Management

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2020-04-22

Happy Earth Day!

Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. It was fairly big news for me back in 1970 as one of its founders was a U.S. Senator from my home state...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2020-03-11

Finding Future Superstars

Fans of American football have moved on to the next phase of their pre-draft preparation: digesting the advice of hundreds of experts on which play...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2020-03-04

Scouting for New Talent

American football fans are currently assisting the human resource departments of their favorite professional clubs in evaluating potential employee...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-12-03

A Sprint to the Finish?

You take your eyes off the calendar for a moment and find yourself with only a short count of days before 2019 comes to an end. This seems to be tr...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-09-12

Where Did All the Dealmakers Go?

An old business associate called the other day with a training request. To the best of my knowledge, he’s among the last “manufacturer’s representa...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-09-03

Public Education

A friend asked me how I could have kept busy designing gears for so many years because; all of those needed were certainly designed by now. This co...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-08-27

Honoring Anachronisms

Who hasn’t imagined themselves on the deck of a magnificent sailing ship? (On the deck; only crazy people dream of risking life or limb up in the r...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2019-08-20

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services Introduces Digital Supply Chain Technologies

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services is continuing its digitalization offensive with the introduction of a flexible IT infrastructure for smar...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-08-08

Polishing the Crystal Ball

Few people enjoy cost estimating and pricing exercises. I have blogged about this topic before but thought it was worthy of another look ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-08-06

Finding New Vendors

Record low unemployment rates have some unforeseen consequences. My home county’s rate has not been this low in many years, yet the residents do no...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-07-25

Gear Origins: Reinventing the Family Business

Sometimes the old family recipe needs updating… My husband’...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-07-16

Watching the Chips Fly

It was a real treat to spend a day at a gear shop this week. After all these years, I still enjoy watching a round blank get transformed into a gea...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-06-06

History for a Worldwide Audience

Baby Boomers (as American kids born between 1946 and 1964 are called) learned a lot about World War II. From Pearl Harbor thru the atomic bomb drop...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-05-21

My Origin Story: James Richards

James Richards’ entry int...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-05-09

My Story – Bob Handschuh

Most of us only think of NASA with regard to the “S” [Space] in its acronym. The first “A” [Aerospace] is just as important to its mission of s...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-05-07

Dave Hinz — My Story

Sometimes there is a “gear guy” lurking inside an ordinary engineer. Risking the embarrassment of a poor result on an unexpected “pop quiz” was...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-04-11

Humble Beginnings

Ed Kaske’s origin story illustrates that it does not matter how you get into the gear t...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-04-09

Ed Kaske — My Story

Ed Kaske was one of the first to respond to our request for origin stories. I apologize for the delay in getting this to print; we liked it so ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-03-28

What Does Dudley Say?

Another giant of the gear industry — Darle W. Dudley (1917-2003) — is still influencing new engineers today through his writings. The very first ge...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-03-07

Coaching Trees

March Madness is upon us once again, that wonderful tim...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-03-05

Fitting the Pieces Together

It occurred to me recently that my request for “origin stories” may not have been inclusive enough. As an engineer, I tend to focus on the technica...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-02-26

Old Soldiers

Almost every week, it seems, we read of the passing of ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-02-07

Seeing Through the Spin

Two different high-profile news stories have really flipped my “curmudgeon” switch this week. It irritates me that the general public is distracted...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-01-18

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Chris’ account of p...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-01-18

Getting into the Gear Trade: Chris Trochelman

Here is the first of our guest blogs on the topic of how you entered the gear trade. Chris Trochelman (pictured above, fa...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-01-10

The Journey Continues

An apprentice ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-01-08

Luck of the Draw

Forty-eight years ago, I was fini...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-12-18

Why Would I Want to Work for You?

Why are some jobs more attractive than others? Why are some organizations able to succeed with “players” cut from other companies? Why are some pla...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-12-04

Dealing with Obsolescence

Emerging technology gets lots of coverage in all forms of media; obsolete technology is still the backbone of our economy. Self-driving vehicles ex...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-11-13

Marking the Trail

Anyone who has moved understands the importance of marking boxes with both contents and location. One of the great things about our online

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-10-30

New Things in an Old Box

To conclude our loo...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-10-09

Where to Next?

We have devoted this year to going over fundamentals of gear and gearbox design and manufacture. Before we move on to other topics, I would like to...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-10-02

Necessity as the Mother of Invention

When you offer rebuilding service...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-09-20

Frequently Asked Questions

Backlash “adju...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-09-04

Gearbox Design: Let the Fun Begin

It is perfectl...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-08-02

Gearbox Specs: Connecting to the System

Your specifica...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-03-22

Worm Basics - Part 2

Continuing our discussion of the “least you need to know” about worm gearing: 5. Efficiency is highly variable for worms. If it is critical to y...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-11-01

Strategies for Building Your Business

In this issue's column, Joe lays out the basic truth for most manufacturing companies: If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2017-10-25

Gear Expo Day 1

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-10-22

Automation, Regulations and Job Creation

Robots, self driving cars, and artificial intelligence are popular topics in business publications. Depending upon the writer’s perspective, they a...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-10-05

How Much Education is Enough?

My last posting may have left you thinking I was anti-intellectual. Far from it; my point is that education is fundamentally different than trainin...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-10-03

Education vs. Training

Buried deep within the never ending debate on job growth is a fundamental misunderstanding on the difference between education and training. I am a...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-09-28

Is There a Future in Gears?

I have several vivid memories of my first week as an apprentice back in 1971. One was the shock of getting a printout from Human Resources in my fi...

VOICES | 2017-09-01

Why Monitor My Power Consumption

At first, monitoring the energy I use at my plant or the energy for each individual machine seemed trivial. Isn't this just an overhead cost I have to pay? I'm certainly not going to turn off a machine that costs too much to run when I have to get a job out for that month. Then, I realized how much savings there was for monitoring power consumption and the ROI was timely.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-09-01

The Valued Troublesome Employee

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that finding skilled people to work in your manufacturing facility is no simple task. But after finding them, and investing in the development of their abilities, what happens when one of them - an employee your company really needs - becomes a troublesome employee? This is among the trickiest situations a manager can face.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-07-28

A New Quoting Model?

Anyone actually enjoy quoting? For such an important part of daily business the process of establishing prices to offer a customer seems universall...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-07-20

Authority and Responsibility

We all got a lesson in leadership from that unfortunate collision between a U.S. Navy destroyer and a container ship off the coast of Japan. The Na...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-07-01

You Cannot Rely on Labor Efficiency Reporting

In manufacturing, we all know that tracking statistics on your operation is essential for understanding how you're doing, as well as identifying areas for improvement. But what does the efficiency metric actually tell you?

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-06-09

A Lesson Learned and Acted On

I have been getting lots of windshield time this year between business travel, house hunting, relocation, and even a few days of vacation. Our fabu...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-06-06

Leadership in the Ranks

As a history buff, certain dates stick in my mind and prompt reflection when they roll around. I first learned about D-Day when they showed The...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-05-30

Leadership or Management?

