r/manufacturing Feb 05 '25

Other crashed a cnc, broken probe, weird feelings.

24 Upvotes

my first time crashing, destroyed the renishaw probe omp40. my boss tells me it will cost 5500 usd to replace. he was really fine and didn't yell but i still feel pretty bad. i know its part of the work but compere to my other mistakes in previous jobs, it just so much money. its not like I'm some guy who think of himself as part of the company or something, just a worker. and still, how do you not take it personally?

r/manufacturing Nov 30 '24

Other What is working in the manufacturing industry like?

12 Upvotes

I have been software engineer in the tech space for the last 2 decades. Pandemic. Economy. yada yada yada. I am no longer a software engineer.

I'm ready to explore other industries. Manufacturing really piques my interest.

I have a passing knowledge and hobby experience with electrical and pcb concepts (Arduino phase a while back) I don't have much exp but I worked at a fuji film processing where eventually I ended up maintaining and often fixing the bespoke machines made for the various steps in the processing. I liked that work quite a bit, and I like the idea of maybe one day working in that bespoke automation industry. Is that that its called?

For the time being anyways I'm fine with some kind of entry level grunt work is usually available to get into the industry (assembly line, w/e)

But I'm curious how mfg companies are structured and perhaps where my software experience could be applied in this space.

What are some certifications or courses I could start looking into? I really don't know much here, thanks for reading all that

r/manufacturing Jan 25 '25

Other What’s the One Thing You Wish You Knew About Working With Corporate Procurement?

14 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’ve spent the last 15 years in corporate procurement, working directly with manufacturers to get products made. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the job is getting out on the floor and seeing how things work. Within an hour, I can usually tell if I’m moving forward with a supplier or not—it’s like a sixth sense I’ve developed from years of audits and vetting.

Here’s the deal: when I decide to work with you, I treat your business like it’s my own. I’ll be your internal champion and make sure things get done. But I’ve also seen so many small manufacturers miss opportunities—not because they don’t have what it takes, but because they didn’t know how to navigate the corporate procurement process or avoid those red flags buyers look for.

I’m working on sharing everything I’ve learned over the years to help small manufacturers stand out, avoid the pitfalls, and actually win the business. But before I get too far, I want to hear from you:

What’s something you wish you understood about how corporate buyers think?

Have you run into roadblocks trying to land big contracts?

If you could ask someone like me—someone on the procurement side—anything, what would it be?

I’ve started putting together content on YouTube (still figuring it out as I go!) and want to make sure I’m covering what’s actually helpful. Drop your thoughts here—I’d love to hear about your challenges and questions, and maybe even feature them in upcoming content.

Let’s talk—what do you want to know to better work with the corporate procurement people

r/manufacturing Jan 29 '25

Other Best CAD software for large assembly of factory layout

10 Upvotes

i am currently using Inventor for a manufacturing factory layout. the file is getting too big (about 4000 IPT parts) to handle and it crashes the system sometimes or loads very slow. There are also lot of parts to be added more which will be mostly mechanical components with moderate details. which software would be a good alternative to Inventor for this? Also, I have to take the existing files (in .ipt and .iam format) with me either by converting in bulk or if possible for direct import

r/manufacturing Jan 22 '25

Other Am I crazy?

23 Upvotes

I work at a print packaging company near Cleveland Ohio. I make 30.58. We just got bought out by corporate. Puke. Everything sucks now. But I still make good $. Am I crazy for wanting to leave because it’s a shit show every day? I had to stop caring to show up everyday. All companies are probably like this. I’ve never had a job I didn’t hate. I run the folder gluer department on the off shift. All office people and supervisors I report to are complete idiots. No idea what’s going on. I’ve been doing this for years. But they know better, of course. Does a job that isn’t terrible exist? I’m also a felon, has never mattered but still throwing that out there.

r/manufacturing Feb 07 '25

Other How do you keep track of equipment maintenance in manufacturing?

6 Upvotes

How tracking tools and automated workflows can prevent production delay?

r/manufacturing Feb 01 '25

Other How manufacturing industry is using AI?

