Next-Gen Manufacturing Leaders

You’ve heard the cliché. Manufacturing is dead. It’s all being done somewhere else, overseas, where they have lax safety regulations and low wages. The trouble is, though … that’s not true. It’s fake news, as they say these days.

Manufacturing is very much alive in Canada, where the standard of living is high, where workers are highly skilled, and where the quality of manufactured goods is remarkable. In short, Made in Canada means something.

To keep this level of excellence, however, we need more skilled and semi-skilled workers for our manufacturing facilities. There is a shortage, but these are not your grandfather’s manufacturing jobs. They are highly paid positions that need employees with problem-solving skills and knowledge gained both in school and on the job so Canada can create some of the most highly advanced parts in the world.

In this issue of Canadian Metalworking we are introducing you to a few of the industry’s next generation of manufacturing leaders who will keep work – and jobs – in Canada.

Like many second-generation shop managers, Robert Pinelli started working at his father’s machine shop, North Star Technical, during summers off from high school. It wasn’t always glamorous, either, as the summer student cleaned machine tools, packaged parts, and helped out with orders.

“This taught me a great deal about how the shop operates, how parts are fabricated, and really sparked my interest in the industry,” said Pinelli, who now handles the business development side of the business.

It was during one of these summer sessions that Pinelli first noticed how much paper flowed through the plant floor and recognized it for what it was: waste.

“One major flaw I could see on the shop floor was the amount of paper everywhere,” he said. “Work orders, travellers with working instructions, drawings, inspections … [there were just] so many inefficiencies with document handling.”

Even back then, he understood kaizen.

Canadian Metalworking's Next-Generation Leadership Award winners are (top) Robert Pinelli, North Star Technical Inc and Chen Chen, voestalpine High Performance Metals Ltd. and (bottom) Matt Stimac, Cogent Power and Kyle Rasksen, Metal Craft Spinning and Stamping.

“I knew there had to be a better way for organizing jobs and work flow. My father’s generation did not grow up using computers, and technology was adopted slowly in the shop. I quickly realized why things were the way they were.”

After finishing college, Pinelli started working for the family business and convinced the team that it needed to implement a computer network and new software at the facility.

“This was my first project at North Star and it streamlined everything from quoting jobs to delivery, drawings, and accounting. I knew from this point on that I had a vision for change and wanted to see what else I could improve.”

Founded in 1986 by Tony Pinelli, North Star Technical offered mainly machining repair and welding services to local industry. In 1991 the company relocated to its current Burlington Street location, which is in the heart of Hamilton’s manufacturing district.

Since those days the company has grown and now serves clients across Canada and the U.S.

“We offer four main services to our clients: machining, fabricating, millwrighting, and dynamic balancing. My focus is researching new markets and customers that we can potentially service and onboarding them as new clients. Along with the business development role, I also oversee the management of the company,” he said.

Part of running a manufacturing business these days is keeping an eye on trends. New technology and ideas are what will keep companies like North Star successful through multiple generations.

“It has become a passion of mine to search for great machine tools and implement them into our facility and see the difference in performance and production we can achieve. From multiaxis and multitasking machines to inspection and welding equipment, the industry is evolving so rapidly. Staying on top of the change is exciting.”

While Robert never worked directly alongside his father at the shop, he grew up watching him work. It still has an impact on how North Star operates.

“His passion for the industry and his integrity at work have been an inspiration that drives me to succeed. I never expected this to become my path in life, but I truly respect and appreciate the work ethic I carry on from him.”

www.northstartechnical.com

Chen Chen was the first hire on voestalpine’s additive manufacturing (AM) team when the company founded its additive manufacturing centre in Mississauga, Ont. He was a key player in establishing the manufacturing processes, cost models, and initial production on the first direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) system that the company installed in North America.

“I was introduced to AM technology when I worked at the Additive Manufacturing Resource Centre (AMRC) at Mohawk College,” said Chen. “I was instantly hooked on the fascinating sintering process; seeing powder turning into actual parts with complex geometries that could not be produced in any other way.”

The voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center (vAMC) is a member of the voestalpine AG group, based in Linz, Austria. The company is a global partner to the automotive, white goods, aerospace, and energy industries.

Because of the wide scope of industries served, Chen is exposed to many different types of parts and production. His job is to help spread the word about the value of AM by solving customers’ problems and offering key opinions.

“At vAMC we offer AM-related turnkey systems from engineering consultation to powder production, design, prototyping, and serial production,” said Chen.

In his role as a designer, Chen works with clients on the application of AM; in his role as operations lead, he manages the build schedule and works with the operators.

Like most young workers, Chen has had help and mentorship along the way.

“I have to thank Jeffrey McIsaac and Simon Coulson, who are managers at AMRC, for introducing me to this technology and for giving me the opportunity to learn and work there. This led to the career I have now, working at voestalpine,” said Chen.

