Efficiency of Movements
This month we discuss a lesson I learned from Fred J. Cirocki, who founded Arrow Sheet Metal back in 1976: the efficiency of our movements. Fred often noticed how the people who worked for him had their work areas set-up and how they staged their materials. He would think the process(es) through and frequently make changes to increase the efficiency of the movements. These improvements made operations faster, more consistent, and sometimes easier.
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When it comes to design and CAD for manufacturing, this same lesson has similarly high value. Spending some time thinking a project through upfront can help get the CAD started off in the right direction in regards to many factors such as tolerance, material choices, finish requirements, component vs. potential assembly, manufacturing lead time, etc. Taking this last item, manufacturing lead time, we might choose to get the parts that need anodize or paint designed first, because we know it will take a little longer to build them.
This may all sound pretty basic, and it is. But, just as in sports, returning to the fundamentals can often make all the difference in the world. Fred's success proved this to be true time and time again. Happy designing everyone!
