2011 Christmas Dinner
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held its annual Christmas Party at the Plaza III restaurant in Kansas City on December 3rd.
Highlights of the evening included installing Rick Schwind, Continental Tool, as the new chapter president for 2012 and recognizing 2011 president, Mike Hudson of Heartland Fabrication & Machine, for his contributions to the chapter.
A special presentation was made to Mike & Kristi Hudson. Craig Schroer, Unitech, and other members had arranged to have a bronze statue titled The Wonder of Life cast as a remembrance and celebration of the life of their 14-year-old daughter, Jacey, who died in a car accident during Mike s time on the board.
The statue, which depicts a young girl admiring a flower was created by Brandon Crandall of Crandall Sculpture and Design and was cast by Aaron Luckeroth at Eligius Bronze.
Engineer Your Future Event - October, 2010
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) hosted an "Engineer Your Future" event at William Chrisman High School in Independence, Missouri, on October 25th.
The goal of the event was to expose students, parents and teachers to the growing manufacturing and engineering job market..
The evening included: tours of WCHS's metals lab, wood shop, CAD lab, engineering & design labs; displays by NTMA members Clay & Bailey, MCC' s BTC, A&E Custom Mfg and K-Ter Imagineering; a presentation by Debbie Goodall, president of the MCC' s BTC and a panel discussion led by NTMA members and a recent BTC grad.
Chapter Mourns Charlie Hubbard
The chapter is mourning the recent passing of Charles "Charlie" W. Hubbard, 94, a long-time member and chapter leader. Hubbard was born in 1917 and lived in Merriam, Kansas, for 60 years. He is survived by his wife of 73 years, Virginia, a daughter, two sons, as well as 4 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
In 1956 he was a co-founder of Best Tool & Mfg., Inc. where he handled the marketing and sales until he sold his interest in 1978 and became a manufacturing representative. In 1991 he received the Award of Honor from the National NTMA for his many years of service in the industry. He was a private pilot for over 65 years having last piloted his plane at the young age of 88. He was a football and basketball fan, a Kansas City Chiefs season ticket holder since 1963, attended the 1971 Super Bowl when the Chiefs won, and attended several Final Fours, as well as several football and bowl games of K- State, Missouri and KU, and many tail gate parties along the way.
" Charlie was a great example to everyone in the NTMA and the industry," noted George Crossland, NTMA board member and past chapter president. "His enthusiasm was contagious. When you consider everything he accomplished it is easy to say his was a life well lived."
The Hubbard family suggests contributions in Charlie's memory to the Shawnee United Methodist Church or other charity of your choice.
September, 2011 - Shop Meeting
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting Clay & Bailey Mfg. in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 8th. The 97-year-old firm is a full-service, foundry providing gray iron, aluminum, steel, zinc and ductile iron castings as well as machining, fabricating and painting. The event was sponsored by Marathon Solutions.
After shop tours and a buffet dinner, Clay & Bailey s John Patrick gave a presentation on the firm s mock OSHA experience. Rita Needham of Missouri Association of Manufacturers (MAM) talked about the group and its healthcare consortium.LuAnn Ridgeway, MO State Senator (Clay County) talked about the special legislative session and its impact on manufacturers and businesses.
KC and St. Louis Chapter Annual Lake Meeting - July 2011
The St. Louis and Kansas City Chapters of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held their annual lake meeting conference at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Missouri. The theme of the meeting was Transitioning to the Future. Top level sponsors of the conference included Federated Insurance and Paulo Products.
Friday started off with presentations from a team of transition experts including: Vic Panus, J.D., LL.M (taxation) of the Panus Law Firm; John A. Christensen, JD, CFP of Blue Creek Investment Partners and Tim Vlamis, president of StrategyScape.
A two-hour industry roundtable was then held. A wide range of topics were covered including: R&D Tax Credits, OSHA audits; Social Media; Workforce Development; Import and Export opportunities and Healthcare Benefits. Sponsors for the roundtable were Clay & Bailey Manufacturing and Unitech.
Friday night also featured a social mixer and dinner.
Saturday morning included mores transition seminars by the same trio and ended with individual meetings for NTMA members with the team.
