OSG's Blog for

OSG Corporation held a press conference today at the Hotel Arc Riche Toyohashi to announce its sponsorship with Astroscale, a Singapore-based private space company founded in 2013, on the world’s very first in-situ micro satellite “IDEA OSG 1” to collect and monitor data on sub-millimeter sized debris in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) region in real-time.

The mission of the “IDEA OSG 1” sponsorship aims to contribute to the sustainable use of the space environment by actively developing solutions against space debris. OSG’s corporate tagline “shaping your dreams” summarizes its passion for new challenges and commitment to assist clients accomplish their goals. With the new “IDEA OSG 1” mission, OSG strives to utilize its know-how and resources to protect the environment beyond earth, shaping your dreams for space.

Featured Employee: John Taylor

Title: Pacific Northwest District Manager

Tenure with OSG: 3 years

John Taylor was named OSG’s 2015 Salesman of the Year. He is a rookie with just 3 years of experience in sales at OSG. You are probably wondering if he really has what it takes to be the top salesman. What makes him different is that he utilizes various people to further his knowledge. When he wasn’t making calls and customer visits, he listened and asked questions. Yes, it is that simple.

For John, a coffee break with a colleague can turn into a training session. “One time I spent 3 hours at Starbucks with an indexable expert from OSG to learn milling techniques, trouble shooting and calculations without realizing how many hours have passed,” said John.  He believes that’s how he gets better at selling even if it requires tremendous time and effort. “I pushed myself out of the comfort zone to grow through failures and successes,” said John.

This top salesman doesn’t stop pushing himself further. He is already on a mission to achieve his next goal. “I would like to become an expert in indexable tooling,” said John. “Its versatility and complexity of the industry excites me.”  

1. Manufacturing jobs are low income jobs.

On average, manufacturing workers earn $77,060 yearly while other average workers earn $60,168. According to Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 20% of workers with technical certificates earn more than the workers with Bachelor’s of Arts degrees. 30% of workers with associate’s degrees make more than the workers with four-year college degrees. Even 20 years after graduation this stays true.

2. Manufacturing jobs are blue-collar and low skilled jobs, so they are only for “certain” people.

Manufacturing jobs require creativity, innovation, analytical and problem solving skills. You will be surprised to see how challenging and high tech manufacturing jobs can be especially when you get involved in R&D. According to the Manufacturing Institute, 80% of manufactures are experiencing a skills gap. Their applicants are not skilled enough to perform in production positions that require high levels of critical thinking. The majority of manufacturers help their employees pursue higher education while they work by providing financial help.

3. Manufacturing jobs are dirty jobs with oily floors and noisy machines.

Nowadays, manufacturing has also turned into a high-tech industry. Machines look very modern, and are operated with computers and touch screen key boards. Shop floors are clean and shop temperature is controlled to maintain product quality. The days of the dirty floors and miserable shop conditions are a thing of the past!

On the first Friday in October annually, MFG DAY leads the way to inspire future manufacturers. Its missions include addressing stigmas of manufacturing by encouraging current manufacturers to show what the modern manufacturing really is like. Many manufactures joined its effort and held numerous events this year to invite students from high schools or technical colleges. According to a post-event survey conducted by MFG DAY, as a result of their efforts and collaboration with manufacturers, 81% of students believe that manufacturing jobs are both interesting and rewarding, and 71% of students want to tell their friends and families about manufacturing. By motivating and educating students, we are shaping the future of manufacturing!

Sources:

http://www.mfgcareers.org/mfg/parent.asp

http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/15/stem-education-meet-the-new-manufacturing/

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865641859/Why-bluecollar-jobs-prevent-some-students-from-seeking-highvalue-career-paths-in-college.html

What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of manufacturing jobs? Some of you probably imagine a dirty shop floor and oily, noisy machines. Sadly, this is what most of the people think of manufacturing. However, the College of DuPage (COD) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois has been trying to debunk this myth about manufacturing by showing interested students what manufacturing really is. As part of this effort, COD hosted their 4^th annual Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Expo last week at their Technical Education Center (TEC).

Over 200 students from 9 local high schools visited the expo and interacted with 15 vendors who came prepared to provide information about their businesses and discuss potential career paths. The students also received a tour of the beautiful machine shop at the TEC.

As we continue to embrace the mission behind MfgDay which is to inspire the next generation of manufacturers, OSG volunteered to participate in the COD expo as a vendor and talked to the students about our company, available career paths and internship opportunities. OSG district sales manager, Matt Dahlberg, also shared his experiences from his career. Matt graduated from Technology Center of DuPage and started in manufacturing as an apprentice at a local die mold company. Over the past 13 years, Matt progressed in his career to CNC machinist, CNC machine programmer, then CAD/CAM designer and most recently to OSG district manager. In his present position, Matt applies his years of manufacturing shop floor experience to help his customers cost effectively and efficiently manufacture their parts with OSG drills, taps, end mills, indexable cutting tools and thread forming die products.

Nowadays, most high schools encourage and prepare students to attend 4-year-colleges after graduation. Fenton High School in Bensenville, Illinois also focuses on sending students to 4-year-colleges, but the technical education teacher, Ben Nelson, decided to take his students to this year’s expo. “I want to make my students realize the variety of career paths available to them,” said Nelson. “Matt’s career path is eye opening for kids because average kids do not know such a career path is actually possible.”

On the other hand, the technology and engineering program at Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois focuses more on developing students’ practical skills. Andy Rupnick, technology and engineering teacher at Lake Park High School said, “We are pushing career readiness.” The school has just opened a new innovation center which houses 10 brand new manufacturing machines. The new facility is used to accommodate 5 sections of classes in manufacturing and 4 sections of classes in engineering. Rupnick said he has a large number of students who are interested in a manufacturing career.

