Saturday, January 14^th 10 a.m. – Left Chicago’s O’Hare International for Thailand on American Airlines. It’s not comforting to fly a bankrupt airline’s 757 over the Pacific. The distance is a drawback to North Americans doing business in Southeast Asia – 15 hours to Shanghai and another six to Thailand is a haul. I was pleased to find PBS’s excellent series, Downton Abbey, on the inflight entertainment, but slept most of the way thanks to Benadryl.

Sunday 10:30 p.m. – Arrived at the airport in Bangkok, and while waiting for the other journalists to arrive, ate some of my favorite Thai food of the trip – deep-fried pork with a red coconut curry sauce and Tom Yum soup. Made a vow to eat only Thai food for the duration  –  was not a problem. Transferred to our five-star hotel, Novotel, and were welcomed with plates of Thai deserts, wine and palm-to-palm bows by all.

Some of the journalists after a tour of Western Digital's hard drive production facility

Monday 8 a.m. – Totally jet-lagged. We visited Western Digital’s (WD) plant in a recently flooded industrial estate near Bangkok and were met by John Coyne, President and CEO. Forty-five percent of the world’s hard drives are produced in Thailand, and WD, worth $10 billion, is the largest company. Their plant was under 1.9 meters of water only weeks before our visit. Divers come in for the most valuable equipment and moved it to a kind distributor’s facility 100 km away so they could decontaminate and repair it while the floodwaters lingered. WD employs 38,000 Thais, most who make under $10/day. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the modern clean plant was a total surprise. It contrasted heavily with outside the industrial parks, where the country’s poverty is more obvious. Western Digital’s projections for 2011 were $176 million; because of the flood they reached $119 million. No word yet on the cost of the cleanup.

The journalists preparing to enter the Board of Investment's (BOI) Fair

Monday 11 a.m. – Headed across town to the Thailand Board of Investment’s (BOI) Fair. This was interesting. When Westerners hear the word “fair” we think animals and Ferris wheels. In Thailand, a fair is a showcase of the country’s industry direct to the consumer. The fair happens only once every 10 years and was a huge deal. The King of Thailand – whose authority and respect are reminiscent of Kim Jong-ll – is a “green nut,” and the green theme is seen country-wide. The “Royal Pavilion” showcased a “green themed” 3-D film, complete with a tree growing up from the middle of the room, and the finale – a real rain shower (watch your camera). Huge exhibits in the outdoor park included Toyota, the most popular carmaker in Thailand; Chevy, which had its own 3-D show about the evolution of the American-born automobile; and CP, a huge frozen food conglomerate born in Thailand who’s big in Costco. The show also had a beer garden (hint-hint IMTS organizers) and a joyous sort of “look what we have in Thailand” feel to it. The people of Thailand are proud of what they’ve done in attracting these international companies over the last 20-30 years, but seem cognizant of environmental mistakes the U.S. and China have made during their development, and are making an effort to not repeat them.

Tony Blair speaking at the CEO Forum Bangkok

Tuesday 8:30 a.m. – Attended the BOI CEO Forum. Guest speaker: Tony Blair. A very inspiring and encouraging speech. Interestingly, he noted strongly that America would not be where it is without its open immigration policies. Mr. Blair encouraged Thailand to create this immigration-friendly atmosphere now, and noted that Thailand has “enormous potential” – its people, geography, and relative stability. He emphasized that Thailand’s job was to let the world know that it’s “open for business.”

Tuesday 3:30 p.m. – Left Bangkok for Pattaya, a tourist city next to the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE) and checked into our spa hotel on the beach – filled with Russian vacationers. Two Thais told me that the Russians are disliked, they are stereotyped as being cheap.

Dinner on the beach in Pattaya

Development in the industrial estate was shocking, in a good way. The government invested millions in infrastructure to attract international companies interested in supplying the Eastern Hemisphere. Roads, electricity and water supply are new, modern and reliable. Ate a fresh seafood dinner at a beach restaurant while the sun disappeared over the ocean and the beer and conversation flowed. Beautiful.

