement needs.

Choose from our high-speed LXRD Laboratory Systems, flexible iXRD Portable

52 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Booth #711 RK Trading Company, based in Chicago, has been a full line supplier to the spring industry for 20 years. We carry a complete line of Herdon CNC spring formers, coilers and grinders. RK provides first-class, U.S. based after sales service, parts and tooling for all the machines we sell.

SAS Testers Booth #613 SAS Testers will exhibit at SpringWorld 2018. Key personnel will be there to demonstrate and answer questions regarding compression spring testers, tension spring testers, torsion spring testers, dual load cell testers, fatigue testers, LVA (load vector analysis) testing, automated spring testing, pitch trace systems and vision systems.

L.S. Starrett Company Booth #703 The L.S. Starrett Company will showcase the new L1 line of versatile and easy-touse force testers, ideal for applications ranging from load limit and distance testing to break limit, time average, cyclic count and duration testing; and the HVR100-FLIP, a large field-of-vision (FOV) Benchtop Vision Measurement System, featuring a high-resolution digital video camera for accurate FOV measurements of up to 90mm (3.65”).

SpringWorld 2018 Exhibitor Preview

Suzuki Garphyttan Corporation Booth #1125 Suzuki Garphyttan develops and manufactures advanced spring wire from various alloys for applications where quality and performance requirements are extremely strict. Main applications are valve springs, transmission springs, piston rings, wave springs, die springs and springs for injection systems. Site locations include Sweden, U.S., China, Japan, England and Mexico.

Tool King, Inc. Booth #1129 Tool King, Inc. is an ISO 9001: 2008 certified specialty niche metal service center. We supply manufacturers with narrow width flat-rolled carbon, stainless steel, copper-based alloys and aluminum. Our value-added services include both slit and round edged products that are the highest quality in our industry.

cobalt alloys, aluminum and copper bases.

Our wire is packaged on reels, coils or cut to length. DFARS and U.S. processed material available. Please visit our website, www.unitedwirecompany.com.

Vinston US Corp.

Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc. Booth #925 Ulbrich is a global precision re-roller and distributor of stainless steel and special metals strip, foil, shaped wire, fine wire, sheet, plate and bar products. Known for their excellent reliability and superior performance, Ulbrich’s ability to maintain precision temper ranges engineered to suit your specific application is second to none.

United Wire Booth #1031 United Wire is a third-generation family business that specializes in manufacturing flat, square, and shaped wire produced in stainless steels, carbon steels, nickel bases,

Booth #721 Vinston will showcase two new models this year. Our hybrid bender, which can support spring wires up to 4.0 mm, will be our first tabletop bender with servo slide support. Next, we will have our first 4 axis coiler, able to support up to 1.6 mm spring wire.

WAFIOS Booth #1205 WAFIOS will demonstrate the awesome features and benefits of the WPS 3.2 EasyWay control system on the powerful FUL 36 CNC spring coiling machine, the FMU 25 CNC winding-coiling-bending machine, and the versatile BM 30 CNC wire bender for 2-3D parts. Also, the economical F Series EcoCoiler will be demonstrated, and much more.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 53

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Springmaker Spotlight

Keats Manufacturing: Firm Foundation and Passion Helps Multi-Site, Multi-Generational Family Business Thrive at 60

By Gary McCoy, Managing Editor

P

assion. It drips from the lips of Wade Keats, president and CEO, when he talks about Keats Manufacturing, a multi-site, multi-generational family business headquartered in Wheeling, Illinois just outside of Chicago. This “passion for the business” comes naturally to Keats because it was passed down from his dad, Bert, and his uncle, Glenn, who started the business together back in 1958 with a $5,000 loan from their mother, Agnes.

Times were not prosperous at the beginning, as the brothers worked two jobs to keep things afloat. Bert worked at the U.S. Postal Service and Glenn as a CPA. In just a few years, the brothers left their moonlighting jobs and the company was off and running. Bert’s work at the U.S.P.S. was helpful when the new company had to ship samples to customers. Keats said customers were astounded at how quickly they received items, not knowing Bert’s secret connection.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 55

Keats said the brothers made for good partners. “My dad was very sales-oriented, and a real hard charger. My uncle, real reserved. They were a perfect match and well respected by the employees. Everything was equal between the two and they never hid anything from each other.”

Both brothers graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

“My dad was very passionate about this company and it really fed my engine,” explained Keats. “He was so positive and loved it. He talked about it at the dinner table, despite my mother, who thought he shouldn’t be talking about it all the time. I would often say ‘Mom, he loves this business!’”

You can feel the passion as Keats walks around the offices and manufacturing floor in Wheeling, interacting with the company’s 120 employees. Nearly 90 machines, including older fourslide and vertical slide forming machines, along with wire EDM and newer CNC machines, buzz in the background.

Keats says his management style is different from his dad, who could be volatile at times. When needed, Keats said he can be firm, but he acknowledges that “People don’t respond to the heavy hand the way they used to.”