The Saturday Dinner featured a speech by KC NTMA President Mike Hudson on What the NTMA Means to Me and a talk by the NTMA National Chairman, Grady Cope. His theme for the year is Marketing Manufacturing to America. Cope s talk encouraged members to let everyone know that What we do is cool! He spoke about the importance of manufacturing to the U.S. economy and to our future. Cope also covered the importance of developing a trained work force. He encouraged everyone to get involved and attend national NTMA events.
SkillsUSA/NIMS Precision Machining Technology Championship - June, 2011
The Metropolitan Community College-Business & Technology Campus (MCC-BTC) hosted the SkillsUSA/NIMS Precision Machining Technology Championship on June 23rd. High school students, technical college students and their instructors from all over the country came together in Kansas City to put their technical skills to the test.
Numerous NTMA member firms provided volunteers for the judging of the event and to assist with the Battlebots exhibition put on by the NTMA.
Members providing volunteers included: Crossland Machinery; C&R Mfg.; Haas Automation; R&D Tool & Engineering and the MCC BTC.
A competition dinner was held on Wednesday evening at the Golden Ox in KCMO.
Shop Meeting - April, 2011
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA)
held a shop meeting at Technics2000 in Olathe, Kansas on April 19th. The event was sponsored by Lenox Sawwhich is distributed through DECO Tool.
Technics 2000, Inc. is a leading manufacturer supplying the aircraft, hydraulic, food equipment, electronics and avionics industries. It specializes in assembly and machining.
After shop tours and a buffet dinner, The Learning Funds' Suzy Makalous spoke about Lifelong Learning Acounts.
David Kensinger, Governor Brownback' s Chief of Staff spoke about business issues and efforts by the governor to address them at the state level.
Ethan Patterson from Congressman Kevin Yoder' s (R-KS) office then spoke about actions being taken in Washington regarding business and the economy.
Kirk Young from JobMatchAssessment.com then spoke about generational differences in the Workplace.
Haake Insurance' s Kevin Fields and AaronBowers then spoke about workplace safety and OSHA inspections.
Shop Meeting - February, 2011
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA)
held a shop meeting at Creative Blow Mold in Lee s Summit, Missouri, on February 17th. The event was sponsored by SECO Tooling which is distributed through DECO Tool.
Founded in 1984, Creative began with a focus on the design, manufacture, and repair of tooling for the blow mold industry. While many things in the industry have changed, the company maintains its focus on manufacturing high quality blow molds.
After shop tours and a buffet dinner, Dan Garcia of Federated Insurance gave a presentation on Hiring and Employment Practices.
Danielle Rodenbough of Trouble @ Work? (Human Resources Employment and Consulting Services) briefly talked about a wide range of issues facing employers in today s workplace. These included: independent contractors; company handbooks; harassment policies and various liabilities.
Roundtable - January, 2011
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) toured Blue Valley's Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) and held a roundtable on January 20th.
CAPS allows up to 500 high school juniors and seniors to take 2½ hour college level courses in bioscience, engineering, business & technology and human services. The 66,205-sq.-ft. facility meets LEED Gold certification requirements. CAPS, opened last August, is funded by the Blue Valley Schools and by numerous corporate partners. Corporations also provide mentors for the students.
A chapter roundtable was then held. A wide range of topics were discussed including: NIMS certification; health insurance; unemployment insurance costs; national meetings and what sectors of the economy are growing at this time.
A new member, Creative Blow Mold was also announced. The firm will host the February Shop Meeting.
In other chapter business, TPP Certified Public Accountants was recognized for its contributions to the chapter s scholarship fund.
Annual Christmas Party - December, 2010
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held its annual Christmas Part at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City on December 4th.
Highlights of the evening included installing Mike Hudson, Heartland Fabrication and Machine, as the new chapter president for 2011 and recognizing 2010 president, Dean Rohr, R&D Leverage, for his contributions to the chapter.
Engineer Your Future - October, 2010
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) hosted an "Engineer Your Future" event at Olathe Northwest High (ONW) School in Olathe, Kansas on October20th. The goal of the event was to expose students, parents and teachers to the growing manufacturing and engineering job market. Over 400 attended the event.
The evening included: tours of ONW's Aeronautics & Engineering labs and shop: Displays by NTMA members Clay & Bailey, MCC's BTC, C&R Manufacturing and May Technologies; a presentation by Kansas State University's College of Engineering Dean, Dr. John English and a panel discussion by NTMA members. Dr. English spoke about how the nation needs more students in the technical fields and the importance of "engineering to our health, happiness and safety."
