Bob Rath, President (movie link)

Raw material for Part 880.


Finished Part 880.  Global Gear machines 390,000 per year with minimal labor content.  The six machine automated cell is currently operated by two people per shift.  Because of process improvements, they will soon be going to one person per shift.

Automated loading of Part 880 cell.

The 880 cell is automated to inspect 10 points and adjust offsets at the machines.


Special attention is taken to make sure the small fines are removed from the coolant in the Part 880 cell.
 

by Joe Romanowski
Chairman & CEO

What do you think is the most price sensitive, demanding, relentless, sometimes brutal, manufacturing sector in the United States?  How about the automotive industry? 

I recently visited Global Gear (www.globalgearllc.com) located in Downers Grove, IL.  They are a contract machine shop specializing in machining gears for the automotive industry.  Although they consider themselves a medium volume machine shop providing 20,000 to 500,000 piece production runs a year, I consider that pretty high volume... especially, since they are doing it competitively on U.S. soil!   Global Gear is part of IMS, a consolidation of contract manufacturing companies committed to manufacturing in the United States.  They are intensely focused on driving labor content out of their operations and increasing throughput. 

In order to survive and prosper, Global Gear has embraced and nurtured an incredibly strong process driven, continuous improvement culture.  Bob Rath, President of Global Gear, said that to stay competitive, “We must look outside our four walls.  This requires us to continually make visits to other manufacturing companies, partner closely with all of our machine tool and cutting tool suppliers, be active in SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers), and maintain deep relationships with our customers.”  Bob further stated that, “We have no options but to keep our people deeply involved in all processes (movie link).”  One of their primary goals is to make sure the cost of labor is always less than 5% of sales.  

I asked Bob, what is the number one expectation of their customers?  He quickly stated, “For us to maintain high quality TS16949 quality standards, continually improve quality and always reduce costs and ship faster.”  Global Gear delivery has been on time for eight consecutive years and quality is continually maintained at less than 100 PPM (parts per million). They are capable of routinely  maintaining part tolerances at ten thousandths of an inch.   

As soon as I entered the plant, I immediately encountered a pleasant, high energy and friendly workforce.  Since their culture is an intense automotive environment, I wanted to understand how this was possible.  I quickly spotted impressive multi-machine, highly automated cells that included in-process gauging, inspection and cleaning with very little labor content.

The Crank Shaft Flange, Part 880, cell takes your breath away.  It takes a blank forging, turns the part complete, drills and taps ten blind holes, 6 through holes, two timing holes, and maintains a tolerance of .0005”.  This cell includes six machines tools, in-process gauging/inspection, automatic feedback of offsets and washing the part.  The part comes out complete and ready to ship.  Global Gear machines 390,000 of these flanges every year.  The cell operates 24 hours a day, completing each piece in about a minute.

Another part, Part 771, is just as amazing.  This automated cell also includes hobbing, shaping and inspection (with automatic off set feedback) along with multiple machining operations which also include placement of a keyway.  The balance holes are automatically drilled.  The only manual operation in the cell is a slight deburr of the balance holes.

There was something else I saw that I thought was quite unique.  They have a central coolant distribution system with outlets at different points in the plant. A flexible hose can be taken right to the machine.  The coolant for recycling or waste disposal is gathered by a mobile vacuum tank.

So, how do they keep their extremely diverse workforce positive, fulfilled and calm in this intense automotive environment?  Bob explained, “We treat our people with respect, keep them involved in all process decisions and make sure the process does most of the work.”

As I said goodbye to Bob and drove away from Global Gear, I was sky high.  It was so uplifting to see a company competing on a global basis machining high volume parts for the automotive industry in the U.S. prospering and growing.  This visit renewed my hope for manufacturing parts in the U.S.

Part 771 raw material

Part 771 complete and ready to ship

Frank Gibbons, our Machinery Tooling & Supply, Senior Sales Engineer posing at our two consignment tool vending machines at Global Gear

 

Central coolant distribution point

Mobile waste/recycle coolant
collection tank

One of many coolant distribution points in the plant