To our valued customers
and friends,
Thank you to those who
have reached out during this stressful time; we want to extend our sincere
thoughts and prayers. As COVID-19 continues to expand throughout the U.S. and
attempts are made to slow the transmission of the virus, we want to alert you that
we do remain open at this time.
We are fully operational
and will continue to support your business needs by accepting walk-in traffic
and maintaining deliveries. To that end, we are following the safety guidance
provided by the CDC, as well as state and local governments, to keep our
customers and employees safe.
We are implementing a policy that restricts interactions to one employee per
customer in the building at a time.
Please be advised that accounting is working from home so they may have to call
you back or you can reach them directly through email (ar@mmsls.net).
To ensure the safety and well-being of both our employees and our customers, we
have taken certain precautionary steps that include thorough cleaning and
sanitation of our shop and enacting new handling procedures. To prevent
unnecessary interactions, we have the following protocol in place:
- Rather than require customers
to sign tickets, we will ask customers to state their full name. We will
then track orders by writing “Picked Up By:” or “Delivered To:” on the
ticket, printing names legibly on both copies of the ticket.
- For deliveries, we will keep
all tickets on a clipboard to prevent contact with any work surfaces. We
have also closed our showroom to minimize touch points and interaction
with materials.
The situation remains
fluid, but at this time our account personnel will be working from home until
the recommended guidelines for 10 people or fewer are lifted.
We remain fully operational
at this time, but due to these precautionary measures, service may be slightly
slower than usual. We will continue to monitor the situation and alert you of
any changes regarding your orders or future developments.
Together, we will get through this. Thank you and be well.
Contact us with any questions.
Everyone wants to run lean these days. But few companies
actually succeed.
It’s no secret that lean management strategies can reduce
costs, increase productivity and help companies compete. Yet, many companies
fail when trying to implement these strategies in their production facilities.
One of the first steps in implementing a lean management
program is effectively managing inventory, but without complete visibility into
usage those efforts often fall short. Management rarely understands exactly how
and where inventory items are being used without some form of tracking in
place.
The result? Ineffective inventory control processes that
rely on spreadsheet data or the honor system typically resulting in missing
inventory, shrinkage or excessive inventory that ties up cash flow and collects
dust.
Thinking about improving your inventory control processes?
Here are 5 reasons to stop thinking and start doing:
- Reduce costs associated with inventory purchasing.
Without a clear view into the consumption of inventory items, how do you know what material is necessary for optimum production? The short answer is: You don’t. When you can track where and how inventory is being consumed, you can dial in just the right amount to hold in stock, saving time and money in purchasing.
- Improve production rates and decrease worker downtime.
When you have mission-critical items on hand, work gets done. Think of the time it takes employees to search for missing items or procure them at higher cost. Not only does this result in delayed production, but it also wastes manhours and increases inventory costs. Better inventory management ensures you have the tools and supplies you need on hand when you need them.
- Reduce lead time and make customers sticky.
If you are constantly running out of inventory, then you know how frustrating it is to wait for items to be replenished.From the time the items are ordered to the time they arrive on your doorstep can take days and, in some cases, weeks. Yet most companies fail to account for this delay in their project estimates. The longer this takes, the more it impacts your ability to deliver and the more customers start to look elsewhere.
- Free cash flow.
Ineffective inventory control can tie up cash that you could be investing in other areas of your business. Crazy to think that what may be holding your business back from increased success are covered in dust in a storage room. By implementing a better inventory control program, you can boost your cash flow almost immediately.
- Improve customer satisfaction rates.
You are in business to make money and part of doing so is making your customers happy. By knowing exactly what inventory you have on hand at any given time, you can meet customer demands, improve order fulfillment and create sustainable pricing models based on accurate cost analysis, rather than relying on guesswork.
Many manufacturers are introducing vending to their
facilities to vend commonly used consumables such as disposable earplugs and
gloves, as well as high-value, returnable items such as drills, saws and
cutting tools. With traditional coil machines, locker units and combination
coil and locker machines, there’s not much that can’t be vended. What does that
mean for production facilities? It means your team always has the equipment
they need to work efficiently, and improved visibility in the inventory items
you need to control.
M&M Sales & Equipment is excited to partner with
vending and inventory control specialist 1sourcevend to offer a simple, yet powerful
inventory control solution. Learn more now.
