AMP

Advanced Manufacturing Partnership

Near the beginning of 2012, Anderson Global embarked on a journey with three other companies – Paragon D&E, AutoCAM and Tooling Systems Group.  The mission, seeded by the Talent 2025 Board Members and supported by Grand Rapids Community Collage, was to ignite an interest in Advanced Manufacturing and attract talent from Grand Rapidsand the surrounding cities.  The outcome was the conception of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership.

The journey began when the aforementioned companies partnered up, put their heads together and asked: In addition to our current means of building an internal workforce, are alternative avenues available to recruit, employ and educated talented people from within our communities?

The first step, with help from GRCC, was to identify a curriculum that would prepare individuals to be successful within the manufacturing community.  After which, the question was “how do we advertise and get the word out?” The solution was to produce a video in conjunction with the four AMP affiliated companies and GRCC to showcase what Advanced Manufacturing looks like.  Once completed, the video was broadcasted thru local television stations and posted on GRCC’s website. In conjunction with this video based marketing tactic, each company reached out to surrounding high schools to encourage their students to take the next step, which was to attend an open house sponsored by Paragon D&E and supported by GRCC , Ferris State and the remaining three AMP companies. The open house, which took place on the shop floor of Paragon D&E was a success, with over 200 in attendance. From Anderson, John and Betsy McIntyre, along with Dan Arends and Fred Longcore were there, our new Sales Booth was set up and information regarding the strength of Anderson and US Manufacturing was exchanged.

The open house spawned over 45 interested candidates, who in turn had to be eligible for the program by having a minimum ACT score of 18 and Work Key of 4. These minimum scores allowed the candidates to proceed to the next step which was aptitude testing held at GRCC on May 22^nd. Those who passed the aptitude testing were eligible for one on one interview with representatives from each of the companies. Forty five interviews were conducted at GRCC over a three day period, from which seven candidates were identified as a good fit for Anderson. The seven were then reviewed by the Andersons Apprentice committee members and from those seven, Collin Butler and Connor Kilpatrick, were identified as our top picks, and an offer was then extended to both Collin and Connor to visit Anderson. Their afternoon visit encompassed job shadowing within the different departments and divisions of Anderson Global and Anderson Express. This time was not only used for the Anderson team to evaluate the two but also for Collin and Connor to evaluate us, after which it was their responsibility to make selections as to which AMP sponsoring company they wanted to work for. Fortunately for Anderson, their decisions were unanimous, in that Anderson was the tool shop of choice.

Both Collin and Connor were then offered jobs contingent upon completing then again more testing in the form of our standard hiring format that includes aptitude testing at the Muskegon Employers Association, which they both passed with stellar results.

The summer is almost over; fall classes are ready to begin and the rest of the story remains to be written.

What does the future hold for the AMP program? This is a fine question, one that will answer itself in time. Being a “Pilot” program several determining factors form the foundation for which its success will be realized. As a group we are confident in the long term validity of this program and hope in the upcoming years the number of sponsoring companies will grow, which will in turn strengthen the stronghold of Western Michigan’s workforce and subsequently aid in the building of our own internal team.

I want to personally thank all those who were involved in the job shadowing process, for I truly feel credit should be given to those individuals who represented what a differentiating culture we have here at Anderson. It’s the mentality and culture of each and every team member that will continue to fuel the success of this company and write the pages of our future.

Henry Ford once said “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself,” and I truly feel, what this industrialist felt, is exactly what we experience daily.

Fred Longcore

KPMC announcement

GM Bedford Letter

Bob Becklin, our Supervisor at Anderson Global was featured in a recent United Way publication.  Besides Bob’s personal dedication, Anderson Global and Anderson Express has donated $133,200.00 since 2006!

Click to Download PDF of United Way Brochure

Since 1999 Anderson Employees annually pass the hat for both Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to help those in need in Muskegon County.  A social committee made up of both union and non union employees organizes the annual holiday campaigns that provides complete Thanksgiving meals for senior shut-ins and Christmas for several area families.

Each year organizers work with Muskegon’s Senior Resources to obtain a list of senior shut-ins in need at Thanksgiving.  The Social Committee’s goal has always been to help seniors who aren’t able to provide and prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal on their own.  This year Anderson Employees raised $1,223.00 and delivered 24 meals to area seniors.

Meals are ordered from an area grocer and come with a whole precooked turkey and all the fixings:  potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberries, rolls, and a pumpkin pie.  Plumbs Stores was selected the past several years to prepare the meals.  We thank Plumbs for giving us a significant discount, which in-turn allowed Anderson Employees  to help even more seniors.  Employees and their families deliver the meals the day before Thanksgiving.  Since 1999 employees have provided and delivered Thanksgiving dinners to 198 shut-ins and their families.

