Springs summer 2016 vol 55 no3

SUMMER 2016

The International Magazine of Spring Manufacture

A Publication of the Spring Manufacturers Institute / Vol. 55, No. 3

Spring Applications: Past, Present & Future

An Anthology of Patent Memorabilia 22 Unusual Applications for Metal Formed Products 28 Recommendations for the Future of the Spring Industry 34

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President's Message From Mike Betts

SMI Executive Committee President: Mike Betts, Betts Company Vice President: Steve Kempf, Lee Spring Secretary/Treasurer: Bert Goering, Precision Coil Spring Co. Immediate Past President: Hap Porter, SEI MetalTek At Large: Dan Sceli, Peterson Spring Executive Director: Lynne Carr

SMI Board of Directors

Spring Applications, Past, Present and Future After our successful annual meeting in Dana Point, California in April, I found the theme “Spring Applications, Past, Present and Future” for this issue of Springs to be timely and fitting. Much of the California meeting included conversations on myriad topics member companies can do to positively impact their businesses for the future.

The minutes from Dana Point of our 11 SMI committee meetings were recently issued and full of many new ideas and content related to technology, enhancements to the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo, innovation, materials, website improvements, the direction of technical education, and much more.

I would like to thank our committee chairs and members for the dedication and time they each shared for the betterment of the spring industry and SMI. Our committees are the foundation of what SMI is about and the level of participation by more than 50 SMI members impressed all in the room. It is clear that active committee members provide and gain value.

When we think about past spring applications many products come to mind, such as the Slinky. The spring applications of the present and future include innovation, technology and process improvements. The theme for this issue provides the opportunity to reflect and acknowledge the fact that few of our companies make the identical spring products we manufactured when we first entered the industry. Times have changed, and our industry has leapfrogged forward.

Without a constant focus on new opportunities and identifying new ways to improve processes and materials, our businesses can become stale. The final report “Observations of the Spring Industry; Recommendations for the Future,” presented by Paul Menig in California, provides a vivid picture of where the spring industry stands today and where we are headed in the future. All members can view the complimentary report at the member section of the SMI website at www.smihq.org. Non-members can purchase the report for $750.00.

Many things have taken place since the annual meeting. We recently held our first SMI Metal Engineering eXpo Trade Show committee meeting in Chicago to plan for the 2017 event in Hartford. The first strategy meeting on updating the SMI website was also held. We had a spring manufacturing industry representative attend the annual “Dream It. Do It.” conference in Washington held by The Manufacturing Institute. By partnering with The Manufacturing Institute and their Dream It. Do It. program, we are looking at new ways to highlight the spring industry in all the career and technical education programs at high schools and community colleges throughout the U.S. We want to identify a multitude of ways for spring companies to become more successful in building the next generation pipeline of talent for their businesses. Lastly, I spent one-on-one time with Lynne Carr while visiting Chicago to map out SMI’s goals for the next two years.

Finally, allow me to extend a heartfelt thanks to Lynne, Dina, Gary and Laura for the great job they did while in Dana Point. We are blessed to have Lynne as our executive director, and her team to wave the SMI banner as they visit several regions throughout the U.S. this summer and fall with our new SMI Traveling Roadshow. Be on the lookout when they visit a city near you.

John Bagnuolo, MW Industries • Cheri Betts, Betts Company • Tim Bianco, Iowa Spring • Mark DiVenere, Gemco Manufacturing • Frank Foernbacher, Kern-Liebers USA • Brett Goldberg, International Spring • Ed Hall, Spring Team • Don Jacobson III, Newcomb Spring • Charly Klein, Fox Valley Spring • Bill Krauss, Vulcan Spring • Bill Lathrop, Colonial Spring Company • Don Lowe, Peterson Spring • Daniel Pierre III, JN Machinery • Hannes Steim, Kern-Liebers USA • Chris and Jeff Wharin, Bohne Spring • Ted White, Hardware Products • Steve Wunder, Duer/Carolina Coil

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, Ted White, Hardware Products • Reb Banas, Stanley Spring & Stamping • Lynne Carr, SMI • Raquel Chole, Dudek & Bock • Ritchy Froehlich, Ace Wire Spring & Form • Bud Funk, Fourslide Products • Brett Goldberg, International Spring • Tim Weber, Forming Systems • Europe Liaison: Richard Schuitema, Dutch Spring Association • Technical Advisors: Loren Godfrey, Honorary Member • 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.

All the best!

Mike Betts

2 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Cover art creating using images from: ©iStockphoto.com/Alan Tobey, ©iStockphoto.com/Milos Luzanin, ©iStockphoto.com/CamelLionBaby, ©iStockphoto.com/PPAMPicture, ©iStockphoto.com/Delpixart, ©iStockphoto.com/Ewelina Banaszak, ©iStockphoto.com/&#169 Majoros Laszlo, ©iStockphoto.com/Jsheets19, ©iStockphoto.com/MicroStockHub

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Contents 38 53 61

28 38 SMI Celebrates 83rd Annual Meeting in Southern California

By Gary McCoy

FEATURES

45 SMI Partners with NESMA for Second Edition of Metal Engineering eXpo in Hartford

By Gary McCoy 20 Spring Applications: Past, Present and Future 49 SMI Scholarship Program

By Gary McCoy Reaches $156,000 in Financial Aid 22 Flashback: An Anthology of 53 Myers Spring Gets Fifth Patent Memorabilia Graders Excited About

By Richard W. Elder Manufacturing 28 Unusual Applications for

Metal Formed Products

By Raquel Chole COLUMNS

34 Spring Industry Future: Seven Takeaways for SMI Members

By Paul Menig

15 Be Aware Safety Tips

Past Present Future of OSHA: Some Alarming Changes!

By Laura Helmrich-Rhodes

17 Dean of Springs

Net Income vs. EBITDA

By Dan Sebastian 4 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

DEPARTMENTS 2 President’s Message

Spring Applications, Past, Present and Future

7 Global Highlights 12 Regional Spring Association Report 61 Springmaker Spotlight

From Poultry to Precision Springs: A Profile of Joe Goldberg and International Spring Co.

By Gary McCoy

67 Book Corner 69 CTE News 71 Inside SMI 75 Committee Connection 77 New Products 79 Advertiser’s Index 80 Snapshot

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Global Highlights

North America Michigan Spring & Stamping received General Motor’s prestigious supplier recognition for excellent quality performance.

In a letter from Tony Francavilla, executive director of GM’s Global Supplier Quality and Development, it is explained that “only (GM’s) top performing suppliers are eligible for this award.” Further, Francavilla stated, “Suppliers who receive this award have met, or exceeded, a very stringent set of quality performance criteria and have achieved the cross-functional support of the entire GM organization.”

A representative from GM was scheduled to visit MS&S’s Muskegon facility to formally present this award and plaque to the manufacturing team that helped make this recognition possible.

In a statement from Michigan Spring & Stamping thanking its employees, it was noted that this is the fourth year in a row that their team has met the requirements to receive this award, and the company credits the “tremendous effort” of their employees, who have “presented to this customer world-class performance.”

In his closing comments, Francavilla stated, “Again, congratulations on an exceptional team effort that helped your facility to win this award.”

The Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce (CCCC), the second largest chamber network in the state of Connecticut, appointed Cindy Scoville as its new president and chief executive officer (CEO).

CCCC board chairman Tony Mattioli stated, “After an extensive search, the selection committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Cindy Scoville as the Chamber’s new president and CEO. Cindy possesses the significant experience and aptitude necessary to fulfill the requirements of this challenging position and we excitedly look forward to our future under her leadership.”

After the announcement, Scoville stated, “I am thrilled and honored to be the president and CEO of the Central CT Chambers of Commerce; I have a passion for the Chamber, the region we service and the communities in which we live. I have been a part of the Central CT Chamber family for 10 years, volunteering another 20 in the chamber world. We have a great team, all working for the betterment of our region. I am looking forward to the future of our chambers and organization who we work with.”

Scoville has been employed by the Chamber for the past 10 years, most recently acting as executive director for three Central CT Chambers of Commerce affiliates: Farmington Chamber of Commerce, New England Spring and Metalstamping Association (NESMA) and Connecticut Cindy Scoville Tool & Machining Association.

Scoville has more than 30 years of chamber experience, beginning in the late ‘70s when she worked for the Bristol Press Publishing Company. Before joining the Chamber staff, she served on several committees and co-chaired the Bristol Chamber "Toll Free to Hartford" campaign in the ‘80s. She has also been involved with the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce for more than 10 years, holding positions of president, vice president and events coordinator.

Her additional experience includes serving two terms on the Plymouth Town Council and two terms on the Plymouth Board of Education. From 1997 to 2005, she worked in the marketing department of Bristol Hospital, eventually moving to the position of director of business development.

In 2005, Scoville joined the Central CT Chambers of Commerce as a contracted employee through Capital Workforce Partners, tasked with helping individuals get placed in the workforce. As she continued to succeed in this position, the chamber hired her full time as the operations manager, which grew into helping with membership, marketing and affiliate development.

Scoville is uniquely positioned as a current Chamber employee to be able to seamlessly step into this new position. Her firsthand knowledge of the organization and its operations will allow her to continue advancing the Chambers’ mission and goals from day one.

A lifelong Plymouth resident, Scoville lives with her husband Chet and beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Ace. She has two children, Christopher and Jenna, and is the proud grandmother of three grandsons and frequent chamber models, Andrew, Pierce and Charlie.

Instron, the leading provider of testing equipment designed to evaluate the mechanical properties of materials and components, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. This milestone marks continued success in providing customers with the highest quality products,

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 7

Global Highlights

expert support and world-class service.

Instron was established in 1946 by Harold Hindman and George Burr, who worked together at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to investigate suitable substitutes for silk that could be used in the manufacture of parachutes. After discovering there was no testing machine available accurate enough to meet their requirements, Hindman and Burr designed a materials testing instrument. The prototype was so successful that Instron Corporation was formed.

Instron has continuously been at the forefront of the industry, earning recognition as one of the first companies to use video strain measurement and as the first in its industry to offer automatic transducers and reverse stress loading, among many other accomplishments.

In October 2005, Instron was acquired by ITW as the first company in their Test and Measurement platform under the guidance of Steve Martindale, executive vice president of ITW. Today, Instron thrives under the leadership of Darcy Hunter, Graham Rogers and K.C. Goh. “ITW arrived at a crucial time in Instron’s seventy-year history. As we made the transition from a largely

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family-owned business, ITW’s philosophy (80/20, PLS, USa) guided us to maintain the high standards envisioned by the original owners and at the same time taught us to run a more responsive organization to best serve our customers. I see our management’s role as custodians to our innovative culture,” stated Yahya Gharagozlou, group president, ITW Test and Measurement.

Throughout the 70 years in business, Instron has opened offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, with an expansive network of nearly 1,700 employees globally.

Instron remains committed to delivering leading-edge technologies and services designed to push the boundaries of research, quality control and service-life testing.

Lee Spring, a global leader in stock and custom springs, has purchased the assets of Clark Spring located in Hayward, California.

Steve Kempf, CEO of Lee Spring, commented that the “president of Clark Spring, Eric Eckberg, has built a strong company over the last 30 years based on ongoing engineering support, excellent quality control and attentive customer service. This fits our culture perfectly and adds significantly to our customer presence in California. We both believe this acquisition will help serve Clark Spring’s customers with expanded spring capabilities and products.”

Eckberg stated, “The choice of selecting the right buyer for our business was critical to us. We were looking for a family-owned company run by spring professionals that would carry on the engineering and quality that our customers have come to expect. I am pleased to be assisting with an orderly transition that will maintain our outstanding customer service.”

Jim Callaghan, vice president of business development at Lee Spring, stated, “We are very pleased that Clark Spring is our first acquisition. As Lee Spring grows through strategic acquisitions, we are receiving interest from other companies that want to see their hard work continued by a long standing company and known leader in the spring industry.”

Phil Jones, president of Industrial Spring Corporation of Kansas City (ISCKC) has announced the acquisition of Marshall Spring Manufacturing Co. in Kansas City, Missouri effective April 1, 2016. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The five employees of Marshall Spring, including its owner and president, Ken Grupe, have been retained as employees of ISCKC. Jones said that Marshall Spring’s location in Kansas City is being closed and some of the equipment from its plant will be moved to ISCKC’s location in North Kansas City, Missouri. ISCKC recently opened a new 45,000 square foot facility in August, 2015, after being located in Riverside, Missouri since its beginning in 1967.

With the acquisition, Jones said ISCKC hopes to begin a second shift operation in the next six to nine months.

Global Highlights

Quality Products, Inc. CEO David Somers has announced the appointment of Ryan Cutter as president of FENN, to succeed Paul Uccello. After a long successful career in the aerospace and capital equipment industries, Uccello has decided to begin a bridge toward retirement, stepping down as president but remaining active in the FENN business on a part-time basis as president emeritus.

Cutter will now maintain responsibility for the day-to-day operations of FENN, and will report directly to Somers.

Cutter joined FENN as the director of engineering in April 2015 having previously worked as an engineering manager of a dedicated R&D team at Parker Hannifin, and as a senior engineer at UTC Power Technologies. Prior to that, Ryan was a mechanical engineer at BHS-Torin, a company acquired by FENN. Cutter holds both a B.S.M.E. and an M.S.M.E. from University of Hartford. As engineering director, he used experience with innovation, research and development, and machine design to create the latest generation of Torin’s FZ spring coilers and the FSL Series, an updated version of FENN’s wire flattening and shaping lines. Both major projects involved integrating a more efficient design, new features, and a sleek updated exterior while maintaining a tradition of robust, reliable equipment.

“I look forward to focusing on producing high quality, high speed, precision equipment that meets the needs of an ever-changing global market,” said Cutter. “This commitment to innovation, paired with a focus on building and maintaining highly skilled, passionate staff are what I believe will be the key to our continued success at FENN. On top of that, I am extremely proud to be part of a company working so hard to keep the tradition of ‘Made in America’ alive and well.”

Uccello will work to ensure a smooth transition with Cutter over the next several months, as well as continue senior business development efforts and providing counsel to Somers and Cutter on a long term basis. Of the appointment, Uccello

said, “I am wholly confident in this decision. With Ryan’s practical and direct leadership style, his curiosity and willingness to learn, his product knowledge, and his attention to customer satisfaction and leading edge technologies, I am certain that FENN and all the people behind this amazing organization are in very capable hands.”

