Review ASM / SME at Tubular Products 01/28/2010

Birmingham SME members invite members from ASM Birmingham to join us for a plant tour at Tubular Products Co. Social time arrival is scheduled for 5:00pm, Thursday, January 28, 2010.

ASM International is a society dedicated to serving the Materials Science and Engineering professions. This is our first opportunity to meet together with this group of professionals from ASM. Let's give them our full support. We are certain to have many interests in common.

Tubular Products specializes in the design, fabrication, and assembly of round and rectangular tubular steel products. Open since 1973, based in Birmingham, AL, Tubular Products Company is a division of Samuel Man-Tech, Inc. Examples of welded assemblies and fabricated components manufactured by Tubular Products include bent tubing, furniture frames, roll bars, canopy supports, frame rails, seat frame components, Engine mount components, and many other precision cut tubing specialty items for industries across the spectrum.

Craig Armstrong, Operations Manager at Tubular, our host is opening the conference room for us to socialize from 5:00 - 5:30p. We'll enjoy light snacks and open conversation. The plant tour should then last for about another hour. Afterwards, we plan to drive together to meet at the Fultondale, Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Please, plan for a $15.00 dinner.

Tubular Products Co.

1400 Red Hollow Road

Birmingham, Alabama 35215

205-856-1300

http://www.tubularproducts.com/

Driving Directions: from I-20/59, take Hwy 79 toward Pinson to Red Hollow Road. Turn left on Red Hollow Road. Take first driveway to the right into the parking lot. Park in the front parking lot, first driveway on the right after turning in. Meet in the front Lobby.

As always, please, remember to bring your PPE - safety glasses. Neither hardhat nor industrial safety shoes are required for this tour. Please, email Blane Vines, blane.vines@bhamfast.com with an RSVP. Brian, Mark, and LaVada are also available to receive your requests.

Sometime during our meeting, we will review our needs for additional Volunteers to step up to assume new leadership roles for 2010. We have considered several opportunities for community participation, including working with the Barber MotorSports IRL event scheduled for April 9 - 11, 2010. Please, consider all suggestions of mutual interest open to group participation. This is your organization, too!

Upon arrival, Rod Dempsey, Reid and several other members from Tubular Products Company walked us through the plant to meet in an upstairs, refinished conference room. Along the way, we passed by most of the production cells and workstations, and we got our first glimpse of the 2nd shift hard at work, manufacturing various jobs for their customers. First glimpse: an incredible amount of production going on inside a clean, modern facilities with many machines and production gear. It's apparant that Tubular competes worldwide to meet the heavy demands for structural tube products.

5:00 - 5:45p we met there in the conference room, introducing ourselves and having light snacks. Members each took a moment to give a brief "30 second standup intro." Then, Blane Vines, our treasurer reviewed several important points, before accepting affirmative votes to accept our SME Chapter 143 2010 Officer volunteers.

Chair - Mark Partyka, Siemens Automation

Co-Chair, LaVada Varner, Alabama Technology Network - ATN

Secretary, Brian Everling, planning to visit Chile for a month

Treasurer, Blane Vines, Birmingham Fastener

Several others SME members, such as Al Hanhauser, Wesley Wolfe, Dewey Duncan, and Guy Carter witnessed the vote, along with our associate friends from ASM.

Blane also reviewed additional, new SME sponsors for the year 2010. Our next blog should show links to our new sponsors. Thank you new sponsors for your support! Then, we talked about several "missions" for 2010.

Rod Dempsey, Project Manager took the floor, reviewing a brief history about Tubular Products, which was opened in 1973 by Charlie Brown & Steve Brown. Today, Tubular Products is a division of Samuel ManTech, a Canadian company. With over 150,000 sq ft inside the plant and over 100 employees, Rod suggested that they're best known for manufacturing "Carrier Coils," aka "large, wire spools for heavy industrial manufacturing."

Several open floor questions led to a better understanding of the various sizes, gages, and types of manufactured products offered at this Birmingham based, tubular manufacturing plant. Then, our hosts walked us about the plant, mingling with production personnel for the next hour. We passed by various cutting machines. We were each amazed to see the number of various dies used amongst manufacturing "just about any type of tube parts requiring additional machining." Another interesting note included watching a specific "rivot hole technique" applied during production.

Thanks, Tubular Products for a great tour! Then, 10-11 of us met for a dinner at the Outback in Fultondale. An excellent evening tour. Hope to see more of you at one of several upcoming tours.