Wednesday 9 a.m. – Visited American Axle & Manufacturing’s  (AAM) Rayong Manufacturing Facility in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. AAM opened its Thailand operation in 2008. 2010 sales were $2.3 billion. They produce mostly axle systems, but also drivelines, drivetrain and chassis, and other metal-formed products for automotive. The plant is 124,000 square feet and is located in one of Thailand’s many “free zones,” (tax-free). They currently exclusively supply GM’s Thailand operation, but plan on doubling the size of their plant, as they will be supplying Volvo soon. The Auto Alliance Thailand (AAT) manufacturing facility, a joint venture with Mazda, which wouldn’t welcome us for a tour, produces the Ford Fiesta and lightweight trucks for that particular half of the world. I was told that Thailand can’t compete with China’s steel prices, so asked what Thailand’s advantage is over China and India. I was told that it’s Thailand’s supplier base. When GM orders a part, AAM must deliver within 70 minutes.

Journalists after a tour at the Thai Summit Group

Wednesday 11 a.m. – I was very interested to tour our first Thai-owned company, the Thai Summit Group, which started in 1977 and makes auto parts for major auto companies. The stamping and injection molding facility makes mainly front and rear bumpers for Mazda and Ford. The plant was impressive and had six 3,000-ton presses and can produce 800,000 bumpers and 6,000 chassis per year. Annual sales are about $10 million a year. There was a large difference in the atmosphere of the plants from the Western owned companies and this completely Thai run company. They have a basketball court just outside of the main office and President, Mr. Shigeo Sakaki, commented that the workforce there is young and has lots of energy, so they need to have activities for them. It was much more relaxed than Western Digital and American Axle. Young people roamed the grounds like on a college campus. It appeared the more laid-back culture of Thailand had permeated this Thai run company. It was nice. They’re obviously making money, but it felt like it would be a nice place to work.

A night out in Pattaya

Wednesday 2:30 p.m. – Visited Celestica Thailand, Celestica’s largest location in terms of revenue. They employ 5,630 people and are five minutes from the large port on the Eastern Seaboard and one hour from the airport. They mainly make networking equipment, high-end storage and servers and teleconference equipment (Web cams, phones, digital photo albums, etc.). They see their future in optical device assemblies for the Internet. The Senior Vice President, Mr. Duangtaweesub, was impressive. Thai born, he had studied 30 years ago in Washington State. He started the company, which was bought by Celestica a few years later. He has been running Celestica’s Asia operation ever since.

Thursday 9 a.m. – We were scheduled to visit Magna Automotive and Asia Precision Co. Ltd. in the Amata Industrial Estate, but Magna canceled because they couldn’t get permission from the U.S. office to let us in. Asia Precision was fascinating. It employs about 800 workers (mostly women, Mr. Karoonkornsakul, the CEO noted, because they’re patient, are very good with detail, and there’s little heavy lifting needed) and has over 400 CNC machines, almost all Japanese. They make parts for automotive and camera and their 2011 sales were $30 million, with $40 million expected in 2012. Most of their business comes from the East, but they are a key supplier for Emerson in the U.S., who has asked them to consider building a plant in Mexico, which they are researching now. They are also considering expanding into Indonesia, which the CEO commented would be “the next Thailand,” with production projections of 2 million autos in 2012.

Asia Precision hires mostly women because they are "patient, detail oriented, and the parts are light"

When the automotive crisis hit in 2008/9 they began making rollers for printers. In response to their foreign clients’ needs, they are trying to expand into medical and aerospace, and are facing many of the same hurdles American companies face: the need for skilled employees and regulatory know-how.

Thailand’s Buddhist culture was obvious at Asia Precision. They have weekly company-wide meetings followed by meditation and a singing of their national anthem, and are heavily involved in giving back to their community through projects. They also had the first recycling center we saw, the proceeds of which are donated to the poor. Most of the employees, who are typically age 20-25, are recruited from villages in the north, and once a year they return home for the holidays. Employees may propose projects needed in their village to Asia Precision, who funds them. They are also very into exercise and health, recently holding a company marathon to raise money for flood victims. The atmosphere of the company was relaxing and the CEO mentioned they have very little employee conflict. It was refreshing to see a company that makes money but has quality of life at the forefront.

