(Excerpt from
the upcoming book on Robert Slass, Founder of Rotor Clip Company, a successful
US manufacturer of retaining rings)
“…Companies should be
in business for the long term to compete successfully and provide jobs. To do
this, constant improvement is necessary.” Turning Deming’s Points into Action, by Robert Slass, Industry Week,
June 20, 1988.
The 1980’s saw the rise of Japan as an economic powerhouse
and an innovator of products and services. They perfected methods of production
and succeeded in manufacturing quality goods at very competitive prices. This
gave Japanese companies a strong advantage in selling everything from
automobiles to consumer electronics. Many industries that enjoyed sole
domination of their respective markets for many years were suddenly scrambling
to stay in business.
Bob watched these events with great concern. He was
particularly troubled by companies that had been in business for a lifetime
suddenly selling out or dissolving into bankruptcies. If Rotor Clip was to avoid
a similar fate, it had to readjust to the changing manufacturing picture.
Of all the quality ideas circulating in the automotive
industry at the time, Bob was most drawn to W. Edwards Deming. His view of continuous
improvement and Statistical Process Control fit with Bob’s own philosophy that
quality should be the number one priority in his manufacturing operation.
Deming developed his techniques in the US in the 1920’s. But
his breakthrough came when he was invited to speak to the Japanese Union of Scientists
and Engineers (JUSE) to help in the reconstruction of that country after World
War II. From June through August 1950, he trained hundreds of engineers,
managers, and scholars in statistical process control (SPC) and concepts of quality. Deming
was so well received by the Japanese that the “Japanese Economic Miracle” that
soon followed owed its success in large part to Deming. To show their gratitude
the Japanese industrialists instituted the “Deming Prize” for excellence in manufacturing,
an honor that is still revered in Japan to this day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming.
But Deming’s concepts were slow to catch on in the US. After
the war, our factories were more concerned with filling orders than struggling
to learn the quality techniques espoused by Deming. We were still sorting parts
“after the fact,” not developing “in-process” checking techniques like SPC to
detect and correct errors before bad parts could be made. This complacency was
short lived as Japanese companies (inspired by Deming) introduced products like
automobiles that were perceived by American consumers to be of higher quality than
their domestic counterparts.
By the 1980’s, American manufacturing responded to the
threat. Bob led the retaining ring industry in this effort by re-vamping his
Quality Assurance department and adopting some of the principles outlined in Deming’s
14 points:
1 Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product
and service.
Bob continuously improved his die designs to produce parts in high volume and reduce
costs. He instilled awareness in all Rotor Clip employees that quality was
everyone’s concern.
Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building
quality into the product in the first place.
100% inspection was replaced by automated measurement of critical characteristics
like thickness and free diameter. Operators monitored production processes with
mini computers to detect negative trends and stop production before bad parts
could be made.
Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
Training became an ongoing effort at Rotor Clip especially cross training to
ensure knowledge and best practices were shared by all.
Improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly
decrease costs.
Wire material needed to coil retaining rings was brought in-house to be
annealed and shaped so as to control quality and improve production. Bob also
utilized technology purchasing a CNC and an EDI machine in the 1980’s along
with three laser machines in the 1990’s to increase productivity while improving
quality and decreasing costs.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming)
Bob’s efforts paid off as Rotor Clip became one of the first
suppliers to receive a GM SPEAR 2 (SPEAR was an acronym for Supplier
Performance and Evaluation Reporting) in 1985. Earning a “Spear 2” rating meant
that your company was “self-certified”; i.e., parts were considered of high
quality, bypassed inspection and went directly to the GM production line.
Other quality accolades soon followed including the Chrysler
QE (Quality Excellence) award in the same year, the “Ford Q1” designation in 1986,
and the GM “Mark of Excellence” in 1989.
Bob Slass had firmly established Rotor Clip’s reputation as
a quality source for retaining rings that continues today with our current
quality designations: ISO/TS 16949: 2009, the worldwide automotive quality
standard, and ISO/AS9100C, the aerospace quality standard.
Joe Cappello
is Director of Global Marketing for Rotor Clip Company. If you would like to
continue to receive excerpts from his upcoming book on Rotor Clip and American
manufacturing, click here and e-mail him your request. He'll
add you to his mailing list for updates.
With the help of $70 million from the RAMI Act and $200 million in private investment, as well as resources provided by the University of Illinios, DMDII hopes to become a place where the research-heavy world of 21st century digital tech meets the infrastructure of US manufacturing. Multiple projects are slated to use DMDII as a way of finding new ways to integrate new advances in tech, like smart data or personalized software, into existing machinery and roles for employees. Here, UI's vocational program-UI Labs-can also test new methods, gadgets, and products that may move from the student mind to the factory floor much faster than before. Make no mistake, however; DMDII is not serving as an extension of a university, so much as a makerspace for multiple organizations that span different industries. The hope is that by sharing space and resources, people and firms alike can enjoy more industrial cross-pollination. Out of collaboration, successful ideas can be practically implemented faster and on a larger scale. A documented 20 projects have already been submitted and 5 have been approved for funding, with the expectation that they will not only result in success, but success that can be mimicked in other cities and environments.
