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Episode: Building the Machine
19 Plays6 days ago
Welcome to Episode 28! Today we talk summer picnics, spray shop upgrades and continuous improvements you will see in the shop soon.
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Transcript
Podcast Setup Challenges
00:00:11
HFW Industries
Okay, and we are back. Episode 28 of the Shop Talk podcast. It only took us 10 minutes to figure out the audio, but... Hey, we made it there. I was going to right before we started, and then I figured might as well say on here.
00:00:26
HFW Industries
you know i could I could and you could get really good at this, but I just feel like we our time is better spent delivering more value elsewhere.
Introduction of Hosts
00:00:34
HFW Industries
so And for those who aren't aware, I am Tucker. I work at HFW Industries. This is the HFW Shop Talk podcast with Jack Watson.
00:00:43
HFW Industries
who's He's the official podcaster. You're my co-host now, though. I think I'm just going to play permanent co-host until you guys fire me or get rid of me. Yeah. We don't have any plans on that. Thank goodness.
00:00:56
HFW Industries
So, yeah, episode 28, we're
Purpose and Audience of Podcast
00:00:58
HFW Industries
back. um I want to thank you, Tucker, for kind of coaxing this along and keeping this consistent. um Don't worry. This is our monthly podcast of our biliqui podcast. No, we aim for one a month. I think that's a pretty healthy thing, which we just missed August, but that's all right.
00:01:17
HFW Industries
um I just want to do it regularly, get it out. um This is mostly intended, as I've talked about in the past, to be an internal thing. But you know if you're involved at HFW or interested at all, i mean you certainly can still get some value from it, hopefully.
00:01:34
HFW Industries
Manufacturing. Woo. Yeah. So we've got a couple couple things to talk about today.
Impact of Economic Factors on Operations
00:01:40
HFW Industries
um There's a lot going on. The shop's busy, which is a good problem to have. kind of It's been a weird um like last year and a half with you know the general economic...
00:01:53
HFW Industries
geopolitical markets and whatnot. Roller coaster. Yeah, roller coaster is a good word for it. I mean, you you you would know more than a lot of people as far as um with your former employer and in all the you know the politics and things that get involved with that. so um And there's a lot of that.
00:02:08
HFW Industries
There's a lot of people and a lot of companies going through that right now. So the good news is we're busy, um but that also brings challenges with it that we're addressing and going talk about today.
Team Bonding at Summer Picnic
00:02:18
HFW Industries
um So we' just finished up, just to kind of set the context, I suppose, finished up our last summer picnic of the year.
00:02:25
HFW Industries
It's crazy to say that. No, I don't want summer to be over. Okay, so you fall in that camp, because I i like fall. Fall and winter two of my favorite times a year. Bring in summer.
00:02:37
HFW Industries
and mean I mean, I'm not going to complain about a day like today. It's beautiful. It's like 70 and sunny. so Yeah, it's awesome. We had our picnic, which was delicious. We had hot dogs, burgers, the usual American fare.
00:02:48
HFW Industries
Finger food. Yeah, it's a good time. and and You were sitting at a table with a bunch of guys I saw having some good conversation. Absolutely. So, um yeah, excited. and Now we head into the fall in football. and um I'm assuming you might get some more time in your shop because it's going to get colder and darker. and ah I stopped.
00:03:09
HFW Industries
I don't stop. The weather won't stop me. Well, I know. That's what I'm saying. I'll probably get get more time. Yep. Awesome.
John's Addition to HFW and CNC Skills
00:03:17
HFW Industries
right, well, let's get into it then. ah We got some, I want to talk recent updates. And one, I mean, this kind of personal, kind of professional. We brought on your brother, John. Yep.
00:03:27
HFW Industries
um So first, welcome, John. That's been a change since our last podcast. He's been with us almost a month, I want to say. Has it really been almost a month? I believe. Or this may be the fourth week.