A training room at the Thai-German Institute

Thursday 3 p.m. – Visited the Thai-German Institute, a government training program for industry. This was interesting – I kept wondering why the U.S. isn’t doing something similar, it seemed so obvious. This organization started in 1992 with German funds with the goal of providing high-tech workers to industry. It is now run by Thailand’s Minister of Industry and trains 2000-3000 young people per year, mostly in mold and die technology, but also in automation and machining. It provides workers to the industrial estates in the south, who pay a fee for each worker they hire. Recruiters from training programs like these go to the north in search of competent, bright, high school graduates whom they lure to the south with the promise of decent salaries, subsidized lodgings, and per diems for the duration of training. Then they find them jobs. It appears to be a very win-win system that’s working for Thailand.

Question: Would you consider moving your business or finding suppliers overseas to save money?

The “old gal” W&S #4

“Mike” owns a small job shop in South Carolina. He started from scratch building a machining business from a turret lathe and a mill. He loves the business and asked to write a column about life on the front lines of the machining world, clawing to make a few bucks, sometimes just holding on. -Lloyd

This week’s been rough. If we were playing Blackjack I’d be in “stay” mode, knowing that if I “hit” I’d go bust, but not sure this “13″ is going to pull me through.

The life of a Charlie Brown screw machine shop is getting more tense as the holidays draw close. Of course we are up against deadlines with customers’ projects as the year draws to a close, but most of the stress will come from the money, or maybe a lack of it. It’s happened pretty much every year of the 18 years I’ve been in business. But we have pulled it off. But that doesn’t seem like much of a consolation as I look over at my wife Laura. I can see that oh-too-familiar look—you know it, that worried, uncertain, getting ready to ask me the same question for the fourth time today look.

This week Laura’s out in the shop operating our Fanuc Robo-drill on a second op. job. Lucky for me I’m on a turning center right across from her. Laura wears many hats here. From accounts payable, receivable, invoicing, and bookkeeping, to being my best machine operator and maintenance mechanic. I like to hold the position of “Janitor” (my self-proclaimed title when anyone asks what my function is here at the shop). It’s roughly two weeks from Christmas and she knows all too well about our account receivable status. You see, this shop is flying by the seat of its pants at the moment. We’re standing out there on a limb. But what worries Laura is that not only are she and I out there, 100 feet up in the air standing on a 1″ diameter limb on a weeping willow tree 15 feet away from the trunk in gale force winds, but that there are people living right under this stress cracked branch that I’m jumping up and down on like a 500 ton obi press at work.

There are a few people that work for us, that depend on us, for their livelihoods and their Christmas. It’s a tight ship right now, and we depend on our customers to pay us promptly so we can keep the ball rolling. As quick reassurance I stop the chuck boring operation I’m doing on some soft jaws and take Laura in the office, scan over the office computer, and for a minute go over the finances. “See,” I say, “even if nothing else comes in, and I’m sure something will, there is enough to pull it off, money wise to take care of the little bonus’s and buy the Butterballs and handle our business.” And with a lower voice I say, “uh… we will just be a little light personally, so, uh… forget that new GMC Dually I asked for, ha-ha-ha.” Of course she didn’t find this funny and I had to hear, “how it’s always the same, every year! Barely getting by!” I then quickly change the subject about how I liked the lighted wreath she put on the shop entrance door, and quickly things go back to semi-sane.

Its lunchtime now and on Fridays we usually run out for lunch. Laura likes this little lunch spot right up the street called Alfies, a sort of upscale mom and pop type place, old school, a rarity in this area—they have the best tuna melts. As I go out to wash up I stop to talk with Brad, our shop foreman of sorts. Brad’s not a machinist by trade, but he’s been with me on and off for over 16 years. He’s one of those guys you can trust with anything. I tell him to “kill the Double Ought until I get back, it’s running and I’m down to my last circular cutoff.” I’d rather wait and keep my ear out for it when I get back. So I’m home free, for lunch that is.