September, 2010 - Shop Meeting at Continental Tool ↦ Manufacturing
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting on September 23rd at Continental Tool & Manufacturing. The firm is a precision manufacturer of specialty tools, gages, component assemblies and fasteners. Their website is www.continentaltool.com.
Members of the Olathe Northwest High School robotics team displayed their robots at the event.
The evening included shop tours, a buffet dinner and a presentation by Omar Nashashibi, founding partner of Franklin Partnership, LLP. The group is a bipartisan government relations firm that works on behalf of NTMA members and the manufacturing industry with Congress, the Administration and relevant government agencies. Nashashibi discussed many of the pressing issues facing manufacturing and the NTMA in the upcoming year. He emphasized that most decisions in Washington ultimately come down to the number of voters that are impacted by legislation or policies. NTMA members represent a good-sized voting block when all employees and families are taken into account.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you are on the menu," Nashashibi commented. He encouraged members to get involved in election and political activities. He also led a lively discussion about the upcoming elections.
Summer Lake Meeting, July, 2010
The St. Louis and Kansas City Chapters of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held their annual lake meeting at the Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks August 13-14.
Friday started off with three seminars. The first was led by Federated Insurance' s Pat Cunningham. His topic was "The Value of a Drug and Alcohol-free Workplace."
The next seminar featured LarsonAllen's Rob Tracy and Tim O'Shaughnessey. They covered Creating Value in Turbulent Times and discussed new tax developments and opportunities for manufacturers.
The third seminar was led by C.J. Smith's Dave Smith. He discussed the upcoming imX event (sponsored by AMTDA and SME.) The biggest names in the industry are working together to create a new type of event designed to revitalize U.S. manufacturing. Scheduled for Sept. 12-14, 2011, in Las Vegas, the Interactive Manufacturing Experience (imX) will combine the best features of a corporate open house, customer training seminars, client appreciation programs and new product launch events. There will be room for 10,000 attendees. All NTMA members are invited to the event. For more information visit www.imxevent.sme.org.
A two-hour industry roundtable was then held. A wide range of topics were covered as members discussed what has helped their business in the last year. This included: Lean Manufacturing; training; diversification; technology and value-added services.
Friday night featured a sit-down dinner with U.S. Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) as the featured speaker. Representative Luetkemeyer spoke about current trends in Washington D.C. and answered numerous questions about foreign affairs, healthcare, the economy and the regulatory environment.
The evening ended with a conference call with NTMA lobbyist John Guzik of The Franklin Partnership discussing the efforts of the NTMA and other manufacturing groups in Washington.
The Saturday Dinner featured a talk by the NTMA National Chairman, Russ Reschke. He discussed numerous issues facing the industry and the actions being taken by the NTMA. Several of these include partnering with other industry groups, which tied in with the theme of his term, "Building Bridges."
Other Saturday activities included a golf tournament, a shopping excursion and a Wii tournament.
Sponsors of the weekend included: Federated Insurance; LarsonAllen LLP; Ellison Technologies; Paulo Products; Stroco Manufacturing and CBIZ.
April, 2010 - Shop Meeting at May Tool & Technology
The chapter held a shop meeting on April 22nd at May Tool & Technology Mfg., Inc. (MTM). The family firm is a 45-year-old company that has evolved into a high-technology, custom CNC machining and tooling provider. Their website is www.mayinc.com.
The evening included shop tours, a buffet dinner from Salvatore's Italian Restaurant, a presentation from LarsonAllen's Chris Shimek, and remarks by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Jaob Turk, candidate for congress (5th District, MO).
Shimek briefly touched on economic issues and then talked about lean manufacturing and the benefits that such improvements can offer to small custom manufacturers. He identified several simple steps that NTMA members can consider when looking to start a lean manufacturing program.
Senator Brownback, also a Kansas gubernatorial candidate, spoke about government spending and expansion and the threats they pose to our society. He encourage everyone to get involved in the election process. We need to win the next two cycles (2010 and 2012) to get our country back, Brownback noted.
Turk, who earlier in his career worked as an engineer at Bendix, introduced himself to the audience and talked about his third campaign to win the Missouri 5th district seat. He also spoke about the growth of government and the serious issues raised in the election.