My last post mentioned the big changes in the gear industry during my 47 year tenure, and the importance of visionary leadership. I have come to un...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-05-18

Summer Jobs

Recent reports indicate that business is picking up in the gear sector so I hope your firm is thinking about bringing on some summer help. The curr...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2017-05-15

Reshoring Initiative Partners with Return One Million Jobs for Reshoring Campaign

Return One Million Jobs (ROMJ) was created to raise $20 million to bring one million manufacturing jobs to the U.S. from offshore. The pr...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-05-02

Invisible Activity

Are you familiar with the “Law of the Farm?” The Law reminds everyone that there are some activities that cannot be rushed. No matter how many trac...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-05-01

Can Lean Manufacturing Kill Your Job Shop

The presidents of two manufacturing companies were having a drink in the lobby before the start of their trade association's annual meeting...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-03-21

Every Story Matters

One of my favorite car enthusiast publications, Hemmings Classic Car, has a monthly feature where readers submit a personal essay on their...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-03-14

Shared Knowledge

If you think you know something, try teaching it. Putting aside the average engineer’s aversion to public speaking, the prospect of organizing your...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-03-01

It Doesn't Matter How Efficient Your Plant Is

To ensure profitability and avoid losses, accurately quoting jobs is the first line of defense.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-02-09

Engineering Economy in 1912

In the same issue of Industrial Engineering that Percy C. Day published his treatise on herringbone gears, Sterling H. Bunnell offered

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-01-12

The Essential Gear Book?

Continuing our discussion of gear training… What one book would you advise a newbie to purchase, read, and keep handy in the years ahe...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-01-01

Business Development for the New Year

It's the New Year, and with it comes the opportunity to take a fresh look at your business objectives. Because business development is such a vital part of running a company, I'd like to present some guidelines I have found beneficial for securing new work and new customers.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2017-01-01

Repair of Large, Surface-Degraded Industrial Gears - a New Approach

This paper presents a new approach to repair industrial gears by showing a case study where pressure angle modification is also considered, differently from the past repairing procedures that dealt only with the modification of the profile shift coefficient. A computer program has been developed to automatically determine the repair alternatives under two goals: minimize the stock removal or maximize gear tooth strength.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-12-13

Job Satisfaction

Every once in a while you need a reminder of why you enjoy your work. This week I got to witness final testing of a...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-12-01

Flexibility and Capability as a Goal

My last blog discussed the age-old question of specialization vs. adaptability. You do not need a long memory to understand just how powerful speci...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-11-17

Energy Policy Thoughts

Our industry makes parts for all different types of energy and transportation. AGMA, our national trade association, was formed, in part, because t...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-11-08

Now the Work Resumes

With the election distraction finally behind us, we can hopefully get back to the very challenging job of building a better world for ourselves, ou...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-11-01

Wither Manufacturing?

In a recent episode of my favorite zombie apocalypse show, SyFy’s Z Nation, a character celebrates the restarting of a hydroelec...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2016-10-18

Two Problems, Two Machines, Two Solutions

Delta’s Investment in New Mitsubishi Equipment Adds Capacity, Reduces Cycle Time Dwight Smith, Vice President, Mitsubishi Hea...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-09-20

Book Reviewers Needed

Every gear engineer ends up with a shelf full of reference books. Depending upon your age and experience level these may be books you bought or boo...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-08-23

Time for the Clan to Gather

Has your e-mail inbox been full lately? It is a sure sign that the International Machine Tool Show (IMTS) is rapidly approaching. This ye...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-07-26

Making Manufacturing Cool Again

Can you remember the first time you saw a gear? I remember seeing gears on a cousin’s erector set crane when I was six or seven. A friend got a slo...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-07-05

What if We Save the World Anyway?

In the midst of a heated discussion on the environment fifteen years ago, my son asked a thought provoking question: “What if we saved the world an...

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2016-06-01

Apologies

I'd like to apologize to the dedicated people working on revisions to the AGMA 925 standard and the Technical Report ISO 15144-1, both of which deal with the issue of micropitting. In the March/April issue of Gear Technology, we published an opinion piece in our Voices column that harshly criticized the methods for predicting micropitting outlined in ISO 15144-1.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-05-12

Down on the Farm

My last posting discussed the problem of finding a technical leader for a gear company. Except in a few emergency situations, such as the sudden de...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-04-26

No Fantasy Draft

Chicago will once again host the National Football League draft for former college players. Millions of fans will tune in to see where their favori...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-04-21

Importing Technology

My last posting on soccer mentioned the industrial sports leagues in Milwaukee. A city of ethnic neighborhoods much like other rust belt towns was ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-31

The Dreaded Schedule Slip

What better time to talk about schedule slip than at the end of the month. Every place that I have ever worked or worked with has a “month end cris...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-08

What Good Are the Leading Indicators?

"Wall Street predicted nine of the last FIVE recessions," Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize winner in economics, 1966. We get a lot more economic news...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-03

When Do We See the Gears?

In 1971, the American gear business was far different from today. I am unaware of any modern company with a formal gear cutter’s apprenticeship; at...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2016-03-01

Plastic Gearing Continues Converting the Unconverted

Plastic gears are everywhere today - throughout your car, at the oceans' lowest depths, in deep space. The question, when is a metal gear a candidate for plastic conversion, can be addressed in three words, i.e. what's the application?

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-12-10

Doing Nothing is Not Without Risk

One last thought before we leave the subject of evaluating incoming quotes — doing nothing is risky. The gear business may seem like a stable, well...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-12-01

Evaluating Risk

Every order a company takes involves risk. Even after they ship, products are subject to warranty claims and, in the event of customer bankruptcies...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-11-19

The Importance of Prompt No Quotes

Before going on an extended blog series on my “points system” for evaluating business opportunities, I want to talk about the importance of issuing...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-11-12

The Price Disconnect

Traditionally, cost estimating is the basis for pricing. I was very surprised the first time a mentor pointed out that the two are often quite disc...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-11-05

You Are Lost Without Records!