Flagman Request: Auburn Barber Formula1 FSAE

Auburn University Engineering Department is hosting a Formula 1 / FSAE War Eagle Motorsports event at Barber's Motorsports complex on Saturday, January 23, 2010. "Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds and Auburn University's War Eagle Motorsports are putting together a competition practice for University Eligible cars that have passed FSAE tech. Cars will be teched, noised, and braked. Teams will have the opportunity to run through all four dynamic events in one day to practice the demands of keeping up with a competition schedule. AutoX and Endurance will run on Barber's road course. Beginning in 2010, university teams are "sharing" the costs of the event (insurance, ambulance, set-up)," according to Peter Jones, Chief Engineer for the Auburn FSAE team. This is a request for SME members to volunteer to help on Saturday.


At least four (4) of our SME members have volunteered to host our first SME road-course tent event. While there we'll share FLAGMAN and CORNER MAN duties. Sounds like a great time. If you'd like to volunteer to show up at 7:00 - 7:30a Saturday morning, when our training session begins, please, contact Blane Vines - blane.vines@bhamfast.com to make your reservations. As always, we'll have some light refreshments. You may also contact Blane by phone at 205-595-3511 to register.


Auburn War Eagle Motorsports, GTMS Ga Tech, University of Louisville FSAE, and Southern Poly are among the schools invited to compete. FSAE is a Formula 1 understudy division.


Good weather is likely (the probability for snow is low). Bring rain gear if you have the gear. Bring an outdoor chair if you have a comfortable favorite. Blane will be able to send you all pertinent information.


Four SME Birmingham members attended a brisk, windy winter University Formula1 testing & trials competition between War Eagle Motorsports (1 car), GT Motorsports (1 car), and Louisville FSAE (1 car). Our duties, outline approximately 1500 cones around 1.8 mile track with BLUE CHALK. Seven or Eight of us, including 2 Eagle Scouts circled the track, outlining as many cones as practical.


With Approximately 25 volunteers stationed at 17 turns, our job was to serve as "Corner men" and "Flagmen" , to reposition cones, and to radio activity to the control tower. The drivers job included dancing these super-cars around a track, mazed by cones, without tumbling any cones from the BLUE CHALKED BOXES.

Louisville's team drivers seemed to score the better times. Auburn's team drivers improved with every pit-stop, until they seemed to match Louisville's best combination of time less penalties. GT kept engineering the diagnostics on the motor until finding that a high-rpm-idle served them best. All three teams showed well.

All of us met new acquaintances, we all made new friends. We should be able to continue building our relationships with these FSAE Motorsports groups, while helping to support, in some small way, the Major sponsors, such as Honda, Mercedes, and a host of others who have brought FSAE forward.

Food ... yes the food and festivities were excellent. So many people worked many hours to make this trials event a grand showing for active, participating volunteers. We commend everyone involved, especially the student engineers who average working 15 - 40 hours per week, all year for their teams in preparation, engineering, building, breaking down, testing, and trialing their cars.

Any high school student in America with aspirations to become an engineer, especially those considering MotorSports will find a great set of people, all with organizational team spirit and know-how to produce, to compete against over 250 worldwide universities participating in the FSAE program.

SME Birmingham looks forward to future eventful trials with the FSAE and with Barber Motorsports.

Thanks to all of you for a terrific day at the races.

Pictures taken by a GT member, Warren Vannus may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wvannus/sets/72157623169862085/

Thompson Tractor Tour Highlights

We wish to thank Ashley Self, Bob Bacon, and Mike Reuter for hosting our small touring group last Thursday evening. As soon as we arrived, we stopped by the Thompson Power Systems Truck Department to learn about tweaks and power adjustments from their Caterpillar Engine Dyno experts. Thompson Tractor is highly regarded for servicing and repairing the Caterpillar Diesel engines found in over-the-road tractor rigs. Dyno testing is used to test and to adjust fuel, maximum horsepower output, and optimum efficiencies along with finding out-of-tune parts, diagnosing fixes, and settling on a combination that's ideal for the owner and the engine.

After talking awhile over refreshments, we were introduced to the Thompson Tractor family of businesses: Heavy Equipment, Lift Truck Division, CAT Rental Store, Power Systems, and Parts & Service. We found out that Thompson maintains a $25M inventory, retaining 95 - 97% of the parts necessary for service and repair on their shelves, available for on-site service and for immediate repairs. Two interesting forward-in-time-framed videos showed complete rebuilds of tractors. Our hosts further reviewed ongoing training policies and continuing education for service personnel. Thompson Tractor fully supports Heavy Equipment and Manufacturing Training and Educational facilities across the state of Alabama, including the development and participation in a joint-effort Caterpillar University. After a brief introduction to company history and education, our hosts touched on recent growth and expansion before stressing how important all three, employee satisfaction, strong customer partnerships and just as strong supplier partnerships have helped them build a rock-solid service business that should stand for another 50 years.