Associate Professor of Manufacturing Technology at COD, Jim Filipek, taught a class during the expo that shared with students the advantages and disadvantages of a manufacturing career. He said it is important for us to be honest with the students and to tell them how manufacturing jobs really are.

“A manufacturing career is not glamorous, and you do not dress up to go to work,” said Filipek, “but it gives you job security with a thick wallet which replaces being glamorous.”

OSG wants to help change the stereotype of manufacturing as a dirty shop floor environment and to share the rewarding job opportunities available to today’s students through our involvement in the community and with these technical school programs. In order to be successful, we understand that manufacturers share the responsibility with educators to inspire students to consider and pursue manufacturing careers. In the long run, this is essential to the future of American manufacturing.  

Current Situation

David Whitmire, OSG district manager, has been covering a sales territory in Texas and Oklahoma for 9 years. He has witnessed both the best and worst days of the energy industry. Since the price of oil per barrel has recently reached record lows, our economy and oil field manufacturers have been severely affected. An increasing number of layoffs and downsizing at companies has occurred in the area. During this down time, some oil field manufacturers started to do their homework by reconsidering their machining processes as an avenue to cut costs. This has opened up some new opportunities for OSG in David’s territory.

One of David’s customers is a large pump housing manufacturer in the oil field industry. During the industry slowdown, the company wanted to be proactive, so they invited OSG and a local distributor to host a tap trouble shooting seminar. During the seminar, David showed them the OSG EXOTAP® A-Tap® and EXOPRO® Mega Muscle® drill videos. These videos drew a lot of attention as they showed A-Tap® and Mega Muscle® products surpassing speeds and feeds of competitors’ tools. This company produces 50 to 60 parts after spending over 625 hours machining per month. David decided to perform tool testing with his local distributor to help the company improve productivity and cut costs.

Tool Testing/Solutions

Material: 4140 Modified Alloy Steel

Results

Test 1 demonstrated a significant advantage of the A-Tap®. Even if it ran at the same speeds and feeds with the competitor’s tap, the A-Tap® was able to produce 25% to 40% more pump housings and to reduce costs by $22 per tool versus the competitor’s tap.

Tests 2, 3, 4 and 5 showed that OSG’s taps and drills ran at faster speeds than the competitors’ tools, and the A-Tap®, VXL Tap and Mega Muscle® products were able to reduce the cycle time by 23 minutes. In addition, the A-Tap® and Mega Muscle® machined 5 times more parts than the competitors’ tools did.

Tests 6 and 7 have not been completed, but David is confident that the WDO® drills and PXD drills will reduce the cycle times even more. By using OSG’s taps and drills in their operation, David predicts that the company will be able to reduce at least 21 hours of machining time per month!

Thursday, October 15^th is National Get to Know Your Customer Day! In celebration of the day, OSG wants you to share what you manufacture with our tools. Join our “Getting to Know You” campaign to get an OSG rolling cooler (while supplies last)!

The campaign starts on Wednesday, October 14^th and ends at noon (CT) on Friday, October 16^th.

How to Participate

Facebook:

Twitter:

Featured employee: Herb Vazquez
Title: Engineering/Production Control/Inspection Manager
Tenure with OSG: 25 years

For Herb Vazquez, Engineering Manager at the OSG Parma Facility, his career hasn’t been on one straight trajectory. It has been more like a jungle gym where you can climb up to the next level using different paths to get where you want to go. Herb has held 5 different positions in his 25 years at OSG. He served as a production control coordinator, Engineer Assistant, Jr. Designer, Customer Service Coordinator and Systems Engineering Manager prior to his current position.

“Change is good,” Herb said smiling. “Having been exposed to different facets of our company has helped me understand our business from different perspectives,” he added. With his diverse knowledge and experience, he is able to lead and assist not only his engineering department, but also other departments to make OSG a stronger team.

In his personal life, Herb also has experienced a positive change a few years ago when he became a father. “The entire experience of becoming a parent for the first time has been the greatest occurrence in my life,” said Herb. “Even during the most hectic days, I try to take time out to do something that recharges my family battery.” Herb and his family enjoy traveling to see the different parts of the world. “Stepping outside of your comfort zone by going to unfamiliar destinations is a liberating experience unlike any other,” said Herb. “Our new goal is to learn and explore new cultures.”

Generating codes for complex machining couldn’t be easier with ThreadPro, which has eliminated the hassle of having to “enter data as text, copy and replace.” The configuration of multiple paths, which was not adjustable before, has been greatly simplified to enable the easy creation of zero cut programs. In addition to multiple feed (machining at each cutting edge length), single feed (1 pitch per cut) is also available, which is ideal for machining high hardness materials. Last but not least, with the capability to review machining trajectory, trouble-free tool movement can be confirmed to minimize tool damage.

The new ThreadPro is available in 12 different languages and supports eight NC programming languages. The software incorporates “RPRG” value to reduce setup, machining time and achieve stable tool life.

Click here to download!

Happy Manufacturing Day!

We believe that manufacturing programs of technical schools are vital to train a skilled manufacturing workforce and also to provide a viable career for students.

Find out what OSG can do to help get more young people interested and prepared for careers in manufacturing technology.

Happy Tooling Tuesday!
Ever wondered how many phone calls and emails customer service reps receive per day? Tooling Tim interviewed Krista and Veronica from OSG Customer Service team to find out more about their job!

Do you still have some questions? No worries, Tooling Tim is hosting an ALL DAY Q&A session today to answer all of your questions. You can ask any question by commenting on the video on Facebook or by tweeting with #ToolingTim on Twitter!
Don't forget to Like and Follow Tooling Tim on Facebook and Twitter!