00:03:38
HFW Industries
It goes fast here. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. So super exciting. um He's doing great things. Peter just brought up this morning. He's like John is great. So um it's good that, you know, the even after the initial introduction is worn off, things are still strong. But tell me about first, you were the one who, well, you and Joe, first of all, let's set the context. Joe had recommended Tucker's brother ah for years because he met ah your brother and his wife somewhere along the line. I'm still kind of
00:04:11
HFW Industries
fuzzy on the exact details but you had known your brother for a long time have been saying hey you live up that way anyway why don't you come work for hfw um probably it probably it's not i wouldn't say it's the reason you got the job at hfw but you know joe put in a good word for your brother which put a good word for you when you first came on and now john's here so like walk us through this whole thing and how's it been working with your brother so far i have this is the first time me and my brother have worked in the same place at the same time we have worked kind of around each other and manufacturing throughout you know our journeys, but we haven't really been ever at the same location. yeah And this has been a blast because me and him get along very well and we work very well together. we can
00:04:53
HFW Industries
communicate effectively, um figure out the problems, and it all comes down to making sure we're we're figuring out what's wrong and just get it done.
Family Referrals and Team Dynamics
00:05:01
HFW Industries
His strong focus has always been the CNC milling, which has been his passion for years now at this point. And he has just dove headfirst into the five axis that we have here and it has just been treading water, making no problem.
00:05:16
HFW Industries
That's awesome. it's It's super exciting to see the energy that you guys both bring ah different. like it's it's You guys aren't just clones or twins of each other. he's taller and younger. It's hilarious.
00:05:28
HFW Industries
Yeah, it's it's funny. um and And so just that energy, I think um bringing other people up around you has been really fun. um and And it's interesting. We have a couple families here.
00:05:41
HFW Industries
Obviously, my family, um your family now as well. um We've got the Newmans. um i'm trying to think niedermeyers niedermeyers how could i forget them um and then i believe we have a bunch of people that are somehow related in ways that i don't know like i learned like later they're like oh they're cousins or something so yeah it's a small world it really is and i am always amazed how small the world is when it's like you know such and such no way it's crazy and that we've talked about it before ah so many of the best people on our team have come through referrals um some real you know family some not and that's kind of the that's the ecosystem we want to continue to build but going back to my brother so one of the things you were saying joe's been trying to get him here for years so it took me four months of me going hey
00:06:31
HFW Industries
you know, we could use your help here. Trust me, you'd fit right in This is kind of more you' your thing. You will have a blast here. And he's like, oh, I don't know. i'm like, look, try it. If you hate it, you can come after me and I'll figure something out for you. And he's like, okay, fine. I'll come in try it for a little bit.
00:06:50
HFW Industries
and he And he's right around the corner. i don't want to say how close he is, but his commute is flow Yeah. Well, it's, it's, that's really nice. I mean, um that's an added bonus. Plus we work for tens.
00:07:03
HFW Industries
Yeah. At least the manufacturing area does. So it works out because you know, he gets an extra day Friday to do other stuff, you know, go to the bank, deal with errands, whatnot.
00:07:14
HFW Industries
I myself am running four hours on Friday. So I use that other time to go to the bank, run errands. And I am very productive in that time. If I'm not making, my iron man suit yeah i was gonna say you fill up your time outside of work absolutely that's awesome yeah it's the 410s are what we've seen is it's uh they're are very popular it's kind of a balance i know we've talked about potentially you know nothing's set in stone so don't take it as such but
00:07:46
HFW Industries
We've talked about potentially staggering it. So some guys work Monday through Friday, some guys work Tuesday through – or Monday through Thursday, some guys work Tuesday through Friday just to have that – still have production on Fridays. Nothing's set in stone, um but that's something we're looking at. We're also – you know if some of this demand stays consistent there is talk about bringing on the second shift um so these are things that are on the on the minds of our management team again they're they're still kind of in the primitive stages nothing's uh been fully decided yet but i think you brought up so i thought it'd be good to just kind of update people on where things are at yeah um All right.
Operational Improvements and Standardization
00:08:25
HFW Industries
Well, let's talk about recent continuous improvement efforts. That's been a big piece of your job. I know something you're passionate about as well. um I know have been a couple good ones recently. i Can you talk a little bit more about those?
00:08:36
HFW Industries
So I've got a few here that um I think are of... worthy mentioning So one of the things that we have around here are a lot of um entrance doors for trucks to roll in.