The guys who taught me to estimate all had great memories for part shapes, features — even part numbers. It takes years to develop that kind of tal...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-09-17

Questions Should Not Be Disruptive

Continuing my rant on disruptive employees: a few posts ago I mentioned the ill will I engendered early in a new job by questioning the large perce...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-09-10

A Century of Gears

The American Gear Manufacturers’ Association [AGMA] will celebrate its 100^th Anniversary in 2016. The party will begin with the Fall Tec...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-09-03

When Good Employees Screw Up

A friend of mine is the inspection department for a custom machine shop. He is also the process engineer and, occasionally, a machine operator. Rec...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-08-25

Oil Price Quandary

Like most curmudgeons, I can do a five minute ramp on how cheap gasoline was when I was a kid and how outrageous the price is now. Living in Chicag...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-08-13

Sprucing Up Content

Back in 1987 I wrote a book about gears aimed at the novice engineer or purchasing agent. An Introduction to Gear Design was originally a work assi...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-07-09

Passion is a Good Thing

I wrote in my last post about the passion our technical experts feel for the gear trade. Passion, in my opinion, is an underappreciated factor in a...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-06-25

Fact Checks Needed

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-05-05

Building Your Team

The National Football League (NFL) held its annual draft of college players here in Chicago this past week. It is probably the most publicized huma...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-21

Play Through, Old Friend

One of the consequences of growing older is saying good bye to friends you have made along the way. Word reached me this week that one of the best ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-16

Economic Priorities

If you occasionally buy a lottery ticket, you probably enjoy speculating on what you would do with the money. The only assured value of a ticket is...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-14

The Importance of Follow-Up

Job creation has been a popular platform for politicians for as long as I can remember. What seems to be lacking is any sort of “after action repor...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-09

How Much is Too Much?

My inner curmudgeon got loose in the last blog and I want to assure you that I, too, love big horsepower. My concern is that it be applied safely. ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-03-05

Where are Future Gear Guys and Gear Gals Coming From?

[starbox]Social media allows us to keep in touch with a much wider range of people than ever before. Recently one of my wife’s cousins posted a cop...

EVENTS | 2015-03-01

Calendar

The complete technical calendar from the March/April 2015 issue of Gear Technology.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-02-19

Asset or Liability?

[starbox]In encouraging young people to consider a career in engineering, I think it is important to be honest about the current “status” of engine...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-02-10

Uncertain Times

[starbox] While the news media is heralding improved job and income growth, people in gear manufacturing are worried about the security of their j...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-02-05

Alumni Groups

[starbox] I wrote last time about how the Internet has made it easier to reconnect with people you used to know. It has also been a boon to the fo...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-01-15

Studying the State of the Art

[starbox] A few years ago I presented a paper on reverse engineering at the AGMA Fall Technical Meeting. I heard through the grapevine that some f...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-12-09

A Day That Changed the Future

[starbox] I didn’t start working in the gear business until 1971, but the events of 30 years earlier affected me from the moment I walked into t...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-12-04

Overcoming Adversity

[starbox] My last blog concerned project management and the problems of staying on schedule. I thought it only fair to pass on some techniques I...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-11-07

The Importance of Perseverance

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-10-09

Bad Career Moves

My e-mail correspondent was worried about making a bad career move. Since it is unlikely that people starting out in the gear trade today will work...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-10-07

Spamsters be Damned — We're Bloggin' Here

[starbox] The anticipated, two-way dialog for this blog has been hampered by persistent spammers trying to scam their way onto t...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-09-30

Creativity Makes Us Human

[starbox] The final quarter of my performance review system measures the creativity a person brings to their job. Some might argue that many jobs ...

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2014-09-01

Cracking the WIP

Over the past few months I've talked with several different gear manufacturers who are in the process of upgrading their gear making equipment with modern CNC machine tools. Each of these manufacturers has come to the realization that in order to stay competitive, he needs to streamline operations and become more efficient...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-08-28

Specialization is for Insects

[starbox] The sports world was abuzz recently over a girl pitching her Little League team into the World Championship Tournament. For some this ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-08-14

The Problem of Certainty

[starbox] In writing about unforeseen consequences there is a risk of inspiring such conservatism in design that the resulting product is no lon...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-08-07

Calmness Under Fire

So far, I expect my ideal “leader” to have commitment and vision. A third requirement is calmness under fire. While my life has been blessedly free...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-31

Management vs. Leadership

[starbox] Recent posts about the management training “movement” of the late 20th century got me thinking about why those efforts — no matter how...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-10

If You Are Going to Make Buggy Whips…

[starbox] If you are going to make buggy whips, they better be good ones. That is the lesson I took away from reading about hundred-year-old Wis...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-01

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

[starbox] If ever a situation cried out for a short, texting-friendly acronym it is the unavoidable problem of “You don’t know what you don’t kn...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-06-20

The Invisibles: People Who Keep Shops Running

[starbox] I happened to catch an interview with author David Zwieg about his new book, The Invisibles: The Power of Anonymous Workers (...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-05-29

What Defines Success?

[starbox] The last of my uncles died this week. In my parents’ generation he was considered a successful man, despite not having a college degre...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-05-01

So How Much is This Going to Cost?

[starbox] Estimating is a necessary evil in every shop. Nobody wants to do it, but if it doesn’t get done there is no business. Fortunately, we ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-24

Working Dinosaurs

[starbox] Reflecting upon “transformative technology,” I remember the sadness I felt at the Cincinnati Gear Company auction when a group of pris...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-22

Different Consequences

[starbox] In the most recent issue of Gear Technology, the Publisher’s Page recounts the inaugural issue’s coverage of “transformative ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-08

A Tool Looking for a Task?

[starbox] I have been hearing a lot about 3-D printing and how it will revolutionize manufacturing in the United States. Millions are slated to ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-03

In Praise of Deadlines

[starbox] It is only April 2nd, but I can already predict that local TV cameras will have the post office staked out 13 days from now as thousan...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-01

An Appreciation of Gray Hair

[starbox] While driving from Dallas Fort Worth Airport to a new client’s factory, I listened to a very troubling story on PRI’s Marketplace. It ...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2014-03-01

GT Extras

GT Videos featuring R&P Metrology, the latest from our Twitter and LinkedIn feeds and an introduction to gearboxfailure.com

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2014-03-01

PPD Wear Protection Treatment for Large Parts Opens New Horizons

Environmentally friendly, highly efficient and lasting a product's lifetime. With characteristics like this, Pulsed-Plasma Diffusion (PPD) technology from Oerlikon Balzers has established itself as an industry standard for the treatment of large automotive press tooling. Now the technology specialists are targeting new applications with this advanced process, offering an alternative to traditional hard-chrome processes.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2014-03-01

Press Quenching and Effects of Prior Thermal History on Distortion during Heat Treatment

Precision components (industrial bearing races and automotive gears) can distort during heat treatment due to effects of free or unconstrained oil quenching. However, press quenching can be used to minimize these effects. This quenching method achieves the relatively stringent geometrical requirements stipulated by industrial manufacturing specifications. As performed on a wide variety of steel alloys, this specialized quenching technique is presented here, along with a case study showing the effects of prior thermal history on the distortion that is generated during press quenching.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-02-26

Internships: How Does the Employer Benefit?

[starbox] The first question my boss asked me when I suggested we start an intern program was “What’s in it for us?” Fortunately I had done my h...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-02-24

Is It Summer Yet?

[starbox] With the extreme weather much of the country has been having it isn’t too surprising that many people are daydreaming about summer vac...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-11-01

Lean Resources

The final installment of our Job Shop Lean series includes a wide variety of educational resources to help you continue your own lean journey.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2013-10-01

Purchasing Gear Lubricants - Be Careful When Playing the Numbers Game

When it comes to purchasing gear lubricants, many people on both the sales and purchasing side decide to play the numbers game. The person with the most numbers, or the biggest numbers, or the lowest numbers, must have the best product - right? Wrong; gear oil selection is not a game, and numbers alone cannot determine the right product for an application.