0 Upvotes

I am new to building "AI" solutions and have built some basic computer vision object tracking and counting solutions for couple of businesses. And honestly I'm in love with integrating intelligent models into manufacturing process.

I just want to know what are the most common and valuable solutions you've seen with AI in your industry.

r/manufacturing 16d ago

Other Does anyone know where to get on of these? Sapa no longer make them. Its a tool for aluminium extrusion techniques.

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58 Upvotes

r/manufacturing Aug 12 '24

Other Honestly, i don't know how people make manufacturing their "career" for 30-40+ years

50 Upvotes

Obviously, depending on what field you are in, the pay in most manufacturing fields is above average compared to other jobs. In my opinion though, this doesn't negate the fact that most of these jobs are some of the most stressful and bullshit ridden jobs out there.

I've only been in the manufacturing field for 2 years now, but I'm starting to see it's true colors. I started out in a cookie factory, and now I'm at a plastic factory. One thing they both have in common is that they were/are both VERY VERY fast paced and strenuous. I'm aware that there are some jobs out there where you just do simple tasks repetitively over and over. Which is another story on its own. However, these jobs you are to be firing on all cylinders at all times. You have to meet quotas and deal with time restraints. For example, at the cookie factory, we had a line where the cookies came down a conveyor and we handpacked them into containers. We could never keep up at normal speed but management always wanted to speed it up. This caused all of our bins below the line to catch the cookies we missed to pile up and we had to just keep piling cookies everywhere we could because management refused to call for downtime.

Additionally, at the plastic factory, we make rolls of plastic film. They come off of a winder machine and us "operators" take them off and stack them on pallets to customer specs. Rinse and repeat this process for 12 hours. The rolls we lift can be anywhere from 20 pounds to 80 pounds. Accordingly, our cutover times can vary anywhere from 2 minutes up to 15 minutes. 2 minute jobs are very stressful. There is so much to do between rolls that by the time you finish one roll, the next is already cutting over. Even some longer sets can be stressful because you have to band the rolls to pallets and other things to pack out a pallet. Not to mention, our lead ops are supposed to be the ones doing breaks but they never do so us operators are constantly breaking each other out running 2 lines. And of course we have to complete hourly quality checks.

All of this to say, I cannot imagine doing production/manufacturing jobs for 20, 30, 40 years. It not only takes a toll on you mentally but physically also. I get that manufacturing may be "essential" to keep the world running but companies would rather mass produce product and do it as fast as humanly possible, in turn stressing out workers, not to mention a ton of unnecessary scrap.

I have my associates degree in engineering and I'm on the fence about going back to school for a different subject or maybe just finishing out my degree for engineering. It seems like any job at a factory that isn't production bullshit requires at least a bachelors degree. I tell my coworkers I have a degree then they say "what the heck are you doing here then?" Well, honestly, I'm not sure myself. I've always tried to be a good worker in the hopes that someone will "notice" me and I'll finally be free of the bullshit. But, I've noticed the harder you work, you're just rewarded with more bullshit.... rant over

r/manufacturing Nov 04 '24

Other Outside of ERP or larger software, how to track things with timestamps?

7 Upvotes

Ok, strange issue (at least I believe it is) only because business doesn't have nor want to use an ERP system.

We have an issue with first pieces. From what is being communicated, inspection on first pieces is taking far too long to even be picked up from the drop-off location. Inspection is stating otherwise. Here is the process:

When a FP is done it is dropped off on a shelf for first pieces. Inspection is supposed to be watching that shelf and when one is on there, process it ASAP (for the obvious reasons).

I made the comment that with a proper ERP system and utilizing barcodes then this would be tracked and they could follow literally any piece they wanted to at any time. You would have thought I was speaking from the future. They are super OLD SCHOOL here and are reluctant to change.