00:08:48
HFW Industries
Now, our main receiving door actually is two receiving doors of two different heights, which some people know and some do not. So when you have a delivery brought in or machinery, you have to make sure you clear that inner door because it's a foot and a half shorter.
00:09:02
HFW Industries
Mm-hmm. I 3D printed signs and posted them on the walls. And then I forget who told me. it was either Ben or somebody in receiving had said, hey, you should take one of those signs and mirror it so that when somebody's backing up, they can read it normally in the rear view mirrors oh yeah or the side mirrors so they can go, oh, God, I know what the height is.
00:09:24
HFW Industries
Obviously, you should know. But now every entrance to the facility now has a caution max height door um height to it. that That was a really cool one. um we have Over in our spray shop, we have the Eliza, who has been taking a huge initiative in trying to get standardized tooling for each of the the spray um work centers.
00:09:46
HFW Industries
um Each So each booth now has a standard set of, I want to say we're up to like eight to 12 tools that all have a 3D printed holder that all go on the wall. So every one of our booths, all seven booths, all have the same tools in it.
00:10:04
HFW Industries
Easy to reach, always in the same spot. if you If it's not there, somebody misplaced it and then gets tracked down to go put it back. And and it's been amazing. well received. And in fact, I've gotten a few of the welding guys go, hey, can we add a few more Allen wrenches because we were missing one or two. And I'm like, not a problem. And just rolling in and getting that momentum of standardized tooling has been huge back there.
Office Innovations: The Roomba
00:10:29
HFW Industries
And then one kind of small but big one is we got a Roomba for the upstairs engineering area. Now, this is an interesting project.
00:10:40
HFW Industries
ah data point that when I got it, it was the mindset of, hey, I'm going to get this, it's going to figure out all the rooms, so and it's just going to run all the time. Well, it turns out I can only run it during the day when we're here for reasons I've um Beyond me, we could only run it while we're here.
00:11:00
HFW Industries
so That required a bit of timing and programming to figure out what areas it could handle before it had to go recharge and stuff. and Then it ended up being that I had to get it so that it would only clean certain areas all the time. I couldn't have it constantly going because it takes a while to recharge.
00:11:17
HFW Industries
so It has taken me three to four weeks of just you know watching it and making sure each of the rooms goes in the right spot until, I mean, this week has it has been running consistently, reliably, and doing exactly what I want it to with no issues. But the first three, four weeks, I was surprised how much time I had to put into this one continuous improvement.
00:11:39
HFW Industries
But I now can see the rugs and I can see the lines of the Roomba because it's so consistent. It does the same thing over and over. i was wondering, is that the – that the Roomba? It the Roomba. Yeah, it goes back and forth just like you would see a lawn.
00:11:54
HFW Industries
You can see the lines in the rug. It's very slight. You wouldn't notice unless you're really looking. But you've you've noticed it, and it it has totally been picking up. a lot of just dust on the ground. And it's really it's been really effective for things here and there. Because I can start it right when we open.
00:12:14
HFW Industries
And nobody is upstairs where the Roomba is running for two hours when everybody else gets here. yeah So it has a ah it has some time where it can run, and it doesn't disturb anybody. So I have it go, you know, do the conference room because we're always using conference room in the afternoon, anytime ah after, what, 8, 9? So I'm like, 6 a.m., go clean the conference room.
00:12:35
HFW Industries
Yeah. It doesn't make any disturbance. And it's just, it's been working. It's been this nice way of mitigating the need for somebody to constantly vacuum the floors and reduce how much gets vacuumed in that regard.
00:12:48
HFW Industries
So that was that was three noticeable continuous improvements. Nice. Yeah, that's been, it's funny, everyone was like kind of oohing and aahing at it at first and it was rolling over chairs and people were watching it like it was like a young baby or.
00:13:05
HFW Industries
it was hilarious. I'd come up all the time. got to find the Roomba. It got stuck somewhere. Well, should we talk about why it can't run at night? Because we found that out pretty quickly. Go ahead.
00:13:15
HFW Industries
Yeah, so it's ah we get a call from the security people like one of the first nights. They're like, yeah, one of the motion detectors was set off in the engineering office. I'm like, what was that? but at that i was like Oh, it was the Roomba yeah setting off the alarm. So we're like, all right, we're going to have to adjust Ideally, it would it would run completely at night, you know not disturb anyone whatsoever.