VOICES | 2013-09-01

Letters to the Editor

Readers respond to our "Job Shop Lean" column and the "My Gear is Bigger than Your Gear" article.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-09-01

New Technology Roll Call

Interviews with exhibitors at ASM's Heat Treat 2013 exposition, which is co-located with Gear Expo.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-08-01

Design of a Flexible and Lean Machining Cell, Part II

Job shops may be ill-advised to undertake a complete reorganization into FLEAN (Flexible and Lean) cells. A FLEAN cell would (i) be flex-ible enough to produce any and all orders for parts that belong in a specific part family and (ii) utilize lean to the maximum extent possible to eliminate waste.

VOICES | 2013-08-01

Where Did All the Displaced Manufacturing Workers Go

Following is a report from The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). Founded in 1933, the alliance contributes to the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by providing economic research, professional development, and an independent, expert source of manufacturing information.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-06-01

Design of a Flexible and Lean Machining Cell, Part I

Although a cell is dedicated to produce a single part family, it must have the requisite equipment capabilities, routing flexibility, cross-trained employees and, to the extent possible, minimal external process dependencies. Cells are often implemented in job shops since they provide the operational benefits of flowline production.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2013-05-01

Gear Design Optimization for Low Contact Temperature of a High Speed, Non Lubricated Spur Gear Pair

A gear design optimization approach applied to reduce tooth contact temperature and noise excitation of a high-speed spur gear pair running without lubricant. Optimum gear design search was done using the Run Many Cases software program. Thirty-one of over 480,000 possible gear designs were considered, based on low contact temperature and low transmission error. The best gear design was selected considering its manufacturability.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-05-01

Job Shop Lean - Assembly

The Tiger Team from Hoerbiger looks for ways to cut waste and improve throughput in the company's assembly cell.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-01-01

Job Shop Lean

This is the first article in an eight-part "reality" series on implementing continuous improvement at Hoerbiger Corporation. Throughout 2013, Dr. Shahrukh Irani will report on his progress applying the job shop lean strategies he developed during his time at Ohio State University.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2012-12-21

Micro Precision Joins Aerospace Supply Chain Program

In line with its policy of continually improving all aspects of its operations, Hemel Hempstead based Micro Precision has signed up to th...

VOICES | 2012-10-01

A Quick-Start Approach for Implementing Lean in Job Shops

In the August issue, we examined the lean tools that will and will not work in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing facilities. Now, we will examine how to implement the tools that will work in the job shop with an approach that expands the capabilities of value stream mapping.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2012-09-01

America Needs a Different Kind of Candidate

The two candidates in the upcoming presidential election offer two distinctly different approaches to solving America’s economic problems -- neither of which is likely to be successful

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2012-09-01

IMTS 2012 Events, Conferences and Some Just Plain Fun

IMTS exists primarily as a buy-and-sell North American venue for practically every conceivable technology used in manufacturing, and in that regard it has no equal. There you’ll find on display the latest and greatest technology, from hardware to software and everything in between. But anyone who has attended past shows is aware that IMTS is much more than that. Following is a rundown of "extracurricular" activities you’ll find waiting for your edification and enjoyment.

VOICES | 2012-08-01

Adapting Lean for High-Mix, Low-Volume Manufacturing Facilities

Why traditional lean manufacturing approaches need to be adapted for job shop environments.

ADDENDUM | 2012-05-01

Siemens Plant Management 101

Once upon a time there was a computer. This computer served as a conduit to waste a great deal of time through social networking and online video games. Still, there was always potential to turn these rather sedentary activities into something more positive and useful to mankind. Siemens may have stumbled upon such a concept.

EVENTS | 2012-03-01

Technical Calendar

The complete Technical Calendar from the March/April 2012 issue of Gear Technology.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-11-01

Best of Times, Worst of Times

An American renaissance in manufacturing is needed—and long overdue.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-09-01

Real-World Job Training the Lean Way -- And Loving It

Make no mistake -- lean manufacturing is here to stay. And no wonder. As a fiercely competitive global economy continues to alter companies’ “Main Street” thinking, that relatively new dynamic is spurring the need for “I-need-it-yesterday” production output. And for increasingly more industries -- big or small -- that means getting as lean as you can, as fast as you can.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2011-08-01

Benefit of Psychoachoustic Analyzing Methods for Gear Noise Investigation

This article provides an overview of the benefits of using psychoacoustic characteristics for describing gear noise. And with that, human hearing and the most important psychoacoustic values are introduced. Finally, results of noise tests with different gear sets aree presented. The tests are the basis for a correlation analysis between psychoacoustic values and gear characteristics.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-05-01

The Global Gear Industry - Insights, Projections, Facts and Figures

A series of short reports on global manufacturing growth and the gear industry's role.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2010-09-01

Industry News

The complete Industry News section from the September/October 2010 issue of Gear Technology.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2010-05-01

Building on Your Foundation

When you graduated from school and made your way into the world, you probably thought you’d learned everything you needed to know to be successful. But those of us who’ve been out in the workforce for some time know that you never stop learning.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-05-01

Your Tax Dollars at Work: U.S. Commerce Department, Your Boots on the Ground Overseas

Easily one of the central issues affecting U.S. manufacturing is what one might call the exports deficit—the inability of American companies to sell products to, for instance, Asian markets, developing countries and other ports of call—due to what they perceive to be unfair trade agreements and or policies.

EVENTS | 2010-01-01

Calendar

The technical calendar from the January/February 2010 issue of Gear Technology.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-01-01

Tapping into the Wind Gearbox Supply Chain

Although typically considered a late bloomer in the call to wind energy arms, the United States is now the number one wind power producer in the world with over 25,000 MW installed by the end of 2008, according to the Global Wind Energy Council in January 2009.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2010-01-01

Design, Development and Application of New, High-Performance Gear Steels

QuesTek Innovations LLC is applying its Materials by Design computational design technology to develop a new class of high-strength, secondary hardening gear steels that are optimized for high-temperature, low-pressure (i.e., vacuum) carburization. The new alloys offer three different levels of case hardness (with the ability to “dial-in” hardness profiles, including exceptionally high case hardness), and their high core strength, toughness and other properties offer the potential to reduce drivetrain weight or increase power density relative to incumbent alloys such as AISI 9310 or Pyrowear Alloy 53.

