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. 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.
Chapter Christmas Party - November 30
The Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) held its annual Christmas Party on November 30th at Benton' s Steak and Chop House at the top of the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Over 90 attended the event. Highlights of the evening were the passing of the gavel from outgoing chapter president Ron Borst (Clay & Bailey Mfg.) to incoming president Tom Goodpasture (Pride Mfg.). Chapter accomplishments for 2007 were covered and new board members Dean Rohr (R&D Tool & Engineering) and Mike Hudson (Heartland Fabrication & Machine) were introduced.
More photos from the event can be viewed in the Photo Gallery.
Educators Luncheon - October 24
The Kansas City chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) hosted an educators luncheon at the MCC Business & Technology Campus (BTC) on October 24th.
The purpose of the luncheon was to provide high school teachers and counselors 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 Ron Borst and BTC president Gary Sage. The panel consisted of NTMA members George Crossland, Tom Goodpasture and Craig Schroer along with Becky Metcalf, Battle Bots instructor at Olathe NW and Monica Stevens of the Making it in KC MFG Career Training Program.
A tour of the BTC's machine and welding shop concluded the event.
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.