Well wouldn’t you know, I spoke too soon. As I enter the office I see Danny standing there speaking with Laura and holding what looks to be some sort of giant lollipop. Danny is a local guy that owns a fairly large fabrication shop. He specializes in larger welding projects for chemical plants in the area, and primarily works with stainless steel. Danny recently got work from a local aircraft manufacturer, in one of those unfortunate “who you know gets the work” scenarios. He gets a good deal of work from this customer, and about a year or so ago started coming to me with any machining needs for these projects. Most of the work was not a good fit for us at the time, but I have become accustomed to a “do what ever comes your way” mindset in this economy. And most of it really isn’t that bad, just milling work, though a little large for our capacity, and low quantities.

Danny always needs it “right now.” I think he has no clue what it takes to precision machine a piece of 316 stainless that’s maybe 3″ thick and 36″ long. To top it off, he always waits until the last minute to get in touch with me, so it’s very hard to schedule. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you want to stay in business in this “new order” machining world then you need idle equipment. Ironically, you need everything else running wide open and pumping out parts as fast it can.

Those lollipops he brought in through me for a loop. Danny went on to explain that he’s in a jam. These 10 parts are hangers for the job we finished yesterday. They’re basically just ½” diameter 316 SS round bar, and they have a 6″ diameter eye rolled around the end. The shanks are 30″ long, and they need a ½-13 thread cut, 10″ of thread. Danny says, “No big deal for ya, I know you’s the screw machine guy.” “Danny!” I said, “why the hell didn’t you bring the stock over, let me thread it, and then you could have rolled the eye on the end?” Danny started, “I thought I could thread ‘em with a die, you know, save me a little something for Christmas. Damn die couldn’t do nothing!”

Now you have to remember, we are in the South, and Danny is a hard-boiled good ole’ boy. You have to adapt to all kinds, and who am I to question his five-man shop with sales in excess of $5 million annually? Then he says he’s got to deliver at 3pm, (It’s now 12:30) and all hopes of that tuna melt have left the building with Elvis. “I’ll just wait on ‘em. I know you can knock ‘em right out.” So I’m looking hard at this part. Bare with me now and visualize. An I-bolt, ½” in diameter shank, 6″ diameter eye, and over 3 feet long. I’m thinking, how the hell am I going to thread this? Not to mention doing it with one of my biggest pet peeves, a frickin’ studio audience!

By this time my lovely bride is in tune with my mental condition and softly offers to run up to McDonald’s and bring me something back. Okay, I’m running out of time, I don’t have a lathe with a large enough hole for the 6″ eye to sit in the spindle so I can thread, you know, spot a center, and hold with the tailstock, and single point. Obviously, I can’t cut the thread with a geometric head, because I can’t chuck up the part.

Then all of the sudden, while staring at my old girl in the back, (no, not Laura) the redneck rocket scientist in me kicks in. Who’s the old gal you ask? Well she is my old Warner & Swasey #4 turret lathe. She’s old, she’s green, she’s a ram type, and she’s not easy on the eyes, but damn she’s one of the most useful pieces of iron ever made. I quickly fasten the ¾” Geometric head in the 10″ Cushman chuck, I then move the turret saddle all the way back. I grab a ER-32 collet drill holder and fasten the part stationary through the turret hole and into the drill holder on the other side.

I’m thinking I’ll spin the Geometric head in the chuck and feed the part through, tripping the dead stop on the turret. I’ve never tried this before, but what choice do I have? Well, in about 30 minutes we had 10 beautiful ½-13 threaded 316 SS I-bolts. Danny said, “Damn I knew ‘em screw machines could do it.” Whew, and another one bites the dust.

Later that night at home we were putting the final touches on the Christmas tree and my son and I were on the floor assembling my grandfather’s old Lionel trains around the tree. My son picked up an old switch engine locomotive, probably dating back to the late 1930s and said, “Look at all these parts in here Dad, all made in a machine shop.” And I could only think of Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail during her last voyage. I thought to myself, “That’s right Mike, you’re a machinist. Is there really anything better in the world?”

Question: I What was the best thing that happened to you this week?