00:13:38
HFW Industries
But we had to make a workaround. You had to make a workaround to um not have the police called on us every single night. And I've got it now where it's running. And so we're going to get that process reliability first, and then we'll see if I can increase what I'm doing and just clean more.
00:13:55
HFW Industries
But yeah we'll see. Then maybe I can put it on the shop floor, but that's I think that's way to come in the future. Yeah, that would be really nice. I think we'll need something a little heavier duty.
00:14:05
HFW Industries
Which they do make, up some people have told me. So, all right. um Let's talk...
Enhancing Communication with Toolbox Talks
00:14:11
HFW Industries
um Toolbox Talks. This something you've been really pushing, which I know is part of the book we always mention, Two Second Lean by Paul Akers. Why don't you tell us about Toolbox Talks?
00:14:21
HFW Industries
Yes, and it's a constant... It's been a constant battle so far just to kind of... ah and ingrain the our muscles there. it's It's no different than working out and and getting, you know, at first it's tough to get set set the schedule and get in get you used to a new routine, but what we're trying to do, and I wanted to come on and explain this in a little bit more detail, is just improve communication. That's that's bottom line, because I've heard from so many people, whether it's up in the office or in the shop, I've seen it, you know, and we've all seen it with the paperwork and
00:14:55
HFW Industries
um people having different sets of information. There's so many opportunities for miscommunication, misunderstanding. um The point of the toolbox talks is a simple point every day where everyone um in the department that you work with can sit down with your supervisor um and just have a really brief conversation you know what's going on today, what's going well in the shop, um were there things that someone in particular is doing really well, um was there a recent corrective action or something that we need to adjust, and then most importantly to me, you know what feedback does each individual person have
00:15:31
HFW Industries
um um li Just little things. like that's where the two so this Really, the the feedback is the two-second lean ideas, the little things. Like, hey, you know one that one thing that came up that um you and and Kevin will be acting on, I know Tucker, is um Fred's guys brought up to him, hey, some of the snap gauges need maintenance.
00:15:50
HFW Industries
And so I know you guys are going to sit down um and then address that and put together schedule and make sure that that's more regularly getting updated. um elizur's department they've been a little quiet guys on on feedback recently but they had been going really like tucker kind of mentioned some they had some really great ideas recently um just little things that when you start adding them up over a couple weeks and months um not only make their jobs easier but um i know one you know was uh improved safety uh also probably improved the the lifespan of i think was it was a hose or a plug or something or a cord that was going across a walkway
00:16:28
HFW Industries
um All these little things, and you know, just little little ergonomic things. there um it's The point isn't that we make these huge changes every day. It's the tiny little ones. And and our goal is to build in the consistency.
00:16:42
HFW Industries
That's the first step of the Toolbox Talks. Toolbox Talks. ah The consistency and the communication, those are the two big things. um And I know at first it's goingnna be a little weird or different or you might not have anything, but we just want to build in that, again, that um habit of discussing things every morning.
00:16:59
HFW Industries
and Then, you know, like yeah maybe you're sitting, you know, you're having dinner you're going to bed and you you're like, oh man, I want to bring this up tomorrow at the meeting. Like that's ideally something that will eventually happen. as we build that muscle. So that's that's the point of the toolbox talks. We're not just trying to waste everyone's time. They're meant to be quick to the point.
00:17:16
HFW Industries
um And not just something useless to give to management. We really want everyone to um have a voice. We want our supervisors to be communicating what's going on around the company so you're hearing of things, both good and you know areas that need improvement. And then um we want, most importantly, we want each person's feedback as well. I don't want to be hearing later after the fact, well, I've known about this for six years, and no one's ever done anything. like This is the point. i want I want us to be able to act on some this stuff quickly. I want your problems. Yeah, that's why I want to bring it up here, especially with Tucker, because Tucker is one of our main points of contact to address some of these things. And and most of them are not huge things. Some of them are, like some of the machines he's been working on recently. But and the point of Tucker is to make everyone's lives easier in the shop so that we can do things easier and more profitably.