Each Christmas the Social Committee passes the hat and employee generosity allows the group to adopt several families with the help of Every Woman’s Place in Muskegon.  Employees and their families then donate their time by shopping for the adopted family members and wrapping all of the gifts they’ve purchased.  Other employees contribute by helping to deliver to our adopted families a few days before Christmas.   When all is said and done, each family we adopt receives gifts for each family member, a  filled stocking, and a complete Christmas dinner.  This year Anderson Employees raised $2,365.00 that provided Christmas for three families in need.   Since 1999 our group has raised a total of $29,940 and supplied Christmas for 24 Muskegon County families.

Another charity near and dear to Anderson Employees is the Muskegon Rescue Mission for Women & Children.  Any extra funds remaining after the Thanksgiving or Christmas campaigns is donated either by  a monetary gift to the mission or gifts for the children residing at the mission at Christmas.  This year Social Committee members went shopping and delivered over $440 worth of toys and gifts for the children a few days before Christmas.

Anderson Global employees are true giving champions.   Year after year they selflessly donate their money and time to support those in need in our community.

General Motors GM Uzbekistan General Director Juergen Spendel discusses powertrain components at the General Motors Powertrain-Uzbekistan, on October 23, 2011, with U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton.  She is viewing Cylinder Head castings produced from Anderson Global tooling for the 1.2-1.5 L semi permanent mold.

While it may be true that no North American company can compete with the lower wages paid to workers in the developing world, on many other levels, North American plastic injection mold manufacturers are prospering. There are many North American plastic injection mold manufacturers who have taken on the future very successfully. Their approach may vary, but the common theme is technology and lean manufacturing.

One successful method is to use the lower labor costs in developing countries, while maintaining control of the projects stateside. These manufacturers control the injection mold design and complex manufacturing and employ the skilled workforce abroad for other operations. One tactic is to specialize in an area of tooling not yet threatened by foreign companies. Highly complex parts, medical parts, proprietary parts, or otherwise specialized parts are all good candidates.

Many plant owners have benefited from the flexibility of using software to manage their business. Sticky notes, scratch pads, fly-away papers just don’t run a business today! Managing your operations in an integrated manner can have a huge impact on your business.

One thing is for sure, the need for flexibility in the workplace has never been greater. Those who refuse to change run a very real risk of simply watching their business disappear. There are a great many programs out there, such as 5S, Lean Management, Six Sigma and many more. These can be a large help, if followed closely.

The fact is that global tooling competition is here to stay. It is pointless to try and remain isolated and work with the old ways. Technology and communication just won’t stand still for anyone. Companies that take on the new marketplace and work with it, rather than against it, often discover that new opportunities present themselves; and hopefully the profits will follow! Of course, all new methods entail risks, but the rewards can be well worth it.

Some great feedback I recently received.

Hey Al,

Our instructor John told me yesterday that you guys have one of the best collection of users he’s trained in quite a while.  Delivering training to roughly 40—50 different customers a year and having been in this business for over 20 years, I’d say that’s a nice compliment.   He said specifically “these are some of the best users I’ve seen”.

Feel free to pass that along to your team and feel good about your users skill sets (you’d be amazed how poor a majority of our customers skill sets are in general, even at larger companies with giant training budgets).

There wouldn’t be much more to cover for these guys outside of some assemblies perhaps, according to John’s feedback, but I’ve asked him for more details there, – it was a quick email to me last night.  I’ll get back to you on that thought.

Have a great weekend and let us know when and  how we can be of service to you again in the future.

Eric Koder | Education Specialist
TATA Technologies
www.tatatechnologies.com/training

Very often, when somebody is trying to understand how the plastic injection molding process works, they are referred to a detailed explanation of the mechanics of an injection mould and molding machine. This is an interesting and fascinating topic, to be sure, but there is another aspect to this process that needs to be addressed.

Most people probably never really consider just how all the plastic products they use each and every day are manufactured. This is understandable, because few people have had an insider’s look at a mould making or molding facility.

Just consider for a moment how many professions are involved in for example, creating a cell phone. First, somebody had to come up with the idea, and then they had to find somebody to analyze the feasibility of pursuing the idea.

Marketing experts, industrial designers, artists, prototype mold makers, plastics engineers, molding technicians, injection mould makers, mould designers and process engineers are just some of the professionals that could get involved in these simple projects.

This does not include the electrical engineers, all the countless people involved in the electronic functions, the apps engineers, the commercial artists, and the quality engineers required to bring such a commonplace item to market.

On top of this, consider that this may be done on a global market scale. Parts are made anywhere these days, designs can be done in India and sent electronically to Michigan, the mould manufactured in China, molding done in Mexico, and the marketing done in New York.

It is the same with the injection molding process. Your injection molding machine could be from Canada, the plastic materials from the USA, the mould from Europe and the hot runner system from Brazil. There is just no way to escape globalization. The best way to compete is to meet it head on and find the ways to achieve the final result.