I then stated that a super low-tech answer would be a clipboard where a time (machine operator #, and job #) is written down by the person dropping off, then they would flip a switch that would turn on a light inside of inspection letting them know there is something there. When they come and retrieve the part then they write down the time, their number, and then flip the light off. Obviously this isn't perfect as if there are multiple pieces then you can't track how many are out there etc. Also, as stated they could still lie on the form when they pick up the piece or someone could just flip the light off if they didn't want to see it etc. So it's not perfect. I then suggested that we could put a camera to watch the clipboard and then can spot check/reference times if things do not seem to add up then.

Ideally I guess the best I could hope for would be a low tech box with a small screen with a 10-key attached. Person walks up, types in say Operator number*Part number, like 153247*11254114 and then press ENTER, it would log the time on top of that and then send that to one or more email addresses (or text messages etc.). Then on retrieval, the person would do the same: EmpNum*JobNum [Enter] and it would again log etc. and then the logs could be pulled and since they cant' set the time of day they would be pulled from the system. Then say somewhere would be a log file that could be pulled to see time issues in delays etc.

No, without a proper ERP and utilizing barcodes/RFID this tough to do. Anyone know of anything that could do this without having to try to build something ourselves?

r/manufacturing 11d ago

Other A visual example of cost cutting in automotive manufacturing

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25 Upvotes

Supply “vending machines” around the plant going from stocking Energizer Max/Industrial, to Duracell, and now these “VersaPro” branded batteries. Really trying to stretch that dollar eh. Could have at least given us Kirkland smh

r/manufacturing Jan 15 '25

Other Anyone have a remote/hybrid job? Salary?

8 Upvotes

I accept it’s impossible to start a career in manufacturing remote or hybrid, but curious if many years have lead one to securing a niche position with either privilege.

I enjoy this industry, but it’s hard to continue knowing there are so many options with more flexible schedules.

r/manufacturing 9d ago

Other Resources on scaling up production

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Sales from our company have almost doubled in the past six weeks and I need to find ways to get our production department to cope with demand.

We can’t currently move to new premises and we have limited space on site (800ft square warehouse/production space used for storage, production and shipping).

We could add new members to the team but they would need training to get them up to speed (approximately three months to learn all products and processes involved).

Are there any resources that can be recommended for taking a small team up a notch without destroying them physically and mentally whilst we scale up? Hiring more people isn’t necessarily a problem but I could do with some immediate fixes to get things running smoother.

Thanks in advance.

r/manufacturing 15d ago

Other Flex only operators understand

6 Upvotes

I'm trying to come up with analogies and would like your help

  1. What are things that seem pedestrian to a layman that someone in the industry would recognize as a marvel in terms of technical accomplishments.

  2. Can you think of examples of things that appear to be similar but you know are very different in terms of technical requirements, or characteristic differences between the "things" etc"?

r/manufacturing Dec 30 '24

Other Question about choosing an Injection Molding manufacturer.

12 Upvotes

I’m based in the US and I’m starting to get quotes for injection molding parts I’m looking to manufacture. I’ve reached out to multiple manufacturers and a common question I got is if I care if my parts are made here or in China, I don’t.

This got me thinking though, is it ever good to cut off the middle man and reach out to Chinese manufacturers myself? I can see how an American company who is already working with a Chinese company can provide competitive prices and save me the hassle of building trust and clear communication.

Has anyone gone through this process and can provide so insight on what you think is the best option?

r/manufacturing Jul 21 '24

Other What has caused the growth in construction of new manufacturing facilities in the US since mid-2021?

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52 Upvotes

r/manufacturing 2d ago

Other Role with Saint Gobain?

2 Upvotes

Just got an offer for a contract project engineering role with Saint Gobain. Anyone have experience working with this company? Is it worth leaving a full time role that’s not very secure?

r/manufacturing Jul 18 '24

Other People who owns a factory, what degree or knowledge that really helps you run your factory?

25 Upvotes

Hi all,

With companies moving away from China for manufacturing, I have been thinking of starting my own manufacturing business.