Question II: Could you work with your wife?

Note: Do you have something to say and want a chance to be published? Consider writing for TMW. Email emily@todaysmachiningworld.com. 

NBA owner rep, David Stern, is getting blamed more and more for the failed NBA negotiations.

One of the more interesting parts of attempting to teach my son Noah the art of business concerns negotiating. It’s a topic of enduring interest because there is seldom a day when I don’t negotiate with somebody−a client, an employee, or a partner.

Lately, I’ve been reading the accounts of the messy negotiations between David Stern, who represents the NBA owners, and Billy Hunter, who speaks for the players union. From an outsider’s perspective it appears to be a botch for both sides, with everybody involved losing big−except the lawyers.

What I try to teach Noah and continually relearn myself is a lesson I learned from my father and uncle. “Always let the other person feel that they’ve won, because the relationship is more important than one deal.”

The reality is that often there is only one deal to be made with a particular client, but that really isn’t the point. You never really know when you will meet up again, but each deal helps establish your reputation in the wider world, and teaches you lessons.

As I talk to machining firms these days I am regularly hearing that big company buyers are now negotiating with the mindset that good suppliers are scarce assets, not interchangeable widget makers. The balance of power in the supply chain world has changed over the last year and the shrewd buyers of machined parts have recognized it.

One of the most important aspects of a negotiation is how time plays into it. We are watching that play out dramatically right now in the NBA talks because players have now missed their first big paycheck of the season, agents are missing out on rookie signings, and the owners are staring at a cancellation of the entire season.

When I negotiate a deal I always try to ascertain the time requirements of my potential buyer and withhold my own needs from him. By talking to a client frequently, not only can I often discover his time restraints but I can also build a mutual investment in working out a deal. One of the drawbacks of email negotiating is that it removes that feeling of personal investment in a deal and tends to make it seem like it’s all about the money.

From my experience, money is just one factor in most negotiations, and often not the most important one. In my reading about what’s going on now with the NBA, a deal was within reach, until the owners pushed the players into a corner on peripheral issues like random off season drug testing, which energized a weak, disorganized, even apathetic group of players into an angry opponent. David Stern evidently misjudged how far he could push. It’s okay to leave money on the table, my Dad told me and I say to Noah. “Does the deal work for us?” is question number one. But the important corollary is, “Can the other person feel good about it, too?”

The great negotiating mavens such as Herb Cohen argue that you should plan your moves ahead and know your own bottom line. I adhere to this idea in theory, but I believe you also need to be creative and improvise because there are crucial moments in a negotiation that you can’t afford to miss. This is when the active listener can pick up on cues about the time needs of the opposing party to conclude a deal. If the big moment is missed the deal that was makeable can go away.

I often go home and tell my wife that I am frustrated about deals that keep sliding away. She’ll say that it probably doesn’t have anything to do with you. Be patient, it will come.

Sure.

Sometimes it does.

Question: Do you care if the NBA season is canceled?

Question 2: If you could choose between deer hunting and going to an NBA playoff game which would you pick?

CBS news announced in January that Austin, Texas, leads the U.S. in job growth and CNN has it in its list of the 10 fastest growing cities

I attended the Precision Machined Products Association’s annual meeting in Austin over the weekend. The question I heard often was, “Why is my business so good if the economy is so bad?” Unfortunately the speakers hardly addressed this topic, so I will try to explain it.

1) Structural changes in the world economy now favor American manufacturing. A lot of businesses have gone away in the last 10 years. They’ve closed, moved to China, downsized, gone bust, or merged—and not much has started up in the last decade and a half. Manufacturing was downsizing in the ’90s but it was masked because of the Internet and telecom boom.

2) Automotive is coming back, but we mistakenly think of automotive as just GM, Ford and Chrysler—American vendors are doing a lot of work with Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes, too. High yen and Euro values relative to the past make America a low cost producer.

3) Relentless productivity advances in manufacturing makes for better margins. The press mistakes “restructuring” and cutting people as indicative of bad business. It may be the reason for continued good business. Head count and profits no longer rise together and even the Wall Street Journal misses it.

