VIDEO: TOOLING UP – Metrology That Works For You

Narrator:  This video is brought to you by Mitutoyo. Precision is our profession. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

Toni Neary: Hi and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary. Thank you so much for tuning in. Not just for our show but for checking out the MSC channel. If you're new here, be sure to subscribe and hit that like button. Our guest for today's episode is one that I'm really excited about. It's the National Strategic Account Manager for Mitutoyo, Patrick Sullivan.

Pat, thank you so much for joining us today.

Patrick Sullivan: Thanks, Toni. Thanks for having me.

Toni Neary: All right Pat. Let's talk a little bit about just the quality of your products. You're definitely one of the premier products in the market, and I think that speaks not just to the quality but also the longevity as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that, the quality and longevity of your products?

Patrick Sullivan: Sure. Yeah. One of the company philosophies is good environment, good people, good technique, and one of the things I really enjoy is going to trade shows and meeting folks who have used our tools and realize the quality that goes into them. I've even had some gentleman come up to me and talk about, Hey, have you been using my Mitutoyo calipers since the 1980s.

We're not guaranteeing everything that goes back that far. But anyway, this gentleman's like, this is my most trusted tool in my toolbox, and that gives you such a warm feeling with working with a company that just just makes a quality product and not to mention, hey, we have the quality product, but also the sales service and support out of all our stuff out in the field.

And you buy a Mitutoyo caliper. You can call our 1-800 number and you're going to get support for that tool.

Toni Neary: Perfect. I think it's a perfect segue for us to talk about innovation because we've talked about the longevity and the quality. But tell us a little bit about how Mitutoyo is always striving to be better and do more and be more innovative for your customers.

Patrick Sullivan: Well, we're constantly improving our manufacturing process over in Japan. About 99% of our product is made in Japan, and that means we're making our product from the ground up. So we have our own Mitutoyo foundry that's doing all the castings, all the electronics for the most part, are going into our tools are Mitutoyo made. So that way we're ensuring the best quality and we take the trust of the customer very seriously here.

If you think about it, the customer's quality is based on how good their measuring tools or equipment are, and we take that very seriously here at Mitutoyo.

Toni Neary: And that’s amazing. I did not realize that you even had your own foundry where you're sourcing all of your own materials. So it really is a process that Mitutoyo is invested from the beginning to the end of the product and then that post-sale support as well. And that really has to play into the industries that you serve, right?

When we're talking high precision for defense and aerospace. It's imperative.

Patrick Sullivan: Yeah. And you know, yes, we're a gauge company, but we're so much more than that. We are a company that's embracing technology. Mitutoyo is a technology company.

Toni Neary: Well, I think it's important that we maybe take a look at that technology. So why don't you tell us a little bit about what you've got in front of you there and what it would be used for?

Patrick Sullivan: We're going to talk a little bit about data collection. You know, you hear the buzz terms like Smart Factory, Industry 4.0. What does that mean? So the Smart Factory of the future is all about data. Here at Mitutoyo we're all about making your factory smarter, right? So how we see it is your machines, your CMMs, profile projectors, your hand tools on the shop floor. Everything is connected and feeding into a database. That way you can do predictive analysis with SPC, you can find the weak links in the chain before they become a problem. And you're also cutting down scrap and you're improving and speeding up your quality process. That's why we believe so much in the Smart Factory concept, because if you think about it, that's, that's what we're doing.

We're providing the customer the most important data. What I mean, yes. Can you think of anything more important than, Hey, where's your tolerances and how you're fitting into that tolerance?

Toni Neary: It's like a huge ROI. So I think, you know, we really have to take a look at where the technology has gone, right? We've gone from analog to digital and now we're going to digital with immediate feedback that goes back into your systems to tell you what you're doing efficiently and maybe what you're not doing efficiently. It's pretty amazing where we've come.

You know, the technology is moving at the speed of light and precision measurement is no different than that.

Patrick Sullivan: Oh yeah. And as you can see behind me, I don't know if you can, might miss that. But we're showing off our brand new digital indicator. And the thing I like about it here is you see that little range. It's showing as I'm moving the end of the probe here and it's simulating a dial indicator. We've done research and our customers liked that feature of a dial, so we're trying to simulate that here on our digital indicator.

So we're talking about smart factories, right? So how about smart gauges? So if you look in here and look at the display, so we have a beautiful large display, those numbers, you don't need glasses to see. See those just fine, but you can program this gauge itself. It's highly programmable so you can put in things like the operator's name, maybe a serial number, or a machine cell.

But the biggest thing that I like is you can actually program the calibration date into the gauge itself. There is a little calendar icon that will pop up with that date in there and then once you approach your calibration date, that little icon will start blinking. And then when it's out of the calibration, the gauge itself will blink, virtually making it inoperable.

So for our customers out there that are following accreditations and they're getting audited, this is huge. You know, this is going to help with the audit and it's going to make sure that if you're a heavily regulated industry like gas and oil or aerospace, you're not going to be using any tools that are not or out of calibration.

Toni Neary: Tell us a little bit about what you are doing to support educational programs to help build out that next generation and really understanding precision and accuracy and how important that is.

Patrick Sullivan: Oh, yeah, absolutely. If there are any young people watching, you know, manufacturing is coming back in a huge way. You know, you can see new industries popping up in the United States. We got the EV market, we got the semiconductor industry coming back to the United States. We here at Mitutoyo feel strongly that we want students out there using good tools, have that experience, trust that tool from school all the way through their career. So we're out there, we're offering special discounts to schools, we're going there working with them, offering training when we can. So it's very important that we get those young people out there and have a fantastic young group of machinists that have diversity. And we're just going forward and building manufacturing in this country.

Toni Neary: Well, and I'm so glad we have this chance to get together today. It's been an awesome conversation, not just about the integrity and the precision of Mitutoyo as a company, not just your investment in future innovation, but your investment in the future workforce. I think it's huge. I hope that everybody watching has enjoyed this conversation as much as we did.

I look forward to having Pat back on more future episodes. And don't forget, you can find out more about Mitutoyo at www.mscdirect.com/mitutoyo. That's M-I-T-U-T-O-Y-O. Thank you so much and we'll see you on the next episode of Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the MSC Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level and subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.