February, 2010 - Shop Meeting at Heartland Fabrication
The Kansas City chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting at Heartland Fabrication and Machine in Lee's Summit, Missouri, on February 18th.
The firm, which is a SBA Certified SDB-8(a) Native American Owned Company, offers precision machining and fabrication for many industries across the country. There are more than a dozen pieces of CNC equipment at Heartland Fabrication and Machine.
After tours of the facility and a Mexican buffet dinner presentations were made by Lawing Financial on employee benefits, Federated Insurance on its new Self-Insured Retention (SIR) Workers Compensation Insurance program and Haas Factory Outlet about CNC machining equipment. The 20-year-old firm sold its 100,000th machine in 2009 and now offers 100 different types of machine tools.
During the social hour, two robotics teams from Olathe Northwest High School displayed their robots and talked about the programs. Several NTMA members and associate members were recognized for their contributions to the programs including: C&R Mfg; EMJ Metals; Inland Tool; Laird Plastics; NCS; Triumph Structures and Unitech.
Raffle tickets were sold to benefit the Scholarship fund and prizes were provided by LPF Coatings and Advantage Metals Recycling.
January, 2010 - Chapter Roundtable
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a 2010 Kickoff-Roundtable meeting on January 26th at the Figlio Tower on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.
Federated Insurance was the sponsor for the meeting.
The annual roundtable provided the opportunity for NTMA members and associate members to cover a wide range of topics important to the machining industry in the KC area.
Topics discussed included: 2010 forecast and trends; NIMS/LILA/ training; accounts receivables; automation & innovation; communications with employees; diversification; marketing and government programs that could be helpful to members.
December, 2009 - Annual Christmas Party
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held its annual Christmas Part at Figlio's Tower in Kansas City on December 12th. Highlights of the evening included installing Dean Rohr, R&D Tool & Engineering, as the new chapter president for 2010 and recognizing 2009 president, Bill Goodman of Inland Tool for his contributions to the chapter.
November, 2009 - Mini Trade Show
The chapter held a Mini Trade Show on November 3rd at the BTC Exhibition hall. Over 20 associate members and regular members had exhibits setup to show their products and services to those attending the event.
A free BBQ buffet was served to everyone that attended and beverages were provided by Advanced Coatings. Numerous door prizes were awarded during the evening.
Several other manufacturing-related groups were invited to attend including the American Foundry Society and the Kansas City Manufacturing Network.
Photos of the exhibitors may be found in the photo gallery.
October 2009 - Educator's Luncheon
The chapter held their annual Educator's Luncheon at the Metropolitan Community College's Business & Technology Center on Wednesday October 23rd. Area high school counselors were invited to hear more about education and career opportunities in manufacturing.
Pictured left: KC NTMA's President Bill Goodman and Full Employment Council's Duke Crosswhite at the Educator's Luncheon. Also pictured are students, educators and shop owner's listening to the panel discussion.
September, 2009 - A & E Shop Meeting
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) Held a shop meeting at A&E Custom Manufacturing Technologies in Kansas City, Kansas on September 16th.
The event, which also celebrated A&E' s 50th anniversary, featured shop tours, displays by the Olathe NW High School Battle Bots team, recognition of new members (NCS and Brogdon Tool & Die) and presentations by Laird Plastics' Joe Wolfe, Ron Thornburgh, Kansas Secretary of State and well-known local economist Chris Kuehl.
Wolfe spoke about the conditions in the plastic distribution industry.
Secretary Thornburgh spoke about the importance of creating jobs for Kansas, the state budget and his recent travels to India and China. "The American System will help us succeed," he noted.
Kuehl spoke about numerous economic issues facing the country and manufacturing. These included unemployment, material pricing, international trade issues and government policies.
Raffle prizes to benefit the scholarship fund were provided by EMJ, Laird Plastics, Advantage Metals Recycling and A&E.
July, 2009 - KC and St. Louis Summer Meeting
The St. Louis and Kansas City Chapters of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held their annual lake meeting at the Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks July 24-25.
Friday started off with a golf tournament and a financial roundtable led by associate members Larsen Allen and TPP. Numerous topics were covered during the lively discussion. The day finished up with a social hour.