Chen’s experience in the field of AM design, parameter development, and in running DMLS systems has allowed him to be a great support to the rest of the company’s AM team as they were recruited and hired.

“This is fast-evolving technology. There is always something new to be learned. We have a great team that is constantly pushing the boundary of technology. Our goal is to be the best in the industry, and that drive is exciting,” said Chen.

Technology is at the heart of Chen’s job, and the more advanced the better.

“It is exciting that with a proper setup, the printers run 24-7 on their own. The integration of these advanced engineering tools to deliver benefit to customers really represents the realization of our Industry 4.0 digitalization future,” he said.

Walking into the Cogent Power facility is almost like walking into a steel service centre. The company, which is a supplier to the power industry, provides electrical steels for power generation equipment, motors, power and distribution transformers, and specialized magnetic components. It has a large number of product offerings and typically performs low-volume/high-mix manufacturing.

All of that means there is a lot of raw material, work-in-progress, and finished parts being moved around the company’s busy manufacturing bay.

Matt Stimac is a senior leader and sits on the company’s board of directors.

“We are a power generation product manufacturer and can build anything from a toroid that's the size of a ring that will go into a defibrillator up to a 250,000-lb. stack for power generation,” said Stimac. “We also create value-added offerings by performing engineering services for the customer. Our business isn’t just about us designing a core and delivering a product. We strive to build a business-to-business relationship with our customers.”

Stimac first got a job in manufacturing during a university work placement semester.

“I enjoyed some of the problem solving and taking care of some of the day-to-day issues as they came up,” he said. “Working in manufacturing is about overcoming problems, increasing output, and just basically working to get the job done.”

It was during these summer work placements that he decided on a career in the manufacturing industry.

Now Stimac is trying to solve one of his company’s current biggest challenges: how to automate some of the manual tasks being performed on the company’s shop floor.

“I think the challenges we have when looking at how we can increase productivity is figuring out how to get to the next level of automation while getting the existing workforce onboard,” he said. “If you look at the equipment here, there is a lot of manual handling involved. If you're doing that for 30 years, you're going to start feeling it in your shoulders and your hands. We want to get to a point where our operators are operating equipment rather than manipulating steel with their hands.”

Stimac has been with Cogent Power for six years and has served in several capacities, including leading the joint occupational health and safety committee, as well as the engineering and maintenance teams.

“I started off as an engineering manager and just started to move around a lot within the company in different roles. I even was involved with the expansion to our new building next door in 2015,” he said.

In his management role, Stimac also makes decisions on what technology gets implemented on the floor. In his mind, there is one technology that can help the company, and its workers, evolve: automation.

“This industry remains very labour-intensive. Our operators are manipulating the steel and doing the assembly by hand. So automation is the next key step for us,” he said.

Metal Craft Spinning and Stamping is the definition of a family business. Established in 1964, the manufacturer currently is incorporating its fourth generation of the Rasksen family.

The company focuses on the art of metal spinning, which is part science, part intuition. A number of hydraulic presses and hydroforming machines complement the metal spinning capabilities.

Kyle Rasksen, now plant manager, has been surrounded by the manufacturing industry since he was young. His grandfather and father owned a metal spinning and stamping company and he started working there when he was 16 years old.

“My dad has really been my role model and mentor in this business over the years,” said Rasksen. “He continues to teach me how to run a business and I see how his customers and employees respect and appreciate him every day. It makes me want to be like him.”

It wasn’t just family members that helped show him the ropes either.

“Our previous foreman also really took me under his wing when I first started in the business and taught me the technical aspect of all the jobs we do,” he added.

Rasksen worked during his summer breaks from high school, sweeping the floors and cutting the grass before being promoted to an operator position. A certificate in operations management followed.

After learning the ins and outs of shop operations while he was an operator, he then learned how to program CNC machines and organize the production schedule. This combination of hard and soft skills enabled Rasksen to focus on an area he felt needed work: time management.

“Time management is a big aspect of our work to ensure we get orders to our customers on time. This is a skill I am constantly trying to focus on because it helps me set up and organize the shop in what needs to be done and when,” he said.

In his role as plant manager he quickly realized the company needed to make some technological changes to the business. The shop’s jobs were increasing in volume, and he reasoned that robotic automation could increase productivity while still maintaining high quality.

There were many challenges with the implementation, but Rasksen and his father worked together to overcome them. They came to the conclusion that they would need two robots to fully complete the job. He then was involved in the robot cell’s design and continues to make improvements and adjustments.

At the end of 2017, Rasksen pushed for more technology to organize the shop from quote stage through to shipping. Metal Craft purchased software, which has increased productivity, enhanced shop organization, and changed the way the company does business.

“With all the changes we are now seeing with technology, it makes it even more interesting and exciting for what the future holds,” he said. “Robotics and automation really excite me for the future of our industry and our business. We have already implemented robot arms into our production, and we can already see the difference they are making with the efficiency and quality in our products.”