Somers commented, “When QPI acquired FENN, we were fortunate enough to have Paul stay on as part of the transition. Through his leadership, FENN has quickly

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 9

Global Highlights

evolved and Paul has established a strong business foundation and a strong organizational culture. I genuinely thank Paul for his guidance at FENN. I am very pleased to have Ryan assume the position of president, and I look forward to FENN’s next phase of growth and development in the market.”

FENN is a global supplier of metal forming equipment since 1900. FENN’s engineered product line of equipment includes wire flattening and shaping lines, rolling mills, turks heads, and drawbenches. The industrial product line includes Torin® spring coilers and swaging machines.

FENN is headquartered in East Berlin, Conn.

men selected to establish an airfield in the Himalayas. There Purnell stayed as control tower operator until the foe was vanquished.

Purnell returned to college to earn his degree, then went into the manufacturing business, making heavy drilling equipment, coil springs of every kind, space shuttle components and many other important items. He was president of Frank Holister Co. in Dallas, Texas, and served as president of SMI from 1968 to 1970.

After retiring, Purnell enjoyed playing tennis with neighborhood friends and fishing at his log cabin on an East Texas club lake.

Obituary SMI regrets to report the passing of Hugh A. Purnell, Jr. peacefully in his sleep on February 21, 2016. A private graveside service was held in Dallas.

Purnell loved Strauss waltzes and playing tennis. Most of all, he loved his wife, their two daughters, their grandson and their two sons-in-law, who all adored him. They are his only survivors.

Purnell was marching on the field with his college ROTC unit when the attack on Pearl Harbor was announced. He marched right on, joined the Army Air Corps, and flew The Hump to the China-Burma-India theatre, as one of seven

International At the recent concurrent staging of wire 2016, International Wire and Cable Trade Fair, and Tube 2016, International Tube and Pipe Trade Fair, in Düsseldorf, Germany, more than 2,600 international exhibitors presented their innovations to 69,500 trade visitors from 130 countries.

On 1.1 million square feet of net exhibit space in 16 halls, the companies showcased the latest machinery, equipment and products from the wire, cable and tube processing industry — a record in the trade fairs’ long success story.

The Largest Specialty Wire Manufacturer in USA, CAN and UK

10 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Global Highlights

“The fact that more exhibitors than ever participated in Düsseldorf proves that the wire, cable and tube industries loyally stand by their leading trade fairs wire and Tube even in tough economic times,” stated Joachim Schäfer, managing director at Messe Düsseldorf. Busy trade fair halls and many business deals were the result of five high-energy trade fair days. wire and Tube 2016 took place during a difficult business climate: global economic upheaval, a worldwide steel crisis, new worldwide climate regulations and a classic industry on its way to the new Industry 4.0 digital age.

“Major deals are made in Düsseldorf. wire and Tube serve as the global communication and business platform for industry heavyweights, SMEs and international associations alike,” noted Friedrich-Georg Kehrer, global portfolio director for Metals and Flow Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf. wire Düsseldorf is celebrating a 30-year success story: At its premiere in 1986, 488 exhibitors from 23 countries and about 21,000 trade visitors took part — with some 45 percent coming from abroad.

With 1,337 exhibitors from 53 countries on a net exhibition area of 642,600 square feet, wire 2016 showcased wire manufacturing and finishing machinery, process engineering tools and auxiliary materials as well as materials, special wires and cables. Innovations from measurement, control, test engineering and other specialized sectors were also on display.

As in the past, companies from Italy, Belgium, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K., Sweden and Germany were strongly represented at wire 2016.

In addition, large overseas contingents came from the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan, India, Japan and China. From the U.S., 79 companies exhibited at wire 2016, including 33 exhibitors within the North American Pavilion, organized by Messe Düsseldorf North America and with the Wire and Cable Industry Suppliers Association (WCISA) as the sponsor.

High internationality and professional competence once again characterized the visitors at the 2016 events. Exhibitors were pleased with their customer contacts and deals. “[There was] a lot of traffic at our stand at wire, which once again underscored the event’s aspiration as the world’s leading trade fair. [We saw] a very international, highly competent audience from Europe and North America. Particularly gratifying was the high number of concrete projects. The great response to the introduction of smartfactory 4.0 products, services and ideas is WAFIOS’ answer to the Industry 4.0 challenge,” said Dr. Christoph Müller-Mederer, sales and marketing director of WAFIOS AG Reutlingen.

The vast majority of the attendees gave wire and Tube 2016 excellent ratings. Most of the 69,500 visitors were from Germany, Italy, Turkey, France, Poland and the Netherlands.

The share of international trade fair guests was very high at 65 percent, with about a third traveling from overseas.

Some 75 percent of the visitors were executives with decision-making authority.

Overall, the willingness to invest at the two trade fairs continued to increase and 60 percent of the attendees stated that they found new suppliers.

The next concurrent staging of wire and Tube will take place from April 16-20, 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at wire or Tube 2018, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 312-781-5180; fax 312-781-5188; email: info@mdna.com; or visit http://www.mdna.com.

Suzuki-Garphyttan (SG) plans to open a new wire production facility in San Jose Iturbide, Guanajuato, in the heart of the automotive area of Mexico.

This 12,000 sq. meter facility increases production levels close to SG’s customers, resulting in shorter lead times. The prime output of the facility will be oil-tempered valve quality wire for the high demands of the engine, clutch and transmission springs industry. They will also produce high tensile OT wire for other spring applications.

Construction of this facility will commence in the second quarter of 2016, and production will start in the first quarter of 2017.

This will be the sixth wire production facility for SuzukiGarphyttan, which includes locations in Sweden; South Bend, Indiana; China; Leeds, England; and Narashino, Japan. n

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SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 11

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Regional Spring Association Report NESMA Holds its Second Casino Night

By Ted White The New England Spring & Metalstamping Association (NESMA) held its second annual Casino Night at the Doubletree by Hilton in Bristol on April 28. At the event NESMA technical members set up booths and showed springmakers and stampers their wares. After the booths were closed, dinner was served and the night of gambling for prizes began.

The gambling tables are very different from a true casino. The card dealers or wheel spinners are actually there to teach you how to play. They truly welcome people who do not know anything about the games or are shy about playing with real money.

Everyone is issued $300 in play dollars.

They are free to risk any or all of this play money as the night goes on.

Those fortunate enough to win have more opportunity for prizes at the end of the evening.

Those who lose are in the same situation as they would be in a real casino, except they have not lost any real money. At the end of the evening, most everyone had a good time, a fine meal and an adult beverage or two.

Hopefully some new alliances were forged in the meantime between springmakers, stampers and suppliers.

The reason NESMA started a Casino Night was due to SMI creating its own trade show. For many years, NESMA had a small tabletop trade show which raised enough money to support NESMA’s many and varied community programs. Without the trade show funds, NESMA had to find a new venue to support these community programs. While the Casino Night only partially replaces the funds generated by the trade show, the partnership formed between

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NESMA and SMI to host the 2017 Metal Engineering eXpo in Hartford will assist NESMA in this regard.

This year’s Casino Night had 30 fewer participants than last year, but those present built upon their burgeoning knowledge and spent more time this year learning the ways of a casino. Steve Kempf of Lee Spring (who also very nicely trains people at how to shoot craps) had an entire table watching him. At the end of the evening, most people told me they had much more fun this year.

NESMA would like to thank the Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and its new president, our own Cindy Scoville, for their partnership. We would also like to thank the Doubletree for its excellent accommodations along with our title sponsors, Associated Spring and WAFIOS, and the many other sponsors that made the evening a success.

Several people made suggestions this year that will help refine the process and make next year’s Casino Night even more of a success.

For more information on NESMA, visit www.nesma-usa.com.

Regional Spring Association Report ©iStockphoto.com/Scott Hirko

WAFIOS Offers Hands-On Experience for CASMI Members On Thursday, May 12, 2016, more than 30 Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers Inc. (CASMI) spring manufacturer members met at the WAFIOS Midwest Technical Center in Mokena, Illinois, for the WAFIOS Midwest Tech Center tour and demonstrations.

CASMI’s friends at WAFIOS Machinery Corporation assembled a full day of technical presentations related to new innovations and developments for compression, extension and torsion spring manufacturing, spring end-grinding processes, as well as 2-3D wire bending and forming technologies.

A selection of machines were available for hands-on demonstrations.

The day was filled with technical presentations by Dr. Peter Weigmann

about the latest developments and innovations with compression, torsion and wire bending machines.

Attendees were able to take advantage of interactive machine demonstrations with a full range of coiling and bending machines, including FUL, FMU, F Series EcoCoiler and B Series.

Presentations included: • New developments and innovations with FUL Series, FMU Series, and the new SPM 2F machine • The benefits of the new iQsmartbend Function • The new iQtoolsetup Function for FMU Series machines • New developments with single and double head wire bending machines • Spring prestressing, testing and loading machine review • Automating the spring making and wire bending process For more information on CASMI, visit www.casmi-springworld.org. n

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Be Aware Safety Tips

Past Present Future of OSHA: Some Alarming Changes!

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

T

he “Past, Present and Future” theme of this issue of Springs brings several workplace milestones to mind. Perhaps the most meaningful to readers is a quick review of safety regulations, a view of where we are today and a glimpse at the agenda for the future.

Several hot issues have arisen in 2016, including OSHA’s passage of the Silica Final Rule, the Global Harmonized System (GHS) Hazard Communication updates deadline of June 1, 2016, Electronic Reporting of Injury and Illness Data, regional amputation emphasis programs, and proposed increases penalties based on inflation rates. Perhaps the most alarming is the renewed partnership between OSHA and the Department of Justice.

Past: State Versus Federal OSHA Plans The Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act passed in 1970, followed by some states creating their own OSHA plans. Some state plans only cover government employees while others cover both private and public sectors. State plans are only approved if they are at least as effective as the federal plan.

Some states create their own regulations, while others simply adopted the federal standards including the numbering system. On occasion, OSHA has taken over state plans when its effectiveness comes into question. The most memorable instance of that was the state of North Carolina following the Imperial Foods fire. More recently, the Arizona state plan was in conflict with federal OSHA over height limits for fall protection (Arizona’s was higher than the Fed’s). Although Arizona was not taken over by OSHA, the effectiveness compared to the federal plan was called into question and addressed.

The impact of the different plans for employers is compliance complexity should they own multiple facilities with different standards. My advice is to adopt the most stringent plan for all locations to support your corporate safety culture. Employers should be advised that should similar violations be found at a second location, regardless if it is in a state plan, a “Repeat Violation” could be issued.

For more information on state plans, see the OSHA website https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/index.html Initial OSHA inspections in the 1970s created a reputation for being unfair, verging on the ridiculous. Today, OSHA has made an effort to professionalize its staff. Each Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) is trained in the legal aspects of citations, assuring that the legal tests are present when identifying hazards prior to making their first inspection. Some CSHOs become compliance officers through an upward mobility program and many

do not have a degree in industrial safety from a regionally accredited university. They do however have access to seasoned, highly qualified support in each area and regional offices, as well as nationally approved labs. That is one reason for videotaping inspections, so that technical support can assist the CSHO in the final citations in areas in which he or she may not be familiar.

Present: Hot Issues Several hot issues have arisen in 2016, including OSHA’s passage of the Silica Final Rule, the Global Harmonized System (GHS) Hazard Communication updates deadline of June 1, 2016, electronic reporting of Injury and Illness data, regional amputation emphasis programs, and proposed increases penalties based on inflation rates. Perhaps the most alarming is the renewed partnership between OSHA and the Department of Justice.

Silica may be used to clean springs and is often a component in abrasive wheels. SMI issued an OSHA alert on

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 630-4958588 or laurahrhodes@gmail.com.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 15

this subject via email, providing suggestions on how to address this concern in manufacturing. For more information on the Silica Final Rule see https://www.osha.gov/ OshDoc/data_General_Facts/crystalline-factsheet.pdf GHS provisions for Hazard Communication have been phased in over the last three years. One of the last pieces of that rule is to have all hazardous chemicals (and secondary containers) labeled in the GHS format. Since this has been a phase-in process it is highly likely that June 1, 2016, citations will be issued, as has been done for other standards that have been phased in. The Permit Required Confined Space Standard was handled that way, with employer citations given the day of mandatory compliance.

Instances of charging employers with criminal acts since the passage of the OSH Act have been few and far between. This year, OSHA created a stronger relationship through the Department of Justice with other criminally charging agencies, the assumption being that owners who have significant safety violations could also have illegal business practices such as environmental violations or IRS infractions. By buttressing the case of another agency, OSHA is able to get the criminal charges connected to their own citations. Federal agencies have long referred companies to one another and therefore are able to pass information on without subpoena.

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Future: OSHA’s Published Agenda Of course the climate of OSHA hinges on the November presidential election. A conservative or liberal government impacts the ebb and flow of regulation promulgation, as well as heavy compliance activity versus a more consultative approach. Although OSHA’s assistant secretary of Labor is a presidential appointment, there are many career OSHA personnel with ongoing regulatory influence. The “OSHA Agenda” is published and updated as actions are taken. Sometimes there is swift action, and other times items can appear to be placed on “the back burner.”

One proposed regulation that made it to the Final Rule stage this year is electronic recordkeeping. Under the new rule, all establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the recordkeeping regulation must electronically submit OSHA injury and illness information from OSHA Forms 300, 300A and 301. Establishments with 20–249 employees in certain industries must electronically submit information from OSHA Form 300A only. The new requirements take effect Aug. 10, 2016, with phased in data submissions beginning in 2017. One aspect of this rule that many find shocking is that an employer’s actual OSHA data will be available to the public. Of course, names are removed, but every OSHA recordable incident that appears on your log will be visible to all. (For more information see OSHA Fact Sheet https://www.osha.gov/ Publications/OSHA3862.pdf ) One item that industry is awaiting is the Combustible Dust standard. OSHA implemented a Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (NEP) March 11, 2008, launched a new Web page, and issued several other guidance documents. However, the agency does not have a comprehensive standard that addresses combustible dust hazards. It continues to be on the agenda with SBREFA (Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act) review scheduled for August 2016. The Chemical Safety Board has been a significant influence in seeing this standard become a final rule. The National Fire Protection Association does have a combustible dust standard that could be used for guidance in assessing a company’s exposures to fire and explosion until a final rule is adopted.

