Local News & Events | Haas Factory Outlet

There are many marketing tools available to help a CNC shop grow its business, but it’s always a challenge to figure out which ones to invest in. There’s no question that social media is a hot marketing commodity right now. The question is: Is it right for your business? Here are five key facts about social media that you should consider when making your decision.

There are many young people struggling to decide on their career choices, and some have the aptitude to become the next generation of manufacturers. Unfortunately, they often have misconceptions about the nature of modern machine shops. They may even see them as dead-end jobs with unpleasant working conditions. That’s why it’s important to participate in Career Days and other events that offer the opportunity to give these youngsters these facts:

Every CNC shop wants to control costs and improve productivity. Using the most appropriate CNC machine technology and applying lean manufacturing principals are two important ways to achieve both goals. However we sometimes overlook the small things that can make a big difference, such as getting the most out of our cutting tools. Not only are the tools, themselves, costly but replacing worn tools can interrupt production, add labor costs and impact the quality of the parts being machined.

Running a CNC machine shop means wearing a lot of hats. You find the work, see that the work gets done, bill and collect payments, hire, train and develop your team, deal with problem employees and government regulations, and, of course, keep a careful eye on your finances.

The makers of medical products typically outsource the machining of a variety of component parts, so there is a great opportunity for CNC machine shops to gain new customers in the medical machining market. The products these companies make may be as simple as a dental implant, as complex as a CAT scanner and as unique as a custom-fit prosthesis. As is true when approaching any new market, there are a number of important considerations. Here are 7 frequently asked questions from CNC machine shops that are interested in medical machining.

Many CNC machine shop owners tell us they have a hard time finding dependable, competent workers, and sometimes hire people that seem to have good experience but end up being a bad fit. Part of the problem is that we may not look deeply enough into the character of a potential new hire. Obviously you’ll want to learn about the person’s job experiences and skill sets, but you also need to get a feel for such traits as work ethic, loyalty, honesty and integrity. The references the applicant gives you are likely hand-picked and may not be forthcoming about these attributes.

There are many factors that impact CNC machining productivity. Two that are often overlooked are the efficiency of delivering lubrication to and removing chips from the cutting zone. Without proper lubrication the machine works harder, heat that can cause deformation builds up, cycles take longer, and cutting tools wear out faster. Cutting through chips that fly onto the workpiece can have much the same effect.

To grow a business we must often break out of our comfort zone and take on more challenging work. For some CNC shops this means making parts that are more difficult to machine such as complex and closer tolerance parts for aerospace, automotive, medical or other industries. Here are a few tips to help you get started milling these more challenging – and more profitable – parts.

Why do you need a tailstock on your CNC turning center? It allows you to take in jobs involving parts that would be much more difficult to machine without this added feature. In this Haas CNC experts give you tailstock tips to help you expand your capabilities and reduce part costs.

Most CNC shops have one or more credit cards they use to help manage their finances, which makes perfect sense. However shop owners may not be aware that certain safeguards governing our personal credit cards do not apply to the business cards we use. The federal government’s Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) provides a number of protections for consumers against fraud liability, unfair rate hikes, late fees, over limit fees and more, but these safeguards do not apply to business credit card holders.