Saturday' s activities included five seminars, an industry roundtable and a dinner/dance. The seminars included: Haake Insurance's Sheila Ost covering Healthcare options such as HSAs and HRAs; TPP's Dave Perky, CPS, CFA, talking about financial opportunities in difficult times; LarsenAllen's Erik Skie and Chris Shimek discussing lean manufacturing for small businesses; Federated Insurance's Freddie Johnston covering insurance 101/current insurance trends and options; and Missouri Enterprise's Dusty Cruise covered "Harvesting Low Hanging Savings in Your Business."
Activities for the ladies of the NTMA and the Next Generation group were also held.
The Saturday Dinner featured a talk by the NTMA National Chairman, Ron Overton. Overton discussed numerous issues facing the industry and the actions being taken by the NTMA. Several of these include partnering with other industry groups. He encouraged the chapters to get involved in the NTMA and keep track of the happenings in Washington.
April, 2009 - Unitech Shop Meeting
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting at Unitech/Advanced Coatings on April 16th.
The 26-year-old firm offers CNC machining - 3 & 4 axis, EDM wire machining, live tool turning, welding and fabrication. Unitech's CNC department includes a line of 40 taper CNC mills (20" x 40" maximum capacity), a line of 50 taper CNC mills (30" x 60" maximum capacity), and a line of CNC live tooling lathes. The welding and fabrication department is organized under a 5-ton DEMAG crane that spans 80 feet, and enables the construction of very large projects. Over the years Unitech has seen its expertise being utilized by different industries and now serves veterinary medicine; transportation; medical equipment; aerospace, and recently has expanded into the energy field with a sales office in Houston. The materials they work with have also expanded to include tool steels, exotic metals and plastics.
A sister company, Advanced Coatings, is located in a 15,000-sq.-ft. section of the same building, and provides liquid paint coatings and powder coating. Recently, a color lab has been constructed at Advanced Coatings. It allows the firm to make its own custom colors and check the quality of its finishes on-site.
One of the featured speakers at the meeting was Tom Brown, chief of staff for Congressman Sam Graves (MO 6th District). Brown spoke about the small business issues that congress is dealing with at this time. Graves is the ranking member on the Small Business Committee. "Seven out of ten jobs in the U.S. are created by small businesses," noted Brown.
Another speaker was OneKC Wired' s Marion Alpers. She spoke about LiLA accounts and how they can be used by NTMA members. The accounts can be set up to combine employee, employer and government funds for employee training. Several NTMA members utilize the accounts and spoke about their use.
A raffle for the chapter's scholarship fund was also held with the prize being a Custom camoflage welding helmet and $75 Bass Pro Shop gift card donated by LPF Coatings.
February 2009 - K-Ter Imagineering Shop Meeting
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting at K-Ter Imagineering (KCMO) on February 19th.
K-Ter, one of the chapters newest members, is a full-service general machine shop specializing in tool & die work, special machines and prototyping.
The 28-year-old, employee-owned firm' s capabilities include: design, engineering, automation, CNC machining, wire EDM, turning, welding, fabrication, heat treating, surface grinding and assembly. "Our most valuable asset are our employees," stated K-Ter president and long-time industry veteran Roger Gubbels. He noted that the average tenure at the firm is over 12 years.
After touring the shop and a buffet dinner, Freddie Johnston of Federated Insurance spoke about "Seeking Certainty in Uncertain Times." He covered a wide range of issues facing the insurance industry at this time and made several points that members should consider when dealing with insurance decisions.
The Paul Mershon of US Bank spoke about the "State of Lending in the Industry." Mershon spoke about the general financial atmosphere in the industrial world and different programs offered by US Bank to manufacturers.
The Battlebots IQ team from Olathe Northwest High School demonstrated their robot before the meeting started.
A raffle for the chapter's scholarship fund was also held with the prize being a $100 gift card to Pierponts Restaurant donated by EMJ Metals.
January 2009 Roundtable
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a 2009 Kickoff-Roundtable meeting on January 20th, 2009 at the Figlio Tower on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Federated Insurance was a sponsor for the meeting.
The annual roundtable provided the opportunity for NTMA members and Associate members to cover a wide range of topics important to the machining industry in the KC area.
Topics discussed included: training; shipping costs and alternatives; creative shift scheduling; insurance; medical insurance plans; how to hire quality workers and government programs that could be helpful to members..
Pictured left: Chapter President Bill Goodman addresses the membership.