A Mechanical Power Press Rule is also on the agenda.

The current standard does not specifically address pneumatic or hydraulic presses. This rule will include those.

The published agenda provides an opportunity for stakeholders to provide input to the promulgation process. If any of the agenda items will impact your organization participation is encouraged.

There are quite a few safety milestones to consider as well as potential changes on the horizon. The November election will certainly determine the next era of safety regulations and enforcement. n The OSHA Unified Agenda: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owasrch. search_form?p_doc_type=UNIFIED_AGENDA&p_toc_ level=0&p_keyvalue

Dean of Springs

Net Income vs. EBITDA

By Dan Sebastian

T

raditionally, net income has been the accounting standard for measuring the health of a business. In today’s more complicated world and with an ever changing tax code, it may not be the best way to understand the business and get easily to the most important thing in any business, which is “cash.”

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is an alternative method of determining possible cash flow. It eliminates non-cash expenses and items, such as interest and taxes, that can be controlled separately in the ordinary course of business. The real value of any business is in its earnings, because cash is the only thing the world outside the spring community values.

Net Income In its simplest form, net income is the difference between everything you sell (what you bill) and everything you spend. My experience in the spring business and dealing with different owners and investment bankers has led me to divide expenses into three general categories (some companies that have large warehouse and distribution expenses may add a fourth category).

1. Material and Labor. This helps you understand the cost of goods sold (COGS). This involves the material required to make the springs you sell and the labor required to produce them. These two categories are usually considered a variable expense. In some businesses you would also include the cost of indirect labor. This involves the people that are not involved directly in manufacturing, but are needed to run the business (material handlers, quality personnel, tool makers, maintenance personnel, shipping and receiving personnel). The gross profit is calculated by subtracting the COGS from sales.

2. Selling and Administrative Expenses. Selling expenses are the cost of sales people, commissions, manufacturers’ representatives and marketing costs, like trade shows and advertising. Administrative expenses are the cost of owners, board members and support staff (like accountants) that help in reporting. Keeping track of what it costs you to sell your products is very important because you need to make sure you recover this in pricing your products. In a similar way, it is important that owners are rewarded for the risk they take in owning the business.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is an alternative method of determining possible cash flow. It eliminates non-cash expenses and items, such as interest and taxes that can be controlled separately in the ordinary course of business.

3. Other Expenses. This is everything else required to run your business such as utilities, supplies, fuel, insurance, bank expenses, interest on loans, lease expenses and depreciation (the cost of capital expenses such as land, buildings, and equipment on an incremental basis because accounting rules and tax law will not let you expense it all at one time).

Depreciation assumes the capital asset value will decrease over time. Similar to depreciation, you can amortize (expense over time because of accounting rules and or tax law) the cost of things that may not devalue over time or become obsolete with changing technology, like a business acquisition or the acquisition of intellectual property.

EBITDA Lenders, investment bankers and financial analysts keep track of businesses that are similar in size and products, and use the EBITDA of the business to determine value based on current economic conditions. They use EDITDA because it adds back the non-cash expenses of depreciation and amortization. They also exclude taxes because the income tax you pay can vary significantly based on depreciation, amortization and tax bracket. Interest is excluded as the rates paid can vary widely based on assessment of risk.

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 / Summer 2016 / 17

Lenders, investment bankers and financial analysts keep track of businesses that are similar in size and products, and use the EBITDA of the business to determine value based on current economic conditions. They use EBITDA because it adds back the non-cash expenses of depreciation and amortization.

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A lender who lends only on the value of what they believe to be safe collateral may charge a different rate of interest than a lender who lends based on your cash flow.

The competitive market in the banking and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) industry often determines the value of your business. A bank that lends based on cash flow may underwrite a loan based on the ratio of “loan to EBITDA” (the range of loan amounts can range from 0.25 to 3.0). In a similar way, the value of the business can be based on the ratio of “value to EBITDA,” with loan rates in a range from 2.0 to 8.0 (very large companies may be even higher).

The actual ratio used by an institution can vary based on their assessment of your business: 1) Receivables and payables 2) Business size 3) Assessments of your customers and customer concentration 4) Operating condition and age of your building(s) and equipment 5) Customer acquisition cost (selling expenses) 6) Your past and projected capital requirements 7) Your ability to generate cash on a regular basis 8) The growth potential of your business 9) Your product liability risks 10) Current market conditions and company size

Summary Net income is the “gold standard” used to determine the value of your business when combined with your cash on hand and your ability to generate cash. The old adage that “cash is king” is still true. In the last few years, EBITDA has become a useful method to determine the value of a business. The ratio of “value to EBITDA” can fluctuate greatly based on a number of different variables. In the end, except if you are going to auction off the assets of your business, the real underlying value to any business is your earnings and how the market values those earnings. n

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Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Rosemont, IL SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 19

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Spring Applications:

Past, Present & Future

By Gary McCoy

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“The past is behind, learn from it.

The future is ahead, prepare for it.

The present is here, live it.” ― Thomas S. Monson

I

n this issue we look back, we look around and we look forward to the types of products made by the spring industry.

At its most basic level, a spring does two things: stores energy and controls motion. Those functions have never changed. What has changed are the applications where springs are used.

The spring industry has a rich history filled with individuals who used a spring design to solve a problem in order to enhance our way of life.

Some of those designs quantified in the U.S. Patent office are still in use today. Other patents mentioned in our Flashback article, “An Anthology of Patent Memorabilia,” on page 22 are for products that are now obsolete.

Raquel Chole looks at “Unusual Applications for Metal Formed Products” on page 28. This article delves into offbeat springs and metal forms that are helping solve today’s customer challenges.

Paul Menig spent the last couple of years studying our spring industry.

He tackles the subject “Spring Industry Future: Seven Takeaways for SMI Members” as a preview of a much longer white paper he wrote that is free for all SMI members.

Menig does not look at specific spring applications the industry may see in the future, but rather at trends to observe in order to survive and thrive as an industry.

He rightly points out in his last of seven takeaways that “Technology Forces Change.”

“Pay attention to what is going on and what your customers value.

Then you can make the right choices for technology,” says Menig.

That advice holds up in every era. The spring companies who will continue to thrive in the future are ones who keep a close eye on what their customers value.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 21

Flashback

An Anthology of Patent Memorabilia

By Richard W. Elder, Retired Vice President, National-Standard Company

(Editor’s note: This edition of Flashback takes us to December of 1963 when this article was originally published. It was later reprinted in the May 1976 issue to help celebrate the U.S. bicentennial. As this issue of Springs looks at spring applications from the past, this article provides an interesting comparison of raw material availability in bygone eras to the present day.)

22 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

How did our spring industry get started? Where are its roots? What are its mile-

posts? The answers to these questions are buried in the files of the U.S. Patent Office. Each of these patents is a root to which we can trace the genealogy of what we readily accept today as standard. Each gives a flashing glimpse at yesterday’s inspiration for today’s practices.

No. 535088: Machine for Forming Springs Inventor Sam Atkinson may not have had a perfect record in selecting the proper material to make his springs, but one thing for sure: he could only miss about two times out of three. There just wasn’t that much variety of materials available in 1893. In all his years of springmaking, Atkinson wasn’t exposed to the advantages of using hightensile carbon steels, stainless steels, special alloys or super alloys.

He and his fellow springmakers had few things to consider in making their selection — would it last long enough and could they get enough of it? They didn’t know much about tensile strength, modulus or elastic limit. They probably determined the relative hardness of materials by bending tests. ln today’s rocket age, standards are much more critical. A spring manufacturer faces many variables in selecting the proper material for his particular spring applications.

He has to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages in using a particular material, and what to do if he runs into difficulty in a special situation. Because of these requirements, today’s spring manufacturers have a more sophisticated approach to selection than their predecessors. Basically, the process involves three steps.

1. Identity the Environment — ln choosing the general type of metal to be used, spring manufacturers first consider the conditions under which the spring will be operating. What is the operating temperature? What about the corrosive nature of the surrounding atmosphere? Fifty years ago, answers to these questions wouldn’t have helped much.

2. Consider Properties ­­­— There are as many combinations of physical properties available in spring materials as there are types and sizes of springs. A spring manufacturer has to select the right combination for the specific application.

If it is a static application, he will be most concerned with elastic limit and modulus.

He knows that a wire’s elastic limit is controlled by tensile strength, and that modulus remains relatively constant as long as the spring is stressed within its elastic range.

If his application is dynamic, endurance limit or cyclic life gets the greatest attention. Both endurance limit and cyclic life can be improved with an increase in tensile strength.

3. Select the Alloy — When the springmaker has decided on the most economical design and considered the necessary physical properties, he then selects the specific alloy that fulfills his requirements. He can select one from the four basic metal classes: (1) carbon steels, with carbon content ranging from 0.50 to .100 percent; (2) low alloys, for high stress-carrying ability at temperatures of 200 to 400 °F; (3) stainless steels, for their corrosion resistance and high-temperature characteristics; (4) super alloys, for high-temperature applications, unusually corrosive conditions and non-magnetic, high-physical-property relationships.

In the old days, springmakers got their materials wherever they could find them. Today, new spring materials are seeking out users.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 23

No. 94172: Combined Latch and Lock

©iStockphoto.com/Loretta Hostettler

No. 117171:

Improvement in Buggy-Springs

One thing you could say about American buggies, their hickory wood construction gave them strength and lightness admired by even the most famous European carriage builders. Not that this made their ride any more comfortable. You could still measure the length of a trip by the number of bumps and bounces.

When early springmakers were trying to help improve these riding conditions, they had more to consider than just the rough treatment. H. Harrison Hill’s contribution ran the hazard of continuous exposure to the elements, with rust an ever present enemy. His only solution was to do the best he could with the available materials.

Today, spring manufacturers face a similar problem. Specialized applications call for a spring material that is stronger than music spring wire, and with corrosion-resistance for some uses. A new family of wire has been developed that fits these requirements — Rocket Wire.

Rocket Wire gives spring manufacturers a material that meets the demands of stressed spring wire applications requiring unusual strength, corrosion resistance, durability and hardness.

Carbon-Steel Rocket Wire. A carbon-steel Rocket Wire offers minimum tensile strengths 30,000 to 100,000 psi above music spring wire. Even with

these exceeding high tensile values, carbon-steel Rocket Wire has sufficient ductility to coil into springs with an index greater than 4. A variety of standard finishes meets particular needs.

T302 Rocket Wire. T302 Rocket Wire meets all AISI and government specifications for type 302 stainless steel wire, and the tensile exceeds normal AISA or other stainless specifications by 35,000 to 75,000 psi, depending on size. Compression springs with an index of over 4 can be automatically coiled and formed. And it’s available with a lead coating for automatic coiling or a conventional bright finish.

NS-355 Rocket Wire. A stainlesssteel spring wire with tensile strengths exceeding music spring wire, NS-355 Rocket Wire meets the demands for a stainless, corrosion-resistant material with extremely high tensile properties and sufficient ductility, to be made into a great number of spring designs.

Spring coiling tests on automatic coiling machines show that springs with an index as low as 4 can be formed without breakage. And it’s available with an oxide finish for automatic coiling or a bright finish for torsion and fourslide work.

Captain Long John Silver had a lot of trouble with the door latches on his ship. They were always jamming.

Consequently, the ship’s locksmith was in and out of the brig (when they could get the door open). What the unfortunate locksmith didn’t know was that exposure to salt spray had corroded the spring lock mechanisms. Even if he had known, he couldn’t have done anything about it.

Springs in those days didn’t have much corrosion resistance.

With entirely new galvanizing methods, high-carbon music spring wire can be made with 10 to 15 times more corrosion resistance than tinned music wires. And the wire receives its coating during processing, which gives a smoothdrawn finish with better formability than many hot-dipped finishes now available. Extra heavy zinc coating withstands automatic coiling and other mechanical forming methods with a minimum of flaking.

You don’t have to plate the finished springs. This means no more cracking due to acid embrittlement, and no more tangling of springs.

Plating is assured between coils of the most closely wound springs.

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No. 63257:

Steam Engine Lubricator

Engine No. 1 to the rescue...first to arrive at the fire. Chief Sullivan shouted instructions and his men went into action. “Assemble the ladders, couple the hoses, turn her on.”

Up went the pressure, up went the heat, and out came a steady stream of water. That is, until the heat warped a valve spring on the steam engine pumper and it froze up. “One of these days,” moaned Sullivan, “we’ll have springs that’ll withstand the heat.”

Heat applications are much more critical today, with aircraft speeds increasing and missiles and rockets coming into prominence. There is a great need for stressed members to operate predictably and accurately at temperatures up to 1800°F.

Consider Super Alloys When your application demands a spring material that can withstand extreme temperatures and unusually corrosive conditions, consider super alloys. lnconel X - A longtime standard for hi-temp springs because of its readily available design data.

NS-A286 - Newest and most economical of the super alloys, a precipitation-hardening alloy exhibiting as little as half the relaxation loss at I000°F as comparable alloys at 850°F. Rene 41 – A vacuum melted nickel chromium cobalt material, proved to be exceptional in high-temperature structural applications above l000° F. NS-25 and 5816 – Materials with a 40 to 50 percent cobalt base, that are extremely corrosion resistant; excellent stability in temperatures up to 1400°F.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 25

No. 121004:

Mainsprings for Watches

Charlie Rice had a habit of winding his watch very tightly. Just a fraction of a turn too much, and the mainspring snapped. After replacing the spring four or five times, he decided to do something about the situation.

Rice saw two possible solutions — either use a new spring of higher quality material, or relieve the stress on the present mainspring. The first was impossible, as high quality spring steel wasn’t available. So, he tried the alternate solution and developed an attachment that relieved some of the stress.

Had the year been 1907 instead of 1871, Rice could have purchased the quality spring material he needed.

At that time, the first tempered spring steel was made in the United States.

Today, high-quality cold rolled flat spring steel is available with an infinite variety of characteristics.

Critical requirements of flatness, straightness and uniformity are achieved through proper selection of raw materials and precise laboratory control.

Today, Rice could choose from cold rolled, cold rolled annealed, tempered high carbon spring steel, flat wire and cold rolled stainless flat wire for his experiments. And he could save setup time in continuous runs with reelless coils two to four times larger than previous coils.