ADDENDUM | 2009-11-01

Reassembling Gear Drive History

Getting rid of personal mementos is an arduous housekeeping ritual for some of us; every last gear has a memory. One man’s trash is another man’s gold, after all, or in some cases, one failed business is a forgotten piece of personal and mechanical genealogy. Such is the case of the Hill-Climber chainless bicycle, the remains of which were pulled from a family junk pile after nearly half a century.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2009-11-01

American Manufacturing - Can It Be Saved

If anyone should ever need convincing that the state of American manufacturing is in ongoing decline, consider this: the state of Michigan has the highest concentration of engineers in the country, yet also has the highest unemployment rate. But there are ripples of hope out there as grassroots and otherwise organized groups are fighting the good fight in an attempt to reverse that trend.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2009-08-01

Steadfast and Streamlined: Can Lean Soften the Economic Blow

Two high-volume gear production cells grace the shop floor at Delta Research Corporation in Livonia, Michigan. Thanks to lean manufacturing, these cells have never shipped a defective part to a customer since they were developed over three years ago.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2008-09-01

Industry News

The complete Industry News section from the September/October 2008 issue of Gear Technology.

PRODUCT NEWS | 2008-09-01

Roto Flo's Servo-Actuated CNC to Debut at IMTS

Most anyone that has been in the gear industry—or any machining and tooling oriented business, for that matter—is probably at least somewhat familiar with the Roto-Flo workhorse line of hydraulic-actuated spline and thread rolling machines. After all, they’ve been at it for decade

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2008-08-01

Guidelines for Modern Bevel Gear Grinding

This paper acknowledges the wide variety of manufacturing processes--especially in grinding--utlized in the production of bevel gears...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2008-06-01

Injection Molded Innovation

Alternative business strategies from some alternative gear manufacturers.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2008-03-01

In Memoriam: Donald R. McVittie

It is with regret we report that Donald R. McVittie passed away January 20, 2008.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2008-01-01

Well-Paying Manufacturing Jobs Are Blowing in the Wind--And State Governments are Racing to Harness Them

Lamentations continue—legitimately so—over the second-citizen status of manufacturing in the United States. The need undoubtedly continues for renewed support by government and educators for making things here once again...

VOICES | 2008-01-01

Letters to the Editor

Matt McBride of Riverside Spline & Gear responds to last issue's Voices piece by Fred Young, and Tom Schmitt of Schmitt Design responds to last issue's publisher's page.

VOICES | 2007-11-01

Responding to Market and Customer Needs

For many in the gear and gear products business, these may seem like the best of times...

VOICES | 2007-09-01

Uncovering Core Competencies

How can a company grow its business or plan for growth when its niche area only accesses the smaller part of the pie?

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2007-08-01

Bevel Gears: Optimal High Speed Cutting

This article presents a summary of all factors that contribute to efficient and economical high-speed cutting of bevel and hypoid gears.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2007-03-01

Effects on Rolling Contact Fatigue Performance--Part II

This is part II of a two-part paper that presents the results of extensive test programs on the RCF strength of PM steels.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-01-01

Labor Pains in the American Gear Industry--Any Relief in Sight

Lack of skilled workers mirrors U.S. manufacturing's decline.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2006-11-01

Optimization of the Gear Profile Grinding Process Utilizing an Analogy Process

In order to grind gears burn-free and as productively as possible, a better understanding of the process is required.

ADDENDUM | 2006-03-01

What's on Your iPod

Songs with gear-related lyrics, courtesy of the Addendum team.

PRODUCT NEWS | 2005-11-01

Product News

The complete Product News from the November/December 2005 issue of Gear Technology

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2005-09-01

Industry News

The complete Industry News section from the September/October 2005 issue of Gear Technology.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2005-01-01

New Approach to Computerized Design of Spur and Helical Gears

Applying "Dynamic Block Contours" allows the designer to predict gear quality at the earliest stage of the design process.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2004-11-01

Understanding the Application: A Key to Economical Gearbox Purchases

On a highway, a compact pick-up truck struggles to tow a 30-foot boat up a steep grade. Inside the pick-up, the owner curses himself. He saved money leasing a smaller truck but sees now that he really needed a bigger, pricier vehicle, one suitable for this job.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2004-11-01

Non-Standard Cylindrical Gears

Curved face width (CFW) spur gears are not popular in the gear industry. But these non-metallic gears have advantages over standard spur gears: higher contact ratio, higher tooth stiffness, and lower contact and bending stresses.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2004-09-01

Simulation of Hobbing for Analysis of Cutting Edge Failure due to Chip Crush

There are great advantages in dry hobbing, not only for friendliness toward the environment, but also for increasing productivity and for decreasing manufacturing cost. Dry hobbing, however, often causes failures in hob cutting edges or problems with the surface quality of gear tooth flanks. These difficulties are not present when hobbing with cutting oil. Pinching and crushing of generated chips between the hob cutting edge and the work gear tooth flank is considered a major cause of those problems.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2003-12-19

Power Transmission Association Releases Purchasing Report

The Power Transmission Distributors Association's (PTDA) latest report claims that U.S. and Canadian end users consider the product q...

PRODUCT NEWS | 2003-07-01

Product News

Complete Product News for July/August 2003.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2003-01-01

Gear Damage Detection Using Oil Debris Analysis

The purpose of this paper was to verify, when using an oil debris sensor, that accumulated mass predicts gear pitting damage and to identify a method to set threshold limits for damaged gears.

ADDENDUM | 2002-09-01

Gears of Rockwell Hardness

Nobody's sure what went on in Bolsa Chica, CA, when gear-shaped stones were used there 8,700 years ago, but a popular belief is that at least some activity revolved around manufacturing.

ADDENDUM | 2002-07-01

A Gear with a Sweet Tooth

Gear manufacturers typically use plastic, steel or other metals to make their gears, but Andrew Shotts made his first gears out of sugar and chocolate.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2001-07-01

Gear Expo and Fall Technical Meeting - Together Again!

AGMA is looking to boost attendance at Gear Expo 2001 and the 2001 Fall Technical Meeting by "cross-pollinating" the two events.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2000-03-01

Reducing Production Costs in Cylindrical Gear Hobbing and Shaping

Increased productivity in roughing operations for gear cutting depends mainly on lower production costs in the hobbing process. In addition, certain gears can be manufactured by shaping, which also needs to be taken into account in the search for a more cost-effective form of production.

ADDENDUM | 1999-11-01

One Fast Gear Boxx

You go, and if your name is Ryan Boxx, you go faster than everyone else. Boxx became the fastest 15-year-old in America this summer when he won his division of the National Hot Rod Association's Junior Drag Racing League National Championship.

REVOLUTIONS | 1999-11-01

Revolutions

Welcome to Revolutions, the column that brings you the latest, most up-to-date and easy-to-read information about the people and technology of the gear industry.