Chapter Christmas Party Held December 5th
The Kansas City Chapter held its annual Christmas Party on December 5th at The American Restaurant at Crown Center in Kansas City. Over 80 attended the event. Highlights of the evening included awards to George Crossland, Crossland Machinery (25 years of membership) ; Steve Hasty (service award, A&E Custom Mfg. Technolgoies; and an appreciation plaque to outgoing president Tom Goodpasture, Pride Mfg. The chapter' s new Executive Director, Torree Pederson, was introduced and chapter accomplishments for 2008 were also covered. Photos of the event may be found in the Photo Gallery.
Chapter Hosts Educator Luncheon
The chapter hosted an educator luncheon at the MCC Business & Technology Campus (BTC) on October 28th.
The purpose of the luncheon was to provide high school shop and science teachers with some perspectives about the careers available in manufacturing. Through presentations, video presentations and a panel discussion, teachers/counselors were able to hear about opportunities available to their students and ask questions.
Presentations were made by chapter president Tom Goodpasture and BTC staff. The panel consisted of NTMA members and BTC students.
A tour of the BTC's machine and welding shop concluded the event.
KC NTMA Welcomes Torree Pederson as New Executive Director
The board of the Kansas City Chapter of the NTMA is pleased to announce that
Torree Pederson, has been selected as the chapter' s new Executive Director. She assumed the duties on October upon the relocation of previous director, Deborah Evans.
Pederson graduated from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) with a BS in Finance and earned an MBA at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Pederson spent several years as a financial analyst for a major corporations in the greater Kansas City area before retiring to care for her new daughter Elle. Torree and her husband Jason, reside in Shawnee.
"We are pleased to have someone with Torree' s experience and skills take over the position," stated Tom Goodpasture, chapter president. "She will do a great job for the chapter!"
Pederson's duties include event planning, chapter communication, A/P, A/R, membership records, national liaison, and board meetings.
The chapter extends its best wishes to its previous director, Deborah Evans, as she relocates to California.
Shop Meeting at Triumph Structure - September, 2008
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop meeting at Triumph Structures on September 16th in Grandview, Missouri.
Two speakers were featured at the meeting. Sheila Ost of the Haake Companies, and Joe Kitterman with Oxygen Education.
Ost spoke about HSAs and HRAs. She covered the actual costs involved with HRAs/HSAs versus perceptions. Ost noted that these plans: provide employees with choices; provide savings for retirement; change behavior; offer tax savings; are portable and reduce overall costs. Ost can be contacted at: www.haakeins.com.
Kitterman discussed how to train employees in the 21st century. He pointed out that obstacles to training include: lack of time; increased turnover (due to lack of ability to retrain); reduced productivity (downtime) and reduced employee loyalty. "90% of required manufacturing training is technical," stated Kitterman.
Oxygen Education offers on line training. Advantages of e-training include: 24/7; instant feedback; driven by learner (not instructor); can be repeated as often as needed; does not tie up expensive equipment; allows practice and mastery of skill. Oxygen Education can be contacted at: www.o2ed.com.
Chapter President Tom Goodpasture, Pride Manufacturing, announced that Hartwig' s J.C. Connely has joined the board as a representative of associate members. Nominations for next year' s board were also solicited.
Goopasture sadly noted that the chapter' s Executive Director, Deborah Evans, will be relocating by the end of the year to the west coast and will be leaving the chapter. The board is moving quickly on finding a replacement.
KC & St. Louis NTMA Summer Meeting - July, 2008
The St. Louis and Kansas City Chapters of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held their annual lake meeting at the Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks July 25-26.
Friday started off with a member roundtable and a workshop led by John Mackay, president of Mackay Research Group. The workshop was entitled, "Improving Your Bottom Line." Mackay reviewed the results of the NTMA' s national and regional surveys on operating costs and executive compensation (OCEC). He has spoken at national meetings before.
The day finished up with a social hour featuring NTMA National Chairman Roy Sweatman. He talked about the state of the industry and the importance of technology for the tooling and machining industry.
A golf tournament was held on Saturday morning, while a catered shrimp boil/buffet dinner and casino night was held at the lake shore home of Lynn and Tori Glatt (St. Louis chapter president) that evening.
Chapter Helps Out SkillsUSA 2008 Competition
Several member companies participated in the 2007 Precision Machining Technology (PMT) Competition held during the national SkillsUSA competitions in Kansas City the week of June 25-29.
