November 19th 2011 vs November 19th 2012

Howdy from Texas,

A little over a year ago, I brought home my new buddy Wyatt Earp, the minpin law officer!  I took a picture of us when we got home and took another picture on the same day this year. Hard to believe that a year has gone by.  It's been a good year, a fantastic year for Synchro ERP as well. 

2011

2012

Friday Fun!

Hello from Texas North America USA,

I do hope this blog finds you and finds you well!

A little Friday fun for you.  What happens when you leave a chair near a desk that has two boxes of Kleenex on it (tissue paper)?  This was the state of the affairs when I returned home the other night.  That's the home study / TV room.   Notice the trash can is always out of reach.

Punishment?  naw - no way.  No harm no foul.  Little Wyatt Earp also is fascinated with the toilet paper rolls.

Well, do hope you have a safe weekend out there, wherever you may be!  Team Synchro is doing very well and things are rocking and rolling along.

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen
Head of North American Operations

Dreams are Made of This...

WOW!  I'm sorry, I didn't have a single post in the month of November - so unlike me!  I humbly apologize and promise to try to do better.  A blog, like a newsletter, without frequent updates is worthless.  I see companies all the time start out with grand plans for a newsletter and then slowly but surely they either lose interest or get too busy or have other resource constraints that prevents new editions from going to the press.

A lot of good things have been going on with the Synchro ERP team.  Since we last met on this blog, I ventured up to Lubbock Texas for the AFS Texas Chapter meeting and had a grand time.  The Texas chapter is really moving forward.  We took a tour of a facility that makes turn tables and tilt tables.  A good time was had by all.

Just recently, like last week, I made a quick hop-skip-and-jump to the UK for the annual Synchro Team meeting.  In the UK, they seem to call these the AGM - Annual General Meeting.  A term I was most unfamiliar with.  In the states we would just call it an annual meeting or a corporate meeting, etc.  It was so good to catch up with everyone and meet Bianca and Jon in person for the first time.  Additionally, I got to meet up with our Sales and Marketing Director Barbara Nolan Collins whom I had not crossed path with in a number of years.  The meeting was very productive and goals were set for 2013 and beyond!  A lot of good things are coming down the pipe.  Of course, with Synchro ERP - you are already used to good things!

Dreams are made of this.  On my return to the USA, I was on the new Boeing 787 Dream Liner.  It is quite a bird and the first thing you notice is the larger windows and the self darkening window shades - no more pulling down the shades as there are no shades to pull down!  The seats were nice and comfy and the ride fantastic.  Billions of dollars and many many years went into the development of this new bird.  I have to wonder how long it will be before the self darkening window shades will be available in the DIY - home center?

Anyway, just  a quick update to let you know that all is well with Synchro ERP and we are always thinking of the future Synchro "Dream Liners".

Until next time, see you on down the road...

Shane Allen
Synchro ERP
Head of North American Operations

        

Dateline Nashville

Hello from a cool and clear Texas,

Apologies for not having posted recently, but I've just been so darn tooting busy following up on all of the leads from the recent Investment Casting Institute meeting and exhibition.  The ICI is always a fun show and this years show was no disappointment.

 

It was great to catch up with our own Chris Collins and we both met up with Synchro's newest employee Daniel from Brazil.

 

As you can see we had a prime booth location on a corner, you have to pay extra for those - it's called location location location.... and Synchro's own sales and marketing director Barbara Nolan Collins did a splendid job of getting it all organized.

 

If you have never been to the Opryland Hotel and Resort before, one word, take your walking shoes with you.  This place is massive under roof and it's a long hike to get anywhere.  One needs to constantly reference a map to get between Point-A and Point-B and you will definitely get lost if you go from Point-B to Point-A.

Next up is the Texas AFS meeting in Lubbock coming up in a few short weeks.

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen

Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

 

Ode to a Foundryman and a Dear Friend Pat Hale

I lost a near and dear friend last night, Pat Hale.  He and I worked at Texas Foundries for many years, he was the cost accountant.  He taught me all I know about costing and estimating.  We came up with some pretty darn good models.  We were also golfing buddies and camping buddies.  I will miss him.  Here is a story I sent out this morning to all of the TFers and family of his.  He leaves behind a wife and children and grand children...  He  was let go from the foundry in one of the first waves of layoffs.  I often think that the foundry ended up being bulldozed over, after an auction of pennies on the dollar, because they let one of the most important people go - the keeper of the costing and estimating models.  After his untimely departure, there was no one minding the store regarding costing and estimating and things were running amok. The models were dead and costing and estimating became a seat of the pants guesstimate, primarily based on cents per pound. 