ADDENDUM | 1999-07-01

A Brief History of Gears

No one is quite sure when gears were invented. It's universally agreed, however, that they've been transmitting motion in one form or another for quite a long time.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1999-07-01

Kicking Tires

For the first time in probably 15 years, I've attended an auto show. Although I haven't been purposely avoiding them, over the past decade or so, the auto industry hasn't given me a compelling reason to go.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1999-01-01

ISO 6336-5: Strength and Quality of Materials

This is the fourth and final article in a series exploring the new ISO 6336 gear rating standard and its methods of calculation. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author as an individual. They do not represent the opinions of any organization of which he is a member.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1999-01-01

Selection of the Optimal Parameters of the Rack-Tool to Ensure the Maximum Gear Tooth Profile Accuracy

An analysis of possibilities for the selection of tool geometry parameters was made in order to reduce tooth profile errors during the grinding of gears by different methods. The selection of parameters was based on the analysis of he grid diagram of a gear and a rack. Some formulas and graphs are presented for the selection of the pressure angle, module and addendum of the rack-tool. The results from the grinding experimental gears confirm the theoretical analysis.

VOICES | 1998-03-01

Viewpoint

Jules Kish responds to comments about his article on finding a hunting ratio, and Dr. Sante Basili argues that shaving is still the best way to finish a rough-cut gear.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1998-03-01

Choosing the Right Heat Treater

Heat treating is a critical operation in gear manufacturing. It can make or break the quality of your final product. Yet it is one that frequently gear manufacturers outsource to someone else. Then the crucial question becomes, how do you know you're getting the right heat treater? How can you guarantee your end product when you have turned over this important process to someone else?

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1997-11-01

Capitalizing on Your Human Capital

A fundamental characteristic of the gear industry is that it is capital intensive. In the last decade, the gear manufacturing industry has been undergoing an intense drive toward improving and modernizing its capital equipment base. The Department of Commerce reports that annual sales of gear cutting equipment have increased nearly 60% since 1990. While this effort has paid off in increased competitiveness for the American gear industry, it is important to remember that there is another capital crucial to manufacturing success - "human capital."

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1997-11-01

Good - Bye, Dad

I sat down to write this editorial about my father, Harold Goldstein, as he approached his 80th birthday in October. I had meant it to be a celebration of his nearly 65 years in the machine tool business. Unfortunately, on August 26, as I was working on it, my father passed away after a long battle with emphysema. This editorial has now become a memorial as well as a celebration.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1997-09-01

Who's Who and What's What At Gear Expo '97

Below are listed the Gear Technology advertisers exhibiting at Gear Expo 97.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1997-07-01

Structural Analysis of Teeth With Asymmetrical Profiles

This article illustrates a structural analysis of asymmetrical teeth. This study was carried out because of the impossibility of applying traditional calculations to procedures involved in the specific case. In particular, software for the automatic generation of meshes was devised because existing software does not produce results suitable for the new geometrical model required. Having carried out the structural calculations, a comparative study of the stress fields of symmetrical and asymmetrical teeth was carried out. The structural advantages of the latter type of teeth emerged.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1997-07-01

The Total Customer Service Experience

What is a quality product? This is not an idle question. In the Darwinian business world in which we operate, knowing the answer to this question is key to our survival. A whole library of standards and benchmarks is available to help us gage how we're doing, but they don't really tell the whole story.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1997-05-01

ABCs Management

Recently I had the pleasure of having dinner with Frank Sinatra, Jr. He was here in Chicago for a benefit concert for Roosevelt University (my wife is co-chairperson of the benefit). Our conversation ranged over a wide variety of subjects, including a small gem of an HBO television movie, "Truman" with Gary Sinise in the title role.

ADDENDUM | 1997-03-01

Down By The Old Mill Stream

Back in the days when our great, great, great, etc., grandaddies were designing gears, one of the most common materials in use was wood. For fairly obvious reasons, we don't see too many wooden gears around anymore. But there are a few.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1997-03-01

The Way of the Web

Okay. You've been convinced. You've gritted your teeth and decided to spend the money to launch a company Web site. Everybody from your teenage propeller-head to the girl in the mail room and the salesman in the flashy suit who gave you "such a deal" on Web site services has promised that your site will be the best thing that's happened to your business since the advent of CNC machines.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1996-11-01

Standard Issues

Standards are unlike gears themselves: mundane, but complex, ubiquitous and absolutely vital. Standards are a lingua franca, providing a common language with reference points for evaluating product reliability and performance for manufacturers and users. The standards development process provides a scientific forum for discussion of product design, materials and applications, which can lead to product improvement. Standards can also be a powerful marketing tool for either penetrating new markets or protecting established ones.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-07-01

Noise Reduction in Plastic & Powder Metal Gear Sets

The data discussed in this article was taken from an upright vacuum cleaner. This was a prototype cleaner that was self-propelled by a geared transmission. It was the first time that the manufacturer had used a geared transmission in this application.

ADDENDUM | 1996-05-01

Gear Terms You Didn't Know About

The word gear, in various forms, has been in use since around A.D. 1200, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Last issue we brought you Shakespearean gears. Now we'd like to show you some of the uses Americans have given our favorite word (from the Random House Dictionary of American Slang).

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1996-05-01

Other People's Footsteps

Earlier this year, a relative of mine, Sidney Mandell, tragically passed away. I had the good fortune to serve with Sidney on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Machinery Dealers National Association (MDNA). Though he started before me, his MDNA career and mine overlapped for about 2 years. As I think back on the many things I learned form him, one of his favorite phrases keeps come to mind: "We walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us."

ADDENDUM | 1996-03-01

The Gears of Avon & Other Tragedies

As part of the Addendum Team's never-ending quest to improve the overall cultural tone of the gear industry, we bring you the following: April 23 is the 432nd birthday of William Shakespeare.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1995-09-01

Gear Inspection For The Long Haul

Question: We just received permission to purchase our first CNC gear inspection system. With capital approvals so hard to come by, especially for inspection equipment, I want to be sure to purchase a system I can count of for years to come. My past experience with purchasing CNC equipment has shown me that serviceability of the computer and the CNC controller portion of the system can be a problem in just a few years because of the obsolescence factor. What information do I need to look for when selecting a supplier to reduce the risk of obsolescence, as well as to reduce the long-term servicing costs in the computer and controls portion of the system?

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1995-09-01

Doing the Right Thing

Knowing the right thing to do isn't hard. Most often, it's very obvious. Actually doing it is something else again. For example, we all know that we probably eat too much refined sugar and fat, but when the double chocolate cheesecake come by, it's easy to convince ourselves that one piece won't hurt.

EVENTS | 1995-09-01

Technical Calendar

Complete Technical Calendar for September/October 1995.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1995-07-01

Dry Gear Hobbing

Question: We are contemplating purchasing a hobbing machine with dry hobbing capabilities. What do we need to know about the special system requirements for this technology?

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1995-05-01

CNC Software Savvy

Question: When we purchase our first CNC gear hobbing machine, what questions should we ask about the software? What do we need to know to correctly specify the system requirements?

