Process Innovations: Value at the Spindle: A Winning Supply Chain Strategy

Chicago, Illinois - With today’s difficult to machine and incredibly expensive materials, OEM corporations are working closer than ever with their suppliers. Value at the Spindle, while originally directed at metal cutting, has grown in recent years to be a value promise to OEMs and their shareholders, and should be a strategy adopted by cutting tool manufactures the world over. Supply chain management has grown considerably in the aerospace industry as OEMs look to control the product that arrives from their Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. Every aspect of production is monitored to achieve and guarantee maximum quality and efficiency. This relentless pursuit of continuous improvement has opened an opportunity for those within the supply chain to provide engineering support and insight. Whether a cutting tool manufacture or a machining center supplier, there are increasing opportunities to work with end users on their engineering tasks to gain efficiency.

As a cutting tool manufacture, we are obligated to look at the big picture manufacturing process, not just what tool is put on a spindle and run in a machine. This big picture focus is what returns double digit productivity increases through reduced part cost and run time. Perhaps even more important to an OEM, substantial quality through repeatable and optimized procedures that suit the entire manufacturing process.

About the speaker
Brian Hamil, Product Engineering Manager for KYOCERA SGS Precision Tools, has been in the cutting tool business for nearly 30 years. Brian came to SGS Tool Company in 2014 from Kennametal where he was the Sales Manager of Technical Development, Senior Application Engineer, Milling Specialist, and Field Application Engineer. Brian travels extensively for KYOCERA SGS Precision Tools and spends most of his time in the field with SGS Tool end users around the world helping optimize their manufacturing processes and delivering training along with KYOCERA SGS Precision Tools’ sales engineers. Brian lives in Janesville, Wisconsin with his wife and three children.