Took machining and programming in highschool, afterwards I worked at my local machine shop an worked from operator to programmer. There was a time where I was doing so much more then the people around me. So what I did was once they denied me of a raise. I took all of the old programs and set ups before me reinstall them into all the machines. Did a time study for each one, as well as tooling cost to performance. Then went back to the way I did things. Created a massive spread sheet comparing then to now in regards to cost, production and even training time. I got my raise but on the same day put in my two weeks. If company can't identify efficient employees, or game changers. Move on. Know your skill set, and hone in your uniqueness that you bring to machining and probably the most important factor when it comes to this trade. Surround yourself with knowledgeable and like-minded people. Continuous improvement takes continuous dedication
@@franciscoibarra8026 go re-read his comment. He was making improvements, and then reverted back to the old programs, to showcase how much better they were.
Very good decision. They should have given you the raise AND a bonus to compensate for their ignorance and as an apology. When companies make you give them an ultimatum, and give you a raise to keep you. Then they have just admitted that they have been taking advantage of you and keeping YOUR money.
You just spoke to me. I worked for my company for 13 years. I worked my way from operator, through set up tech, now to designing fixture, improving process. I got zero training. Everything i learn, i learned myself. I made company lot of money, and my company cannot even guarantee me 40 hours a week. Maybe its time for me to move on.
Move now, while you are young enough to make the move. Based purely on what you just said, if you walked into an interview at a different company for a much higher paying job, you would be able to speak to them with knowledge of operating, setup AND design. If you have the skills accumulated you claim, you will be hired for a job with real hours.
God Bless to you brother. Hang in there, keep your eyes on the long term future. Stay there for after-hours work. get to the factory earlier than everyone else. Do more, Learn more, Stay up to date. Take note of all your achievements, have the list ready at your next review. If they don't listen to you, comply and negotiate with you for your real - worth, then move - on!
I am that type of programer you are talking about, I live for this job, I literally count every second I can save on our repeated jobs and I constantly trying to find new aproaches to problems so our machines could run as effectively as possible. Luckily my boss is also my friend, who understands all of this and has a same mindset, and I make easily 3 times the average salary in my country :)
God Bless to you, my friend. You are the type of employee that is the 'LINCHPIN' that holds the whole operation together. Cheers from Syndey/Australia.
When you are "that guy" make your own dreams come true, not someone else's. The best move I ever made was leaving the first small shop I worked at. My only regret was not leaving sooner. Don't ever be afraid to leave a shop and make things better for yourself. You may have to jump a couple times, but you will find the place where you fit and belong.
After 25 years in manufacturing here's my advice. If you are in a position to fix problems but you don't because it gets you in trouble, you need to quit that job today. You should always be the one who fixes problems without being asked to do so. That is what leaders do. Don't waste another day in a company that wants to hold you back. 100% of companies that operate in that manner fail. They fail because they have no desire to innovate. You may find that eventually you will need to own your own business because you need the ability to dictate how a company is run. When you get to that position don't forget where you came from. Understand that you are not the only one who feels this way. Look for highly motivated people and give them the nurturing environment that you sought out. The only way to win in American manufacturing is to outsmart the rest of the world. Highly intelligent, highly motivated people will gravitate to your company and when they do make sure that you give them the tools and the freedom to make your company successful. And always remember that you could not get there without them.
There's too much selfish behavior in today's society and that's why modern American work culture sucks. I've worked in places where the company could grow in leaps and bounds but the owners pride gets in the way.
My dad just retired after over 50 years as a CNC programmer. He always told me that the most satisfying tasks he ever had was teaching other programmers and operators new techniques and seeing their eyes light up. He gave away knowledge like that his entire career. During a 15 minutes interview, he made some observations that made that company over a million dollars in increased revenue that year. Yes, they hired him. :)
Yes, a truly inspirational story. That should encourage everyone to do that little bit more. Yes- I understand some bosses don't recognise or reward effort. But give them a fair chance to come around. And if there is still nothing, then move on! Hold your head up with pride, because you know where those improvements or work efficiency came from. Walk across the street to their competitor or someone who will reward your talent.
So true in 35 years of cnc machining there is nothing worse than a bad Manufacturing Engineer / Programmer , The great ones made work less stressful and more productive and would listen to the machinists issues and fix them
Oh there's plenty worse...like bosses that don't want to pay people what they are worth it pay for training or willing to fire crappy employees, or buy tooling and fixtures.
@@jesseblanchard9609 Correct, Management is always the boat anchor when it comes to Manufacturing. With Engineering / Programming it is an experience issue and usually can be fixed with communication and training.