4) Contrary to popular opinion we are starting to get better young people to join manufacturing. Old people always think the younger generation is shiftless and inept, but I think that the notion that you cannot recruit capable new people is obsolete in this labor climate. Nonexistent desk jobs no longer look appealing next to $80,000 machinist jobs with benefits.

5) China is struggling to compete—wages are rising 15-20 percent per year, the workforce turns over constantly, there is a shortage of skills, and high-energy costs. The realization of what it really costs to make things in China with the travel, logistics, and quality issues has made outsourcing to China less attractive for American firms.

6) Innovation. If you look at big companies like Apple, Cummins and Amazon.com you see that America still has game. Add the brilliance of our farmers and the revolution in oil and gas production with horizontal drilling and you see a core economy that is thriving and world class, but one does not necessarily hire unemployed 56-year-old bankers.

All of this does not mean that Europe is not a mess and that retired Chicago teachers are going to get the pensions that were promised them for the next 50 years. The world economy is in the throes of a nasty restructuring not that different than what American manufacturing has gone through for the last 15 years. I like our odds. I wouldn’t bet on the French though.

Question: Do you feel optimistic about 2012?

Michael Frank, the COO and founder of HUFRA, a precision machining company in Accra, Ghana, in West Africa, is one of those people. He has made it his mission to bring precision machining technology to his homeland by establishing one of the first CNC job shops in West Africa. Frank finished his Masters degree in manufacturing engineering in Russia and worked for 10 years in Britain. He now splits his time between his family in the UK and his homeland of Ghana, trying to get his fledgling business up and running.

Frank is attempting to do what thousands of immigrants worldwide are doing without notice from the international press—bring technology, opportunity and education back to their homelands. For instance, thousands of Turks who labored as machinists in Germany have returned to Turkey and started job shops. Today Turkey has a well-developed manufacturing core with many shops sending product back to Germany.

But does Frank have a fighting chance at being successful in Africa? At this stage of development in West Africa, with its ever-present economic, political and religious tension, is it possible to make a precision machining business not just function but thrive?

Read the full story here

The Hufra Precision Machining Company located in Accra, Ghana, West Africa. Photos courtesy Michael Frank

Much of the trade in goods travels in metal shipping containers, those 20 and 40 foot long boxes you see on rail cars and trucks everyday.

Normally about 20 percent of the containers on ships at any given moment are empty, especially those headed toward Asia. This imbalance costs shipping companies billions of dollars each year, but it presents a gigantic entrepreneurial opportunity for inventors and engineers to make a killing. In the April 12th Wall Street Journal, John W. Miller wrote a fascinating piece on the race to build stackable or foldable shipping containers. It’s an idea that has been floating around for years, but so far nobody has been able to build one that meets all of the demands of shipping firms.

The Port of Rotterdam in Holland is Europe’s busiest port, and container ideas are flowing out from there. Rene Giesbers has designed a composite fiberglass container whose vertical walls fold inward, giving it an “x” shape as it collapses on itself. It supposedly saves 75 percent of the fuel needed to transport it and won’t rust.

Another Dutch engineer, Simon Bosschieter, has designed a container made of steel alloy with folding walls that slide into each other.

An Indian banker, Avinder Bindra, also designed a container with folding walls, but his are stacked vertically instead of horizontally.

With such a big pot of gold out there awaiting a killer design, somebody is going to get it right.

How about you?

Personally, I have no three dimensional brain—I can’t even rearrange my closet. But for people who can envision how to cut precise metal parts in their sleep and who have knowledge of materials, the collapsing container is the Rubik’s Cube of a lifetime.

Why not give it a go?

Hunter Jamison and his two brothers Scot and Terry own and operate Millipart Inc., an aerospace machining firm southeast of Los Angeles in Glendora, Cal. Their father Jim Jamison started the company in 1954 after tiring of selling hardwood floors.

Millipart recently bought a new Kitamura vertical machining center with a 30,000 rpm spindle. I asked Hunter, who has a daughter in college, if he felt a third generation of family was destined for the business. He was unsure, but then mentioned that his sales manager was third generation with the company. “She started here when her mother was pregnant,” he said.