00:18:02
HFW Industries
And really the point of the Toolbox Talks is how can we um increase our likelihood of success on a job and make it easier for each person to do their job well. So that's point the point of the Toolbox Talks.
00:18:15
HFW Industries
um You know, I want to switch our order around
Safety Advancements with Acoustic Booth
00:18:17
HFW Industries
here. ah Let's talk about something that you've been very involved in oh recently, which is the spray booth project. Everyone has, I'm sure, seen the initial steps ah with all the big equipment coming in here with the dust collection system, which is only one piece of this project.
00:18:37
HFW Industries
And really, the main piece hasn't even started yet. And you got you and my grandfather are just getting into the meat of it. So walk us through what's going on. So we are starting to install a new sound acoustic booth for our jet coat system in the spray shop.
00:18:51
HFW Industries
We have currently purchased two dust collectors. They are very large, take up at least three parking spots worth ah staring at her another huge three parking spots worth of area.
00:19:02
HFW Industries
So they're huge. And that's just the feet and the blowers each. So those we have just poured a new concrete pad to get those installed and laid out. And we are currently working on procuring a acoustic booth that we will be putting the spray system into cut down a lot of the decibels that are currently out on the shop floor.
00:19:23
HFW Industries
We're going to try and minimize that so I don't have to walk around wearing headphones and ear protection as much in the shop. Obviously, machine shop, you should wear your earphones. But this is next this is ah next level of hearing loss damage potential.
00:19:38
HFW Industries
So we're trying to mitigate that. Yeah, this so just and this is going to get rid of the big noise. The the noisiest thing in the shop will be much significantly reduced as far as how noisy is. Yes, and it should be a very good attempt at trying to cut down on any of the dust that gets sent out as a byproduct of our spray system.
00:19:58
HFW Industries
We have had the system for years, and we have had water wash that has worked in the past, but we're trying to do something more modern, better up to code, more...
00:20:09
HFW Industries
More safe for everybody. And it gets with the booth. You can operate the system while outside the booth potentially. So the operator doesn't have to be right next to the super loud spraying system.
00:20:21
HFW Industries
I mean, I don't care how much hearing protection you have. It's loud no matter what. The goal of, it's exactly what she said, we're moving to more modern technology, no different than like a manual versus a CNC.
00:20:34
HFW Industries
CNC has kind of become the standard, obviously, with machining and even now grinding. um And so the the whole point of this is um improving the comfort of the shop.
00:20:45
HFW Industries
um It is it is and should be more efficient. ah we yeah We will be able to ah ideally separate out the powders ah more easily we'll have will get dust, obviously, as opposed to a sludge that you get with the water wash going versus you know the wet collection to the dry collection.
00:21:02
HFW Industries
um so there are a lot of different considerations. the The dry collection is the more modern one, but it's also you have to take a lot of precautions because it's dry and um can be flammable and all these different things are explosive. And it's no different than any of the other dust we have already.
00:21:16
HFW Industries
um So there's a lot of different considerations that I know you and my grandfather and some of our vendors have been working very closely on. I know the project timeframe I just heard this morning, we're probably looking at like early next year for this to be. got at least three or four months until this can come to full fruition. And it is currently September. So yeah we don't have much time left in this year.
00:21:37
HFW Industries
So it's moving along. um The big benefit to everyone will be the zo the big reduction in noise, um which is a bit just to be clear, like that was a big reason we wanted to do this.
00:21:48
HFW Industries
um You know, it's no secret how loud that jet code can be. and it's It literally, with the name jet code, it is a jet engine. So just to give some background on that, like I was talking to someone at a conference recently that works for SpaceX.
00:22:03
HFW Industries
And they were um they when they run their test rockets, they use jet code boosters. so um Or jet code guns as boosters. So that gives you a sense of this. is It's literally a jet engine. And you can imagine how loud that is. you you know You know how loud that is. It gives a new meaning to the phrase rocket scientist here.
00:22:23
HFW Industries
Yeah, exactly. And that's the kind of technology. you know It's a really, really cool technology. It is a big piece of why people work with HFW, but yeah, it's also loud. So the the big goal of this will be to cut down the noise, and and it will make the shop a lot more comfortable.