The PMT competition is sponsored by NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills). A Judge' s Dinner was held on June 27th. The dinner was sponsored by NIMS and tatc consulting.
One of the featured speakers at the dinner was NTMA's National Chairman Roy Sweatman. Sweatman is owner of Southern Mfg. Technologies in Florida. He spoke about how vital skilled workers are to manufacturing and praised the efforts of local chapter members and NIMS in helping with the competitions. "We all need to work as hard as we can to support workforce development programs," he noted. "The future of the tooling and machining industry is in good hands!"
KC Chapter members and associate members that volunteered or donated equipment/material for the competition included: Crossland Machinery; Clay & Bailey Mfg.; Unitech; Haas Automation; R & D Tool & Engineering; MCC' s BTC; C&R Manufacturing; Heartland Fabrication & Machine and Best Tool, Hartwig, Inc.
Golf Outing Held May 20th
The chapter held its spring golf outing on a beautiful May 20th at the Drumm Farm Golf Club in Independence, Missouri. Darrell Steiner (recently retired from EMJ) was recognized for his many years of supporting the chapter. The annual golf tournament is a fund raiser for the Chapter's scholarship program. More photos from the event may be found in the Photo Gallery.
Shop Meeting at Eligius Bronze - April 17th
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held its April meeting at Eligius Bronze in Kansas City on the 17th. Eligius Bronze, founded in 1997, is a fine art foundry that has a reputation for producing fine art castings of the highest quality. Services offered by the company s 13 skilled artisans (with over 100 years of combined experience) include: sculpting, mold making, casting, patina, basing, crating, and shipping. The foundry utilizes green sand molding and ceramic shell for its casting process. Metals used include: bronze, low lead red and yellow brass; aluminum bronze; and aluminum.
After the dinner and tours, the crew from QTE Manufacturing Solutions made a presentation on software technologies in manufacturing. The presentations briefly covered Solidworks 3D design; Solidworks Intelligent formats; Mastercam X2; Moldplus; DNC Professional; Verisurf and a robotic Faro arm.
Kansas City Kansas Area Technical School - March 27, 2008
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) toured the Kansas City Kansas Area Technical School (ATS) on March 27th.
The 40-year-old institution offers over 20 hands-on technical skills training programs including machine technology and welding/fabrication.
The ATS has day and evening classes. The staff is very flexible and open to arranging special schedules to accommodate the needs of an individual business. Several chapter members have taken advantage of the ATS' training. The school also works with several area programs such as the Full Employment Council to help with tuition.
After a luncheon prepared by the school's culinary classes, tours of the machining and fabrication/welding areas were conducted. The school has a wide variety of equipment including mills, lathes, CNC machining centers, a waterjet, MIG TIG and Arc welding stations and fabrication equipment.
The ATS can be contacted at: (913) 627-4100 or www.kckats.com.
The KC chapter can be contacted at (816) 739-4422 or www.kcntma.org.
Shop Meeting at R & D Tool - February 26, 2008
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held a shop tour at R&D Tool & Engineering, Lee's Summit, Missouri on February 26th. Over 60 attended the event that had been rescheduled due to inclement weather.
R&D serves the global plastics industry with a wide range of products and design solutions. The company produces tooling and molds as well as providing a wide range of related services.
Chapter president Tom Goodpasture, Pride Mfg., reported on the national conference held earlier in the month.
The featured speaker for the meeting was Jim Lang, senior consultant for Collaborative Strategies, St. Louis, Missouri. Lang, a long-time veteran of manufacturing (Monsanto) spoke about Building a Powerful Business Strategy. He discussed reasons for engaging in strategic planning, the process involved and the results that can come from it. He walked through the typical process manufacturers follow when undertaking the process. R&D is a client of Lang's.
Lang offered numerous examples from his own manufacturing experience as well as his consulting career.
Collaborative Strategies can be contacted at (314) 523-9429 or www.getcollaborative.com.
Ivan Drienik Memorial Scholarship
The National Tooling and Manufacturing Association (NTMA) has established a scholarship in honor of Ivan Drienik, founder of R & D Tool and Engineering. Donations can be sent to the Kansas City Chapter of the NTMA, P.O. Box 480332, Kansas City, Missouri 64148.