After a brief discussion answering open questions, our hosts walked us through the main inside service and repair facilities. From presses and exotic machinery used to rebuild canisters of all types and sizes to complete tear-downs, replacements and rebuilds of whole vehicles, we stopped by each station in turn to see from disassembly to reassembly of individual parts, such as transmissions and complete engine assemblies. Along the way, we stopped inside another Dyno Testing room where even the engine oil is analyzed in addition to confirming expected horsepower ratings, fuel efficiencies, and optimum performance. In order to maintain such an impressively clean indoor service depot, parts are complete washed and cleaned upon disassembly at the entrance. Including an environmentally sound, fully enclosed paint booth which serves as the last station and the assembled exit, the whole building was a clean-room. Every employee must be proud of their workspace. We stopped by to take a picture alongside one of the engine rebuilding stations:

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Just before closing for the evening, Bob, Ashley, and Mike took time to show us the fluid testing and diagostics laboratory that must rival the one from the home Caterpillar office in Peoria, Illinois. As we stood discussing farewells and until laters, our SME team invited Thompson to find an employee to begin actively participating with our humble group. We let them know that we are planning future events, such as a tour of the Tuscaloosa Mercedes plant, which should be a joint tour with the Mississippi SME membership, as well as other tours throughout the central Alabama region.

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If your company would consider hosting a tour for the Birmingham SME Chapter, or if you wish to join us on our adventures, please, email Blane.Vines@BhamFast.com for more information. For more information about the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, please, log on to http://www.sme.org/.

Thompson Tractor tour 08/27/2009 5 - 7 pm

Thompson Tractor looks forward to hosting the Birmingham SME group on Thursday afternoon, 08/27/2009 from 5:00 to 7:00pm. The event will take place in the Building 1 Auditorium, located on the east side of the Highway 79, Tarrant facilities at 2401 Pinson Hwy, Tarrant, AL 35217. The tour will target the Component Rebuild Center of Thompson Tractor along with the Caterpillar Certified Rebuild process, including a look at contamination control, the flow of materials, and internal processes developed from years of experience.

Planned Schedule:

5:00 - 5:30 Welcome

5:30 - 5:45 Thompson Tractor Company overview

5:45 - 6:00 Society of Manufacturing Engineers overview

6:00 - 7:00 Thompson Tractor Company facility tour

Thompson CAT is the full-line Caterpillar equipment dealer serving Alabama and panhandle Florida and represents Mitsubishi Caterpillar forklifts across most of Georgia. This Tarrant campus is the corporate headquarters for Thompson Tractor.

Please, bring Safety Glasses. Membership, please, RSVP. If you would like to join us for this tour or if you would like to join us on future tours, email BrianE@PrecisionGrinding.com or Blane.Vines@BhamFast.com for more information. Please, consult http://www.sme.org/ for more information about the SME and the benefits of being associated with our group.

July & August SME Plant Tours set

Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa has invited SME Birmingham members to tour their Steel Production facilities on Thursday, July 30, 2009 from 4:30pm - 6:30pm. Early arrival for Social time begins at 4:00pm. Please, report to the Guard Shack. There you will be given a brief safety introduction along with directions to the meeting building. For those who choose to socialize afterwards, Dinner will follow at Wintzell's Oyster House from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Dinner costs are $20.00 for members and for guests. Please, RSVP email to Blane.Vines@BhamFast.com in order to confirm your reservation to dine with us. As always, we would like an accurate count of attendees for our hosting restaurant.

With a business philosophy committed to safety, productivity and profitability, Nucor maintains strong business ethics while promoting excellence in environmental stewardship. Nucor has always been committed to producing superior quality. Demonstrating their committment to leading the industry, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa was the first mill in the US to install Steckel Mill machinery, leading the whole steel industry toward improving production efficiencies while reducing costs. This new innovation provided a better technological implementation for incorporating "scrap steel" into the production process, while also maintaining higher flatness standards and greater consistencies for their plate products. Jon Walton, a Process Metallurgist will be conducting the facilities tour.

Directions: Go to http://www.bing.com/maps
Nucor: 1700 Holt Rd. NE, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
Wintzell's Oyster House: 1 Bridge Ave., Northport, AL, 5 miles SW (on the Banks of the Black Warrior River)

Please, remember to bring your PPE Safety Gear: safety glasses, hard-hat, steel-toed boots.