Keats says he spends a lot of time during the day on the manufacturing floor, so he can talk with employees to make sure he understands what they’re doing.

He says his style is more, “Pats on the back and saying, ‘Hey, look, you’re doing a great job. I’d like to see you doing more of this.’”

56 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

All in the Family In addition to Wade Keats, key executives include Matt Eggemeyer, Glenn’s grandson, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer based out of Wheeling, and Matt Keats, Wade’s younger brother, who is president of Keats Southwest in El Paso, Texas.

“Matt (Eggemeyer) is 13 years younger than me. He’s a smart guy who went to Northwestern like his grandpa, and he’s really gotten us into the technological age,” said Keats. Keats said he and his brother, Matt, were part of the hockey coaching staff at Northwestern when Matt Eggemeyer played there.

Started in 1994, Keats Southwest is a 30,000 sq. ft. facility near the Mexico border that has grown to include more than 60 employees. Keats Southwest is a production facility, with centralized services provided out of their Wheeling headquarters.

“My brother was the pioneer who volunteered to go down there and get it started,” said Keats. “Matt’s done a great job building that thing. I give him a lot of credit and he raised his two sons down there.” Matt Keats currently serves as a member of the SMI board of directors.

Keats de Mexico, a 15,00 sq. ft. facility in Queretaro, Mexico, was established in 2016 to meet a growing customer demand for Mexican content in finished goods and currently employs 12 local workers. The plan is that Wade’s son, Brad, may one day run the facility. After all,

Keats Manufacturing is involved in metal stamping, wireforming and punch pressing to supply a diverse array of parts for manufactured products custom designed for specific applications. The company serves many industries, including automotive, appliance, medical, aerospace, communications, electronics, military, construction and furniture.

Pictured at left: EDM manager John Dosek Jr.

Keats says, Brad was instrumental in convincing the company’s board to pursue the new venture. Brad has worked at Keats for eight years and his current responsibility is in business development in El Paso. In addition, he spends a great deal of time networking with businesses in the Queretaro area.

Keats said, “Mexico is developing faster than El Paso.”

Matt’s sons, Dean and Brian, also work at the company’s El Paso location. Wade and Matt’s sister, Paula Horwath, worked for many years in accounts receivable in Wheeling and recently retired from the company.

Quality Remains a Cornerstone When the Keats brothers established the company 60 years ago, they stated the simple principle of “producing the best quality product at the best price, delivered on time.” They started with two #1 Baird machines in a storefront on Cicero Avenue on the Northwest side of Chicago with three employees. The move to Wheeling came 31 years later in 1989 when the company had outgrown space at a facility in Evanston, Illinois. The company still owns the two Baird machines.

Keats says the company today continues to be known for its “impeccable quality” and its processes, especially for its fourslide and multislide expertise. Among the unique machines at the Wheeling facility are Wünsch specialized vertical slide forming machines. Keats says

they were an early adopter of this state-of-the art technology back in 1987 and currently the only company in North America with those machines. The company has five Wünsch machines in-house between its Wheeling and El Paso locations.

Keats Manufacturing is involved in metal stamping, wireforming and punch pressing to supply a diverse array of parts for manufactured products custom designed for specific applications. The company serves many industries, including automotive, appliance, medical, aerospace, communications, electronics, military, construction and furniture.

“The only reason we got into press work was due to customers that were asking us to take on dies, like Delphi and Siemens. They were big customers,” explained Keats.

“They said, ‘We’re closing this plant and we need someone to run this stuff.’”

Keats said the company is known for its tooling expertise, with a large staff of experienced die makers to create tools to produce high quality parts.

Quality control and quality enhancement are important and ongoing focus points for Keats Manufacturing.

A 12-person team reports directly to Keats. All of the company’s locations are ISO 9001:2000 compliant, and in addition, the Illinois and Texas facilities are TS 16949 compliant.

Keats says that for more than 20 years they had a board of directors, which included some outside members that did not work at Keats Manufacturing. “We discovered that it wasn’t very effective, and we changed it about two years ago. We now have a council of management and employees among the three plants. We all get synergized because of the work we do together and the exchange of ideas,” said Keats.

The company recently began collecting quality data in real time on the production floor in Wheeling. “We are just pioneering this right now, but we’ve already seen how it can help with productivity,” said Keats.

Workforce Development Most of the workforce at Keats Manufacturing is home grown, says Keats. They have around 50 workers with more than 20 years of service. In addition to the Keats family, there are other multigenerational families that work there.

He says the three tool designers they have on staff right now all started out working on the production floor and progressed through the ranks, through setup to tooling to design work.

He says workforce development is a heavy area of concentration for Keats Manufacturing. “As everybody knows, the workforce in manufacturing is aging,” Keats explains. “We saw that a long time ago and knew we had to do something about it.”