I agree with what your saying. Seems like where I have been the company's do not want you thinking and being efficient, they want you to listen to them and don't do anything to bring the company to a higher level. They wanna keep their thumb on you. I'm not a programmer, I'm a rig welder. If we're on a job, the welder pretty much determines the speed of the job. Ya get yelled at for going to fast or slow or not fast enough even with a 0% repair rate. I got tired of it and started a business.
On point. This has been my experience as well. My profession is Information Technology, I've worked from the very bottom at technical support to System Administration and the overall tone in most companies is the same. You clock in, do your job exactly how THEY want you to do your job. No more, or no less. In System Administration, downtime is huge. You do everything you can to prevent it. But the problem is, they hardly ever want to invest in upgrading their aging infrastructure and improve their system stability. The likeness amongs all our fields is astounding. We set the pace for the day to day work environment, if systems are slow, unavailable, or unreliable, we slow down the production in the company as well as our customers. The worst part is we get boned on both ends as well as you do. With 100% uptime they don't want to pay you more because "Why do we even need you?" when their antiquated hardware has a fault or an aging system clogs up or crashes, they don't want to pay you more because "Why do we even have you?" No matter how well you maintain the systems, no matter how quickly you resolve an issue, the fact that any issue arises or does not arise results in the same attitude to the employee... "Why should we pay you more if we don't have you fixing things/the system is continually failing and you have to scramble to fix it?" - They don't see the amount of time you spend at work trying to make sure the systems don't fail. The work you spend implementing mitigations for possible failures. The extra time we spend in our free time learning how to streamline resolution processes and coding/automating tasks to reduce and avoid downtime... It's usually not the employee in most cases. It's usually the company's attitude. (And let me be clear to Titan - obviously you give a crap about your employees and company. It's just most companies don't give a crap like you do. The message they see in this video is fire their experienced programmer, and hire a replacement at 1/2 the cost and still ask them to do the very things you outlined in this video.)
The business owner was the problem at my previous place of employment. For years I kept recommending changes to make the place more efficient and for years I was ignored till one day I decided to put those positive changes towards owning my own shop. If you want to succeed in anything you have to think outside the box and move with the times. If you work for a boss that still thinks it’s 1990 you better run for the hills
I feel you man. I started an apprenticeship last september, i'm a 26 year old guy with a few professionnal experiences under my belt (not bragging or anything, just to say that ain't absolutely green to work). The shop i currently work in uses Fagor lathes and num mills. ALL the machines are rusty, old and simply disgusting due to a severe lack of maintenance and care. Every single security has been bypassed on all the machines, so the doors are basically acting as glorified umbrellas. The machine i operate on is 30 years old, and has many defects due to age and wear (not my word, i noticed it at first but the guy who operated the same machine for the last 6 years confirmed it all) I keep scraping pieces due to both inexperience and the machine sometimes acting like an ass, even when my program and positionning are down to a T. I told my boss about the problems i encountered (in a civil and professionnal way of course, i'm not a child and i understand that fixing a machine costs a ton of money) to try and find solutions. His response? " This company has run for years like that. If you don't like it here the door's always open". Talk about thinking outside the box. Coincidentally they are also losing money and contracts at an alarming rate, mh, i wonder what could be the cause of it?
My previous boss had no vision. I offered suggestions for improving programs. Making them faster and more efficient. I could program but never gave me a shot at it. I left that shop and now im at a shop that said im exactly the type of person they want in their shop. I practice cad/cam on my own time. When i showed them my programs and projects they were amazed.
At 22 years young I may not be the most experienced machinist around but I definitely know my way around CNC machines. And I completely agree with you on this, one of the programmers at my job has been programming 46 years and is dead set on his ways even when there are clear ways to make improvements he forbids it. Good video.
Titan you are right. My current and last programmer/ manager positions I made around 50 an HR with profit sharing bonuses. The shop I work for now just gave me another 5k bonus today and told me they were happy to give it to me. I work and study constantly about new and better ways to run all of our CNC machines especially our 5 axis machines. Great post!
I'm a new programmer and this speaks volumes to me. The guys out on the floor are hungry to try new things and I'm very open to it all. Even just being open to new ideas drastically changes the moral of the whole team. One of our machinists came up to me with this video and told me to keep it up. Thank you Titan for not just technical help, but also reinforcing my passion for having a hand in creating new things.
We have a two op part in my shop that was programmed using conversational. We've made thousands of parts using the same method. A couple weeks ago myself and another programmer decided to use camworks and reprogram the operations and took 25 minutes out of two ops that used to be 1 hour 15 min.