Thompson Tractor Company has invited us to tour their Tarrant facilities on Thursday, August 27, 2009. Thompson CAT is the full-line Caterpillar equipment dealer across Alabama and panhandle Florida and represents Mitsubishi Caterpillar forklifts across most of Georgia. While Thompson has always stood tall promoting Safety, Training, and Construction Partnerships, today, additional attention is being devoted to Promoting Environmental and Energy efficiencies. This Birmingham / Tarrant, Pinson Valley Parkway (Hwy 79) location is the corporate headquarters for Thompson Tractor. Details about this event, along with a time to meet is forthcoming.

Please, remember to bring your Safety Glasses for this tour.


Please, consult http://www.sme.org/ or email BrianE@PrecisionGrinding.com if you would like to know more about SME Chapter 143, Anniston, Birmingham, Gadsden, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Jan 27, 2009 Lawson State - Bessemer Meeting

Lawson State Community College Bessemer Campus will host the Birmingham SME Chapter meeing from 4:30pm - 6:00pm on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009.

Donnell Perry, Manufacturing & Engineering Instructor along with Nancy Wilson, Division Chair are graciously hosting our meeting. We look forward to hearing about their growing Manufacturing Curriculum, especially about their latest explorations into Manufacturing Robotics.

The Ethel H. Hall Automotive Building Auditorium, labeled as #4 on the campus map http://www.lawsonstate.edu/Campus/Bessemer.pdf is our meeting site. This is a 4Mb pdf file.

Take I-59 to Exit 108, Academy Drive. Go east toward Bessemer Super Highway 11. Turn north (left) onto Hwy 11. Less than 1/2 mile ahead on the left is the Lawson State - Bessemer campus. The Ethel H. Hall building is clearly labeled on the .pdf map. Please, visit http://maps.live.com/ and type in "Academy Drive Bessemer AL" to find an excellent map.

We will hold Elections for 2009 Posts. All members are welcome to volunteer for a position. Tina Brudnicki, our Southeastern Coordinator for SME plans to attend to help us formulate a solid 2009 gameplan. A light dinner will be served.

Expect to meet a few additional guests.

Brian Copes from Calera High School's Shop Rat program may be looking for partners to help build better relationships from Shop Classes to Manufacturing Education courses offered at Alabama high schools, Alabama small colleges, and the manufacturing community. We applaud Brian for having already enlisted over 100 manufacturing companies toward helping his shop rats with Auto Manufacturing.

If you would like to meet with us, please, send us a note. We will be happy for you to join us.

Questions?
Please, contact Brian E., BrianE@PrecisionGrinding.com or 942-2491. Or contact LaVada V., lvarner@atn.org or 616-9766 for more info.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers Chapter 143

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Chapter 143 Intro

There are three (3) active SME Chapters within the state of Alabama, in the Huntsville area, the Birmingham area, and the Montgomery area. The Birmingham, Alabama SME Chapter 143 includes members from the Anniston, Birmingham, Gadsden, and Tuscaloosa areas. One-half of our membership recently agreed to hold formal meetings and to tour manufacturing plants together. At our January 2009 meeting, we plan to elect officials and to discuss formal SME business.

We have a very strong core of Volunteer individuals whose organizations are also offering their support to help us make our chapter stronger, including Alabama Technology Network - ATN, BAE Systems - Land & Armaments Division, Benchmark, Birmingham Fastener, Honeywell ES & S, Motion Industries, Precision Grinding, Quixote Energy Absorption, and Siemen's Energy & Automation. We have already toured two plants together and we attended a LEAN Manufacturing presentation at the Jefferson State Community College campus in Hoover.

On December 9, 2008 we visited the Land and Armaments Division of the world's premier global defense and aerospace company, BAE Systems. Fifteen (15) members were joined by another five (5) non-member visitors, including one who drove in from Anderson, SC. From Atlanta, Dr. Ronald A. Bohlander, Chair, 2008 SME Member Council brought an associate Research Engineer from the Manufacturing Research Center at Georgia Tech to talk with us about strengthening our program offerings and building our leadership team.

The Manager of Operations for the Anniston facilities helped to direct a team of ten (10) hosts from BAE Systems. Along with offering an introductory presentation about their company from its historic roots in the 1800's to current worldwide production capacity spanning all of the continents, they were able to show us how they're integrating LEAN manufacturing principals into their new 12-station line for retrofitting a group of military vehicles that have been in production for years. The tour walked us from casting finished parts from hot, round billets to their newest assembly line. BAE Systems engineers and designs complete systems, manufactures many of their own parts from raw steel, such as steel plate and rounds, and assembles and/or retrofits these military vehicles for their lifespan, until they become obsolete.

Along with a follow-up article about our tour to BAE Systems, we will also begin to post regular articles about our local chapter.

If you would like more information about SME Birmingham Chapter 143 or membership with SME, please, contact our editor, BrianE@PrecisionGrinding.com or visit http://www.sme.org .