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1995-05-01

Business Ethics Touchstone or Oxymoron

"Values" is one of he buzzwords we hear everywhere today. Family values. Traditional values. Alternative values. Along with a balanced budget, less government and more fiber in our diets, "values" - and their practical counterparts, "ethics" - are being promoted as one of the simple, obvious solutions to what ails us as a country and as individuals.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1995-05-01

Motherhood, Apple Pie and the Bottom Line

Business ethics are like apple pie and motherhood. Few people are willing to come out agin'em. But in reablity, apple pie is full of fat and refined sugar, motherhood is not what it was when June Cleaver ran the kitchen, and business ethics? Well, it's always been easier to talk about them than to actually practice them, and things certainly haven't improved in the last few years.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1995-05-01

EHL Film Thickness, Additives and Gear Surface Fatigue

Aircraft transmissions for helicopters, turboprops and geared turbofan aircraft require high reliability and provide several thousand hours of operation between overhauls. In addition, They should be lightweight and have very high efficiency to minimize operating costs for the aircraft.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1995-03-01

Industry News

Acquisitions, Contracts, and ISO 9000 Certification

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1995-03-01

Heat Treating Equipment Selection

For heat treatment of tool and alloy steels, the end-user has a wide range of basic types of heat treating equipment to choose from. This article reviews them and details the criteria that must be considered in selecting equipment for a specific application. In making this choice, the most important criterion must be the quality of the tool or part after processing.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1995-03-01

What to Look For Before You Leap

Question: We are interested in purchasing our first gear hobbing machine. What questions should we ask the manufacturer, and what do we need to know in order to correctly specify the CNC hardware and software system requirements?

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1995-01-01

Information Control

It used to be that a shop with hustle and plenty of big, fast machines could thrive using a manual system. But no more. Today's economic environment requires more and more in the way of topnotch service and quick turnaround - which frequently means a completely integrated shop floor control system.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1995-01-01

The ELIMS Project

Arrow Gear Company of Downers Grove, IL, has implemented a computer system that fully integrates exchange between all of its computer applications. The ELIMS (Electronic Linkage of Information Management Systems) project has increased manufacturing productivity and reduced lead times.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1995-01-01

The Paperless Factory

You're already a veteran of the computer revolution. Only you and your controller know how much money you've spent and only your spouse knows how many sleepless nights you've had in the last ten years trying to carve out a place in the brave new world of computerized gear manufacturing. PC's, CNCs, CAD, CAM, DNC, SPC, CMM: You've got a whole bowl of alphabet soup out there on the shop floor. Overall these machines have lived up to their promises. Production time is down, quality is up. You have fewer scrapped parts and better, more efficient machine usage.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1994-11-01

A Failure to Communicate

The two reports referred to in this article, "The people wise Organization" and "House Divided: Views on Change from Top Management - and Their Employees," crossed our desks some weeks ago. They stimulated a fair amount of discussion here, and we hope they do the same in your offices. We welcome your responses. How do you view the corporate/competitive environment of the next few years? How do you see yourself and your company fitting in? Can these ideas work in the gear industry? Let us now what you think.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1994-11-01

Gear Hobbing Without Coolant

For environmental and economic reasons, the use of coolant in machining processes is increasingly being questioned. Rising coolant prices and disposal costs, as well as strains on workers and the environment, have fueled the debate. The use of coolant has given rise to a highly technical system for handling coolant in the machine (cooling, filtering) and protecting the environment (filter, oil-mist collector). In this area the latest cutting materials - used with or without coolant - have great potential for making the metal-removal process more economical. The natural progression to completely dry machining has decisive advantages for hobbing.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1994-07-01

The Frugal Certification Process

Much about ISO 9000 is the subject of noisy debate. But on one thing almost everyone, true believers and critics alike, agrees: Getting ISO 9000 certification can be expensive. Companies can expect to spend at least $35,000 for basic certification and six-month checkup fees over a three-year period. These figures do not include hidden costs like time and money spent on internal improvements required to meet ISO 9000 certification. But the really big-ticket items in the process are employee time and the cost of bringing in outside consultants. Many ISO 9000 consultants charge upwards of $1,800 a day.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1994-07-01

Making the Most of Your Trade Show Visit: Avoid These 18 Common Mistakes

Going to IMTS? Beware. It's easy to make any number of common mistakes that can turn your productive buying trip into an expensive bomb.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1994-05-01

Choosing An ISO 9000 Consultant: Why, When & How

On of the key questions confronting any company considering ISO 9000 certification is, how much is this going to cost? The up-front fees are only the beginning. Dissect the ISO 9000 certification procedure with an eye for hidden costs, and two segments of the process will leap out - the cost of consultants and the cost of making in-house improvements for the sake of passing certification. Most of these costs can be controlled by careful selection f the right consultant in the first place.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1994-03-01

What is ISO 9000 and Why Should I Care

What follows is the first of three articles we will be running on ISO 9000 and what it means for the gear industry. This first article will cover what ISO 9000 is, what some of its benefits - and problems - are, and whether your company should be a candidate for this certification process. In our next issue, we will consider the important question of how, when, and if to hire an ISO 9000 consultant. The final article in this series will discuss ways to save money while streamlining the certification process in your company.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1994-01-01

Cutting Down On Labor Costs

What can be done about the rising cost of labor? Mr. Robert Reich, U.S. Secretary of Labor, has already indicated the administration's intention of pushing the minimum wage from $4.25 to $4.50 per hour and indexing it for inflation. That means that every jiggle in the inflation chart will push the minimum wage higher.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1993-09-01

Rules of Engagement Exporting - Part IV

Putting one's best foot forward is important for successful business communication. And successful business people know the "rule" of the game, what it say and do in business situations, to make the best impression. However, these rules change from country to country, and what is appropriate behavior here may appear rude to someone from Latin America, Europe or Asia To help you become more familiar with some of the different rules of engagement in other countries, Gear Technology spoke with three businessmen who have had extensive contact in various part of the world.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1993-07-01

Money Business: Exporting - Part III

The object of any business transaction, be it foreign or domestic, is making a profit. That's why you go through all the effort of making and selling your product in the first place. Getting paid in a timely manner is crucial to making profit, but when your customer is in another country, this "timely and convenient" payment can become complicated; hence, your need for a banker with expertise in international markets.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1993-05-01

Delivering The Goods

One of the key questions to be answered when exporting is how you are going to get your product to your customer. All the time, effort, and money you've spent to make a sale in the first place can be wasted if the shipment is late, damaged, or lost, or if delivery becomes an expensive bureaucratic nightmare for either you or the buyer.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1993-03-01

Getting Started in Exporting

Exporting. It's one of the hot strategies for helping boost businesses of all kinds, gear manufacturing among them. With domestic markets tight and new markets opening up overseas, exporting seems like a reasonable tactic. But while the pressure is on to sell overseas, there is equal, justifiable concern about whether the move is a good one. Horror stories abound about foreign restrictions, bureaucratic snafus, carloads of paperwork, and the complications and nuances of doing business in other languages and with other cultures.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1993-03-01

Frozen Gears

Durability is the most important criterion used to define the quality of a gear. The freezing of metals has been acknowledged for almost thirty years as an effective method for increasing durability, or "wear life," and decreasing residual stress in tool steels. The recent field of deep cryogenics (below -300 degrees F) has brought us high temperature superconductors, the superconducting super collider, cryo-biology, and magnotehydrodynamic drive systems. It has also brought many additional durability benefits to metals.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1993-01-01

Hiring & Firing the Older Employee

Given the current economic and legal climate, matters of hiring and firing are cause for considerable concern among managers. In addition to all the other factors to be considered, employers must be wary of exactly how these procedures should be carried out, so that the company is not left open to lawsuits based on charges of discrimination of one kind or another. The reasons given for a particular employment decision may be as crucial to determining liability as the decision itself.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-11-01

Management By Walking Around

Have you ever been confronted by a thorny business problem, only to discover - belatedly - that it has been creeping up on you for months, or even years?