Sometimes as an employee you have to fire your employer. If they are not willing to listen and don't give 110% to make the business thrive, let them go. Walk out the door, don't look back. Be polite, don't burn your bridges but leave. In my case new owners came in, said run the machines harder, longer. They said quality might suffer but productivity will make up for it. They still think the machines were the money makers. When, after years of proven/documented work history and glowing testimonials from the past owners, they refused my annual increase. Hell, they even cancelled the Christmas party because where they came from they didn't celebrate Christmas. I offered to take an early retirement buy-out and work for them on a contract basis. They accepted. I got my buy-out. I've never returned their calls to negotiate a contract. I left two weeks before Christmas 2 years ago. I started a small furniture refinishing business in my shop at home. Life is good.
This. Fire low quality employers. Document your reason(s): Poor employer performance over an extended period of time. Don't worry about burning any bridges. Don't even give notice unless it benefits you specifically. Why not? Because if they EVER gain a lick of sense, that will be no barrier to your return. I have packed up and left poor employers without saying a word, only to have them call me later to offer me a job when they gained some wisdom. Sometimes it's time to stop running away and start pushing back. Give these idiots their hard knocks and they'll be better for it in the long run. Just remember: you work WITH them, not under them. It's a partnership or nothing at all.
I'm new to machining I got super lucky and got hired as a helper but they're fully training me to be a machinist. CNC and conventional mills and lathes. I'm a welder also. Pretty sweet deal.
Congrats Titan & team, inspirational video. Some time ago i started a project which involves a small cnc router, every day I going to Titans of cnc academy to learn more and improve my skills with my little cnc router hobby, so i want to thanks for all support and content you make available to us... 🇧🇷🤝🇺🇸
Thanks Titan, years ago when I was just starting out in aerospace l’ll never forget the arguments I had with my boss. We would have all these jobs where the cycle time was 3min and to change the parts out was about 3 min on this 5 axis water jet I used to run. My boss couldn’t understand when I told him no matter what I do I can only run 50% efficient with that setup. He looked at me like how dare you challenge what we’ve been doing for 10 years. I took the time to set up 6 fixtures and link 6 programs together in a batch. Now I’m running almost a half hour straight giving me actual time I can walk away gather fixtures and drawings for the next jobs. An yea it takes a little more time to change out 6 parts, but I only have to pick up the hose 1 time, open the door 1 time, Jump up onto the machine 1 time. I was trying to save them money and they would’ve rather argued with me because I challenged the process.
I wish you ran the company I work for, your perspective is so refreshing. Over 20 years as a CNC machinist that did the programming for the machines I ran I am sincere when I say I loved it and my attitude was I wanted to do more and do it better. Sadly I work for a company that failed to appreciate it. GOOD message Titan.
You've got it nailed. Constantly improving and standardizing is the game. Good wages are the oxygen in your shop. Always address the bottleneck, figure out how to make it work for you. You are a good leader Titan I'm glad I came across your channel.
As a lead programmer i totally agree with this. If I'm off my game there is a host of problems down the line. Automation is key, and using the best technology is a true asset to every company. I like to think im one of the good programmers he is talking about, and owners please know, we are head hunted left and right. Also owners, please know that the software is much less important than the programmer. When hiring, dont just hire someone because they know the software you use, hire the person that offers the best vision, and provide them the tools they ask for. A programmers first pet peeve is a lack of support from management. If we cant get our aoftware maintenance paid, or have no tooling allowance to test new tool paths, get ready to find a new programmer, because we will walk. We are tinkerers, and if you support us, we will make you a lot of money, because we love seeing the machines humming, and parts flying! Nothing is more satisfying to see then the clock of our vision not miss a tick.
Totally agree man. Im a programmer that thinks outside the box. My shop for some reason acts like buying new tooling is a sin. I have been getting our tooling vendor to loan us tools or give us free trial inserts. Been improving cycle times and less insert changes. Its annoying to get denied on trial tooling just because our boss who dosent run or program lathes thinks i dont "need" it.
Wise words and even better vision, I can hear he has experienced being held back by someone who doubted what could be achieved, nothing more destroying to a programmers development then that and speaking from my own experiences.
So true, but sometimes no matter how good your skill level is or what you do for the company if upper management doesn't support you and give you what you are deserved then there's nothing you can do. Especially if u live in a city where there is not alot of jobs. You can't just quit. Wish everyone had your mindset Titan
God Bless to you brother. Hang in there, keep your eyes on the long term future. Stay there for after-hours work. get to the factory earlier than everyone else. Do more, Learn more, Stay up to date. Take note of all your achievements, have the list ready at your next review. If they don't listen to you, comply and negotiate with you for your real - worth, then move - on!