If you would like to learn whether vending might be the
inventory control solution you’ve been looking for, reach out to your local
M&M Sales & Equipment sales rep or branch here in West Texas.
Texas has a long history of crude oil production as far back
as 1543, but West Texas and the Permian Basin have steadily yielded large
quantities of oil since the early 1920s. One of the biggest discoveries for
Texas happened in 1936 just west of Lubbock in Cochran County and was later
named Slaughter Field. Since then, an entire industry has sprung up to support
the needs of the oil industry, supplying everything from nuts and bolts to
precision parts and instruments used in exploration, drilling, extracting,
production and refinement.
Our local machine shops here in West Texas help the oil and
gas industry run smoothly. Combine the tight schedules companies keep with even
tighter turnaround expectations, and machine shops are under the gun to deliver
the goods fast and accurately. That’s why machining parts correctly the first
time around is so critical to staying on budget and retaining customers.
Consider the cutting tools you use.
Using an inferior or poorly spec’d cutting tool results in increased machining time and cost. It can also dramatically increase material passes and the load you put on your tooling, requiring replacement more often. Cheaper tools not only have a shorter lifespan, but they can damage workpieces causing you to start over. Talk to your cutting tool supplier and schedule an on-site consultation to determine what specific tooling requirements your operation requires for optimum performance.
Consider the machinability of certain material.
The higher the machinability, the faster and less costly the material can be machined. That depends on the physical attributes of the material. Often, the softer the metal the easier it is to machine. For plastics, stiffer material is often better for accuracy and low friction. Minimize redo’s by assessing your material usage regularly and adjusting tooling and machinery to match.
Don’t underestimate the cost of machine downtime.
Even a few short hours of machine downtime can have catastrophic effect on revenue. Invest the time to evaluate your machines’ performance, regularly schedule maintenance and replace when necessary. Many shops try to make do with outdated or underperforming machines, thinking that it’s saving them money. That line of thinking rarely pays off and can be costly. You have limited floor space and that real estate should be home to machines that are generating money. Evaluate your facility and try to optimize your floorplan to get the most bang for your buck.
Hire smart and train machinists regularly.
The more machines you have in your facility, the more machinists you need to run them. Not only is equipment failure a major contributor to revenue loss, so is operator error. That’s why it’s critical to have knowledgeable machinists on staff. Today’s growing labor shortage may make that seem impossible, but there is another way to secure good talent. Look for potential employees that show initiative and a willingness to learn. Then train them on your processes. Not only is it sometimes easier to mold a less experienced worker to your specific processes, but investing in workplace training and development is linked to increased employee longevity and satisfaction.
Whether you’re creating a one-off piece or looking to
produce large-scale volume, the accuracy and effectiveness of your machined
parts can make or break your operation. The longer it takes to machine a part,
the more money it costs you. Not only do you need to look at machining time,
material costs, start-up costs, but you also need to consider the special
cutting tooling you need. Getting it right the first time saves you time, money
and unnecessary machining steps.
Are you a machine shop in West Texas or beyond? Do you have a part that is difficult to make or struggling to turn a profit? M&M Sales & Equipment has technical experts on staff to help you choose the right cutting tools so that you can machine parts right the first time. They understand the technical nature of the work you do because they’ve been there. Stop in or call one of our four Texas locations, and let us help you maximize output and profitability in your shop.
Related Reading: What’s Machine Downtime Really Costing You? (And How to Avoid It)
If you were to thumb through some accounts of how tariffs
are impacting the Texas economy, many would point to continued expansion and
growth. According to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for June of this
year, it would appear that Texas factory activity continued to expand and the
production index went from 6.3 to 8.9. The increase marks favorable
manufacturing conditions, yet the survey also indicated a significant drop in
general business activity and positive company outlook. In fact, the company
outlook index fell from –1.7 to –5.5, marking a new three-year low. The
uncertainty index rose to 21.6, the highest it’s ever been since the metric was
added to the survey in early 2018.
According
to Emily Kerr, senior business economist at the Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas, “Tariffs
are certainly a factor that’s driving up uncertainty and now we have explicit
proof of that.”
What impact
could we expect this uncertainty to have? Any uncertainty could lead to
decreased customer demand, project delays and a sharp tightening of spending
budgets, with fears of ultimately hitting manufacturing employment numbers
square in the jaw.