Keats says they recruit new workers through job fairs, offering internships to students from nearby Wheeling High School, and participating in Manufacturing Day, which is held the first Friday each October.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 57

Keats said there also times when they will take a chance on someone who has had a “scrape with the law.”

Recently Keats Manufacturing hosted 24 students from Wheeling High School to tour the facility. “We had a girl raise her hand and ask, ‘Are there any girls who work here?’ Of course, there are plenty of women working here and we obviously would like more because they’re very detailed, but it’s not for everybody.”

Keats says Matt Eggemeyer is a good recruiter for the company and does a great presentation on the state of manufacturing today.

“At the end of the recent tour, Matt said to the students, ‘Hey, we’re here. If you want a job, come to us.’ Three of them actually came up to Matt and said, ‘Do you really mean that?’ and he said, ‘Yes, we do. Let’s talk.’”

Keats said the company has found that students are not going to see facilities like Keats Manufacturing unless they get a tour like that. “You don’t know what we’re all about until you come in here and smell the oil.”

He said they try to emphasize to students what is different about Keats Manufacturing. “We’re making custom-made stuff,” explained Keats. “If we don’t make it, it doesn’t work.”

“We told the students and showed them: ‘This goes in the F150 truck and this goes in the circuit breaker at your home,’” explained Keats. “This is necessary stuff that has to

be made and we need younger people to get into this. And by the way, you can make pretty good money with no debt.”

Keats serves on the board of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) and has been part of a subgroup at PMA called the “GADA Group.” It’s a group of 17 CEOs who run their own companies, that has been meeting together for 20 years.

“We talk about a lot of things that are on our minds; what’s going on, what they see and all the way from insurance to politics and nothing is held back,” Keats explained.

“And you can trust everybody in that room, that’s it’s not going anywhere.”

Keats is also a board member of the Technology and Manufacturing Association in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Looking Forward As far as the future of the company, Keats said he doesn’t foresee himself totally retiring from the company, but slowing down a bit to spend more time with his wife, Chris. Keats sees himself eventually sliding over to fill the chairman’s role. He said Matt Eggemeyer is the logical person to eventually take over as CEO of the company.

Keats attended Tilton School, a college prep high school in New Hampshire, and he was recruited to play hockey at Curry College just south of Boston in Milton, Massachusetts.

Keats had an interest in going into the hotel and restaurant business and considered transferring to Oklahoma State. But

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Recently Keats Manufacturing hosted 24 students from Wheeling High School to tour the facility. “We had a girl raise her hand and ask, ‘Are there any girls who work here?’ Of course, there are plenty of women working here and we obviously would like more because they’re very detailed, but it’s not for everybody.”

Pictured at right: Demi Levin, machine operator.

with no hockey program there, he stayed at Curry and earned a degree in economics. Instead of pursuing the hospitality industry, he joined the family business right out of college.

Keats said what always impressed him about his dad was that he was not out for a grandiose payday, it was more about the benefits of running your own business.

“He wanted the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do, and that always stuck with me.”

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Like all employees, Keats started off sweeping floors and learning all facets of the business. It was a three-year requirement that his dad stipulated if Keats was serious about joining the family business. “My dad told me, ‘You’ve got to learn the nitty gritty of our business and get the respect of the employees.’”

Keats later went into sales. He took over the day-to-day operations of the company more than 20 years ago, when his dad was in his mid ‘70s and recognized that it was time to step aside. “He was a very encouraging father and I couldn’t have had a better father to be in business with.”

Keats said his dad continued to visit the company on a regular basis, and the same held true with his uncle, Glenn.

He said both men never totally retired from the company.

“My dad died six years ago in March 2012, and on that day, he came in and had to sit in the lobby because he was laboring badly. He had respiratory issues.” He was 86.

For a short time, Bert and Glenn lived in separate quarters at the Mather in Evanston. “My dad was on the seventh floor and Glenn was on the ninth.” Keats said the Keats brothers had quite a reputation among the residents at the Mather!

“It was a great deal, Glenn could drive, and my dad couldn’t,” he explained. He said they often escaped to Highwood, a town 15 miles away along Chicago’s North Shore. “I said, ‘Guys, that’s a long way to go.” They would often reply, ‘Well we just love it out there. We’ve got to get out of here, to get away from all these old people.’”

Glenn, a World War II Navy veteran, died Dec. 6, 2017, at the age of 97.

To celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary, Keats said they plan to gather with employees at the Hofbräuhaus Chicago in Rosemont, Illinois in October. Likely they will toast the founders Glenn and Bert Keats, along with their mother, Agnes, the unlikely angel investor who believed in her two sons and their fledgling business enterprise. If only she could see how her investment has paid off some 60 years later! n

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 59

Book Corner ©iStockphoto.com/kertlis

Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways!

By Gary McCoy

I

f you like reading stories about how organizations of various sizes succeed, you will enjoy “Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways!”

