As Manufacturing Technology Advances, Humans Become More Important
"The Z Axis" visits CNC machining cutting tool maker Fullerton Tool in Saginaw, Michigan.
The way that advanced manufacturing makes the human role more valuable is this:
Human choices have magnified impact when automated or streamlined systems account for more.
Plus, organizational culture plays a larger role than ever in how manufacturing continues to advance.
The latest episode of The Z Axis considers an example. I talk with Patrick Curry, one of the family owners of Fullerton Tool, a maker of cutting tools for CNC machining, about the way the company’s V-Mac end mill was developed. Culture and human choice were paramount in the tool that actually came to market. From this example, consider how human factors are paramount in all the manufacturing technology advances we either do or do not see.
Curry and I filmed this conversation on the production floor where Fullerton grinds its cutting tools. The facility is so clean it works beautifully as a set.
Watch the episode:
Not incidentally, this story is also a picture of the impact of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), and the effect this show has on driving technology. The Fullerton team scrapped product and redesigned a tool that was already working to have it available in time for IMTS.
The Z Axis is my show about new directions in manufacturing, sponsored by Workforce Factor, a new platform for onboarding industrial employees that is tailored to the culture and tribal knowledge of individual workplaces.
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