00:22:40
HFW Industries
um And we appreciate everyone bearing with us as we go through the construction process and finally get this enclosed. Yay. So yeah, awesome. I'm excited. Thanks for all your hard work on that so far.
Improving Accuracy in Work Processes
00:22:51
HFW Industries
Thanks, Jack. Now on our our list of things to talk about, we have reviews and double checking. do you want to go over that? Yeah, this is kind of the last big item we had on the our agenda here. But I wanted to kind of touch back on something that we had discussed at our last all-hands meeting, which was, what, like two weeks ago.
00:23:11
HFW Industries
um Wanted to just kind of give a little bit more flavor on that. The all-hands meetings, we always try to keep short to the point, um but also having everyone and in one place. I know the um stupid compressor can also impede the ability to hear clearly. So I just wanted to touch back on that. I know ah Tom and Peter had done a nice job overviewing that. Wanted to talk through some of the behind the scenes stuff and and what we're looking at and thinking about there. And um Tucker, I know you have a lot of insight here too, so please ah step in.
00:23:45
HFW Industries
um But basically, we want, you know again, this goes back to what I was talking about earlier earlier, where we're trying to set jobs up so that every single person has the biggest likelihood of success on the job, right? Because It's no secret that rework and mistakes um or costly are very costly. we you know We went through some of the numbers ah in in the meeting.
00:24:08
HFW Industries
And so we're just trying to do whatever we can to cut back on those. We know there's been a huge shift in the workforce. That's like that's no secret. And so we're trying to adjust the way we operate to account for that, um help make sure that we're having experienced eyes um look at things.
00:24:25
HFW Industries
And making sure that we're checking things once, or I should say checking things twice and three times, cutting once, um literally. And again, setting the job up for the best chance of success.
00:24:37
HFW Industries
One thing that I've been kind of just observing, walking around and talking with people, and I was talking to Pat yesterday. I've talked to Mark Petronsky about this in the past. and and obviously talking with Peter and and the other guys, is i and one one thing I've noticed about the best performers, whether it's in our shop or at other companies or just, you know, athletes or whatever, they are always the first ones to ask for help or um want other people's advice on something. And so in our our shop in particular, one thing I've noticed is that
00:25:13
HFW Industries
Some of our most experienced guys are also the first ones to seek out Peter or the lead man or, um you know, just another experienced guy to say, hey, I think I've got this. But take a look. I want you to double check it.
00:25:26
HFW Industries
Like yeah that is not um a weakness or not. Like our best guys are doing that. You know, it's like no different than Josh Allen or – um you know One of the top quarterbacks or golfers or whoever seeking out another a fellow star and saying, hey, you know what do you think of this? What can I do better here?
00:25:45
HFW Industries
um And in our case, it's, hey, can you double check this before I hit go? And That's the whole thing we're trying to, again, make that, like the toolbox talks, make that part of the culture, um just the systematic um process of double-checking.
00:25:59
HFW Industries
We will never get mad at to anyone for double-checking or spending a little bit more time reviewing something um to do right. Because like we said, just about every job we do is a custom, unique job. It's one-off.
00:26:11
HFW Industries
it's Yeah, it's a one-off. If it's with a forging, you know, sometimes the forging well, first of all, you got the cost of the forging, um which is usually several thousand dollars. And then the lead time. it it can take six weeks just to get one little forging um from these specialty forge shops.
00:26:26
HFW Industries
um And not to mention the art the time we put into it that to then do it again if a mistake happens. so we' Extras are very costly and are not affordable. Yeah, this isn't like we're making a thousand pieces and you know you you expect to scrap one or two. It says we're making one.
00:26:42
HFW Industries
We got to get it right. And so, again, this isn't we're not going to walk around with the ruler beating people. our The point is how do we build it and and help everyone, especially understanding that we have newer people here, um build up experience and also build the support systems to increase the likelihood of success. And, um Tucker, I know that's a big thing you've done with work instructions. We're going to continue to be doing that.
00:27:06
HFW Industries
um But that's our whole philosophy here. That's why we want there to be double checks on setups. We want there to be um we want the supervisor to be involved throughout the the both the setup process and when you're actually running the job, checking in, seeing how you're doing, um just making sure that you're on track.
