VIDEO: HOW TO Conquer Data Collection

JACOB SANCHEZ: If you missed the latest episode of How To, I'm going to catch you up to speed. The MSC-led team set out on a journey to answer the question How To increase ROI with metrology. We met up with Mitutoyo sales engineer Hany Abdel in their Aurora, Illinois facility and we just had a candid conversation about the need for metalworking employees to better understand advancements and innovations in their industry.

And with that came Mitutoyo’s latest advancement, the ABS Digimatic S1 indicator and how it can lead to sustainable growth in your business. Now, we learned a lot in that last episode, and I felt the need to take a deeper dive in a real world aspect of utilizing all of this measurement information that we gathered and putting it to work for us to make us money.

So, I went out on my own journey an hour away from Mitutoyo, and it landed me right here at HM Manufacturing, where you and I are going to get to learn How To conquer data collection.

Brother. You couldn’t stay away, you get one episode in and you got another.

PAT SULLIVAN: Yeah. You know, it was so much fun, I figured we gotta do this again, right?

JACOB SANCHEZ: So you are the Mitutoyo National Account Manager. Patrick, I appreciate the time. And, yeah, the conversation we had previous man. Yeah, we were really diving into not only: hey, Mitutoyo has these technologies. Here's our solutions blah blah. It was really about how you can bring these into a business to not just use smart technology, but to turn your shop into a smart shop.

PAT SULLIVAN: Absolutely.

JACOB SANCHEZ: What are some of your opinions, seeing that out in the industry.

PAT SULLIVAN: Obviously people know us for our calipers and micrometers, right. But we're just we're more than a gauge company, we're a technology company, right? And for so long most people thought about, hey, metrology is something that you do at the end of the process, right? Just to verify. Right. Which is something you should be doing all through your process. In line, in process.

Right? Yeah

JACOB SANCHEZ: I love that man. There's somebody that I have I want you to meet. Okay. That has a perfect understanding of utilizing processes in line. Nicole Wolter, how's it going?

NICOLE WOLTER: Good how are you guys? Thanks for being here. This is great.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Yeah. This is the president, the owner of HM Manufacturing here. I really appreciate your time letting us come in with spindles still turning, money still getting made on these machines. I really wanted to dive into your experience, your opinion when it comes to implementing new solutions, new innovations. Out here, it's on the machine shop side. It's on the metrology side.

But you're running a company, you're running a business. Like, what's it like making these types of decisions day in, day out?

NICOLE WOLTER: Well, it's hard right? I think what's really neat is as manufacturing is evolving and it's changing, we need to as well. So our whole motto is every two years we either add or replace. And we're very much doing that with our inspection. It used to be the last thing. It's now our first thing that we think about before we even start on a job.

Yeah. You know, before it was just donuts. That was really simple. We didn't need a lot of a lot of tools for that. Now, in aerospace and defense, it is number one. It's so primary the stuff that we have to do. And so we take it very seriously, especially because those balloon drawings, they have so many different features that you have to check and we need to be on it.

JACOB SANCHEZ: That's funny. You reiterated the whole last oh, usually people think of metrology as the end of line. Last thing, last thing to change out a lot of times that's very interesting. Yeah. What's your opinion on her take. So you said you change out technologies every two years. I feel like people sometimes can change out technologies but not processes.

Yeah. So what are some things that you think people can do better to implement new processes with this technology?

PAT SULLIVAN: Yeah. Tell you it's refreshing to hear. It's not about just pumping out parts but talking about quality parts. Right. And having in line, in process measurement, you can identify all kinds of things so you can identify, hey, we're having excess scrap or we're having issues with our cutting tools. Having that measurement and data collection piece is a great part of that and also can help you identify, hey, where's the weak link in the chain, right.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Do you guys actually utilize because I want some honest reviews here. Do you use the data collection to actually make improvements in your process? So maybe you're starting with this new technology to help you advance. Does that help you kind of learn what ways you need to adjust in when it comes to your measuring processes?

NICOLE WOLTER: Absolutely right. I mean, it could be down to a tool change. If you're starting to see chatter and you can't get that surface finish, you know something's up. And so we have a great team where we collaborate, we talk with engineering. We even talk to our MSC reps. We talk to Mitutoyo at times like what's happening here?

I think the more that you can utilize your network to figure out what's happening, the better it is, right. At the end of the day, you want to be able to give a really good product to your customers.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Yep, absolutely. And at the end of the day, once you start getting into high level industries, we're talking medical, we're talking aerospace, we're talking military, government work. Your inspection process is going to go from this to documentation like this. It is no joke. It is very real. And to protect yourself, you need to document everything. Nicole, I appreciate your time here.

NICOLE WOLTER: Absolutely. It's been great having you guys. Have fun!

JACOB SANCHEZ: You brought all this equipment in to show me, to convince me on why, not only should I go Mitutoyo, but I should go smart. I should get new technologies for my shop.

PAT SULLIVAN: Sure.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Give me a quick overview.

PAT SULLIVAN: Yeah, sure. So we got a variety of tools. All tools with output. We got a thickness gauge here, our IDC indicator, which is similar to the IDF indicator that we have here. And our QuantuMike and the good old coolant-proof caliper. Nice. So what is cool about this gauge, Jacob, is it's highly programmable. So you can put things in like calibration date.

So if you're following accreditation you have the calibration date actually programmed in the gauge itself. And this is important because if you're following an accreditation and you get audited, it's in the gauge yourself. So if the gauge is out of calibration, it will actually blink letting the operator know, hey, I'm out of calibration. You're not supposed to be using me pal.

JACOB SANCHEZ: So you're getting rid of that sticker that I see in machine shops that say last inspected three years ago.

PAT SULLIVAN: But it falls off, right? Yeah. So it's actually in the gauge itself. So the other thing we did is we simulated a dial, as you see, as I move the part around, you can kind of see it move, right. So you can kind of do that trend where you're seeing as you're, as you're machining parts and it gets a little bit worse.

You can kind of see that dial. So we're trying to simulate a dial gauge and a digital indicator all in one. So you're getting the measurement sent directly into a PC. So you know you're getting good measurement. And instead of maybe writing something down, it's going right in there. And then also you can send important information with this next level indicator.

You can send important information like serial number, calibration date along with the measurement.

JACOB SANCHEZ: So this is already hooked up where if I go and measure something in the machine, it can get sent over to you if you want to.

PAT SULLIVAN: Yeah. So. Yeah. Right. So, hey, we got a caliper. Why not use it right in the machine?

JACOB SANCHEZ: All right, I'm gonna go put this test, I'll be right back. All right.

Brother, I appreciate your time today.

PAT SULLIVAN: A lot of fun, Jacob.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Everything we have learned here at HM Manufacturing all revolves around taking somebody’s product, bringing it into your business, and finding how it can improve your process. That's what today’s about. And after it all, I hope you learned How To conquer data collection.

Narrator: For more metalworking tips and industry best practices, stay tuned for the next How To episode and subscribe to the MSC Industrial Supply YouTube channel, a source of original manufacturing content Built To Make You Better.