Author William Taylor, the co-founder of Fast Company magazine, goes inside the underbelly of 19 unique organizations that most likely you’ve never heard of. That’s because most of the them are succeeding in what many might describe as humdrum fields.

This book does not chronicle the tales of well-known tech companies like Amazon, Apple or Microsoft. Instead it shows how ordinary people are doing amazing things in simple settings, such as a retail bank in England, an office cleaning company in Finland, a parking garage in Miami Beach, and a small hospital in Alaska.

As Taylor points out, “You don’t have to be a cutting-edge business to develop some edgy ideas on how to compete and win.”

I got hungry while reading the story about Pal’s Sudden Service, a fast-food restaurant chain based in Tennessee that delivers unmatched speed and order accuracy. The secret revealed here is relentless employee training. Back in 2001, Pal’s became the first restaurant company of any kind to win the prestigious Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award. “Since then, only one restaurant company has won a Baldridge,” explains Taylor, “and that company, it would be the first to admit, learned everything it knows by studying Pal’s.”

Studying Pal’s is not hard to do, because several years ago the company established Pal’s Business Excellence Institute. The company offers training

every month, sometimes twice a month, involving a two-day master class on the ideas, systems, metrics and techniques behind the company’s enormous success. Outsiders come to take classes from across the country and from various industries.

The story most springmakers will relate to is Winona, Minnesota-based Fastenal, a distributor of industrial supplies for factories, mills, construction sites and other facilities. The company is well-known for making parts that are no longer around. As the company likes to say about its factories, “We make the unavailable part available.”

The takeaway from Fastenal is in the curriculum at the Fastenal School of Business that reflects “our belief in the potential of people. It encourages decentralized decision making and as much autonomy as possible throughout the company.” The company follows an agile, flexible, bottom-up approach to building its culture, “a company that is as nimble as it is disciplined.”

Taylor does a good job of offering case studies and powerful lessons that you can apply to do ordinary things in extraordinary ways, regardless of your industry or profession. Some of the core principles of the company profiles include: they strive to be the only ones doing what they’re doing, instead of competing in crowded fields; they don’t let past experience limit what they can imagine; they seek ways to be kind as

well as clever; and they share what they value with those who create it.

I’ve read a lot of books like this and walked away inspired, but with no tangible way to apply the ideas presented. This book is one after which you can walk away with ideas of how to take the lessons of the book and apply them to your business. In the Epilogue called “What’s Your Story?”

Taylor breaks down the core messages of book into “eight questions whose answers, I hope, will help you write a more rewarding story for yourself and the organization you care about.” n

Have a favorite business book you would like to tell us about or review? Send your suggestions to Springs managing editor Gary McCoy at gmccoy@fairwaycommunications.com.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 61

wongwean/Shutterstock.com

Global CTE News Highlights

Research Reveals Boys’ Interest in Stem Careers Declining; Girls’ Interest Unchanged

N

ew 2018 research conducted on behalf of Junior Achievement (JA) and Ernst & Young LLP (EY) illustrates how in just one year after first being surveyed, high school age teens’ career ambitions have shifted further away from careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and the arts. It also showed how more 13–17-yearold students are expecting to take out loans to help pay for college.

• In a significant drop, 24 percent of boys want a STEM career, down from 36 percent in 2017; girls’ interest remains unchanged at 11 percent, year-over-year.

• Among girls and boys, desires for careers in the arts dropped from 18 percent to 13 percent.

• The percentage of teens expecting to take out a student loan increased from 33 percent to 45 percent.

In an interview to dive deeper into the survey results, Ed Grocholski, senior vice president of brand at Junior Achievement USA® offered some insights on the decline in interest in STEM careers among boys.

Grocholski said with the overall economy doing better, boys know STEM jobs pay well but are very academically demanding. “Teen boys seem to be thinking that if there are more overall jobs and some that don’t require all the math and science skillsets, they would consider other opportunities outside of STEM. The other thing, especially with girls, is they want to do something where they are helping people.”

Grocholski said that most of the talk about STEM revolves around better pay and in-demand jobs. “We don’t necessarily talk about the outcomes where STEM benefits people,” he related. He said having role models who come to high schools to illustrate STEM careers has been helpful.

“

inf luences such as social media declined from 15 percent to 8 percent. Other sources of inspiration include teachers, courses, volunteering and extra-curricular activities.

Grocholski said manufacturing careers are heavily influenced by the attitude of parents. “There is still a

There is still a perception of manufacturing facilities as dirty and dangerous. The problem is a lot of these folks have not been on the floor of an advanced manufacturing facility to see that it is a perception that is far from the truth.

The survey also showed that career choices that have risen in popularity include the medical and dental fields, as well as public service, illustrating that what kids find most appealing about their dream job is that they are “good at it” and can help people.

• Careers in medical and dental fields increased from 15 percent to 19 percent, with girls far more likely to choose this path.

• Interest in careers in public service increased from 7 percent to 10 percent overall.