00:27:24
HFW Industries
And don't be afraid to speak up if something ah is off. And that's, again, going back to the things I noticed from some of our top guys and our most experienced guys. I noticed that. They say, hey, I'm noticing this.
00:27:34
HFW Industries
um What should I do when the supervisor walks around is checking in on you? um And you know in some cases, if the supervisor's not, if he's tied up with something, you know go go find him. It's better to ask that question before you know saying, well, it should be fine. And then obviously, something comes up, and you're dang it, I should have checked.
00:27:51
HFW Industries
Yeah. Now let's touch on one of those points, because we have a software called Predator, where in the past, we have used it to make basically set up sheets with pictures, not just words, pictures.
Technology to Aid Task Efficiency
00:28:02
HFW Industries
And maybe a scratch and sniff here and there that can document the full um job from start to beginning, especially for some of the repeats. Because not and we may do one-off parts, but it's usually lot size one, but we might get the order two or three times in time.
00:28:19
HFW Industries
you know, a year or two. So being able to reference that software and go, oh, this is how they set it up. Somebody took a picture of exactly what tool holders they used, what order of operations, and how the part was set up, say, in the lathe.
00:28:34
HFW Industries
They can then reference those photos and go, okay, this looks right. That could, that on top of having you know Peter or somebody double check their work is a great way to ensure that our top performers keep being top performers. And by ah a double check of work, we really do mean it's like, hey, here's what I got set up.
00:28:54
HFW Industries
Here are the numbers. Does this look right? Yes. OK, go ahead. Keep going. Yeah, like a review of the job and walking through the job should, you know, on most occasions, it'll take five to 10 minutes on a more complex job, maybe 15.
00:29:07
HFW Industries
But again, worth it that yeah time is well spent. yeah the we're trying We're trying to find ways to cut down Set up time. So that's, you know, making sure that you have all the tooling available to you. You know where it is.
00:29:20
HFW Industries
You can find it easily. It's it's ideally right by you. um Obviously cycle time. But the big thing that we're almost okay in a sense spending more. Well, no, I shouldn't say almost. We are okay spending more time on and we think is is value added, especially at this point, is ah review time and spending time walking through with your supervisor, with the lead man.
00:29:39
HFW Industries
making sure that um every you know any questions are answered beforehand, you know what you're doing, how to do it, um the setups are correct. ah All these little things will contribute to um learning, continuous development and improvement, and then um doing the job successfully. yeah Well, that is everything.
00:29:59
HFW Industries
We had on any points? I think that's it. Closing arguments. um So yeah I'm really optimistic. I think we've got a really good group of people here. We're continuing to add good people.
00:30:10
HFW Industries
um you know We're really building the foundation for a prosperous next 5, 10, 15 years. And if you want to become part of this group, you should reach out to HFW and see if you can become part of our team because we are always looking.
00:30:24
HFW Industries
We will never say no, but we might turn you down. but Well, yeah, we're always willing to talk to good people um because we really look at things with a growth mindset.
Commitment to Team and Technology Investment
00:30:33
HFW Industries
Oh, that's one other point I want to bring up as far as um one you know why should someone care about – Wanting do better, but because I the thing I will promise is that we have we and we have a really good history of investing in our people in our technology.
00:30:47
HFW Industries
um In our equipment and I can promise you like the more we can reduce ah the mistakes and make more money, we will pour that back into our team back into the company, I want this place to be the absolute best place to work and so.
00:31:02
HFW Industries
um Well, I should say, but that's, you know, that's dependent on how successful we can be. The more, and the more money we have available to do that, the more money we'll, we'll spend to do that. But that's why we want to, we'd rather spend the money there than spend it on, ah you know, replacement forging or something boring. Yeah, exactly.
00:31:17
HFW Industries
So, all right. Well, Jack, thanks again for inviting me up here to be your co-host. Yeah, we'll do it again soon. I've got a couple, a couple ah episodes on the agenda over the next couple months and we're excited to keep it rolling.
00:31:33
HFW Industries
Sounds good, Jack. Thank you. Until next time. Let's do it again soon.