The Role of Value-Added in Application Selection

Camcraft Precision Machined Components celebrated 60 years in 2010, and employs 300 in a 112,000 sq. ft. facility filled with broadly diverse technology. In many regards, Camcraft can be viewed as a vertically integrated, self-sufficient, lean operation, according to the company. "What we do at Camcraft is produce highly engineered parts, components and assemblies. Our perception on things is that we provide engineering solutions with cost in mind and provide end users with a product that meets their demands," said Janusz Ksel, Director of Manufacturing." So, engineering is our strength and passion, and we take great pride in that.” Principal markets are automotive, truck and off-road vehicles.

Typical components are hydraulic control valves, turbocharger components, cam phasing, stability control systems, parts for transmissions (CVT, 6- and 7- speed), automotive aftermarket parts and hybrid braking systems. Other projects under serious investigation include occupant sensors and probably farther out, camless engines, windmill technologies and "green energy" applications, the company said. "In general, we're looking at these industries, seeing what's there that might require our expertise and our kind of company," said Ksel. "These types of companies need precision machining of highly detailed, complex components often made from very difficult materials. Given these types of demands, Camcraft can become a very good partner. We have quality engineering and project management, prototyping, full production and finishing and complete traceability through electronic inspection and analysis data which can be delivered to the customer electronically, in real time, or on disk or any other reporting scheme (i.e., printouts delivered with each batch of components)."

Get in Early
"We make every effort to be directly involved in the development and design stages of a complex customer part," said Ksel. "Our prototyping department is critical in this regard to our success." Across-functional engineering prototype team meets with customer designers, and they make observations and recommendations regarding the design of the component from a manufacturing standpoint, Ksel said. They might recommend certain changes to the design (altering a taper, adding a shoulder, rethinking surface and tolerance requirements, etc.). The rationale for such early involvement is threefold. This early collaboration results in cost savings for the customer by arriving at a design that can be most cost-effectively produced, while delivering productivity and efficiency gains. Having a prototyping team keeps extremely accurate. Both are automated with loading and unloading units. Both are part of cells, there are 14 cells of different configurations throughout Camcraft. Automation is taken advantage of wherever and whenever possible. Camcraft is QS and ISO certified since 1997 and TS16949 (the automotive standard) since 2003. "We acquired a large stable of automated inspection equipment to achieve 6 Sigma or better," said Ksel. "The disadvantage of investing in the best technology, is the difficulty some companies have had in finding the capital to make the investment," said Ksel. "The banking industry pulled sizable resources out of manufacturing because of the scare we had in 2008 and 2009."

At Camcraft, however, as well as other solid, well run companies, we have been investing in the best technologies. We have to be very careful about what we invest in and with whom. Investing in the best, highly advanced technology, like the Studers from UGT, is always a move we don't hesitate making. UGT is a great partner and is always our first choice when we have an application that requires precision grinding." Growing the company is one thing, Ksel adds, but that is not the objec-tive. The objective is growing the company healthily and providing for all 300 employees. What Camcraft does is not just for the money. Making money is a given if they are to be healthy, but that's not the end-all. "We have to keep our employees challenged," said Ksel. "Money is just fuel, and you've got to use it to make progress. We have to provide the customer with something they can't get elsewhere (offshore). We're talking about automation, process control, justin-time, statistical data, complete traceability, anything they want."

Community
Ksel said Camcraft is very involved in the community, specifically in trying to promote manufacturing as it is today. "We're bringing kids through our facility a couple of times a month, just to show them what manufacturing today is like," he said. "We need to show a new generation that manufacturing is not dirty, the kind of place that they're not looking forward to, the kind of place they don't see as an option. We have a nice facility here, and we're proud of what we have achieved. It's very clean, well run, very organized and highly automated. We need a new generation to take the lead from this generation, and that means reaching out to the community, to young people, and showing them what manufacturing really is." It's much the same with finding qualified employees. "You either sit on the fence and wait for the right employee, one with great work ethics, to walk by, or you get down off the fence," said Ksel. "You get off and tell yourself that you're not going to sit and wait. No, as an organization I'm going to develop what I need."

It takes a little while to find the right personality, and when we do, we work and mold and knead and teach the employee. We have a full time teacher on staff, and he teaches everything from math to language skills, blueprint reading, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, metallurgy, all that we need to develop the right person. We've been doing this for years. If you can't hire the right person, then you take a good candidate and develop that person in accordance to your needs." "We have a couple of engineers with Masters degrees out on the floor right now," said Ksel. "They're finding out how to make what they may have designed and/or engineered. They come to understand not only how something can be made, but how it can be made more cost-effectively, more efficiently. This hands-on understanding is especially necessary in the prototyping we do."

Always Getting Better
Teamwork is very important to Camcraft, not only with customers, but teamwork internally. "Waste is a big thing for us, waste in labor, in purchasing equipment, but also in energy savings," said Ksel. "What can we do better, that cuts down on waste, in energy consumption? We're always looking at ways to improve and to be a better citizen. This is how the company is wired, from the top to the bottom. We have a good reputation, which is not being arrogant, arrogance is not part in the Camcraft DNA. We know we have weak spots, and we're always working to be better as an organization. Just as we search out projects and applications with valued added, we try to add value in everything we do for our customers, our employees, our community."

For more information contact:
United Grinding Technologies, Inc.
Integrated Machinery Systems
937-847-1253
www.grinding.com

-or-

Hales Machine Tool, Inc.
2730 Niagara Lane North
Minneapolis, MN 55447
763-553-1711

info@halesmachinetool.com

Article originally from the June 2011 issue of MIDWEST MANUFACTURING NEWS