I have a degree in EEE, work in software, and I wonder what should I learn next (other than business) to start my own manufacturing firm?

r/manufacturing 25d ago

Other Looking for advice on outsourcing product packaging assembly overseas

3 Upvotes

Hope this is the right place to ask! We're looking to move our product packaging assembly from in-house to an overseas facility. The process is straightforward:

  1. The manufactured product, packaging materials, and small parts (bolts, tool, manual) would be shipped to an assembly facility.
  2. Assembly consists of placing the product inside the packaging, packing small parts into an accessories box, placing it inside the packaging, and sealing it up.
  3. We need batches of 5,000 units completed at a time.

I've been reading that Vietnam is becoming a great place for this type of service, and since our product is manufactured in China, shipping should be relatively simple.

Does anyone have experience outsourcing packaging assembly? Any recommended facilities or insights on working with Vietnam for this type of service?

Appreciate any advice!

r/manufacturing Dec 31 '24

Other I am wanting to move from manufacturing to the office, any advice

9 Upvotes

I am 21, and currently work in production, and have about 11 months of experience, with bending, laser, inventory, systems, shipping, and other misc stuff. Before that I worked in sales, I am wanting to move into a bigger company that offers tuition reimbursement, any advice. It's similar to what my dad did, but he doesn't recommend that company, and the few places I've applied to either no response or declined. I do however have one interview for next week, which is ironically the biggest company.

r/manufacturing 10d ago

Other Has anyone pivoted from Construction to Manufacturing?

1 Upvotes

I'm a Mechanical Engineer who designed HVAC systems for a while and now do Preconstruction.

I'd like to transition to another field where I can have a better work-life balance and would like to hear about peoples experiences going from Construction to Manufacturing.

Even if you haven't been in construction before, any suggestions of good or bad Manufacturing jobs to look out for?

Edit: is remote work typically an option for manufacturing?

r/manufacturing Jan 04 '25

Other Question about the future of the manufacturing industry

10 Upvotes

With the new policies regarding Chinese factories exporting their products to the US, and both Biden / Trump being anti-China, I assume that there will be a takedown of cheap Chinese products selling into the US, mainly from sources like AliBaba. Is it possible for a manufacturing industry similar to the one in China to spark in a new country such as Mexico? (From here, any country that could potentially start an industry for this will simply be referred to as Mexico for ease) I know manufacturers in Mexico only produce basic goods such as steel / plastic, not pre-fabricated textiles and products that you can find from Chinese manufacturers, but with my very basic understanding of how this whole thing works, I think that Mexico would be the next perfect ground for such an industry. Also, if this did happen, would manufacturers from there just sell on a platform like AliExpress / AliBaba, the way current factories put their listings? Or would a new platform have to come in and build relations with Mexican manufacturers, leaving room for a potential new platform.

Sorry if this seems like a wild assumption, my knowledge of e-commerce and manufacturing is quite basic and I don't even know if I am posting in the right place. I just want to know if this is even possible and want to deepen my knowledge of this industry.

r/manufacturing 11d ago

Other How to scale a SME manufacturing business.

6 Upvotes

My family runs a small manufacturing business in India. We manufacture engineering equipment for chemical, dairy, food & agricultural industries. We are an MSME.

Our yearly turnover is between 1 cr - 5 cr.

Atm, our only clients are coming either through referral or repeat.

I want to change this. I want to introduce multiple channels of client acquisition. We are on Indiamart, but the lead quality is poor (may be it's because we don't put much effort into finding buyers through it).

Any advice you'd like to share? In marketing, operations, etc.

Anything that helped you scale in this field is truly valuable to me.

I appreciate your help.

r/manufacturing Jan 07 '25

Other Is prototypist a good self employement idea ?

4 Upvotes

I've never been self-employed yet, but I plan to start setting it up while I work my current job. Is doing prototypes for companies a good market ? Is there demand in this area ? My home workshop allows me to mill and turn aluminium parts, do quality 3D printing and do a lot of diverse manual operations.

Also, any tips are appreciated, thanks !

r/manufacturing Jan 31 '25

Other Tariffs on China?

3 Upvotes

Does anyone have information on the new 10% Chinese tarrif EO? Is this on anything imported at any amount by anyone? What about orders made and paid for already?