Today, coils of precision flat steel strip contains up to 800 lbs.

©iStockphoto.com/Roberto A Sanchez

No. 42435:

26 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

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Locking Cylinder in Revolving Firearms “Fastest gun in the West,” they called her. And in those early days, many a lawman staked his life on the reliability of the single action six.

This famous side arm stood up under the worst of conditions.

Through blistering sand storms, mountain blizzards, downpours, men called on her for protection and she saved their lives time after time. The dependability of a spring mechanism kept her working.

Today spring manufacturers get this kind of dependability. Wire producers often set up their own specifications for quality of the metal they’ll accept from the mills. Each mill receives a copy of these standards. Any rod not meeting these requirements is rejected. Incoming coils are checked for grain structure, size tolerance, out of round tolerance, decarburization, lap and seams. n

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Unusual Applications

for Metal Formed Products

By Raquel Chole

28 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Springs, wireforms and stampings provide us with

comfy beds, chilling ice makers and safe car seats. They are integral to every mechanical function known. There are some unusual applications that make even the most experienced spring engineers take another look. Today, we will look at some of those uses for metal formed parts.

European Springs & Pressings LTD, Beckenham, London, Great Britain

Just when he thought it was going to be an ordinary week, Stuart McSheehy, managing director of the London location of European Springs & Pressings (ES&P), got an urgent request from John Champion, design director at James & Taylor, building façade specialists. Champion needed to develop a spring mechanism that would be part of an anti-climb zone on the new Tate Modern museum in London.

According to McSheehy, this was really a race against the clock.

Tate Modern was surrounded with the scaffolding that would be needed to install the clips only for a very short time and was scheduled to open June 17, 2016.

The façade of the Tate Modern had a decorative element that would have made it easy for a climber to gain a foothold to scale the side of the building.

Every couple of feet, there is an aperture that someone could get a grip with and that had to be covered. As a deterrent, James & Taylor developed cladding panels to cover the lower 15 meters of the façade but needed some sort of fastener to attach the panels. Speed was of the essence because maintaining the scaffolding around the building for a longer period would add substantial cost to the project.

Champion worked closely with the team at European Springs & Pressings to design and then turn out the parts in just days. “I asked if they needed somebody to fan the guys on the shop floor with ostrich feathers or to pop grapes into their mouths – fortunately this was turned down,” Champion said with a laugh. The team had only a week and a half to complete the project. Champion showed McSheehy’s team pictures and concepts of what they were hoping to get. “Then, our material suppliers worked over the weekend to get us material on the following Monday and we started fabricating immediately,” says McSheehy.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 29

James & Taylor, building facade specialists, needed to develop a spring mechanism that would be part of an anti-climb zone on the new Tate Modern Museum in London.

The final design was a stamped stainless steel spring that was 100 mm square. “We used a laser cutter to cut blank profiles and standard tools to put the form geometry into place. These clips then hold on a fascia plate to the side of the building that looks like the cement below, which is really a genius design,” says McSheehy. A special removal tool was designed for use in case the cladding plates needed to be removed.

“On Wednesday of the week we were manufacturing, John Champion came in at the end of the day to check on our progress and, sure enough, he actually did bring in ostrich feathers and grapes and beer for the people who made the parts,” says McSheehy. “We all had a laugh but it really was a gratifying experience to know we were able to come through with flying colors.”

European Springs & Stampings, Cornwall, U.K.

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©iStockphoto.com/agcuesta

About the same time as the London facility of European Springs & Pressings was preparing to dress up the new Tate Modern, their sister plant in Cornwall was asked to dress the windows of London’s world-famous high street department store, Liberty of London. Liberty of London’s plan was to use springs to display products as part of an artistic installation. They needed 80 two-meter-long, large scale, open-ended compression springs made from music wire that they planned to use to support beautiful couture accessories in their display windows.

Pete Bodilly, operations manager of ES&P in Cornwall, quoted, designed and drew up the blueprints. Liberty of London was very specific about what they wanted and they needed parts with a five-day turnaround because they had already been let down by the original vendor for the project.

The turnaround time included forming as well as an outside powder coating operation.

Michael Gibbs, managing director of the Cornish plant, talks about the project: “These were not easy parts due to the size and scale. We needed to be able to support the springs as we formed them because they were so long,” he explains. “Pete organized the project. He took the call and made it happen.

Normally, we work on a product cycle of three to four weeks. We had to rejig to get it all done in time,” says Gibbs. “Although we can do most powder coating in-house, we had to outsource these springs due to their size, but our vendor came through for us.”

In the actual window display, couture products like sunglasses, shoes and handbags were shown locked in between the coils of the springs, which made a rather dramatic and artistic display.

The project went so well that Liberty of London is talking to ES&P about doing more springs to hang lamps and jeans for future displays.

European Springs & Pressings has three facilities in the U.K. and will celebrate 70 years in business in 2018. The London plant, which makes springs, wire forms and stampings also forms strip material on multislides. They serve 3,500 customers spread across various industries with 5,000 SKUs, running anywhere from one piece to millions of parts, though 10,000 to 20,000 pieces is pretty standard. The Cornwall plant focuses on heavy coiling, construction and automotive plus parts for the fishing industry and ship builders. Cornwall also makes anti-vibration (damper) springs, which can be huge in size (up to 55 mm). The Yorkshire facility serves the Irish and U.K. markets with standard springs and gas springs. It’s primarily a catalog operation with just two employees.

The D. R. Templeman Company, Plainville, Conn.

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Richard Williams wears a lot of hats at The D. R. Templeman Company.

He is the president, one of the owners and, as he says with a wry laugh, the engineering staff. The company was founded in 1938 and has had a laser focus on small components with material sizes from .004 to .030, and the ability to go up to .080” wire size when needed. They make springs, rings and wireforms, specializing in miniature parts, for a variety of industries that require precision parts: medical devices, electronics, hardware and consumer products. As part of the market Williams classifies as consumer, D. R. Templeman makes fishing related components, including parts for lures and bobbers for fresh water and salt water fishing.

They do very little automotive or aerospace work, preferring the challenges that come from other markets.

One special project Williams was involved in was refining a spring design for a saxophone strap that would be used in performance for professional musicians. These were parts that the DeJacques Musical Accessories Company was already purchasing from another springmaker; however, they were experiencing tangling issues and other problems with the part.

The spring itself was a small compression spring with no grind that allowed the saxophone strap to have a quick release action from the instrument. Recognizing several issues, Williams worked with the DeJacques team to make changes that would result in a much better functioning and assembling part. He made samples to the new design and it was a “go.”

To stop nesting of the springs, several closed coils were added to the ends of the spring. Then, to accommodate the new coils, the wire size was reduced. “It ended up at about the same power, even with the reduced wire size,” explains Williams. “They really didn’t need the wire size the previous vendor was using and the change allowed us to add more coils to reduce tangling.”

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Crawford Manufacturing Company, Baltic, Ohio

Natural peanut butter requires stirring to mix the oils that separate from the solids when stored, which was a very messy process requiring consumers that was cumbersome and time consuming, so the Crawford team worked with the Witmer Company to develop a mess-free solution.

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Crawford Manufacturing has been making metal products in the heart of Ohio Amish country for the past half-century and the owners, the Miller family, feel Amish values have had a positive impact on their business over the years. Whether it’s the work ethic the community espouses or the fact that the Amish community is a major consumer of one of the company’s longest-running products, it is clear Crawford fits well with the community.

Mary Miller is the chief customer service representative, quality control manager and daughter of owners Dan and Martha. Mary came into the business four years ago.

It was a natural fit, since her grandfather founded the business. “My mom and dad have owned the business for around five years. My dad has really innovative ideas on how to form strip material on our machines and we have a toolmaker who does the same sort of magic with wire,” explains Mary. Dan Miller serves as president and chief engineer, as well as co-owner. His wife, Martha, shares responsibility for the quality department with Mary and is vice president of the company. “She’s a ‘doer’,” says Mary. “She oversees financials and troubleshoots in every area. She gets all the extra things done.” Mary’s brother Marty helps manage the wire EDM and tool and die departments.

“Last year was our biggest year ever and we we’re already having our best half year so far in the history of the company, so we’re very busy,” says Mary. Surprisingly, even in the 21st century, it has been clips for sweat collar harnesses for horses that Crawford became known for, and they have remained a consistent seller throughout the years. “This type of spring clip from strip material has been a main focus of the business and a good example of how we adapt to help any customer,” explains Mary.

“Over 40 years ago, my grandfather worked with people here to solve a problem,” says Mary. The horses the Amish community uses to work their land wore large harnesses that had sweat pads attached to them. When Crawford started making these clips, they were made from annealed material, then heat treated and plated. “My grandfather suggested using stainless steel spring steel material instead, which would eliminate the heat treating and plating processes and create a more durable product. At the same time, he modified the design of the pad clips to increase functionality.

Crawford also has a stirring story to tell about sandwich spreads. Years ago, they were approached by an entrepreneur to fill a gap in the food industry. Natural peanut butter requires stirring to mix the oils that separate from the solids when stored, which meant consumers needed to deal with a messy process to mix back together to be usable.

So the Crawford team worked with the Witmer Company to develop a mess-free solution. The product they make is turnkey. They make a mixing auger and package it as part of a kit that replaces the lid on a jar of natural peanut butter (there are seven or eight different models with different lid bases) and is used as a stirring rod to easily reach the bottom of jars to thoroughly stir in the oils. Then, the mixing rod automatically self cleans as it is removed from the lid.

Beyond these unique products, Crawford also does some automotive parts and components for windows and doors. For the appliance industry, they make wires that are used in dishwasher baskets and hanging clips for electrical construction. A new venture for the company is street maintenance products: they make attachments for storm drain covers.

Bloomingburg Spring and Wire Form, Incorporated, Bloomingburg, Ohio

Jim Van Horn is the president and co-owner of Bloomingburg Spring and Wire Form.

Recently, the owners of HubBub Custom Bicycles came to him to ask for help in designing wireforms to be used in attaching rear viewing mirrors to bike helmets.

HubBub makes custom bikes, fitted according to the customer’s height and weight, explains Van Horn. They wanted to create a mirror that would clip onto any brand or style

of bicycle helmet – no matter how thick or thin the helmet material is. So, Van Horn, invited the HubBub team to come to the Bloomingburg plant and do a design and build effort to end up with a custom wire form that could be adaptable enough to work in the application.

“We helped them figure it out. They had a basic concept, so they came in and we set up a machine and did several prototypes.” The mirrors sell online and at specialty bike shops. “We’ve done several thousand for them,” says Van Horn.

The bicycle helmet mirror project led to a second product that Bloomingburg is getting ready to produce. It will be a rearview mirror for boat rowers.

For example, the coxswain for a rowing team is in charge of calling out signals to the rowers during races. The HubBub product will allow a mirror to be attached to the bill of a baseball cap, permitting the coxswain to monitor the competing teams coming up beside the boat or gaining on the boat from behind.

According to Van Horn, “finding the right material and spring load so the mirror would clip on to a rower’s hat and not slide around is the key.” The end result will be a part that is a stainless steel wire form with a rubber clip.

As with all springmakers, much of the work Bloomingburg does is hidden within the finished product. With the work they do for the military, you could even say their parts go up in smoke. They make components for the military, including fins on decoy flares. The decoy flare is used as a defensive infrared countermeasure to foil a heatseeking surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missile; the decoy fools the missile into diverting from its path. Bloomingburg makes the fins as well as the firing clips. They also make magazine springs for the military and other firearms manufacturers.

One other somewhat unique product is the edge supports they make for roughly 35 mattress makers across the country. Catering to small business mattress fabricators, they’ve made a staggering 45 million edge supports for mattresses since they started manufacturing these in 1992. These edge supports, according to Van Horn, “filled a gap when mattresses started getting thicker but the standard edge support available from other springmakers did not adapt to the new demand for longer profile supports.” The standard industry edge support remains 6.5” but Bloomingburg makes an array of supports in various styles that range from 3.5” to 14” tall to accommodate the plusher mattresses that are not standard fare.

While these unusual projects have set Bloomingburg apart as a springmaker, Bloomingburg over the years has gained customer confidence with their emergency service, which provides 24-hour delivery of parts: “If we have the wire or can get the wire, we will do it,” says Van Horn with confidence. “Say there is a hydraulic machine down due to a broken spring, you could have 500 people standing around, unable to work, because of one spring. Replacing the spring on an emergency basis could be costly but the down time would be much more expensive for a company.” This is a niche market that Bloomingburg fills, establishing them as a “go to” company when there is a spring related manufacturing crisis to be dealt with.

These are just a few of the niche products that include metal formed parts in their design. The consistent theme in every one of these stories is the ability of someone from our industry to create a unique product that fills a gap or solves a problem and, inevitably, makes someone’s life better. n

The owners of Hub Bub Custom Bicycles came to Bloomingburg to ask for help in designing wireforms to be used in attaching rear viewing mirrors to bike helmets and also mirror set ups for coxswains to use in competitive rowing.

They wanted to create a mirror that would clip onto any brand or style of bicycle helmet – no matter how thick or thin the helmet material is.

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Spring Industry Future

Seven Takeaways for SMI Members

By Paul Menig

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At SMI’s annual meeting in April, I presented my insights from 40

years of working in manufacturing plants, studying the future of technology in a variety of industries and personally visiting 16 SMI member sites in nine states. SMI has made the final report and the presentation available to members. During my presentation, I presented seven key points; here’s a summary of that information for you to consider as you plan your company’s future.

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Follow Your Customers

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Know Your Customers and What They Value

One of the things that impressed me about the spring industry is the inspiring stories of family members that traveled across the country to purchase a coiling machine and bring it home on the back of a pickup truck. They put it in their basement or garage and started making springs for the company down the street. In the process, they probably replaced a supplier that was doing the same thing, but was not part of the community and located a long way away.

Unfortunately, times have changed. In many cases that company down the street is no longer there. It may have moved to Japan or China or Mexico. It may have been acquired by another company and shut down. You may have heard about near-shoring, off-shoring and on-shoring. Just like your forebears, you want to be near the assembly plant that needs your product.

For those who manufacture springs for racing, some of you have moved operations to North Carolina, where NASCAR is big. Some of you have recently moved to or opened operations in Mexico. Very few have operations in Asia or Europe.