WOW!! I only have 10 years experience, I am a capable Operator, Set Up, Programmer, improve processes and give solutions, but I had bad attitude, a friend of mine, Martin, my supervisor 8 years ago, he took time to help me be a better person, better employee and better employee, thanks to that push, over the years, I have strive to be a better machinist and better employee, a team worker, Now, after 8 years, Martin looks for me to help him solve problems and improve his processes, grateful to say yes, and show him that what he did for me was worth it. Your words in this video motivate me to see outside the box, to focus and give myself to my job that I love so much, to give more value to my work and to bring success to the company with which I work, Thanks Titan.
This is so relevant in so many industries I can't thank you enough for speaking on this topic I machine in my spare time starting my own small company and work as a hotel motel manager by day/night I juggle both and face this with my management team daily. Well spoken you've shed light and clarity on subject that most struggle to put into words... 10/10 well done....
I have seen where helping your team rise goes against your best interest and helps everyone else make money but yourself. I have also seen where a CEO that made millions off single peoples fixes and requests to make everything more efficient tell employees that while they have been helping everyone they aren't willing to pay them to be trainers, to increase sales, or to help clients because they had a vested interest in allowing certain specific employees to ride the clock and literally filibuster any advances in quality so then those people that want to see the company advance become the enemy. Then if that person leaves and they try to get a job somewhere else no one believes anything that they did was that important. It's not very hard to make enemies by having an excellent work ethic and customer centric service skills. When you know about marketing, sales, training, customer service, management, development, troubleshooting you then anywhere you go people will fear your skills and prevent you from even getting jobs because they don't want to have to work any harder. So be careful trying to bring people up with you because after they get there there is no guarantee that they will back you once you become a target for that glass ceiling. When management uses that bell curve against you it doesn't matter how efficient you are or how many machines you can run.
Deneteus Spent most of my life working under guys like that -- guys who didn't give a single fuck, but they collected the money that I was making for the company. Brown nosers. I walked away finally. I didn't put myself thru 30 yrs and 3 trade schools in order to be held down and live on 15 an hour.
Im a mechanical engineer technologist and a Machinist and I run 3 cnc machines and alot of the guys say slow down dont work hard dont make things nice and easy we need overtime so dont work hard I get it man people dont want to work nothing wrong with taking pride in what you do but people just get mad when you try to raise the bar.
This is such a wonderful message, and it is not just relevant to machine shops. Managers in all industries could learn so much from Titan and the way he runs his shop.
in the end...rarely if ever do most Customers visit. Usually its someone who knows someone, and its a Purchasing Agent that does the deal. Stay current absolutely. I love a great feel good and stating the obvious story as anyone. There is so much more to snapping your fingers and making everything efficient. Even cutting edge companies have holes in their boat. Amazing pep talk none the less, takes more to it than firing the Programmer....
It's just too bad when you are the one that tries to rise the company by running jobs more efficient and your boss keeps you down, but at the same time wants more productivity..
I feel this. I just left a shop because of that. My issue was with a coworker that had been there at the company for 10 years. I had a lot of ideas to make the process of machining/deburring parts easier for the machinist. I could write programs and make them nore efficient. This guy did not like me and always gave me busy work to keep me down. What was worst is that he was related to the shop owner so i had no one to go to about this problem. Needles to say the only inspector in the shop also quit. i start my new job monday. I dont see that place surviving 10 more years
@@John-ik2eg sometimes your boss is youre worst nightmare. Ive had bosses purposely keep me down and reject my ideas. 6 months later they would propose my ideas to the owner as their own. Bosses are not stupid some of them are incompetent and only hire people who are less knowledgeble than they are.
Keep a diary of the ideas you have proposed to your boss, 6months down the track ask for a pay-rise. If he does listen to you, how you saved the company money, your ideas fixed the organisation, then you take your new self worth with pride across the street to the competition. And you compete against his sorry ass.
@@TheAefril im already there. I start at an R&D shop tomorrow morning. Shop i just left was a production shop with 30% scrap rate. I just see this company shutting down soon. I give it 5 years.
Man this video makes me both proud and feel very unappreciated. I'm an beginner programmer but I'm the only programmer at my work and take pride in everything I do but since I'm young I get looked down on and taken advantage of even know I'm making everything I can as efficient and simple as I can for everyone. Didn't expect this from this video but man it just makes me want to send it to my boss.