Besides Hunter and his brothers, the core employees of Millipart are from three Mexican families. For close to 30 years the company has made room for daycare for its employees at their machining plant. The company’s kids grew up around the CNC machines. The lathes and mills were as common as swings and jungle gyms to the kids of Millipart. G-Code was not a foreign language. It was almost as common as Dick and Jane.

When I grew up, dinner table conversation was often about deal making, competition and the stock market. My wife grew up at a table where legal talk prevailed and two of her brothers became lawyers.

We tend to gravitate toward the familiar. According to Hunter Jamison one of the pivotal reasons Millipart has succeeded for the long haul was the decision made long ago to allow kids to smell the cutting oil when they were toddlers.

Question: Is company sponsored daycare still a viable option today for machining firms?

Chuck DeLong says he “can’t deal with people,” but he loves his old CNC machines, which he cajoles to run perfect pieces like other people baby their pet Corvettes.

DeLong’s machine shop is out in the sticks, yet only 30 miles from the Charles River in Boston where he keeps his 37-foot Silverton Sport Fisherman. He says it’s the boat he doesn’t use because every fill-up is $1100.

When he isn’t boating Chuck is running his Hardinge CHNC-1 and CHNC-3 lathes which he claims make parts just as exquisite as a 2010 Mazak or Mori if you treat them with respect and use sweet oil. His operating philosophy is to run his machines slowly but steadily and then adjourn to his desk to write boating articles.

DeLong is 64, he loves being a machining artisan. He makes 100 grand in a crappy year like 2009 and $150,000 in a livelier one. He works a lot of hours at the shop but looks for any opportunity to bop over to the nearby lake to use his boat of choice, a 1965 Cavalier ski boat with Chris Craft engines, made in 1965. He bought the boat on eBay three years ago.

Chuck just bought a 1994 Haas VF-2 CNC mill from Graff-Pinkert, which he also spotted on eBay.

DeLong likes the solo business life. He used to have 20 employees, but shed them for the companionship of his vintage Hardinge and Haas buddies. He prefers the simplicity of doing it all by himself.

His introduction to the machining business was in 1959 when his parents bought three Brown & Sharpes which they ran in their basement. His folks would trade places running the machines. Their house was filled with clackety background noise, but after all these years he has developed a talent for tuning it out.

The variety of small business permutations in America always surprises me.

In the rolling prairie of Northwest Indiana-Amish Country—Eli L. runs 3 1-1/4″ RA6 National Acme screw machines without conventional horsepower electric motors—the normal power supply. He has been making fittings on these workhorses for 25 years using a jerry rigged diesel generator connected to a line shaft to power his machine tools.

The Amish are adamantly opposed to being hooked up to the power grid but are not Luddites. For instance Eli, who runs his shop with his children and grandchildren, has upgraded his screw machines with Logan air clutches to squeeze out more production.

Eli used to make a line of machined salt and pepper shakers, but that business has faltered. He is quite busy, however, on contract fittings manufacturing.

It used to be very difficult to reach Eli, but his business is now connected to the outside world by cell phones. You cannot easily find his shop on a map, but a GPS will guide you. But one thing you will not see in his office is a computer connected to the Web.

Question: Would you do business with a company that was off the power grid?

Person in photo is not refered to this article

WESTEC as we know it is changing. There will be no show in 2011 in Los Angeles. SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers), which organized the 2010 event, is planning an Aerospace Defense oriented manufacturing show for next April in Anaheim, Cal. In September, 2011 they will host a Las Vegas event which will be a cross between a trade show and a collection of open houses.

SME has found it increasingly difficult to put on a major L.A. show during an IMTS year. It isn’t that the West Coast people are necessarily going to IMTS, but the exhibitors do not have the budget for two big shows in one year.

WESTEC was becoming the Haas Show (Gene Haas came on the first day) but even they were reducing their presence in 2010. There were a lot of small exhibitors but no major ones besides Haas. Attendance was not terrible, but by the time business had begun to rebound the die had been cast for the large displayers.

Question: Are trade shows becoming obsolete?