Another term often heard is Glocal, a combination of thinking globally and acting locally. Henry Ford moved all his automotive operations to southeastern Michigan at the River Rouge facility to maximize efficiency and minimize transportation costs. The Japanese developed their keiretsu organization of suppliers in a similar fashion. Many auto plants in Mexico have industrial parks with suppliers close at hand. Some auto plants went so far as to have all the suppliers under a single roof with a plant-in-plant concept. Manufacturers in Japan and Germany have moved assembly operations to the U.S. Many times, its suppliers move as well. You, too, need to follow your customers. ©iStockphoto.com/wwing, ©iStockphoto.com Aslan Alphan, ©iStockphoto.com nikamata

Springs can easily be a commodity with little value. That won’t help the revenue of your company. Others have learned to create specialized parts using unique processes that create the weight savings, performance, or durability that their customers value. The result is higher revenue and better profit margins.

Sometimes a customer values the engineering expertise you have, or the speed with which you can do something. Don’t just wait for order to come in. Make sure you

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understand your key customers and what they value. Everywhere I turn, I see the Pareto principle of the 80/20 rule played out. Eighty percent of your revenue or profits will come from just 20 percent of your customers. Focus on the 20 percent and their value.

3

Know What Business You Are In

4

Always Be Ready to Sell

5

Clean Up Your Act

You may think you are in the business of making springs. Do you make precision springs? Are you a metal former? Be careful. That could be the modern day version of thinking you are in the buggy whip industry. This ties into number two above. What is your customer trying to accomplish? I might argue that you are in the business of “position return,” or “vibration reduction,” or “force recovery.”

At the meeting, we looked at such items as magnetic rheological fluids and actuators that are replacing springs for suspensions. We looked at the mattress in your bedroom that may no longer have springs in it, or be positioned on top of a set of box springs. It may be a foam material that provides support and thermal comfort. Electronics, sensors, and actuators are replacing springs in many places. Different materials are often used.

Consider the keyboard I am typing on, which no longer has a spring under every key cap. Understand what your customer is trying to accomplish and you’ll better understand what business you are in today and where you need to be tomorrow.

Whether you plan to sell or not, you should run your business as if you are.

Doing this will force you to keep your financials clean and your processes documented. It will push you to have a growth plan for the business that is documented.

Whether you plan to sell or not, you should run your business as if you are.

Doing this will force you to keep your financials clean and your processes documented. It will push you to have a growth plan for the business that is documented. These are some of the things that make your company valuable to a buyer. Too many times, a business owner experiences an accident or a serious medical issue. Someone else has to take over the business quickly. Or worse, the business has to be sold in just a few months.

My son and I are looking to buy a business, possibly a manufacturing business, near where he lives north of Seattle. You can bet that we want to find just the right mix of attributes for the business that will allow us to step in, run it and grow it. If you are always ready to sell, you will be running your business well.

Physically and financially, you need to clean up your company. I’ve worked with lean management techniques and quality first items for decades. In my visits, there was a plant that had a clean room with proper air exchange and there were others where I had to clean the oil off my shoes and remove metal parts before walking into my house.

On the financial side, I heard stories of excess, useless inventory and saw graveyards of old machines that might be better utilized by museums or used by high schools to train kids in manufacturing. One of the benefits of being a business owner is some leeway in which you have to declare certain expenses to be business expenses. I advise people on buying a business and coach them to determine the Owner Discretionary Cash. I tell them to find those pet expenses for the guard dog, or the entertainment expenses that the new owner will not use. Clean up your act physically and financially, and you’ll be ready to sell at a higher value.

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6

Neither Machines nor Business Can Run Autonomously

7

Technology Forces Change

Businesses cannot run unattended, without workers. A big issue for all the owners I spoke with related to managing employees and finding the skills needed to run the business. People matter.

Put effort into your people.

I’m also involved in the automotive industry, where the idea of driverless cars is getting great attention. Some of the owners have a Tesla S with the capability of driving itself on the highway, even changing lanes. Still, it is not autonomous and needs a driver. Some of the heartwarming stories I heard were about getting that coiling machine in the basement to run 24 hours a day with no lights on. I even saw a few plants that could use a bit more lighting.

Businesses cannot run unattended, without workers. A big issue for all the owners I spoke with related to managing employees and finding the skills needed to run the business. People matter. Put effort into your people.

I maintain that we would all be sitting around a pile of wood at night waiting for lightning to strike and start a fire if technology had not found a way to create fire on demand. In fact, I’ve pointed out to people that every one of the millions of cars and trucks we operate each day has four to eight fire chambers where we control the start of a fire that produces motion. You might be amazed at how much effort and design goes into the intricate process of injecting fuel (sometimes four timed squirts at the beginning and another three after the fire starts) so that we can get the maximum force out of the engine, with a minimum of harmful emissions.

Technology affects this industry as well. Pay attention to what is going on and what your customers value. Then you can make the right choices for technology.

Summary

That’s seven quick takeaways from my examination of the spring industry. Look around and in your business, and then make a plan to keep your business moving forward and growing, even accelerating. The final report discussed seven forces to examine before you put together a plan and reduce it to a single page. Be forward looking and spring into action. n A complimentary copy of Menig’s full whitepaper on the future of the spring industry, “Observations of the Spring Industry; Recommendations for the Future,” is now available in the members only section of the SMI website. Menig spent approximately 18 months gathering information from SMI members to prepare this document. It is available as a PDF file or in a flip book format. Non-members may purchase this report for $750.

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SMI Celebrates 83rd Annual Meeting in Southern California

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entle Pacific Ocean breezes and plenty of sunshine greeted atten­dees who traveled to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Hotel in Dana Point, California for the 83rd edition of SMI's annual meeting.

Held April 15-19, 2016, the annual meeting featured the installation of new SMI officers, which included the beginning of Mike Betts term as SMI’s 35th president. Betts is the chairman and CEO of Betts Company in Fresno, California.

“Thank you all for coming to Cali­­fornia and thank you for allowing me to serve you, the spring industry and all our members in North America as your next SMI president,” began Betts in his acceptance remarks at an April 19 closing dinner. “To say I am excited about the next two years is an understatement. The level of enthu­siasm I feel regarding the forward

direction SMI has taken is highly motivating and invigorating. Our goal is to continue that path forward.”

The dinner included a transition point for Hap Porter of SEI MetalTek, whose two-year term as president

ended. Porter will now serve as immediate past president.

“Those of us who know Hap understand well that he is a leader who works closely with his team members and listens to all views on

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important matters,” said Betts in a speech thanking Porter for his service to SMI. “One of his greatest attributes is the way Hap communicates to help people get on the same page. He is always thoughtful with his reasoning on why we are moving in a given direction.”

Betts concluded his speech by saying, “Hap, on behalf of our executive committee, the SMI board and staff and all our members, we all thank you for the great job you did as our president. You have made the last two years an enjoyable experience for all of us.”

The rest of SMI’s new executive committee are Steve Kempf, Lee Spring, vice president; Bert Goering, Precision Coil Spring, secretary/ treasurer; and Dan Sceli, Peterson Spring, incoming at-large.

Getting Started In the midst of a lavish and elegant Indian wedding being held at the hotel the same day, SMI volunteers settled down for important committee meetings and a regular session of the SMI board of directors Saturday, April 15, that included an evening reception.

One of the most important announcements of the day came from SMI president Hap Porter. He told committee and board members that the second edition of the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo would be held in Hartford, Connecticut

October 3-5, 2017 (read more about the eXpo in related story on page 45) in cooperation with NESMA. Optional activities took place Sunday, April 16, that started off with a special session by Dr. Rajita Sinha, director of the Yale Stress Center and a professor at Yale University.

More than 50 SMI members took part in exercises on the lawn of the hotel on mindfulness, yogic breath and psychobiology on how to be effective and optimize function.

Thirty-one participants took part in a three-hour Pacific Ocean boat tour out of Dana Point Harbor. The trip on smooth and sunny waters provided the opportunity to see common dolphins, a blue and gray whale and plenty of friendly sea lions. The other group enjoyed a wine tasting event at the hotel.

Later Sunday night, the opening reception and dinner were held on the grounds of the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano, which dates back to 1776. SMI attendees had a chance to tour the grounds during the reception led by docents. Ironically, buses let attendees off to enter the Mission grounds at the corner of Spring Street and El Camino Real.

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The festivities on the lawn of the Mission included a presentation by SMI president Hap Porter recog­nizing Lynne Carr, SMI’s executive director. Porter presented Carr with a watch and a scrapbook celebrating her 20 years of service to SMI.

Education Dr. Sinha presented “Stress and the Brain: Introduction to Stress Management” during her Monday, April 17, presentation. Her 90-minute session provided SMI members with common sense approaches on how to improve wellness in the workplace.

After a short break, Dr. Paul Stoltz the author of the national best-seller “GRIT: The New Science of What It Takes to Persevere, Flourish, Succeed” began the first of a two-part presentation about GRIT. GRIT is a compelling introspective on how much GRIT you have as an individual and how you can use GRIT to your advantage in all aspects of your personal and business life.

Each attendee received a copy of Stoltz’s book and a set of “The Real Deal” cards used by Stoltz during his session. Among other things, the cards are designed to help individuals clarify the priorities most important to them.

Dr. Stoltz conducted the second part of his presentation Tuesday, April 18, which included the presentation of individual GRIT Gauge survey results that SMI members had the opportunity to fill out before the convention. His presentation was designed to help each attendee maximize their GRIT, and how they can improve upon it and take it even higher.

Before Dr. Stoltz’s Tuesday session, the day kicked off with a presentation

by Paul Menig, CEO of Tech I-M. Menig presented the results of his two-year in-depth investigation of the spring industry. His presentation was a compilation of more than 40 private discussions he’s held with SMI members, associate members and a few non-members.

Each SMI member in attendance will receive a copy of Menig’s study

in the form of a whitepaper. You can read more about Menig’s presentation and white paper in a related article on page 34.

Thank You SMI wishes to thank its sponsors for the generous annual meeting support that contributed to a successful event.

• Platinum Sponsors: Central Wire Industries, Industrial Steel & Wire, Gibbs, SWPC, Suzuki Garphyttan and Zapp.

• Gold Sponsors: JN Machinery and WAFIOS. • Bronze Sponsors: NIMSCO and Radcliff Wire Inc. Be sure to join SMI for the 2017 Annual Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida, March 31 to April 4. n

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Pictured (l-to-r) outside the Connecticut Convention Center are Daniel Pierre III, JN Machinery and Bill Lathrop, Colonial Spring, co-chairs of the 2017 eXpo with SMI executive director Lynne Carr.

SMI Partners with NESMA for Second Edition of Metal Engineering eXpo in Hartford

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he second SMI Metal Engineering eXpo® will be held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut from Oct. 3-5, 2017. The premier event for the North American engineered spring and precision metal components industries is being produced with the cooperation and support of the New England Spring and Metalstamping Association (NESMA).

According to SMI president Mike Betts, the Hartford show comes on the heels of the success of the inaugural eXpo held in October 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“With the momentum from our Charlotte event, we are excited to partner with NESMA, one of our regional spring associations, to bring the eXpo to the northeastern part of the country,” said Betts. “The

®

success of our first show demonstrated the need for an event with a forum where technical information could be disseminated, and a place for exhibitors to reach the key decision makers in the spring and metal forming industry.”

The Hartford show will be co-chaired by Bill Lathrop, president of Colonial Spring in Bristol, Connecticut, and Daniel Pierre III, president of JN Machinery in East Dundee, Illinois. Lathrop is a former board member and president of

NESMA. SMI’s trade show committee consists of SMI member springmakers, associate member suppliers and SMI staff.

NESMA president Michael Brault said the association is excited about its partnership with SMI to bring a full-scale trade show to Hartford.

“SMI and NESMA have long embraced a very friendly and supportive relationship where we have shared information, technology, industry news and even board members,” explained Brault. “Long recognized as the ‘Spring Capital of the World,’ bringing the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo to the central valley of Connecticut is a source of pride for NESMA and a win-win situation for our members.”

Brault added that NESMA will promote the spring and metal

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stamping industry’s importance as a high-tech manufacturing base that provides excellent career and educational opportunities for young adults.

The SMI Metal Engineering eXpo is a three-day event that features a technical symposium for individuals and companies to share their knowledge and expertise on a variety of topics surrounding the design, engineering and production of springs, wireforms and stampings.

The trade show portion of the event includes vendors displaying a vast array of machinery to produce these items, along with wire suppliers and exhibitors representing all facets of manufacturing, from insurance to machinery to ERP systems and more.

For more information about the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo, visit the website for the show at www. metalengineeringexpo.org or contact SMI at 630-495-8588, email: lynne@smihq.org, or visit www.smihq.org. n

Meet Me by the River The Connecticut Convention Center is an award-winning venue owned by the state of Connecticut. Overlooking the Connecticut River, the facility opened in 2005 and is situated in the heart of downtown Hartford’s Front Street District – a rapidly expanding entertainment hub teeming with new restaurants, bistros and entertainment venues. The 540,000 square foot Connecticut Convention Center is the largest convention facility between New York and Boston.

The Marriott Hartford Downtown will serve as the headquarters for the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo. The 22-story, 409-room hotel is connected to the center.

Hartford is Connecticut’s capital and one of New England’s oldest cities. Home to the nation’s oldest public art museum, the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the oldest public park, Bushnell Park, and the oldest continually published newspaper, The Hartford Courant, Hartford is a destination that has seamlessly woven a rich historical past into a vibrant modern city.

For more information on the Connecticut Convention Center, visit www.ctconventions.com

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SMI Scholarship Program Reaches $156,000 in Financial Aid

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he SMI Scholarship program continues to provide students with vital financial aid to help fund secondary education. The program, now in its sixth year, has provided scholarship assistance to 76 students to date representing $156,000 in financial aid.

With 115 students applying for the 2016 scholarship program, 14 students were selected for awards in the amount of $28,500.

“SMI continues to value the importance of education with its generous contribution to the

scholarship program that directly benefits the employees of our member companies,” said SMI president Mike Betts. “We are proud of each recipient and wish them the best in their career pursuits.”

To be eligible for an SMI scholarship, award winners must be a full-time employee or dependent child of a full-time employee who works for an SMI member company.