• Starting one’s own business (8 percent) and careers in business (7 percent) remained the same.

Parents Still Matter According to kids, their parents still hold the top spot in terms of who or what influences their choice of a dream job. Parents’ influence, in fact, increased from 19 percent to 28 percent since last year. Societal

”

perception of manufacturing facilities as dirty and dangerous. The problem is a lot of these folks have not been on the floor of an advanced manufacturing facility to see that it is a perception that is far from the truth.”

Junior Achievement has helped point kids to things like job shadowing that gets them into manufacturing facilities to talk and be with the employees who work there, Grocholski said, noting that it helps when kids learn that a manufacturing career can start right out of high school. He said it also brings understanding that after starting a manufacturing career there are options to go back to school to earn either a 2- or 4-year degree that, many times, will be paid for by an employer.

The survey data implies that teens today are viewing the economy as improving. One year ago, when this same Junior Achievement-EY survey was conducted, the percentage of teens who were changing career plans based

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 63

on the economy was 52 percent. Today that number has decreased to just 40 percent. Fewer teens also plan to get a job and go to school at the same time – 22 percent this year versus 30 percent in 2017. However, some data contradicts teens’ awareness of economic conditions.

• The number of teens who have taken a financial readiness class decreased from 33 percent to 28 percent.

• 81 percent of teens would take a work/financial readiness class if it was offered to them.

• The percentage of teens that have a bank account decreased to 52 percent from 59 percent.

• 43 percent of teens expect their parents to pay for college, up from 32 percent in 2017.

Other Data Points

• 88 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds know what kind of job they want after graduation.

• The two skills kids would like to learn most to prepare for their dream jobs include technology and relationship building.

“Even though interest in STEM has declined,” explained Grocholski, “kids know they need technology skills because more and more jobs require it. They understand that they need these skills, even if they don’t necessarily end up in a STEM career.”

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs a re delivered by cor porate a nd community volunteers and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students of kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.

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Our focus has been and continues to be finding “creative solutions” for finishing ferrous as well as non-ferrous materials. We take pride in serving our customers in innovative ways to assist them in meeting their goals and objectives. We offer both resin and metal bonded diamond and CBN products. For more information contact Syntech Abrasives at 704-525-8030 or email to

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64 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Opportunities for Manufacturers Grocholski said JA provides a forum for manufacturers to volunteer their time, which can help build relationships in their communities. He said if they want to participate in programs, like job shadowing, they should contact the local JA office in their community. Visit www.ja.org and click the “Find a JA Near Me” link.

Grocholski said they also offer JA Career Success, a program that equips students with the knowledge required to get and keep a job in high-growth industries. He said community volunteers are part of the program who come into explain their personal experience and how they ended up doing what they do.

“It’s an opportunity for people in manufacturing to get involved in schools and to share their experiences and to really get students engaged and interested.”

This year, JA will reach 600,000 students in 12 countries. Visit www. ja.org for more information. n

Inside SMI ©iStockphoto.com/seraficus

SMI Sponsors Opening Night Reception at SpringWorld SMI and CASMI will co-host the opening reception Oct. 3 during SpringWorld 2018 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. All SpringWorld attendees are invited to the reception, which will be held immediately after the opening day of the show from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The reception will include beverages and light snacks.

SMI will exhibit at SpringWorld booth #627 in conjunction with NESMA. SMI’s two newest employees, Rick Gordon, technical director and Gary Van Buren, technical advisor, will be available at the SMI booth to discuss their services. Gordon is available to help both members and nonmembers with a variety of

metallurgical questions. He can also help manage and oversee processes for meeting the needs of springmakers regarding failure analysis. This includes sourcing reputable testing labs throughout North America, forwarding requests to the appropriate lab, and reporting results and recommendations.

Van Buren is available to help with design and problem-solving issues.

This includes spring design and technical consultation; responding to technical emails and phone calls and assisting in upgrading the Advanced Spring Design software.

The rest of the SMI staff will be in attendance, including Lynne Carr, executive director; Dina Sanchez,

administ rative coordinator; Dr. Laura Helmrich-Rhodes, CSP, regulatory compliance consultant; Dan Sebastian, technical consultant; and Gary McCoy, managing editor of Springs.

SpringWorld 2018 takes place Oct. 3–5. Visit www.casmi-springworld. org for more information. n

New SMI Member SMI is pleased to announce its newest member. Please join us in welcoming this new company.

Helix Spring & Manufacturing Duncan, South Carolina

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 65

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Committee Connection ©iStockphoto.com/Studio-Pro

2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo Committee Chairs Announced

S

MI has announced that Chris M. Fazio, general manager, Pittsburgh plant, Diamond Wire Spring and Kelley L. Christy, director of sales/marketing and I.T., Diamond Wire Spring, will co-chair the 2019 Metal Engineering eXpo™ with Daniel Pierre III, president of JN Machinery in East Dundee, Illinois. Pierre also co-chaired the 2017 eXpo held in Hartford, Connecticut.