While
overall unemployment numbers are looking good, manufacturing employment fell
0.7 percent in May. Let’s take a look at what 115 Texas
manufacturers had to say
about the impact of U.S. and foreign tariffs.
- 45 percent said tariffs aren’t affecting them
- 41 percent said tariffs are already hurting their bottom line
- 32 percent said they expect negative long-term impact
- 30 percent said future costs are unclear
- 21 percent said they don’t expect an impact
- 18 percent said tariffs will give them a boost
Of those who
answered “negative” to Current 2019 impacts, 54 percent reported passing those
additional costs onto customers. Other answers included finding new domestic
suppliers (17%) or bringing production or process back in-house (17%).
After digesting all
those facts and figures, what does the future of manufacturing hold for Texas?
Regardless of the actual impact tariffs are having on local manufacturers, the
consensus appears to lean toward increased caution in the future regarding
hiring, expansion and various expenditures.
What do you expect
in the longer term and how will you prepare for the future? Let us know in the
comments below. And, as always, if you need help finding the cutting tools and
products you need for better productivity and profitability, contact us today. The pros here at
M&M Sales & Equipment are happy to help.
Manufacturers often spend a lot of time focused on machine
uptime and not nearly enough time monitoring downtime. Uptime, otherwise known
as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), is comprised of three important
components:Quality, Availability and Performance, according to
SensrTrx. When any of these three are disrupted for any reason, machine
downtime occurs. Machine downtime can be due to a number of reasons including
regular maintenance and servicing, cleaning, changeovers, repair or unexpected
equipment failure. Sometimes, companies have no control over downtime such as
in the cases of extreme weather or power outages.
Regardless of the cause, unplanned downtime can mean a major
financial impact on your company. Downtime can cost companies tens of thousands
of dollars in lost production, if not more. Think about your production
capacity. For simple math purposes, let’s say you produce 500 units an hour at
a cost of $50 a unit. That’s $25,000 per hour. If your equipment is down for 4
hours, that’s a loss of $100,000 in potential revenue. That doesn’t even take
into account decreased staff productivity, rescheduling costs and equipment
replacement costs, not to mention decreased customer trust, according
to Machine Metrics.
While an average cost of downtime is often factored into the
price of manufactured goods, most companies often underestimate the cost of
downtime and are surprised by their losses. Machine downtime is an unpleasant
fact of life in manufacturing, but here’s what you can do to minimize loss.
Reduce
Machine Downtime for Maximum Performance with These Tips:
- Perform a Risk Audit. Evaluate your current processes and
equipment to spot potential problems before they lead to a downtime event. Ask
yourself questions such as: How old is current equipment? How often is
equipment serviced and maintained? Are parts reasonably available or do they
take weeks to arrive? This regular audit will help you make more informed
maintenance decisions and avoid costly repairs down the road, according to the
blog BusinessTech.
- Create a Preventative Maintenance Schedule. Every piece of
equipment needs to be repaired or replaced at some point. Without regular
preventative maintenance, those unavoidable repairs and replacements will come
at the most inopportune time. Instead of leaving it up to chance, be sure to
schedule regular maintenance on integral pieces of equipment before they break.
- Use Quality Tools. To
ensure maximum performance, use the right tools for the job. Using cheaper
cutting tools or equipment may seem like a bargain at first, but those lesser-quality
tools will result in more changeouts costing you time and money. The old saying
of “you get what you pay for” has never been more accurate than when it comes
to tools of the trade.
- Install Sensor Technology. When profit depends on your
equipment running smoothly, you’ll want to be alerted the minute something is
wrong with that machine. Sensor technology is available that can detect changes
in vibration, temperature, heat and light and may offer you just enough time to
address the issue before it leads to equipment failure, according
to Sage Automation.
- Re-evaluate Data Collection Systems. Are you accurately
tracking your operational data? Data is great for helping to make better
business decisions, but only if that data is reliable and available. Uptime and
downtime data are pretty arbitrary if your data isn’t accurate and timely.
Consider implementing software that can help you collect and analyze data for
real-time reporting, helping you make reduce production downtime.
- Regularly Train Operators. Even with the best maintenance
program, human error is unavoidable. While it would be great to be able to
blame equipment failure on a system breakdown, sometimes it’s all operator
error. Avoid unnecessary downtime by investing time into a regular training
program for all employees, both new and veteran workers. Successful programs
should include operational training, as well as education on how to safely and
effectively perform lockout tagout procedures before repair or maintenance.