3:13 - 3:30 Much respect, Titan! 12:23 That attitude is contagious. Lifting up a crew and a shop feels great. It's too bad that bosses are afraid of people like that and shut them down.
But what gets me, when a guy programs a 1000-500pc job as if he was doing 10pcs. Doesn't change a thing. Doesn't try to shave a time off the parts at all. There's a big difference if you end the job before lunch or end the job on a Friday afternoon. Instead of coming Monday morning to run a few.
This can and should be applied to anything that you do to earn a living. If you are helping customers order a big mac or coding the programs for the next mission to Mars, taking pride in your work and putting in the "extra" effort not only brings great success for you, it brings success to the whole company and everyone around you.
A pivotal role should have a stable person. You cant make a corner stone any better by proping it up.. or paying its bills or stabalizing its emotional issues.. If your building is comprimised you best start again In a seperate space and use what you can from the old structure..
I wouldn't fire anyone today just because I saw this video and the reasons outlined in the video justifying said firing. I believe in second chances. If the company has a new vision about how they want to run then invite those working there into the new vision. Set up the pilot for the change before changing the entire shop. One lead programmer? One of anything means little room for negotiation of anything unless a replacement is easily found. Managers should know as much as the lead programmer, and communicate the expectation of part file quality, such as how efficient do you want to go? I guess I don't understand. I'm the CNC programmer and operator with the most experience. There is no lead programmer. I check other programmer's part files for errors that would crash the machine first, then look for inefficiencies to improve run time or surface quality. We are not running a shop. You guys are the experts!! If you have one lead CNC programmer, and you can't bring them along to the new company vision, then you should have a second CNC programmer to take lead.
BEAUTIFUL! I have never heard someone describe my job so well before. When you started talking about 2am ideas on how to fixture something, thats my life. GREAT VIDEO!! Iam actually going to forward this to my boss!! haha
As a guy who has been the under-appreciated workhorse as well as the boss, you have staff that are always leveling up and those who are not. It is that simple. Those who level themselves up usually are leveling other people up. I am the type of guy who will go outside the box, burn it down, build the next best one just to do something better for its own sake. But I am always looking for the right place that will give it a proper home.
Good Luck finding that person buddy! The company I work for offers up to 92000$ a year for good machinists and can't find any. The trade schools are enpty. What we need to do is get Kids interested at a young age
I just got a job offer cancelled because of that attitude. Too much change is not what the boss wants, even if it saves a ton of time with almost no investment.
Sometimes its not is this the right candidate for the job but is this the right job for the candidate! Meaning you would end up board after 2weeks and prob leave before 2months up. Some places just want loaders with out a brain.
I love everything about this. When i got into this trade, it was right after the fall of the old school "tool makers". They were bitter. They didnt want to try, or think. I walked into this trade as a deburr guy for $8 an hour. I got on to machines and just never stopped learning. In 5 years i more then doubled my pay. I do things people say cant be done... Not because im "so good"... But because i dont know any better. So i just try. Sometimes it works.. sometimes it doesnt. But i use what i learn and adapt every time. As of now i can program swiss turns, mazaks, and gcode based lathes without the use of software. I can use gibbscam software. I recently landed a job as a head programmer fir a small shop. They treat me well and i bust my butt. Im thankful for the opportunity they gave me. Im hardly the best machinist in the world. Nor the best programmer... I make progress because i will atleast try. If you already believe in the outcome... How could it be anything but what you expected.
I’m in charge of the only CNC machine in my company (fabrication company who wanted to dip into the machining world); I always try to cut time, make an effort at home to learn, discuss with tooling experts, learn new types of operations; then present this to my boss who’s not interested... all they want is a machine to make parts for fab... it infuriates me, because of this I’m leaving the company and because they didn’t care about the machine, I was the only one in charge of it; so when I leave they won’t know what to do ... I agree 100% with everything you say and for those who have the same situation as me; it’s the employer who’s holding the company back
if you want to get better and improve, use your own time to get better, by going research and learning new skill, in my free time I current building a 5 axis from scratch using my low-end hobby grade machine because it hard to learn 5 axis machine during work as we always to busy and not many people know how to use the 5 axis very well at my work place
After running 3 shops, I've found one thing to be a constant - if you have a programmer that does not have a minimum 2 years of shop floor experience, you'll have a problem. Theoretical and practical machining experience are two different animals.