The 2019 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo™ will be held Oct. 1-3 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLCC) in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

SMI president Steve Kempf said he’s thrilled that Fazio and Christy will co-chair the trade show committee in preparation for the 2019 Metal Engineering eXpo in their hometown of Pittsburgh. “Diamond Wire has demonstrated a multigeneration commitment to SMI, and it is great to see Chris and Kelley carrying on the torch. And with the pledge of support of past member co-chairs Bill Lathrop and Dan Sceli, as well as Daniel Pierre, we are in great shape for a fantastic eXpo.” Pierre added, “I look forward to working with Chris and Kelley for the 2019 show. They are persons I already know through our business relationship, and we can get right to work to steer the trade show committee toward a successful show.”

“Diamond Wire Spring is excited to be a part of organizing the 2019 eXpo,” said Fazio and Christy in a joint statement. “With Pittsburgh’s history in steel production and manufacturing, this city is a prime location for this type of show. In addition, there are so many spring companies in and around

the start of the eXpo, Wednesday, Oct. 2, and Thursday, Oct. 3.

• Wednesday, Oct. 2, 8 a.m. – 8:50

• this area. From Michigan to New York, Pittsburgh makes a convenient location for the spring industry to see, and vendors to showcase, their products.”

The trade show committee responsible for helping plan the eXpo recently held a conference call to review plans for the 2019 show.

“With two shows under our belt, the trade show committee is not set to just repeat and regurgitate what we did in previous shows,” explained Pierre. “We have carefully read all the comments (both positive and negative) from previous shows, and we are working on several changes and improvements based on this feedback.”

Pierre said the Metal Engineering eXpo has developed two distinct strengths: exhibitors showing new equipment and the educational presentations during the Technical Symposia.

“We will work with our presenters in conjunction with our education and technical committees to tailor the content specific to the needs of springmakers,” said Pierre. “We are also finding new ways to help exhibitors highlight ‘what’s new,’ whether it is a new machine, a new function, or even new personnel.”

Five speakers have already been confirmed for the Technical Symposia that will be held in the morning before

•

•

•

•

a.m., Business Practices Track – “Tax Reform and Its Impact on Manufacturing” presented by Michael Devereux II, Mueller Prost Wednesday, Oct. 2, 8 a.m. – 8:50 a.m., Materials and Testing Track, “Evaluation of Stress Concentrators and Their Effect on Fatigue Life” presented by Jason Sicotte, Associated Spring Wednesday, Oct. 2, 9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m., Business Practices Track, “Breaking Boundaries for Operating Excellence…A Quest for a Higher Performance Organization” presented by Vince Bovino, Bovino Consulting Group Wednesday, Oct. 2, 9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m., Manufacturing Track, “CrawlWalk-Run Your Way into Additive Manufacturing” presented by Timothy Simpson, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University Wednesday, Oct . 2, 9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m., Materials and Testing Track, “Bodycote Kolsterising®” presented by Derek Dandy, Kolsterising Thursday, Oct. 3., 9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m., Materials and Testing Track, “Nitinol Shape Memory Alloy,” presented by Dave Plumley, Fort Wayne Metals

The trade show in Pittsburgh will mark the third time the eXpo has been held for the North American engineered spring and precision metal components industries. Visit www. metalengineeringexpo.org. n

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 67

Stonger. Better.

Global Leader in Wire.

Suzuki Garphyttan 4404 Nimtz Parkway South Bend, Indiana 46628 + 001 ( 574) 232-8800

suzuki-garphyttan.com

New Products ©iStockphoto.com/hüseyin harmandaglı, morkeman, PeskyMonkey

831 Grieve Belt Conveyor Oven No. 831 is a 950°F (510°C), belt conveyor oven from Grieve, currently used for heat treating springs at the customer’s facility. Workspace dimensions of this oven measure 14” W x 54” D x 3” H. 81,600 BTU/HR are installed in a modulating infrared natural gas burner to heat the oven chamber, while a 250 CFM, 1/3-HP recirculating blower provides vertical downward airflow to the workload.

This Grieve belt conveyor oven has a 12” long open belt loading zone and a 54” long insulated heat zone with recirculated airflow. Features include a 12” long open unloading zone and a 10” wide, 0.041” high carbon steel woven wire conveyor belt with 1/40-HP motor variable speed drive.

Additional features include 4” thick insulated walls comprising 2” of 1990°F block and 2” of 10 lb./cf density rockwool and an aluminized steel interior and exterior. The oven is equipped with safety equipment required by IRI, FM and National Fire Protection Association Standard 86 for gas-heated equipment, including a 130 CFM 1/3-HP powered forced exhauster.

Controls on the No. 831 include a digital indicating temperature controller.