Training should be available to all affected and authorized employees for
maximum safety and performance.
In your facility, work doesn’t stop. That’s why you need a
company that can keep your operations running smoothly, both day and night. You
need a partner that can help improve productivity and reduce downtime, so that
you can focus on doing what you do best. M&M Sales & Equipment can
audit your current processes and uncover opportunities that can not only help
you do more for your customers, but run more efficiently and profitability as
well.
Contact us by phone, visit
our website or stop in one of our four locations to learn more.
We think it’s important to stay up to speed on the news that
impacts us all. It’s easy to get tied up in the daily grind and not notice
what’s happening in the world around us. That’s why we check the headlines
every day and when we come across interesting stories, we’ll share them with
you. Plus, we want to hear from you. Feel free to drop a comment below.
We hope you’ll be able to leverage this economic and trend
information to your advantage. Here’s a bit of what’s happening here in Texas
and the U.S right now.
U.S.
Cutting Tool Consumption
Earlier this month, the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI)
and AMT — The Association for Manufacturing Technology announced cutting tool
consumption in the U.S. was up 1.3 percent in April, totaling $206.3 million.
The number is down 1.9 percent from March’s numbers and includes data reported
by companies that participate in the Cutting
Tool Market Report. The report is a good representation of cutting tool
consumption, and the analysis is a leading indicator of upturns and downturns
in our manufacturing industry at home. There’s reason to believe the growth
rate is slowing and reduced Boeing 737 production rates and unsettled trade
agreements could be to blame. According to Mark Killion, Director of U.S
Industries at Oxford Economics, although numbers are remaining above last
year’s, new orders decreased in April. This aligns with slowing business
investments and weakness in the motor vehicle sector.
Texas
Employment Trends: Oil & Gas Trend Down
Employment is ramping up and unemployment falling in Texas. That’s pretty good news. According to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Texas employment rate has seen an increase of 2.1 percent in May, following a 3.1 percent increase in April. And gains were pretty widespread in May, but manufacturing, hospitality, and oil and gas employment did fall, and shops are beginning to cut overtime. Texas lost four rigs, bringing total rig counts to 463. This may be why we are seeing some softening in the local economy. Interestingly, the information sector has been the only one to cut jobs this year. Employment gains were also spread throughout Texas’s major metro areas with the exception of San Antonio. Austin led the charge with 7 percent growth.
Overall, unemployment numbers are down to a new record low of 3.5 percent in May, which aligns with the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6 percent. Let’s hope those numbers hold on long term.
Texas Population Growth
Texas has some of the fastest growing cities in the United
States. According to reports in late May from the United
States Census Bureau, the largest population growth regions for the state
include San Antonio (20,824), Fort Worth (19,552), Austin (12,504) and Frisco
(10,884). Back in 2018, San Angelo surpassed the 100,000-population mark. Texas
was also one of the four states that gained more than 50,000 housing units,
with a whopping 172,000 new units added between 2017 and 2018. With population
growth comes industry opportunity, and we’re seeing a surge here at home, as
the Permian Basin has some of the best energy resources in the nation. While
the outlook remains somewhat positive overall, it’s critical to remain cautious
here at home as the economical terrain is starting to become a little rocky.
Energy
Outlook
Pioneer Natural Resources is a company well known for
drawing oil and gas from the Permian Basin using hydraulic fracturing. Back in
2014, it was projected that Pioneer could produce a million
barrels per day by 2024. Today, Scott Sheffield, CEO of the company, says
those numbers are doubtful due to their
loss of investors. Investors know there are large amounts of gas in the
shale formations; the question is how affordably can it be extracted. The
company has already spent more than budgeted in order to meet that lofty goal
and is in the midst of layoffs themselves.
We don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict the future, but this
certainly gives cause for concern of the future of fracking.
Texas
Manufacturing Industry News
We happened upon some interesting news in The
Texas Tribune. In April 2019, Senate Bill 649 passed the Senate and aims to
increase the number of Texas plastic and paper manufacturers using recyclables
as industrial feedstock to produce goods. It requires the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality and the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office to
increase demand for recyclable materials in the manufacturing industry. The
bill won the endorsement of over 60 businesses, even the Texas Chemical
Council. There have been talks about how to increase the use of recyclables in
manufacturing; one idea is to place plants right at the source of the
materials. This will obviously take more discussion and the plan will likely
come from a third-party administrator. We’re interested to see how this pans
out.