I love the way we can translate that way of thinking into any other shop . I mean if they would apply this in my fab shop ... when the team leaders hold the productivity down
What about if your trying to improving a company and the owner won’t let you. Example: profiling parts at .110 step down with a face mill. I suggested we buy a 1 inch carbide endmill 3 inches long and profile with it (we typically only do 2.75 thick parts). I explained how we could go full depth and take a 45 min program to less than 5 min. My boss said its to much money. I’m confused because it would save a half an hour
If he means he doesnt want to invest in tooling then that is major alarm bells... a lot of guys that came up with manual machining are very set in their ways regarding depth of cut, feeds speeds etc and are either unwilling or unable to grasp how much things have changed in the industry. Full depth adaptive programs were unheard of 20 years ago
i feel like im that programmer. im a grinder for 3 years now, and learned so much in this time. when im at home im sorting things out how to do something. next day i start with confidence and make whole new program. and i like it. when i go to bed i think of new ways to program something its just natural to me.
I agree with so many aspects. A simple example a bush which is machined OD and Id and parted off. In the past I was told to always programme the roughing and finishing tool to X-1.6 if it was running a 0.8 radius. But why if your drilling a 18mm hole for example why not just go to 16,4 the drill will take the rest away. Yes no doubt you might only save a minor second but add those seconds togther! 300 seconds is 5 minutes. Take that according to the hourly rate ($60 per hour ~ $1 per minute) and your saving $$ non the less. 300 ($5) x 300 ($1500) = $$$ $$$ $$$. Every second counts !!
after being vocationally trained, starting in the early 80's, i spent my first 18 working years doing nothing but cnc and loved the challenge of the work. unfortunately shop owners like titan are a rare breed (or at least were in my time). i remember shop politics being brutal and the number one demise of shops that caused me to have 15 jobs in my 18 years. my passion was unparalleled but very unwanted amungst the "top dogs" of the shop. my innovations were often stolen as their own or sabotaged all together. the few shops i worked in that had titan-like leaders were unfortunately the ones that had laid me off for economic reasons. the majority i left on my own accord or was asked to leave. and i'm old school g&m code at the controller nodding my head up and down and left to right simulating the tool path. co-workers would be amused watching me. i did have the pleasure of working at 2 amazing shops and i learned from some amazing old timers that were doing advanced fixturing and nested programming way back when. every time i think i should write a book i see titan carrying the torch and telling it straight. after cnc i went into engineering and now for the last 12 years i'm an industrial arts teacher finding it very very hard to find motivated kids. even though i am also a nys certified machine shop instructor, i have never been able to find a job to share my original passion. i watch these videos and dream all the time. i love telling stories.....maybe i should write that book. peace.
YOU DICK !! YOU JUST GOT ME FIRED !!!!. Just kidding but I bet someone out there is going to get fired over this video... You`r doing great work keep it up..
If firing someone increases productivity of your business, then just do it. It's gonna be better for everyone in the long run, including the fired person
I'm not a big fan of taking a bore axis from one machine and put features concentric onto it from another. We do this, and I tell'em your gonna chase that G10 all day. Trying to replicate a bore using two pins and a flat is an exercise in diminishing returns.
Great stuff! Companies also need to challenge their workers instead of just having a bunch of sheep on the shop floor. Whether it's by offering training programs, contests or including them in production decisions so they can see what goes on and what's required to make a shop function.
I totally agree, get them involved with the tendering process to win the work. They then become commercially aware and realise how difficult it can be to win tenders. When they 'switch-on' commercially they can see through the 'fog of war' and realise every action taken on the shop floor- either helps or hinders you from winning the next tender in the open market place.
As a programmer myself, and currently drifting in the wind without a programming gig...this is one of the most important videos you have put out. Thank you.
I work at a small shop and I make sure that the machine is running even if that means I don't get any breaks I treat it as I'm making the company more Money if I keep the Green light on so having a break for lunch and not taking 30 minutes but only taking 5-10 minutes and still keeping the machine running looks better for me because I want to see this company get bigger and run stuff faster than we are right now.
I cannot tell you how correct you are in this. The company that I worked for was set up for massive success and a brilliant future but because the stupid programmer refused to fix things or listen to people who knew better we lost $10 million of contracts over a weekend and were out of business a couple of months later. Tolerance what's tolerance? If the company doesn't like the product we produce it won't raise the price of tea in China. These are the things this guy would say and management always backed him up. Because of an incompetent and arrogant programmer I lost the best job I ever had with a company with the most potential that I have ever been a part of. Thank you for this video.
Our boss don't want to change anything because it's always worked in the past, and thus is the way it should be done. But I secretly optimized some programs while boss was away, so that they run 4 times faster with a higher tolerance. Gotta dare to utilize the tool's capacity for those roughing passes, and not only do finishing passes :)
wow, That's a deep subject. I can only go on my experience. I worked at Aerospace plant but not too big up north. I finally ended up in programming room. I learned how to tweak post processors because we had 15 different machines/rpms and they would shuffle all the time. The guys on the floor did the speed/feed updates - but not always the best and time consuming - I made a post for all the machines that would recalc F&S - time saver. just one example.