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-09-01

The Bottom Line on Trade Shows

The whole point of a trade show is to get leads that will turn into sales. No matter how attractive your booth was, no matter how smoothly the setup and the show ran, no matter how many visitors you had at your booth, if your presence at a show didn't net you any sales, then your considerable investment of time, money, and effort has been wasted.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1992-07-01

Gear Inspection and Measurement

The purpose of gear inspection is to: Assure required accuracy and quality, Lower overall cost of manufacture by controlling rejects and scrap, Control machines and machining practices and maintain produced accuracy as machines and tools wear, Determine hear treat distortions to make necessary corrections.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-07-01

Operation Trade Show

Organizing a successful trade show exhibit is not unlike running Operation Desert Storm. The logistics can be a nightmare; the expense, horrendous; the details, mind-boggling. About the only thing you won't have to cope with is having someone fire SCUD missiles at you.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-05-01

Cost-Cutting ABCs

Cost cutting. It's the aerobics of the 90s for businesses large and small. More than just the latest buzzword or 90-second flash-in-the-panacea, it's a survival technique. Companies that aren't trimming the fat now may not be around in five years to regret that they didn't.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-03-01

A Hidden Treasure

At the next meeting of your association's marketing committee, notice what happens. The rate of taking notes increases dramatically when the market analysis and international trade trends reports begin. Even with the handouts to match the overhead projections of numbers, the audience's pace is furious. This is vital, apparently hard-to-come-by information, and no one wants to miss out. Almost all of the information comes from one source, yet the data offered is only one small dip from an enormous treasure chest - the U.S. Government.

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1992-01-01

Product Liability Defense

It's every gear manufacturer's nightmare. Your company had been named as a defendant in a product liability suit - one involving serious injuries and death. You're facing endless court appearances, monumental legal fees, and, possibly, seven figure settlements our of your coffers. The very existence of your business could be on the line. The question is, how do you prevent this nightmare from becoming a painful reality.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1992-01-01

Design Guidelines for High-Capacity Bevel Gear Systems

The design of any gearing system is a difficult, multifaceted process. When the system includes bevel gearing, the process is further complicated by the complex nature of the bevel gears themselves. In most cases, the design is based on an evaluation of the ratio required for the gear set, the overall envelope geometry, and the calculation of bending and contact stresses for the gear set to determine its load capacity. There are, however, a great many other parameters which must be addressed if the resultant gear system is to be truly optimum. A considerable body of data related to the optimal design of bevel gears has been developed by the aerospace gear design community in general and by the helicopter community in particular. This article provides a summary of just a few design guidelines based on these data in an effort to provide some guidance in the design of bevel gearing so that maximum capacity may be obtained. The following factors, which may not normally be considered in the usual design practice, are presented and discussed in outline form: Integrated gear/shaft/bearing systems Effects of rim thickness on gear tooth stresses Resonant response

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | 1991-09-01

Taming The Autocratic Boss

Dictatorships can be stifling. In an autocratic organization, employees seldom participate in decisions that affect them. By establishing a collaborative environment, you allow everyone to play a role in making your organization a success.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1991-05-01

When a Customer Files Bankruptcy: Write-Off is Not Your Only Remedy

Bankruptcy filings have not noticeably declined despite the economic recovery of the Reagan years. Businesses continue to receive notices that their customers have filed bankruptcy. Many of them are writing off significant losses each year as a result. despite the frequent use of bankruptcy by debtors, many business owners and managers have little or no idea of the pot-bankruptcy remedies available to them.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1991-03-01

Are You Ready to Choose An Advertising Agency

Countless research studies confirm this fact: Companies that advertise aggressively during a recession will flourish after the economic tide turns. Regardless of company size, effective advertising generally requires the services of an agency, and under current economic conditions, you may need one now more than ever. The question is, how do you go about getting the right one for your company.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1991-03-01

Bevel Gear Manufacturing Troubleshooting

The quality of gearing is a function of many factors ranging from design, manufacturing processes, machine capability, gear steel material, the machine operator, and the quality control methods employed. This article discusses many of the bevel gear manufacturing problems encountered by gear manufacturers and some of the troubleshooting techniques used.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1991-01-01

The Marketing Menagerie: What's Right For You

You get calls and letters every day from people wanting you to use their ad agency, their direct mail program, their p.r. or marketing firm to promote your business. It seems everyone wants you to spend your money to communicate to your prospects and customers. But what's the best method for you?

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1990-03-01

Capital Gains, Societal Gains, or No Gains At All

Taxes may be one of the only two sure things in life, but that doesn't make them popular. Nobody is happy to pay them, and the bigger the amount due, the unhappier the taxpayer. Conversely, politicians know that coming out in favor of a tax cut is the equivalent of voting for apple pie and motherhood. It's a sure-fire success at the ballot box.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1987-07-01

Simple Strategies for Successful Competitors

"Competitiveness" is the newest corporate buzzword. It is being offered as the solution to all our economic problems. Newspapers, magazines and legislation are pushing us to be more "competitive."

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1987-05-01

Gear Roll-Finishing

In this discussion of gear roll-finishing particular attention is called to the special tooth nomenclature resulting from the interaction between the rolling die teeth and the gear teeth. To eliminate confusion the side of a gear tooth that is in contact with the "approach" side of a rolling die tooth is also considered to be the approach side. The same holds true for the "trail" side. Thus, the side of the gear tooth that is in contact with the trail side of a rolling die is also considered to be the trail side.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1984-08-01

Industry News and AGMA Calendar

Herman Riccio, Chicago Gear Works President, to Retire; Gleason Opens MI Sales Office; American Pfauter hires Steve Peterson; plus AGMA's technical calendar for the Fall of 1984.

VOICES | 1984-08-01

A Second Rate Society - Never

What was once recognized as the unique genius of America is now slipping away from us and, in many areas, is now seen as a "second rate" capability. Unless action is taken now, this country is in real danger of being unable to regain its supremacy in technological development and economic vigor. First Americans must understand the serious implications of the problem; and second, we must dedicate ourselves to national and local actions that will ensure a greater scientific and technological literacy in America.

Management

Pushed to the Maximum