For more information, contact The Grieve Corporation at 847-546-8225; fax:

847-546-9210; web: www.grievecorp. com; email: sales@grievecorp.com., attention Frank Calabrese.

MFG.com’s New RFQ Process MFG.com, the world’s largest online manufacturing marketplace, announced the launch of their new RFQ form. The form has been reformatted specifically with marketplace users in mind and alters the way manufacturers view the quoting process. The online marketplace says the RFQ creation process is five times faster and more intuitive for the buyer. Buyers will find a more user-friendly, efficient experience, and suppliers will find RFQs released quicker to the marketplace. The change was motivated by MFG.com’s core mission

statement to make it easy for buyers and suppliers to discover each other. Andy Richardson, vice president of sales, states, “We’ve always seen ourselves as a progressive company. MFG.com is always looking for new ways to enhance and streamline the customer experience for our buyers and suppliers. We’ve taken your feedback and came up with a great solution, the new RFQ creation process.”

Buyers will be able to use one “Create RFQ” form for single- or multiline RFQs. It can add parts to RFQs

from multiple disciplines; look up and add parts more efficiently from the parts library; use a drag-and-drop feature for adding attachments and prints; and edit NDAs during RFQ creation.

The new RFQ form, launched in July 2018, represents one more element in MFG.com’s ongoing effort to support continued ease of use of the platform.

The updated form will further enable buyers to reduce part cost, time to market and supplier risk on MFG.com.

For more information, call 888-404-9686 or visit www.mfg.com.

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 69

New Products

Compression Spring Testers from SAS Testers SAS TESTERS introduces the new ALT-2000 and ALT-5000 high speed automatic compression spring testers for high volume production.

The ALT-2000 and ALT-5000 can be used in various configurations: • Auto-feeding, setting, testing and sorting (5 ways, 3 ways or 2 ways).

• Auto-feeding, testing and sorting (5 ways, 3 ways or 2 ways).

• Manual feeding, setting, testing and sorting (5 ways, 3 ways or 2 ways).

• Manual feeding, testing and sorting (5 ways, 3 ways or 2 ways).

• Option to include ID or OD check of compression springs.

• Setup for setting only.

The ALT-2000/ALT-5000 crosshead can move at speeds from 0.0004”/s (0.01mm/s) to 4.92”/s (125mm/s) fully programmable using all the functions of a regular motorized spring tester. The software includes SPC functions for displaying reports of data saved while testing. Programs of spring setups are stored making setup of different spring tests easy and intuitive.

Production rates up to 3000 parts per hour (pph) are possible when setting and testing one force at height and using a small stroke (note that production rate will be reduced with multiple test points and large strokes, and/or light springs where vibration stabilization is needed). Setting is achieved in parallel to testing (using up 1, 2 or 3 setting actions) with no reduction in throughput.

The ALT-2000 is capable of testing compression springs up to 450lbf (2000N), free lengths up to 4” (100mm) and outside diameters up to 1.88” (48mm).

The ALT-5000 is capable of testing compression springs up to 1124lbf (5000N), free lengths up to 5.9” (150mm) and outside diameters up to 4” (100mm).

For additional information, contact Forming Systems, Inc. at info@ formingsystemsinc.com or call 269-679-3557. You can also see the new ALT-2000 test system at SpringWorld 2018.

ECO Series of Electrostatic Air Filters Forming Systems, Inc. (FSI) and HSI offer the ECO series of electrostatic air filters, available for use on the HSI extensive line of HSI conveyor ovens. ECO filters are designed to remove contaminants like smoke and oil mist from the manufacturing work environment. The company says ECO filters will remove up to 99 percent of oil mist or fumes. An active carbon filter will minimize any odors.

Applications may include removal of smoke and fumes from stress relieving ovens, removal of smoke from EDM processes, removal of smoke and dust from welding operations, or oil mist from metal working equipment. When outside venting is not an option for stress relieving ovens, the ECO filter is an ideal solution, providing portability and easy movement of the oven. For additional information, contact Forming Systems, Inc. at info@formingsystemsinc.com or call 269-679-3557.

70 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

New Products

HM13 HMI Control Panel The new HM13 HMI Control Panel is now available on the HSI Conveyor Ovens. The HM13 interface includes functions for most of the advanced HSI options and includes a built in temperature recording capability. The HM13 interface has a reserved connection for a LAN cable, which allows for setup with an IP address. The new system can be connected to the network or factory Wi-Fi for monitoring by smartphone or laptop by VNC. The HM13 can use several different communication protocols, including Profinet (Siemens). For additional information, contact Forming Systems, Inc. at info@formingsystemsinc. com or 269-679-3557. n

Advertiser's Index A & D Trading (440) 563-5227. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Acquisition Asset Mgmt (312) 613-5259. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Admiral Steel (800) 323-7055. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Alloy Wire International (866) 482-5569. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 AIM Inc. (630) 458-0008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Betts Spring (559) 206-0379. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Central Wire (800) 435-8317. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Diamond Wire Spring Co. (800) 424-0500. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Dispense Works (815) 363-3524. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Eigen Engineering (+91)9044038999. . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Fenn/Torin (860) 594-4300. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Fives Group (440) 709-0748. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Forming Systems Inc. (877) 594-4300. . . inside front cover, back cover