For 2016, SMI awarded nine regional scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each.

In addition, five at-large scholarships were also selected, which included: the WAFIOS Innovation award in the amount of $2,500; the International Spring Scholarship, awarded to two students in the amount of $2,000 each; the Callaghan-Hart Scholarship for $2,000; and the Bud Peterson Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,000.

SMI member companies will be sent information for the 2017 scholarship program in the fall, via mail and email.

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2016 Regional Scholarships Canada

Mid-Atlantic

Madeline M. From Hometown: Perth, Ontario SMI Member Parent: Paul From, Central Wire Industries Attending: University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario Major: Applied Human Nutrition

Layne R. Gustafson Hometown: Collegeville, Pa. SMI Member Parent: Robert Gustafson, Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing Co. Attending: University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Md. Major: Computer Science

“I am very grateful for the scholarship from the Spring Manufacturers Institute. I can‘t wait to start my post secondary education at the University of Guelph this coming fall. The scholarship money is a great help and I am very thankful for the Institute‘s support.“

“I received notification today that I am an SMI scholarship recipient. Thank you so much for your generosity.

I am grateful for this contribution toward my college education. Thank you again!“

Northeast Chicago Magdalene A. Lenczowski Hometown: Chicago, Ill. SMI Member Parent: Zak Lenczowski, Dudek & Bock Attending: Loyola University, Chicago, Ill. Major: Nursing “I was very happy to learn that I was a recipient of the SMI scholarship. I am writing to thank you for your generous financial support toward my higher education.

By awarding me the SMI scholarship I am able to concentrate on what is important for me—my education.

Your financial generosity has allowed me to be one step closer to my goal and has inspired me to help others by giving back to the community. I hope one day that I will be able to help other students achieve.“

John E. Dellalana Hometown: Monroe, Conn.

SMI Member Parent: John C. Dellalana, Rowley Spring and Stamping Attending: University of Maryland, University College, College Park, Md. Major: Biology “I am writing to thank you for choosing me to receive a generous $2,000 award on behalf of the SMI scholarship program. I plan to major in biology at the University of Maryland. With this degree, I’ll be able to enter dental school. As kids, most dream of becoming an astronaut or athletic superstar. Therefore, my mom was a little shocked when instead, I told her I wanted to become a dentist. With the help of this financial assistance, my childhood dreams have a chance of becoming a reality.

Thank you again for your graciousness and support.

I’ll work hard in school so maybe one day I’ll be able to give back to others too.”

Southeast Michigan Elizabeth A. Barr Hometown: Muskegon, Mich.

SMI Member Parent: Tina Barr, Michigan Spring & Stamping Attending: Trinity International University, Deerfield, Ill. Major: Elementary Education “Thank you so much for picking me to receive the SMI scholarship! I am very grateful because it will help me pay for my education at the school I love. It will also help me to continue on my path of becoming a teacher.

I can’t wait to make a difference in students’ lives, and you are helping me accomplish my goals. Thanks again!”

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Everardo Padilla Hometown: Boiling Springs, S.C. SMI Member Employer: Duer/Carolina Coil Attending: Spartanburg Community College, Spartanburg, S.C. Major: Automated Manufacturing “I want to thank you for your support in selecting me to receive the award from SMI. This great opportunity means a lot to me and my family, as well. It is a great support to us financially, and also gives me another reason to keep working to achieve my goal.

This scholarship will assist our family financially and also is an additional motivation to myself knowing that there are organizations that care for the education of others. Again thank you very much for your great support.“

2016 Regional Scholarships, cont.

West Jacob P. Leinweber Hometown: Walla Walla, Wash.

SMI Member Parent: Chad Leinweber, Nelson Irrigation Corp.

Attending: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Major: Actuarial Science “I would like to thank you and the entire Spring Manufacturers Institute for the $2,000 scholarship I have been awarded for this coming school year. I am studying actuarial science at Michigan State University as an outof-state student and this scholarship will greatly help in financing my education. Thank you again for your support of students.“

Pittsburgh-Ohio Michelle A. Holodny Hometown: Highland Heights, Ohio SMI Member Parent: Alexander Holodny, American Spring Wire Attending: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Major: Actuarial Mathematics/Economics

Southwest Kathryn A. Hennon Hometown: Des Peres, Mo. SMI Member Parent: Donald Hennon, Gibbs Wire and Steel Company Attending: University of South Carolina - Columbia, Columbia, S.C. Major: Public Relations

2016 At-Large Scholarships Bud Peterson Memorial Scholarship

International Spring Scholarship

Zachary B. Smith Hometown: Kewanna, Ind. SMI Member Parent: Mark Smith, Winamac Coil Spring Attending: University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Major: Mathematics

Emily M. Lenczowski Hometown: Chicago, Ill. SMI Member Parent: Zak Lenczowski, Dudek & Bock Attending: Loyola University Strich School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill. Major: Undecided

“Thank you for supporting this scholarship program.”

Callaghan-Hart Scholarship Maxwell J. Kahn Hometown: Buffalo Grove, Ill. SMI Member Parent: Joshua Kahn, Perfection Spring & Stamping Attending: University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.

Major: Computer Design

WAFIOS Innovations Scholarship Victoria H. Jones Hometown: Inman, S.C. SMI Member Parent: Travis Jackson, Duer/Carolina Coil Attending: Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City, Tenn.

Major: Psychology

International Spring Scholarship Claudia Morawa Hometown: Willowbrook, Ill. SMI Member Parent: Wladyslaw Morawa, Dudek & Bock Attending: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Ill. Major: Sociology “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your generosity in awarding me the SMI scholarship. I am highly honored and grateful for this scholarship award which will allow me to continue my studies in the health care industry. With this scholarship, your generosity and support will help me focus on my academics without having to worry about the tuition fees.“

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 51

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Myers Spring Gets Fifth-Graders Excited About Manufacturing

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 53

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Manufacturing Daysm is a national movement, executed at a local level by American manufacturers and designed to improve public perception of manufacturing. Although Manufacturing Day officially occurs on the first Friday in October—this year is Oct. 7, 2016—any day can be a Manufacturing Day.

Myers Spring in Logansport, Indiana held its first Manufacturing Day event last year and plans to participate again in 2016.

Jim Parsons, senior vice president and Audrey Winegardner, quality manager, helped spearhead Myers Spring involvement and said the experience was a great boost for the company in its community and among its employees.

Every employee got a free T-shirt to wear for the day, and a company-wide photo was taken at the end to commemorate the event.

For their first event in 2015, Myers Spring hosted 350 fifth-grade students. They plan to host the same age group of students this year.

“The students had lots of questions and it was a really good experience for everyone,” explained Winegardner of the 2015 event. “Most of the fifth-graders, along with the teachers and chaperones, had never had any exposure to manufacturing before our event.”

Winegardner said several students knew an aunt, uncle or neighbor who worked at Myers Spring. “So that was cool because they got to see what someone they know is doing.”

She said it gave Myers Spring the opportunity to present a positive view of manufacturing to both children and adults.

“Sometimes it’s ingrained that if you don’t ‘get it together,’ you’ll end up working in a factory the rest of your life,” said Winegardner. “Instead, we want them to know that if you ‘get it together’ you can work at a factory for the rest of your life.”

The fifth-graders came on buses to Myers Spring and spent about an hour at the plant. To keep things organized and flowing, Myers Spring hosted 75 students per hour and had them divided into three groups of 25.

Parsons said 25 students spent time at display tables where they could touch and feel Myers Spring products.

“It gave them a chance to understand the products we make, pick them up, hold them and play with them,” he explained.

Another 25 students gathered outside the plant to see equipment where Myers Spring products are used. The outdoor display included a John Deere tractor, a Honda vehicle

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 55

What surprised the fifth-graders the most? “That we are located right here in Logansport and we make springs that go into so many different products. They were just in awe of all the different uses for the springs we make.”

and two Dixie Chopper lawn mowers. Due to the large size, some customers were not able to send equipment.

“One company sent a wall size poster with laminated pictures of their products that show where our springs go

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on their equipment,” said Parsons. “And others sent small assemblies from their machines where it shows our springs.”

The third part of the day for the fifth-graders was a shop floor tour to see machines in action. This group of 25 students were subdivided into three or four smaller groups.

“They were fascinated by the machines and had lots of questions,” said Parsons. He said most of the students wanted a longer shop floor tour because they were fascinated by it. “They saw a brightly lit plant with no grease on the floor, and not a dark, dingy dungeon.”

Parsons said while the state of Indiana promotes the idea that everyone should go to college, “there are those of us who say, ‘You can make a really good living with your computer and math skills, without necessarily going to college by working in a manufacturing environment.’

So I think their eyes were opened to the possibility.”

In fact, Parsons said some of the fifth-graders were ready to come to work right away. “They were ready to stay and didn’t want to go back to school,” added Winegardner with a laugh.

What surprised the fifth-graders the most? “That we are located right here in Logansport and we make springs that go into so many different products. They were just in awe of all the different uses for the springs we make,” said Winegardner. “It’s just fun to get kids excited about manufacturing.”

Some of the fifth-grade groups on the tour were all girls, giving Myers Spring the opportunity to showcase women who work in manufacturing at their company.

Myers Spring currently has 46 employees and Winegardner said it was an event in which the employees enjoyed getting involved. “It was fun for them to show off their work area and what they do every day.”

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 57

“They are the most curious, open and they’ll say anything,” said Parsons with a chuckle about the fifth-graders and the decision to invite them back for 2016. “They were so much fun to bring through last year that we thought it was a great age to work with.”

In addition to Manufacturing Days, Myers Spring has been involved for the past three years with Logansport area schools at the fifth-grade, eighth-grade and high school levels during career days to talk about manufacturing.

“It’s a show-and-tell presentation that includes a video of the manufacturing plant,” said Parsons. They also sponsor financial wellness classes at the high school through financial expert Dave Ramsey.

Myers Spring is excited to once again welcome fifthgraders this October for its second Manufacturing Day. “They are the most curious, open and they’ll say anything,” said Parsons with a chuckle about the fifth-graders and the decision to invite them back for 2016. “They were so much fun to bring through last year that we thought it was a great age to work with. These kids are the future of

America and quite selfishly we are looking for our future workforce.”

Winegardner said this year Myers Spring is putting together gift bags for the all the kids that contain products they make.

“The future of spring manufacturing, and at the size we are, is the ability to compete for future employees. It is critical to our survival,” explained Parsons. “Manufacturing Day is a great way to build rapport with and give back to the community, and to ensure that for the long haul we’ll continue to be around. We’ve been here for 70 years and we want to be here for another 70 years. This is just a fun and encouraging way to do it.”

To learn more about Myers Spring, visit www. myersspring.com. n

More About Manufacturing Day Manufacturing Day is an annual national event that brings together thousands of manufacturers to host students, teachers, parents, job seekers and other local community members at open houses designed to showcase modern manufacturing technology and careers. Last year more than 2,600 events attracted over 400,000 participants. A panel of co-producers comprised of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing Institute (MI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and guest producer Industrial Strength Marketing (ISM) provides the centralized support necessary to coordinate this nationwide array of simultaneous events. The Science Channel is the event’s media partner and Edge Factor is the event’s strategic content partner.

To learn more about Manufacturing Day, visit www.mfgday.com.

58 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 59

Announcing the opening of a new wire production facility in San Jose Iturbide, Guanajuato, in the heart of the automotive area of Mexico.

This expansion continues the SG focus of increasing our global footprint with local production close to our customers to offer greater flexibility and shorter lead times.

Initially this 12,000 sq meter facility will have the capacity to produce 3600 MT, and expand to more than 12,000 MT at full production levels. The prime output will be oil tempered valve quality wire for the high demands of the engine, clutch, and transmission springs industry, but it will also produce high tensile OT wire for other spring applications.

Construction of this built-to-suit facility will commence in Q2 of 2016 and production will start in Q1 2017.

With the completion of this plant in Mexico, SG will have six wire producing facilities around the world: Garphyttan Sweden, South Bend USA, Suzhou China, Leeds England (KTS), San Jose Iturbide Mexico, and the Suzuki Metals plant in Narashino, Japan.

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Springmaker Spotlight

From Poultry to Precision Springs: A Profile of Joe Goldberg and International Spring Co.

By Gary McCoy, Managing Editor

C

hickens and turkeys were part of Joe Goldberg’s heritage growing up in Chicago.

There was no barnyard to raise fowl in the urban landscape of Chicago in which he grew up, but there was a family business to join. Polo Food Products was a thriving business that bought birds from farmers to be processed. Goldberg assumed he would be part of the family business throughout his business career, but destiny steered him in a different direction and Goldberg ended up in the spring industry.

After graduating from Chicago’s Von Stueben High School in 1947, Goldberg attended the University of Illinois and later the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He went on to spend three years in the U.S. Navy before joining the family business in 1955.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 61

When asked how he gauges success on a personal basis, Goldberg did not hesitate.

“The first word I would say is ‘integrity,’ the second word I would say is ‘integrity’ and the third word I would say is ‘integrity,’” he said without hesitation. “I don’t think it has to do with material things, I think it has to do with how you live your life. You can build up a great reputation and kill it in a second by some stupid move.”

He worked at Polo Food Products until 1968, when he and his father sold their interest in the business. In 1969, Goldberg went from selling chickens to making springs when he purchased International Spring Company in 1969.

“Spring chickens,” he interjected with a laugh.

Goldberg bought the business from three of the remaining group of five original owners, Polish-born springmakers who started the company in 1921.

Making and selling springs was a whole new world for Goldberg, who became the second owner of the company that celebrates its 95th anniversary this year.

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Goldberg points out that International Spring’s current monthly revenue exceeds the annual amount the company was generating in 1969 when he became the owner. “So we’ve had pretty good growth over the years.”

About 15 people worked at International Spring in 1969. The company now hovers around 50 employees, but before 9/11 they had a workforce of more than 100.

Originally started in the heart of Chicago, International Spring moved to its current location in Morton Grove, Illinois (a near suburb of Chicago) in 1981.

The history of the company includes the acquisition of the then 45-year old Detroit-based Warnock Spring in 1988. After nine months of being in two locations, International Spring moved Warnock Spring to Morton Grove and purchased a second building close to its main facility to accommodate the new business. Dedicated manufacturing space between the two companies is 53,000 square feet with room to expand.