West
Texas in the News
We pay close attention to state and national economic
issues, but M&M Sales & Equipment has a soft spot for our hometown of
Odessa. With abundant energy resources, infrastructure and a skilled workforce,
Odessa is an ideal place for machinery, metal and chemical manufacturing
facilities. Just recently, we read in the online publication Manufacturing.net
that Facebook is planning a massive solar farm just north of Odessa. Called the
Prospero Solar project, it will be Facebook’s first direct investment in
renewable energy for its data centers and will have the capacity for 379
megawatts. You may be wondering why the social media giant is investing in
solar. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, “We set a goal for all our data centers and
offices to use 100% renewable energy by 2020. These new solar projects will
help us reach that goal.” Shell Energy North America and Facebook plan to share
the power.
As always, if you have questions and need expert
advice on the cutting tools and supplies you need, just ask. M&M Sales &
Equipment is here to help.
As oil prices struggle to climb above $50/barrel and price stability seems to be anything but a reality, how do we plan for success in the current economic environment? The article below, published on FoxBusiness.com points to optimism in the market due to the lowering of crude inventories and the expectation that OPEC will extend their production cuts through the end of the year. But, is optimism enough to keep a business afloat? After 2 years of being hammered by poor oil production and now going into a third year of marginal growth now is the time to step back from your business, take the 20,000 ft. view and decide what you need to do to become or stay profitable! If you have already done this, great!! you are ahead of the pack. If you are sitting around waiting for the economy to right itself I’ve got 3 quick “projects” that you can tackle to start being proactive instead of reactive in your business.
- Read “Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits” by Greg Crabtree. If you are new to P&L statements or business finance this short, easy to read book will get you up to speed quickly so you can make decisions on facts and your gut instead of your gut alone. (I’ll give a copy of this book to the first 2 people who comment asking for a copy.)
- Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound) goals and keep them in front of you daily!!
- Find one or two KPI’s(Key Performance Indicator) and start measuring your performance. I would highly suggest using Revenue per Full Time Equivalent or Labor ROI as one of your indicators if you have more than a couple employees.
I’ve pasted the FoxBusiness article below. It’s a pretty interesting read as well. Reach out and let me know what you think of the article or anything in this post.
Oil Gains on More Support for OPEC Cuts, Optimism About U.S. Crude Draw
Oil prices rose for a second day on Thursday, closing more than 1 percent higher as support grew for OPEC output cuts a day after the U.S. government reported a big draw in crude inventories, boosting confidence that a global glut might diminish.
U.S. light crude oil <CLc1> ended the day up 50 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $47.83. Brent <LCOc1> settled at $50.77, up 55 cents or 1.1 percent. It was the highest closing price in a week for both benchmarks.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Department reported that U.S. crude stockpiles posted their biggest weekly drawdown since December as imports dropped sharply. Inventories of refined products also fell.
“People are hinging the optimism today on the recent drawdown in inventories and I think that might last as long as we don’t have another inventory build,” said Stewart Glickman, head of energy research at CFRA Research in New York.
In recent days major producers like Iraq, Algeria and Kuwait have voiced support for extending last year’s deal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to cut supply by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd).
On Thursday, non-members Turkmenistan and Equatorial Guinea said they would also join the cuts, though they are smaller producers.
On May 25, OPEC will meet to determine policy for the second half of 2017. Most analysts expect the group to extend cuts until at least year-end. If they don’t, Glickman said, “they’ll take the floor out from oil prices.”
OPEC said Thursday that group production fell in April. Despite the reduction, there are few signs that supply has fallen significantly as other producers have continued to supply key customers, especially in Asia.
OPEC also said it sees more supply coming from non-member countries such as the United States. The cartel raised its estimate of total oil supply growth from non-OPEC producers this year to 950,000 bpd from a previous forecast of 580,000 bpd.
U.S. oil production <C-OUT-T-EIA> rose to more than 9.3 million bpd last week, highest since August 2015. Even with this week’s drawdown in U.S. crude stocks, Glickman said the country has a way to go to reduce oversupply.
“You’re going to have to have a few weeks of 5 million-barrel draws just to get back to square one,” he said.