Gibbs Wire & Steel Co. Inc. (800) 800-4422. . . inside back cover Gibraltar (847) 769-2099. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Industrial Steel & Wire (800) 767-0408. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Interwire Products Inc. (914) 273-6633. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 JN Machinery (224) 699-9161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 John Evans’ Sons (215) 368-7700. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Jowitt & Rodgers/Syntech (704) 525-8030. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Kiswire (201) 461-8895. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Maguire Machinery (609) 266-0200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Mapes Piano String Co. (423) 543-3195. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Mount Joy Wire (717) 653-1461. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 NIMSCO (563) 391-0400. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 North American Spring Tool (860) 583-1693. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Proto Manufacturing (800) 965-8378. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Radcliff Wire (860) 583-1305. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 RK Trading (847) 640-9371. . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 20 Simplex Rapid (563) 391-0400. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Spring Manufacturers Institute (630) 495-8588. . . . . . . . 45, 47-48 Starrett (978) 249-3551. . . . . . . . . . . 42, 43 Suzuki Garphyttan (574) 232-8800. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Tool King (847) 537-2881. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ulbrich Stainless Steels (203) 239-4481. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 United Wire (800) 840-9481. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Vinston (847) 972-1098. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing Co. (215) 721-1721. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 WAFIOS (203) 481-5555. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Zapp Precision Strip (203) 386-0038. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

SPRINGS / Fall 2018 / 71

Snapshot ©iStockphoto.com/Tryfonov Ievgenii, nicholas belton

Don Jacobson III Newcomb Spring

Name: George Donald Jacobson III Nickname: Donny, D3, GDon Company name, city and country: Newcomb Spring of Tennessee, Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Brief history of your company: We started in Brooklyn, New York in the 1890’s as the Charles A. Cook Company. After a couple of name changes, Mr. Newcomb and Mr. Jacobson took ownership of the company in 1921 and renamed the company Newcomb Spring. We are still a privatelyowned family business with nine locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Job title: Sales and Business Manager.

The Jacobson family (l-to-r): Joshua, Sara, Noah, Don and Scarlett.

Spring industry affiliations: SMI board of directors, magazine committee chairman, Southeast representative and technical committee member, and Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers board member.

Favorite song/musician: I listen to a wide mix of music, but it is dominated with Guns and Roses, Toby Keith, and Eminem. I have enjoyed seeing all three live in concert.

Birthplace: New Britain, Connecticut.

Current home: Ooltewah, Tennessee.

Hobbies: Golf, scuba diving and trying to be the best dad I can be. It’s a life of Nerf guns, board games and Comic-Cons.

Family (spouse, children, pets, etc.): I am very lucky to be married to Sara and we have three kids, Joshua, Noah, and Scarlett. We also have two dogs, Lucy and Daisy, and two cats, Elsa and Taco.

Favorite places: The tranquility of the creek in my backyard and the beaches at Huntington Beach, California and Hilton Head, South Carolina.

What I like most about being a springmaker: I really enjoy working in our family business with new projects and watching as an inventor takes an idea from paper to final product.

A really great evening to me is: BBQ in the backyard while chasing the kids with squirt guns and the family being all together.

Favorite food: Ribs! I make my own dry rub, use a hickory and cherry wood mix, and smoke the pork ribs for six hours in the backyard until they are about to fall off the bone.

Favorite books/authors: The Emberverse series of books by S.M. Sterling, as well as multiple series by both David Drake and John Ringo.

72 / SPRINGS / Fall 2018

Best times of my life: Right now!

The one thing I can’t stand is: When people give up without trying. Like Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try.”

My most outstanding qualities are: My ability to work in a team environment.

People who knew me in school thought I was: Outgoing and outspoken.

I knew I was an “adult” when: That first

mortgage bill arrived in the mail. Sara and I were newlyweds and we were about to start our family.

If I weren’t working at Newcomb, I would like to: Work with manufacturers and government officials to help fix our educational system and make manufacturing a real career path for more students.

The most difficult business decision I ever had to make was: Closing a startup and trying to salvage the relationships that were invested in the company.

I wonder what would have happened if: I had taken that job at Compaq.

Role models: As a fourth-generation springmaker it is those family members that have come before me, including the “other” two Don Jacobsons.

I would like to be remembered in the spring industry for: Helping establish the next generation of springmakers.

But people will probably remember me for: Starting out at Newcomb by washing windows in our Connecticut facility.

Internal memo to Gibbs’ Sales Department:

Photo courtesy of Abigail Keenan / Unsplash

When planning our next gathering of customers who told us they love our service, please remember to budget for crowd control.

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