Warnock Spring continues to focus primarily on providing springs and metal parts to the automotive industry, while International Spring has a more diverse customer base in the material handling, recreational, appliance and medical markets, making torsion and double torsion springs, compression springs, wave washer/flat form springs, wire form springs, rings, extension springs and assemblies.

International Spring owns CNC coiling, wire forming and wave forming equipment, and has an extensive spring grinding operation. “No fourslide machines,” explained Goldberg.

Treat People as People At age 86, Goldberg continues to run International Spring. He says the business philosophy he follows is what he describes as “simple.”

“We make high-quality products at competitive prices with an on-time delivery record. We treat all customers as if they are part of our team and our company, and we are fair to all of our employees, all the time,” explained Goldberg.

“It’s very simple, ‘Treat people as people.’”

Goldberg says a lot of his business philosophy came from working with his dad in the poultry industry. “It was a very competitive industry and our accounts were New York Stock Exchange listed food companies. We pioneered the further processing of turkeys and chickens.”

Polo Foods no longer exists, and to Goldberg, working there was a “great experience,” but something that he doesn’t think about much anymore.

One of the things Goldberg continues to think about are the challenges of running a spring company. He says in the past five years the biggest tests he’s faced has been combating the increase in labor and overhead costs, and the inability of customers to accept these increased costs.

“Our bigger customers still want more and they demand discounts,” he explained.

“The only exception to this is the small companies that we make special parts for in small quantities and special bends. These are not huge quantity orders, but they will accept a three to five percent increase.”

Goldberg has also noted a change in buyers, many of which he says treat springs like a commodity item. “There are a lot of young buyers who are so computer-oriented they don’t necessarily know what a compression spring is. All they know is they have an order and need a three percent discount.”

Goldberg’s son, Brett Goldberg, has worked with him at International Spring for nearly 25 years now and serves as the company’s general manager.

“Titles around here don’t mean that much since we are a small company,” said Brett Goldberg. “I do a lot of the day-to-day stuff and work closely with the production team and the plant manager. I also do a lot of customer service, purchasing and basically whatever needs to get done.

“Joe raised me in this business to believe if you’re kind to someone else, they should be kind to you and vice versa,” explained Brett Goldberg. “Twenty-plus years ago it wasn’t so cutthroat, and customers would at least listen and you could pass along a portion of your increased costs.”

He went on to say, “The culture has changed and it makes it very difficult to be in business. Customers demand 125 percent quality with no defects 100 percent of the time, but seem to want to cut your throat regarding prices.”

In the ultimate compliment to his father, Brett Goldberg says, “We’ve had to give money back to our customer base every year for a long time now. But being a long time student of his, Joe knows how to do it better than anyone else.

Joe can make money when no one else can.”

“We’ve survived a couple of customer bankruptcies, and we’ve survived because of the way Joe runs his business. It’s difficult to be in that environment all the time, but it’s worth it and that is Joe’s biggest legacy to me and everyone else. No one knows how to do it better than Joe.” Goldberg quickly turned to Brett and says, “Thank you.”

While discouraged by changes in customers, Goldberg is still optimistic about the future.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 63

A plaque on the wall at Joe Goldberg's office commemorating the 64 he shot to establish the course record at the old location of Twin Orchard Country Club near Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

64 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Giving Back International Spring is a member of SMI and CASMI. Goldberg has served on both boards of directors and is a former CASMI president.

Goldberg said “people” are what he likes most about the spring industry.

“I think you’ve got a good group of people, friendly competitors,” said Goldberg.

He’s enjoyed seeing the improvement in equipment to make springs. “I think the industry has done a fabulous job with new technology. It’s amazing what spring machines can do now.”

Giving back though scholarships is an ongoing cause for Goldberg. He was influential in getting scholarship programs started at both SMI and CASMI. At SMI, Goldberg sponsors the International Spring Scholarship which annually awards two students $2,000 each.

“The only reason I talk about scholarships is I grew up with charity,” explained Goldberg. “I took over a family foundation that started in 1951. I’ve built it up fairly substantially to make it succesful. As a family foundation we give a lot of money to children’s causes, especially special needs children, health and medical organizations and other worthy causes.”

The foundation was started by Goldberg’s father as a way to give back. Goldberg said during the time his father ran the poultry business, each employee received a chicken every Friday. The company also shipped in turkeys from its Indiana plant so workers received one at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

With over 1,000 employees that was a huge payback.

“We’ve survived a couple of customer bankruptcies, and we’ve survived because of the way Joe runs his business.

It’s difficult to be in that environment all the time, but it’s worth it and that is Joe’s biggest legacy to me and everyone else. No one knows how to do it better than Joe.”

Family Matters While Brett Goldberg is now legally Joe Goldberg’s son, it wasn’t until the age of 42 before that remarkable change took place. For the first 42 years of his life, Brett Goldberg was known as Brett Nudelman.

Joe Goldberg married Sheila June 14, 1979, when Brett was young and for many years Brett asked Joe to adopt him.

“I had a biological father who wasn’t really a father,” said Brett. “Joe came into my life at the age of seven and he was always a father, as a father should be.”

Brett said the two had a close relationship growing up.

“I always said to Joe, ‘Why can’t I be your son?’ I was always a stepson.”

When Brett’s biological father died 17 years ago, his bond with Joe grew even deeper.

On Father’s Day 2011, Joe and Brett agreed that it was time to make the adoption official.

“We went through the process like you would if you were adopting a child at a much younger age and we had a good lawyer to help make it happen,” explained Brett.

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Integrity Equals Success When asked how he gauges success on a personal basis, Goldberg did not hesitate.

“The first word I would say is ‘integrity,’ the second word I would say is ‘integrity’ and the third word I would say is ‘integrity,’” he said without hesitation. “I don’t think it has to do with material things, I think it has to do with how you live your life. You can build up a great reputation and kill it in a second by some stupid move.”

Goldberg says the entire staff at International Spring is committed to integrity.

Longevity of staff has been a strength for the company, with upper level management employees averaging more than 20 years of service along with many of the employees who work on the production floor.

In his leisure time Goldberg has pursued his No. 1 hobby of golf, which he started at the age of eight.

“I was very fortunate,” said Goldberg. “My dad bought me three clubs, along with a driver and putter and a little canvas bag for $12 at Walgreens.”

Shortly after he learned to play, Goldberg says his father joined Twin Orchard Country Club in 1936. The club was founded in 1924 near what is now O’Hare International Airport. With the expansion of the airport, the club moved to Long Grove in 1951.

One of the proud mementos on the wall of Goldberg’s office is a plaque commemorating the 64 he shot to establish the Twin Orchard course record when it was still located near O’Hare.

Goldberg continues to be a Twin Orchard member and has a special golf “man cave” at his home where he can comfortably watch televised golf tournament play.

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SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 65

66 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

as his role model with an exclamation point. “He is my teacher, my father and my best friend.”

In addition to Brett, Goldberg has two sons, Steven Goldberg, who works at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Richard Goldberg, an emergency room doctor. His stepson is Judd Nudelman, Brett’s younger brother, a special needs teacher at Chicago’s Senn High School. The Goldberg family includes nine grandchildren.

Retirement As with many people who are older, Goldberg has seen many friends pass away in the past year. “I feel very lucky to still be alive and active, and to keep doing what I want.”

Goldberg hopes to play more golf, which to him would be at least two or three times a week during the season.

He keeps busy working out with a personal trainer a couple of times a week and walking on an exercise machine both at the office and at home.

He believes in an active lifestyle, citing people who have retired and have become “feeble.”

Goldberg has no immediate plans to retire. “As long as my body holds up and my mind is still clear I want to continue to work.” n

©iStockphoto.com/kertlis

One thing that Brett Goldberg insisted upon was that if the adoption would become official he would change his last name from Nudelman to Goldberg. It was also a decision that Brett’s wife, Pam, daughter, Hannah and son, Zachary embraced.

“My wife and children also wanted to change their name to Goldberg, which is really I feel the ultimate legacy to Joe that I could give him,” explained Brett Goldberg.

A surprised judge made the adoption official in October 2012.

“The judge said that this was the first time he had handled an adoption like this,” said Goldberg. “It’s usually when children are really little.”

Brett Goldberg said the adoption process is a “tribute to both of our feelings on how we feel about each other, and it was almost like a natural thing as far I was concerned. It really solidified my relationship with Joe.” He went on to say, “It proves to me and to the outside world that you don’t have to be a biological father to be someone’s father. Anyone can be a biological father, but to be a real father involves a lifetime of work and involvement; that’s how much Joe means to me.”

In his “Snapshot” profile that appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of Springs, Brett Goldberg listed Joe Goldberg

Book Corner ©iStockphoto.com/kertlis

The One Week Marketing Plan

W

hat role does marketing play in your company and how effective are your efforts in gaining new clients? There’s no doubt that getting in front of the right prospects while making an effective pitch is often the recipe for success. The time and energy expended to chase new clients can leave many frustrated and longing for more.

“The One Week Marketing Plan: The Set & Forget It Approach for Quickly Growing Your Business,” is a new book

by Mark Satterfield. He is the founder and CEO of Gentle Rain Marketing, Inc. “Too many companies rely on existing clients to send new business their way,” says Satterfield. “This strategy subjects you to the whims of fate. You’re at the mercy of whatever random company happens to come knocking. You must stop what you’re doing and chase the new lead, whether they’re really right for you or not. It’s exhausting and, frankly, not very effective.”

In his book, Satterfield explains exactly how to end this perpetual pursuit of new business and bring high-quality prospects to your doorstep. His stepby-step, “set it and forget it” system is something he says anyone can put in place in five days.

His five-point philosophy is intended to dispel what some business owners think about marketing: 1. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, time-consuming or confusing.

2. You can have a highly effective marketing system up and running, doing what it’s supposed to be doing, in a week.

3. The key is to focus on a system rather than a series of unconnected activities.

4. Ultimately, successful marketing is all about developing relationships first and selling things second.

5. Anyone can do this.

“We’re told marketing is hard,” says Satterfield. “That it requires weeks of

One Week Marketing Plan Steps: Day 1: Choose Your Niche Market.

Day 2: Create Your Free Offer.

Day 3: Create a Website for Your Free Offer.

Day 4: Develop a Series of Drip-Marketing Messages.

Day 5: Get Traffic to Your Website.

brainstorming, months of analysis and years of consistent implementation.

To succeed in marketing, you need the fortitude of General Patton, the genius of Don Draper, and the cash reserves of Warren Buffett. Wrong. One week.

That’s all it takes for most businesses to dramatically improve their marketing.”

Satterfield does admit that in reality it may take you more than a day to execute each major step. “And if takes a bit longer, that’s not a problem. Just make sure you don’t let inertia place its hold on you.”

Even if you don’t follow his steps or find them effective in part one of his book, Satterfield has a lot of great practical advice in part two on how to “boost” your marketing efforts. He likens it to Jamba Juice that offers a “boost” to your mango smoothie that makes it more powerful, either to fight a cold, improve your immune system or even make your brain work better.

He suggests experimenting with one boost per month after implementing the One Week Marketing Plan. The advice covers blogging, social media, joint ventures, video marketing, direct mail and how to write a killer news release.

I do like the fact that each boost Satterfield presents has a complete “here’s

precisely how to implement this” information. With his approach you have a chance of turning a good idea into reality.

As someone once said, “Capitalism is just the process of coming up with a product or service someone else wants at a price they find acceptable. Nothing more, nothing less.”

A simple approach to marketing is refreshing. Readers will find some great ideas in Satterfield’s book to help build a marketing plan to help define their unique product or service to the marketplace. n Book reviewed by Gary McCoy, managing editor.

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

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 67

wongwean/Shutterstock.com

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Global CTE News Highlights

Dudek & Bock Prepares Young Workers for Manufacturing Careers

D

udek & Bock Spring Manufacturing Company is celebrating 70 years in business during 2016. This is not only exciting for the company but also for future generations. This also means that many of the company’s baby boomer generation of workers is fast approaching retirement, which leaves Dudek & Bock with the question of how to fill positions and continue to grow in the next 70 years.

Dudek & Bock was established in 1946 in Chicago by Joseph Dudek and Stanley Bock (see complete Springmaker Spotlight article on the company in the Winter 2016 issue of Springs).

Originally a two-man startup, the company has grown to over 500 employees and three locations.

Through its Chicago and Mexico locations, Dudek & Bock produces over 300,000,000 components a year. Dudek & Bock specializes in springs, wireforms and stampings and has added welded assemblies to their line of products.

Dudek & Bock has entered a new era with young adults interested in manufacturing, but who have not been able to gain the skills necessary for the trade. Due to the shortage of skilled workers, Dudek & Bock has become proactive in helping young people gain skills for a lifetime.

“If the young are ready to learn, I am ready to teach and share my knowledge with them,” explains Richard Gorecki, Dudek & Bock’s tool room supervisor.

Kathy Dudek, special projects coordinator and wife of Dudek & Bock president John Dudek, has joined the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council (CMRC) to discuss apprenticeship and different programs to help educate young people about manufacturing. Also participating are the Chicago Federation of Labor, Triton College, Manufacturing Connect and JARC (Jane Addams Resource Center).

The Manufacturing Renaissance is an independent nonprofit organization working to rediscover,

redefine, and rebuild advanced manufacturing in the economy. Manufacturing Renaissance champions advanced manufacturing as a foundation for sustainable, middle-class communities.

The innovative and practical programs foster economic stability, social well-being, and environmental stewardship.

On Wednesday, April 13, 2016, discussions and tours were held at Dudek & Bock’s Chicago headquarters for the members of the CMRC. “Giving our employees and the future generation the opportunity to thrive in their own careers gives us great satisfaction. Our founder’s vision was to give our employees the opportunity to be successful, and that has always been my goal as well,” explains Kathy Dudek.

To learn more about the Chicagobased Manufacturing Renaissance, visit mfgren.org or call 773-278-5418. n

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 69

©iStockphoto.com/seraficus

Wire can be the difference between a good day and a bad day.

Your high-performance products depend on high-performance suppliers.

Trust ISW for wire that’s up to the challenge.

Count on ISW for: • Competitively-priced carbon, stainless and non-ferrous wire and strip • More than 400,000 sq. ft. of warehousing in North America • Innovative logistics management services • Expert materials knowledge • Custom wire and strip services For quality wire products backed by unmatched dedication to your total satisfaction, visit www.industeel.com or call us today.