I trying to scrape up the money to go to school for CNC Machining and currently own a Taxi. The Owner of the company has been in the business for 45 years and still stuck in the past. I've been driving for 15 years and work the business way different since I started. Loce Titan's comments on the Culture of a Shop!
I've worked in 14 machine/fabrication shops... Half no longer exist. Do you want to know when you are right and the owner is wrong???? Leave.... Six months or a year later... The company is out of business.
Your not wrong Tee! I used to be a tool setter and was forever tweaking code and standing there and thinking what the hell is that guy up there doing 😳 some machines used to have better tolerances for example but he wouldn't adjust i would have to mop up and adjust just to try and get 2 or maybe 3 extra parts a day going though 1 machine now add up that over 30 machines. Operator's can be a ball ache as well im all for helping people but when you getting called to the same guy whos smashing tools into chuck's twice a week used to really get me mad because someone upstairs wants to no why tools that cost thousands of pounds are getting damaged. Frustrated me that much i left the job in the end. As a manager or owner you need to be on that shop floor to see where improvements can be made. Shit hold a 20min meeting once a month and get peoples thourts on everything to how the shop runs to how it can be improved health and safety just anything has to be better then wasteing money
Big big thing is allowing people make genuine mistakes (hopefully small mistakes) without repercussions if they're trying new things to make it better. Obv someone who makes more mistakes than right calls ain't good, but culture in a company is also key. Basically avoid egos.
I fully agree but as a cnc machinist it is also up to me to better me craft everyday. Though I dont have degrees in cnc ( but have business degree) I been doing cnc for 7 years and enjoy it . so to help i study and self teach myself engineer concepts to fix things and keep production doing . he detailed our programmer to a T lol
Love all your videos. We've managed to increase efficiency by 40-60% on our parts because of your videos!! Could you please make a video discussing slot milling!! I'd love to learn about plunge milling or drilling and milling strategies!!
I have seen it so many times, people with that very same mindset of, we've been doing it that way for years so why should we change? I actually worked at a place that went out of business because of that attitude. They made 3 parts for the oilfield industry, and had a couple of others that they modified. When times got slow, the programmer/president of the company had no clue how to do anything else, much less any knowledge on how to adapt. He wouldn't listen to me, and tooling was my life, nor would he listen to the reps I brought over to attempt to sway him into more modern machining techniques, so the company couldn't adapt and overcome and just folded. He was always so worried that someone would " show him up" that he destroyed a company of over forty years just to save face. The saddest part is that he got to walk away with the title of president for his resume, so he continues to be rewarded....
Oh boy... My brother has been there, he was ready to quit.. Then he was made programmer. Then parts came off complete instead of reloading and production went up. I work at a different place so I've seen different issues in regards to training.. That's my biggest frustration.
Titan, you may not read this, but i just wanted to say that i am absolutely grateful for all the wonderful content you have provided with your channel. Thank you for showing the insane amount of passion that you have for CNC machining. I am an aspiring machinist and i've learned so much from your videos. Thank you!
I agree with you but there are not many shops that will pay any more than going rate in the area for a programmer or machinist, whether they can do all these things or not. I’m lucky I work for a company that does pay well but I hear all the time about all the other shops in town that do not. I still argue that there are few companies that pay very well for the required knowledge to do all these things your talking about. We have several big shops in our area that want guys to program and machine large expensive parts for $25/hr that is ridiculously low in my opinion. Aerospace definitely pays the best but the hours are usually insane. I think many people get discouraged because they hit a wall in their career and aren’t getting paid for the results they provide, and it’s not always so easy to just quit and find another shop. I think you get to a point where you don’t want to start all over at another place for another buck and find out it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it’s not just about chasing the money but more that you are satisfied with the work, the people and atmosphere. I do see very few people that are willing to go above and beyond to learn and push their skills to the next level. You just really have to have a passion for this business or you won’t go far period, because otherwise you wouldn’t put up with the low pay and all the crap you have to deal with. Machining is the lowest paying of the skilled trades, unless you work gobs of hours.
