watching and reading those who have refused to embrace change noticeably suffer from their decisions. I’m referring to machinists and machine shops who have a very limited impact on their customers designs and feel their only job or service to offer is to machine their customers parts to print.
I happen to work for a company where we are always working with our engineers and managers to help them get their parts done cheaper, faster and better and this relationship is never the type that a blow hard like SolidWorks CAD jockey Matt Lombard suggests is the norm… don’t change my design, just make it like I designed it. Frankly if we took the approach that SolidWorks CAD jockey Matt Lombard suggests I doubt the company I work for would be the technology and market leader that it is.
In tough times machine shops that want to thrive instead of going out of business will embrace change, move to better CADCAM systems and have a much more active role than just machining their customers parts to print. For those machinists that can’t handle change may I suggest you retire now. The fact is that with your limited mind set you have no place in much of the machining business any longer.
For those that machine aerospace parts may I suggest you get your head out of your ass and realize that not all parts need to be machined with an aerospace mentality. Someday you may work on say something like electronic enclosures where helping your customer make their designs work is a major part of your job!
I think Matt is right about the norm for machine shops. It sucks, but it is the norm. A shop that will get involved with the part design and talk to engineers provides much more value. Sometimes this can backfire when a featrue and its matching features is changed, which changes a circuit board, which re-arranges parts, and then interferes with a display or large component. A machining vendor needs to be versatile, and sometimes suggest a non-machined solution. The business relationship can become a lasting asset for all parties.
Comment by rickmcwilliams — May 19, 2009 @ 11:17 pm