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70 SPRINGS CA / Summer 2016 Los/ Angeles 800-767-0485

Bristol CT 800-767-4792

Chicago IL 800-767-0408

Cleveland OH 800-767-4434

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Inside SMI ©iStockphoto.com/seraficus

Use SMI’s Magazine App Convenient and easy to use, SMI developed an app for Springs magazine last year. It is available for Android and Apple devices. Be sure to search under “Springs Magazine” or “Spring Manufacturers Institute” at the App Store (IOS) or Google Play (Android).

The app began with the Winter 2015 issue and provides archives of each issue going forward. Each article and advertisement provides convenient hyperlinks to websites and email addresses.

The Running Lions basketball team gathered for a photo after their Indiana Special Olympics championship win in April. Jim Callaghan is pictured back row, far right with his team, which includes his son, Sean, #13.

SMI Congratulates Jim Callaghan for Special Olympics Achievement Jim Callaghan, executive vice president of Lee Spring and longtime SMI volunteer and board member, has volunteered his time to coach Special Olympics for more than 22 years.

In April 2016, his Special Olympics basketball team, the “Running Lions,” captured the Indiana state championship in their division with a thrilling 31-29 victory.

Callaghan supports SMI with the Callaghan-Hart student

scholarship and has provided valuable assistance on financial matters to the SMI Finance Committee. He is currently a member of the SMI Trade Show Committee.

Callaghan wishes to thank Joe and Brett Goldberg of International Spring who helped provide financial support for a Special Olympics athlete in Cass County, Indiana where Callaghan lives.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 71

New Membership Video SMI premiered a new membership recruitment video at the 2016 SMI Annual Meeting in Dana Point, California. The video, at just more than three-and-a-half minutes long, is titled “Power Up Your Business Through Membership in SMI.” The video features testimonials from Linda Froehlich, co-owner of Ace Wire Spring & Form Co., Bill Betts, president

and COO of Betts Company, and Jackie Zenhye, director of marketing and product innovation for Fenn.

“Our new video visually demonstrates to those who are not part of SMI the valuable benefits of membership,” said Charly Klein of Fox Valley Spring, who serves as chairman of the SMI Membership Committee. “SMI is a great resource

for those in the spring industry for information, training and networking, and a secret to success that even more springmakers and suppliers need to know about.”

To watch the video, visit the Spring Manufacturers Institute page on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/SpringMfrsInstitute or at the SMI website www. smihq.org.

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72 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Inside SMI

SMI President Addresses European Spring Federation Mike Betts gave a presentation on the state of the U.S. economy and the spring industry during a meeting of the European Spring Federation (ESF) in April as part of the wire 2016 trade show in DĂźsseldorf, Germany. At the time of the presentation, Betts was a short time away from being installed as president of SMI. Representatives from many parts of the world also gave presentations on the economy and the spring industry in their country.

In addition, SMI sponsored a cocktail reception during wire 2016 at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia hotel. The hotel served as the headquarters hotel for SMI members who participated in the trade show. n

Above: SMI president Mike Betts addresses the ESF. Left: Betts, SMI immediate past president Hap Porter and SMI associate member Daniel Pierre III of JN Machinery had a chance to tour a training center where the spring industry in Germany is training its future workers. Below: Porter and Betts are pictured with members of the ESF board of directors. Wolfgang Hermann (pictured to the far left) is the secretary of ESF and managing director of VDFI (the equivalent of SMI in Germany). In the middle of the picture between Betts and Porter is Michel Fauconnier, president of the ESF.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 73

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Committee Connection ©iStockphoto.com/Studio-Pro

SMI Committees Meet in California

T

he SMI operating committees were out in full force on April 16 during the association’s annual meeting at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Hotel in Dana Point, California.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the items discussed.

Associate: The committee explored several ideas for the SMI Metal Engineering eXpo to be held in October 2017 in Hartford, Connecticut.

These ideas were submitted to the trade show committee and included a request for more educational sessions during the eXpo that would benefit suppliers, such as a primer on export regulations.

Convention Planning: The committee looked at several possible sites for the 2019 annual meeting, including Barton Creek in Austin, Texas, the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (if the meeting is held in the fall), and several tropical locations.

Education Committee: The committee has placed a priority on career and technical education (CTE).

This includes working with local schools for training. The group would also like SMI to consider joining The Manufacturing Institute’s “Dream It. Do It.” program.

The committee would also like to explore working in a more cooperative manner with SMI’s European trade association counterparts, including the ESF and IST. More online learning experiences for SMI members through the website should be explored, as well.

Magazine: The committee looked at several theme ideas for the 2017 issues of Springs. Ideas discussed included: empowering employees,

trade show best practices and customer surveys.

Membership: The committee is looking at ways to increase the visibility of SMI membership through events such as SpringWorld 2016 and the 2017 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo. They are also looking at ways to better utilize the magazine to promote SMI membership.

Regulatory Compliance: Conducting a steering group meeting is a priority for the committee. They are looking for resources to meet the

needs of member companies. They are also looking to identify and verify resource providers for training and safety support.

The committee identified potential topics for the 2017 SMI Metal Engineering eXpo, including “Workers’ Comp Cost Containment” and “Learning Tools for Safety Management.”

They also put together a list of potential safety-compliance exhibitors for the eXpo, ideas for enhancing the SMI website and laid the groundwork for a machine guarding whitepaper.

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 75

Committee Connection

35

Years

76 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

©iStockphoto.com/hüseyin harmandaglı, morkeman, PeskyMonkey

Technical: The committee reported that the SMI-sponsored shot peen/stress relief project is 85 percent complete. The TC 227 committee has completed work on new leaf spring standards and that standards for Belleville washers will be on agenda for the next meeting later this year in Vienna.

The committee is working to establish subcommittees for a Spring Design 101 course, papers for the eXpo and for the spring design software (use and questions). The committee invites qualified candidates to submit their name to SMI for subcommittee consideration.

The committee would like to establish a technical paper repository that SMI members could access.

Spouse: With the next SMI annual meeting scheduled for Amelia Island in 2017, the committee looked at several ideas for a spouse tour. The list included tours of Kingsley Plantation or Cumberland Island, or

a historic tour of the area with antiquing and/or shopping.

Website: The committee met for the first time and came to a consensus that the SMI website needs a makeover.

The committee is working to establish content and what information should

be presented. They are currently soliciting input from committee chairs and working to develop a site map.

For more information or to provide feedback about SMI’s committees, contact Carr at lynne@smihq.org or 630-495-8588. n

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

Keep Forklift Drivers Cool The summer of 2015 was the Earth’s hottest in recorded history, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and record heat is expected again in the summer of 2016.

Workers exposed to extreme heat (both indoor and outdoor) may be at risk for heat stroke, which can lead to serious illness and even death. Forklift operators are especially at risk, since they often perform long shifts in these conditions.

Keytroller, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of electronic safety and weighing devices, has unveiled two products to combat this serious issue:

The COOLTROLLER Dual Fan Cooling Forklift Seat Cushion and COOLTROLLER Double Headed Operator Cooling Fans.

“Employers have a responsibility to protect their employees from the brutal summer heat, but protection also significantly impacts the bottom line, since productivity notoriously slows down during the summer,” says Terry Wickman, president of Keytroller. “Keeping your forklift operators safe from the summer heat ensures better productivity for tomorrow and years beyond.”

Under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) ACT of 1970, employers are required to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” The courts have interpreted OSHA’s general duty clause to mean that an employer has a legal obligation to provide a workplace free of conditions or activities that either the employer or industry recognizes as hazardous and that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate the hazard. This includes heat-related hazards.

COOLTROLLER Dual Fan Cooling Forklift Seat Cushion features: • 16" x 16" seat with two input fans and heavy-duty bamboo platelets for dispersing air out; • 5' cable (12VDC input only) voltage converter required for 24-48VDC vehicles; • On/off switch in line in cable — should be connected to switched power; • Easy to install — simply place on seat or back of seat; • Sized to fit any seat; • Moving air continuously cools driver’s bottom or back; • Low current draw of 3W - minimum load on vehicle electrical system.

• 5' cable (12VDC input only) — voltage converter required for 24-48VDC vehicles; • On/off switch on device with Hi/Lo settings - should be connected to switched power; • Easy to install - mounts to overhead guard, in front, behind or beside the operator; • 100 percent pure copper motors; • Ultra quiet - low noise design <45dB; • 8"H x 3.5"D x 5.5" H. From May 1 through Sept. 1, Keytroller is giving away a free COOLTROLLER with the purchase of every LCD access monitoring system. Visit www.keytroller.com for more information.

COOLTROLLER Double Headed Operator Cooling Fans features: • Dual adjustable position fans — each fan head is independently adjustable (360 degree both horizontal and vertical);

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 77

New Products

New Site for American Contract Manufacturers All American Open Machine Time, LLC (AAOMT) is a new website concept, www.AllAmericanOpenMachineTime. com, developed by a former machine shop owner to provide an affordable advertising and introduction service for American contract manufacturers.

John Benadum, a former machine shop owner, machinist and sales engineer, devised this revolutionary way to establish new customer relationships, taken from the old style of physically calling on a prospective customer and providing the ground work for a meaningful exchange of information. Benadum says many other sites offer mindless bidding on projects without ever getting to develop the supplier/customer rapport. He likes the old way much better.

“Emails, tweets and Twitters have their place, but there is nothing like a good old-fashioned phone call and an actual meeting that cements a relationship.”

There are thousands of machines sitting idle, hence the name “Open Machine Time.” Those machines need to be at ca-

pacity. AAOMT offers an intuitive program that will drive the site to become a major conduit to put American suppliers together with a multitude of buyers. In addition, the company is partnered with www.

ReshoringInstitute.org to help bring our manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. To view Benadum’s latest blog, click on www. reshoringinstitute.org/ research/blog Inquiring engineering minds, buyers and purchasing agents have free and easy access to all the 36 category listings on the site. No registration is required to view the member/ subscribers information.

For a limited time, AAOMT is offering a no obligation, totally free listing for qualified U.S. contract shops and manufacturing service companies. The sub-

scriber simply provides the information to John Benadum via email, or they can opt to use their own existing website to allow for the copy of pictures and text by Benadum and he will do the editing and upload for them. Visit the site and email info@allamericanopenmachinetime.com for details.

HPF Series of Heat Set Ovens HSI introduces the new HPF Series of Hot Press ovens, designed for a variety of applications. HPF ovens heat-set springs immediately before exiting the oven.

There are pins mounted on the strip belt conveyor to hold springs in position on each row.

The conveyor moves intermittently, row by row through the heat chamber, depending on time-at-temperature requirements. Springs are heat-set at the outlet when the conveyor stops. Stop time is variable, controlled by two heat-set timers set to meet requirements (amount of time and seconds for heat setting). Pins on the conveyor can be changed for different size springs, based on a predetermined size range for each oven. Every HPF furnace is customized according to customer’s product range and working conditions.

For additional information, contact Forming Systems, Inc. at info@formingsystemsinc.com or 269-679-3557. n

78 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

Save the Date!

is pleased to partner with

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October 3 – 5, 2017 Connecticut Convention Center Hartford, CT

Advertiser’s Index A & D Trading (440) 563-5227. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Admiral Steel (800) 323-7055. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Alloy Wire International (866) 482-5569. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 CASMI (630) 369-3466. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Central Wire (800) 435-8317. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Century Spring, Division of MW Industries (800) 237-5225. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Diamond Wire Spring Co. (800) 424-0500. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Elgiloy Specialty Metals (847) 695-1900. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Fenn/Torin (860) 594-4300. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Forming Systems Inc. (877) 594-4300. . inside front cover, back cover Gibbs Wire (800) 800-4422. . . inside back cover

Industrial Steel & Wire (800) 767-0408. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 InterWire Products Inc. (914) 273-6633. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 JN Machinery (224) 699-9161. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Kiswire (201) 461-8895. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Larson Systems (763)780-2131. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Lucky-Winsun Enterprise 866-23374938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Mapes Piano String Co. (423) 543-3195. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Mount Joy Wire (717) 653-1461. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NIMSCO (563) 391-0400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 North American Spring Tool (860) 583-1693 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Proto Manufacturing (800) 965-8378. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Radcliff Wire (860) 583-1305. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

RK Trading (847) 640-9371. . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 27 Simplex Rapid (563) 391-0400. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Spring Manufacturers Institute (630) 495-8588 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Suzuki Garphyttan (574) 232-8800. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Tool King (800) 338-1318. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Ulbrich Stainless Steels (203) 239-4481. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 United Wire Co. (800) 840-9481. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Vinston (847) 972-1098. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Vulcan Spring & Manufacturing Co. (215) 721-1721. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 WAFIOS (203) 481-5555. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Zapp Precision Strip (203) 386-0038. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

SPRINGS / Summer 2016 / 79

Snapshot ©iStockphoto.com/Tryfonov Ievgenii, nicholas belton

Hannes Steim

Kern-Liebers USA

Name: Hannes Steim Company name, city and country: Kern-Liebers USA, Holland, Ohio.

Brief history of your company: Founded in 1888 in Schramberg, Germany. Established in the U.S. in 1975.

I am a fifth generation family member to be involved in the company.

Job title: President and CEO. Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio.

Current home: Toledo, Ohio.

Family (spouse, children, pets, etc.): A Doberman named Zeus.

What I like most about being a springmaker: The different industries you are in contact with.

Favorite food: Ribeye steak and duck.

Favorite books/authors: Ian Fleming.

Favorite song/musician: “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Bonnie Tyler.

Hobbies: Antique cars, my dog, skiing and flying.

Favorite places: The Alps, San Francisco.

Best time of my life: Jumping out of a plane with a parachute.

A really great evening to me is: To meet with friends and share hobbies.

80 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016 80 / SPRINGS / Summer 2016

The one thing I can’t stand is: Traffic jams.

My most outstanding quality is: Motivating people.

People who knew me in school thought I would: End up in politics.

I knew I was an “adult” when: I came to the U.S. to get my MBA. If I weren’t working at Kern-Liebers, I would like to: Work in the antique car business.

The most difficult business decision I ever had to make was: Laying off people.

I wonder what would have happened if: John F. Kennedy would not have been assassinated.

People will probably remember me for: My passion for old cars.