I agree heavily. I was the second most productive machinist in my division as far as average jobs completed per day and had the lowest scrap rate of all. I was taking my time and getting things right the first time which ultimately was faster. I was moved “up” to a more technical position running horizontals last month and i lost a dollar an hour in pay and am being used as an operator. The leads are not really willing to teach and I am being persistent in asking to be more hands on, especially already knowing the controls, but I’m getting nowhere. Kinda ass backwards
Gold words dude.. Seriously! The only thing that I think is that you have to dadicate your life on you job ONLY if your project is to someday BE the work, creating your own company! If you're one of this kind of programmer you inevitably will create your company. This, at least, is my objective. I am a 25 years old programmer from Italy 🇮🇹 sorry for the English
I love the programming aspect of being a CNC machinist. I'm not the lead machinist/programmer in my company, but I have analyzed the tool paths and have taken as much as 4 hours off the total run time of some parts. I'm still trying to figure out the speeds and feeds of the tooling. If I can lock that down, then I will just be limited on the workload. Learning Mastercam now thanks to the Titan Academy. But like the software I have at my shop, does it run the most efficient tool path?
That's half the prob the pay is the main prob ... in CA since the minimum wage is 12 they tryin pay that like wtf... for an ide degree they tryin pay 12a why go get degrees and get paid that crap...
@@renerodriguez2940 we have the same issue in NC, man. People want $15 an hour work but only want to pay $10/hr for it. And if you have a BS or any kind of certs they want you to have that's just the cost of getting the job, they ain't gonna pay extra for it. It's crap and will have to change but in the mean time these companies seem pretty content to sit where they are. There are hardly any companies I have seen that are interested in being number one...they are fine with being number 12 as long as the CEO is making his boat payment
@@jesseblanchard9609 I wanna b the best the future and take all the work.... have a small team so theres fair pay AnD nothing but profits... nut even that's hard too cant trust anyone w ur designs And work plus they can copy ur parts which is a bitch
Lots of great points. Always good to try methodizing from different approaches. If you keep using the same approach, you'll end up getting the same results. Which might be good, but if you're trying to shave time off some cycle time on a high volume part, even 30 seconds can make the company huge money. The shop owner I have worked with for over three decades didn't like wasting money, but was never mad when you'd push the speeds / feeds and tooling breaks. If you don't break tooling once in a while, how are you going to know what it's limits are? Another good video Titan.
Could you do a video on how to handle increasing productivity more specifically to leaving a machine unattended or how many machines 1 machinist can run without risking a tool failure or any other error.
Firstly i love your content and youve really opened my eyes to whats possible in the CNC world. I agree with you if you want to really succeed then yes all that you say is true, but is there not a place for being content with a small amount of money and leaving work at work. is there not a place for 40hour weeks that means you can spend more quality time with your family. the two main resources in life are Time and Energy, dont waste them building someone elses dreams at a huge cost to you. i know we probly wont see eye to eye but thats fine. i guess CNC isnt my main passion, currently im building up my youtube channel and making sure i get the most out of every minute. hope you read this titan! BOOOOOM
Go for it Shawn, if you have the passion, you will work harder, start everyday earlier, stay back later, concentrate / focus on the job at hand...... See nothing can hold you back, with time the obstacles will be eroded away. Next time you are in the shop, look to your left and ask yourself, can I work harder and smarter than that guy? The look to your right, ask yourself the same thing. Focus on the goal, With time the obstacles will erode away. You cannot lose!! God Bless.
Machining is easy people, if ur interested giving it a shot, you should do it. I started in deburr, now 7 years later iam the main programmer at one shop and work nights doing 5th axis prototyping at another. Just remember to learn from your mistakes and get a note book lol. Remember to Make ur self unreplaceable. Good luck
Yup. Thanks for your good advice. People just should become more brave. If you wanna try to do something, just try it. I'm a self taught car mechanic, and a beginner machinist. I just found out , you dont necessarily need college in order to learn new things. Oh and i learnt english as my third language lol
@@mannycalavera121 in prototype shops this is actually the most efficient way to get things done sometimes. When you're only doing 1's and 2's having one programmer trying to write 25-30 programs a week is inefficient
@@mannycalavera121 your right about that I get you but I'm an automotive shop and a lot of times 2d programming is rather quick so there isn't much down time
@@mannycalavera121 macro programming my friend. I do it at the control. Once a solid macro program is written, one can make literally any part. All that is needed is to change some variables. Also most of the time i write a program i do it while running another job. Some cnc machines allow for background editing. I hear what you are sayinv about being inefficient in some shops that do complex parts, but in a job shop tgat is mainly 3 axis milling and 2 axis lathe i find it quicker to do it in G code as opposed to cad/cam.
@@mannycalavera121 I also work in a place where each machinist program for themselves, and when a part is running, we just program the next one. There is barely any downtime.
