Machine Shop Market Profile
Interviews conducted with parts and equipmentsuppliers, as well as machine shop owners and custom engine rebuilders,generally point to market demand which has remained flat whenengine production numbers are compared to year earlier figures.Recent survey results of machine shops concerning production year1997 confirm these assumptions. Automotive Rebuilder magazine conducted a surveyof the machine shop membership of
Cleaning – Do You Know Where Your Dollars Are?
Cleaning parts in the machine shop doesn’tcome cheaply. According to Automotive Rebuilder’s Machine ShopMarket Profile about 15.2% of engine machining and rebuildingproduction work involves disassembly and cleaning. According torebuilders that we surveyed, disassembly and cleaning accountedfor the highest percentage of total rebuilding production timein the shop. So there can be significant benefits to reducingcleaning costs
Ideal Supply – “Farming” For Opportunities
As the winner of our fifth annual "MachineShop of the Year" award contest, Ideal Supply Co., Listowel,Ontario, can claim a number of "firsts." It is the firstCanadian recipient of our award and, to our knowledge, it is alsothe first machine shop which has obtained ISO (International StandardsOrganization) 9002 certification. About two hours due east of
“Heading” In The Right Direction: Heads Are A Hot Commodity These Days
Heads are a hot commodity these days, but itdepends on the application. Some heads like those for Chevy 350and Chrysler 2.2L/2.5L engines are always in demand, but pricesare low because of the glut of cores that are available for theseengines. Even so, anybody who’s selling heads these days has tohave them. The hot heads are
Management Efficiency Through Your Computer
Nothing is enhancing the efficiency of businessestoday more than the fast-paced technology present in workplaceseverywhere. Your challenge as a modern leader is to creativelyuse this technology to guide, coordinate, inspire, coach and monitorthe work of your employees. Depending on the size of your company and thenumber and responsibilities of your employees, you may be ableto
Ensuring The Job’s Done Right, Steve Rinaldo
"Don’t blame me. It’s not my fault." How many timeshave you either heard or spoken those sentences when undertakingwork as either a service facility or automotive shop owner. Inmy more than 20 years associated with automobile manufacturerservice training, the question of how to ensure a job is donecorrectly, and whose responsibility it is to see
Labor and the Law
Grit, grime and grease are just a few of theworkplace unpleasantness with which you contend. Employees areexposed daily to hazardous materials such as solvents, paints,cleaning and restoration products, as well as welding fumes. Protecting your employees’ health and safetyis not only the right thing to do, the law requires it. Your failureto be familiar with
Caliper Clinic: Defective Parts, If Not Monitored, Can Easily Strip A Company Of Its Profits
Defects exist in almost all products. Preferably,defects are found and corrected prior to shipment to the customer.However, on occasion a defect can be overlooked and end up inthe customer’s hands. Not all defects result in an unsafe condition.But even a product that is boxed or labeled incorrectly can leavethe customer with a sour taste in
Steering A Course Through The Rack Wars: Today’s Market For Remanufactured Rack-And-Pinion
Is today’s market for remanufactured rack-and-pinionsteering units meandering through the doldrums of a mature aftermarket,or is it heading in a new direction that may soon create new opportunitiesfor rebuilders? Some say the worst is behind them. They sayrack prices have bottomed out, competition has leveled off, anda growing number of retailers have come to realize
Cost Accounting In The Shop
Do you feel that your shop has the type ofcontrol over costs, expenses and productivity that it needs tosurvive in today’s market? Do you understand how to calculatethe actual cost of each job that you do and the efficiency thateach of your employees achieves on a daily, monthly or annualbasis? Unfortunately, most shop owners do
Cleaning With Jet Spray Washers: Replacing Solvent Cleaning Processes With Aqueous Cleaning.
As more environmental regulations phase outmany chlorinated solvents and ozone depleting chemicals, manyautomotive machine shops and engine rebuilding operations arereplacing their solvent cleaning processes with aqueous cleaning.Some argue that while replacement chemicals have been found, theirtotal safety and part cleaning applicability has not been researchedenough. According to many rebuilders and equipment makers, developmentsin aqueous cleaning
Small Engine Performance
Most businesses have the same problems and each must look for ways to remain competitive by reducing costs and exploring new markets for existing products or services. And so it is in engine building. There is always someone that is able to provide more features per dollar than you (or at least make someone believe
Motor Service, Inc.: Brian Casey, Incoming Engine Rebuilders Association (Aera) Chairman
What do you do after graduating from WorcesterPolytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA, with a degree in managementengineering? Why, run a heavy duty machine shop and service repairbusiness, of course. Well, maybe not always. But that is the wayit has turned out for Brian Casey, incoming Engine RebuildersAssociation (AERA) chairman and one of the guiding hands
Mopar Engine Platforms – 318, 360
Chrysler Corp. hasn’t built a rear wheel drive, V8-powered car (with the exception of the Viper) since the turn of the decade. And the cars that harbored V8s beneath their hoods during the late 1980s were about as appealing to performance enthusiasts as the front-wheel driven vehicles that replaced them. In spite of that fact,
The Nitty Gritty On Small Parts Cleaning: Many Ways To Clean Small Engine Parts
Tom Nichols, CEO and president of AutomotiveMachine & Supply, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, said availabilityis most often the key to why his shop cleans and reuses smallparts. Nichols said each day his shop cleans and reuses many smallparts, including valve locks, shims, springs, retainers, rockerarm assemblies, cam bore caps, nuts, bolts, etc. "Becausewe only
Performance Marine Engines – Meeting Customer Expectations
Life is a series of compromises. Human relations almost alwaysinvolves compromises of some sort. You want Chinese for dinner,she wants Italian; something has to give. Even if you go yourseparate ways, it’s a compromise and a decision to not dine together. Believe it or not, it’s the same with machinery. Any exercisein design is a
Why Parts Get Coated
I never would have believed you could get those kind of resultsfrom a glorified paint job. With those words, another skeptic(in this case, a NASCAR Winston Cup engine builder) had come toaccept the value of special coatings applied to engine components. At the time, such skepticism was not totally unwarranted. Likeany emerging technology, the coating
Building Horsepower Through Dyno Testing
Pick up a copy of any racing-oriented automotive publication andas you thumb through its pages you’ll notice a smorgasbord ofads from engine builders. Most of them will have an assortmentof horsepower figures large enough to rival the national debt. Of course, all the numbers are suspect because, in most cases,they were obtained on the advertisers’
1997 Shop Kinks
Machine shops and custom engine rebuilders are, and always havebeen, a resourceful group. Our industry was founded on the principalof bringing component parts from a condition of disrepair to onethat offers equivalent performance to that of a new part. Rebuilt engines offer cost savings and performance benefits thatcan not be found with any other products,
Waste Minimization: Ways To Reduce, And Even Eliminate, Hazardous Wastes From Your Cleaning Process
Managing your shop’s wastes shouldn’t be hazardous to your business.Although there is a lot involved with managing wastes from cleaningoperations including operating costs to disposal requirements,the good news for rebuilders is that there are ways to reduce,and even eliminate, hazardous wastes from your cleaning process. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), materialsand wastes of