E-IJPM: Vol. 44/4 - MPIF

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SPOTLIGHT ON ...LUIS BERNARDO ZAMBRANO MERINO, PMT 10 first experience with Brassinter. This company provided an excellent background in PM, and from that time on I have striven to continue to improve my knowledge in order to stay up-to-date with PM developments. I have worked in most areas of PM processing, from tool design, product engineering, and production to maintenance and technical support. List your MPIF/APMI activities. I have been a member of APMI since 2000, when I obtained Level I PMT certification. I have attended many conferences and seminars, and visited PM companies in Brazil, Spain, and the U.S., for the purpose of technology transfer. What major changes/trend(s) in the PM industry have you seen? Since 1974, I have seen interesting and positive trends in all activities involved in PM technology, primarily in relation to raw materials and process evolution in order to increase density and the mechanical properties of PM parts. This has resulted in tool materials with improved properties to enable higher densities, new compaction presses capable of more rapid production of parts with enhanced density distributions, process stability, and sintering furnaces capable of handling sinter-hardening steels. In the engineering field, CAD, CAE and CAM have replaced tedious manual design and calculation. Why did you choose to pursue PMT certification? The pursuit of PMT certification in 2000 was, to me, confirmation of the background I obtained during my years involved with the PM process. How have you benefited from PMT certification in your career? Personally, I am now recognized at seminars, conferences, and customer technical meetings. I feel confident as a PM specialist and, therefore, the pursuit of PMT certification was a sound benchmark in my career. What are your current interests, hobbies, and activities outside of work? Because I live in a small city, Guaratinguetá- São Paulo, I can spend time with my family, and visit nearby cities. Every Sunday morning I play soccer with my grandson Luis Gustavo, who is 18 years old, at a sports club in our neighborhood. ijpm Volume 44, Issue 4, 2008 International Journal of Powder Metallurgy
HARB S. NAYAR, FAPMI* Q How can powder metallurgy (PM) parts makers reduce costs and increase productivity to offset rising energy and raw materials costs? This is an important question for any industry, A but critical for the well-established conventional PM parts industry. I will answer the question in the form of a very simple thought process or step-by-step methodology that can be applied to any existing PM parts manufacturing plant. The process applies only to the production unit or building of any PM parts company. For purposes of explanation, we will assume that the existing plant is small with bare minimums: building or manufacturing space, a single press and a single sintering furnace, and quality control (QC) equipment as capital items. The operation produces a variety of single-press/single-sinter iron-base PM parts requiring no secondary operations and the plant uses pre-blended powders. Another assumption is that the company’s sales department has no problem getting orders to keep the plant operating 24/7. The simple thought process includes the following key phrases and words: • Walkthru • Snapshot • Utilization factor • Standardized yardsticks such as cost per unit weight (not cost per piece) • Bottlenecks The key to this thought process is “Let us take a walkthru” the plant or a single piece of equipment such as a press or furnace, or a process such as compacting or sintering. While the “walkthru” concept is simple and easy to follow, its full and diligent practice can be potentially effective in increasing productivity (weight of PM parts shipped per month or per year) in a given manufacturing plant and decreasing total manufacturing cost per unit weight of shipped PM parts. There are a minimum of two levels of walk, namely fast and slow. If need be, a third level walk (very Volume 44, Issue 4, 2008 International Journal of Powder Metallurgy CONSULTANTS’ CORNER slow) can be carried out to fine tune productivity in a given plant. Each level will have a starting point with an imaginary guard and an end point with another imaginary guard. In order to realize the benefits of the “walkthru” thought process, it is essential to take a 12-month “snapshot” (Step 1) of the PM manufacturing plant. One year is either the previous calendar year or the year just prior to the application of the “walkthru” process. This year-long “snapshot” provides reference points or benchmarks for comparison with future performance of the plant. STEP 1: One-Year “Snapshot” of the Plant Obtain the following information related to manufacturing from the purchasing and financial departments for the past 12-month period: • Total powder (by weight) received into the plant and dollars • Total labor (operators, supervisors, and managers) related to the plant in terms of employeehours and dollars • Total energy (electricity and gas) used by the plant in units and dollars • Total atmosphere (each type) used in volume and dollars • Purchase of major replacement items such as dies, belts, muffles, and heating elements in actual number and dollars for each item • Purchase of all other replacement items brought into the plant in terms of total combined dollars • Depreciation of major capital units such as the building, presses, furnaces, and QC equipment in terms of dollars for each type Ask the shipping department to provide the total amount of sintered product (by weight) shipped to customers during the same 12-month period. Using the preceding information received from the *President, TAT Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 1279, Summit, New Jersey 07902-1279; Phone: 908-391-9478; E-mail: harb.nayar@tat-tech.com 11
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Page 5 and 6: EDITORIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE P.W. Tau
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Page 16 and 17: CONSULTANTS’ CORNER 12 various de
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Page 20 and 21: 16 OUTSTANDING POSTER AWARDS Presen
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Page 26 and 27: 2008 PM DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARDS CO
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Page 42 and 43: POWDER METALLURGY IN INDIA 38 Coppe
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Page 46 and 47: POWDER METALLURGY IN INDIA 42 2010.
Page 48 and 49: TUNGSTEN FILAMENTS—THE FIRST MODE
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Page 60 and 61: ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 56 ADVERTISER

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