Plastic injection molding and mold making are two of the most challenging and rewarding professions there are. It is a fast paced world, always progressing and full of opportunity for the motivated person to keep up with.

Many obstacles and challenges appear, from the injection mold design, to the mold making, inspection and molding defects. And that’s one reason professional manufacturers are here to help you every step of the way!

Sharing.  For me, the word has been around a long time and my first memories of its use were because I had something my sister wanted.  I was asked to share what I had with her.  From my early memories of that experience, I don’t remember sharing making me feeling exceptionally good, rather it meant giving up something I had, so someone else could enjoy it instead. As a young lad, I don’t remember feeling like I wanted to share much of anything with my sister, unless of course it was her sharing half of her warm cinnamon roll with me.

Times have changed.  In recent years sharing has become an important word / icon on many computer screens.  In particular, the sharing of computer screens and voice conversations with others simultaneously has opened up channels of communication never dreamed possible by the lad who didn’t want to share with his sister back in the 50’s.  Sharing is a beneficial activity in today’s product and tooling design engineering world. It has become so convenient share that you simply want to do it.

Sharing can be accomplished in many ways. For example, asking a person from the neighboring cubicle to step over and see your latest creation on your computer screen is simple and effective.  Calling someone on the phone and sharing a conversation to discuss and resolve a particular issue is also simple and effective. There is nothing new about that, right?  In today’s world it is becoming common place to combine not only these two simple examples, but to add multiple computer screens and phone callers from anywhere on the globe into an online sharing session via the internet.  We call these “online meetings.”

For many of you, “online meetings” may be the routine, however the benefits of these meetings are nothing less than exciting!  I am regularly a part of design review meetings where the team consists of product designers, process development experts, as well as tooling experts.  The theme of these meetings is the engagement of product design ideas with the realities of the process and tooling world, ultimately leading to a happy marriage that efficiently produces high quality production parts.

A typical meeting starts with an invitation sent by email to all interested parties.  The invitation shows up in one’s calendar when accepted.  The invitation contains login information to initiate a computer connection using the internet as well as a phone number where all participants can call into.  All parties are then connected to hear one another simultaneously, while looking at the “presenter’s” computer screen.  The computer screen of anyone currently logged into the meeting can then be shared with the group so anyone with something to share can share it with all. Think of the benefits in developing ideas and more functional designs when the people that have a stake in the project are all connected in this way, saving time, money and increasing the pleasure of brainstorming ideas.  This eliminates much travel time for those who would need to leave their offices and travel to a common destination.  This is huge! Although sometimes necessary, travel time is not usually productive time.

There are some practical guidelines that make this type of meeting most effective.

1. Like any meeting, there should be a stated purpose and a target end time, with all conversation directed towards that purpose.
2. It works best to have a moderator with an agenda and issues log distributed ahead of time.
3. Courtesy takes on a different twist because you can’t readily “see” who may be starting into a paragraph of comments.  It is possible for two people to just start speaking at the same time.  Be sensitive here and introduce your remarks by asking if you can have a minute for a comment before you start a lengthy disertation.
4. Mute your phone if you are not directly speaking.  It reduces background distractions.
5. Pay attention. Just because you are not facing someone in a meeting, you may be called on at any time for input.
6. Include at time at the end of the agenda for “round table” so everyone know they will have an opportunity to bring up one last thing if needed.

There are several products available that enable one to use the internet in this way.  The software that I’ve used are:      a.) Gotomeeting, b.) Livemeeting, and c.) WebX.  Gotomeeting has a nice feature in that the internet opens a VoIP (voice over IP) connection where you can simply use the mic and speakers on your laptop to utilize the audio portion, along with the shared computer screen.  This is nice because it saves on telephone costs.

It is important to mention that you only need to purchase this software / service if you want to initiate the online meetings. When you receive an invitation, there is no cost for you to log on.  When you respond to an invitation for the first time, your computer will ask for permission to download a small software utility which is required for you to connect.  This is safe and is required for your computer to connect to that service on the internet.

Now that your appetite has been stimulated, have you ever been in any of the following situations?

1. You are talking with someone about a particularly confusing problem and the words just don’t seem to express the thoughts adequately.  Your words keep banging into themselves, so you say, “just a minute, I’ll send you an invitation.”  In less than 3 minutes you are looking at pictures of the problem and illustrating the solution.
2. You are concerned about the progress on a project and are not able to travel across town to review it.  You send out a couple of online invitations, requesting your team members to convene online so they can present data to illustrate the progress.
3. You have a completed 3D design and the time frame to build the tooling is short.  You are anxious to get started, but are uneasy about the complete design being approved for build.  Several people have to review it and there is no time….  Send an invitation to all parties involved and do an online review with all stake holders.

Sharing online is easy, efficient and beneficial to the success of any program. Sharing brings benefits to all.  My appetite is stimulated.  Would you share that piece of chocolate cake with me?  I’ll share my ice cream with you.