I've lost a very good friend and a golfing and camping buddy.  We had a lot of good times together over the years.  Pat and I went camping back in 2001 up to the Buffalo river in Arkansas one HOT July 4th weekend.  Pat didn't want to leave until after the fireworks in Lufkin, so we got a late start in the convertible.  I remember distinctly that we stopped at IHOP along the way for coffee, gosh, Pat loved his coffee, and at the IHOP a drunk cowboy kiddo was dancing on the table - can't remember the kiddos name - in fact, I meant to ask Pat as I'm sure he would remember.  We got to the camping spot early the next morning and it came a downpour.  Poor Pat, his tent had a river run through it and his sleeping bag and pillow were soaked.  He slept in the car and we hightailed it to a laundry mat to dry them off.  We had a great time, but it was blazing hot.  We did a short canoe trip, low water, and it just wasn't that fun.  We spent the next day touring around and went to a very COOL cave and took the tour.  We had to drive a long ways to get beer.  Then the night before we left, a raccoon raided our camp food we had left sitting out.

I have a lot of found memories of Pat.  We worked very closely together at TF.  We played a lot of golf together over the years and had a hoot.  Neither one of us were very good, but we had a good time and that is all that mattered.  He had this habit of driving the golf cart and then hitting the ball, then walking up to hit it again, and again - and soon he was 50-100 yards from the cart and had to walk back to get it.  Always made me smile.

Pat was one of those people that would make you smile and I am forever grateful for his friendship - in good times as in bad.  I will miss him.

He had called me several weeks ago and left a message and I had called him back and left messages.  Playing telephone tag.  Most unfortunately we didn't get to catch up before his passing.

 

 Here are some pics from the long ago canoe and camping trip.

 

Music City USA

Good early morning from Texas where the weather is cool!

Fall has definitely arrived, an early fall.  We are not used to these cool temperatures, even in early October.  We know this as a "false fall".  Mother nature is just teasing us with unseasonably cool temperatures, I've already had to break out a long sleeve shirt and sweat pants!

Anyway, Music City USA - NASHVILLE TENNESSEE!  The ICI, Investment Casting Institute, is holding the annual conclave at the OpryLand USA  complex and it should be a hum dinger. 

Please by all means, be sure to stop by booth #313 and visit Chris Collins, MD/CEO, and myself.  BTW-MD is NOT Medical Doctor but is Managing Director.  First time I ever talked to Chris I was perlexed as to why a Medical Doctor was running a foundry software company.  The Managing Director is not a typical USA title.

SEE:  59th Annual Technical Conference and Expo

Until next time, see you down the road in Nashville!

Shane Allen
Head of North American Operations

NTSB Recommendations for GEnx-1B and -2B engines

Hello from a soggy Texas, where we got almost 10" of rain Saturday into Sunday morning,

Grabbed from the headlines "

Emergency Inspections Recommended For Dreamliner Engines

 

NTSB Urges Action After Engine Failures in New Boeing 787, 747 Airliners (National Transportation Safety Board)

Any time I see articles about aircraft and problems, I have a special curiosity from the standpoint of a metalcaster. Quality is so paramount in the production of aircraft and airframe castings that I look to see if a casting was involved in the problem.  Bad castings have caused airplanes to fall from the sky.  SEE: 

United Airlines Flight 232

..which resulted in the failure to detect a fatigue crack originating from a previously undetected
metallurgical defect located in a critical area of the stage 1 fan disk that was manufactured by General Electric Aircraft Engines."

"Examination of the fan disk did indeed solve the mystery. Investigators discovered an impurity and fatigue crack in the disk, and traced this defect all the way back to the initial ingot formation in 1971. Titanium when melted reacts with air which creates impurities; to prevent this, the ingot which would become the fan disk was formed using a "double vacuum" process: the raw materials were melted together in a vacuum, allowed to cool and solidify, then melted in a vacuum once more. Afterwards, the ingot was shaped into a billet, a sausage-like form about 16 inches in diameter, and tested using ultrasound to look for defects. Defects were located and the ingot was further processed to remove them. Unfortunately, some contamination remained.[1]

The contamination caused what is known as a hard alpha inclusion, a brittle part of the metal, which cracked during forging and then fell out during final machining. This formed a cavity with microscopic cracks at the edges. For the next 18 years, the crack grew slightly each time the engine was powered up and brought to operating temperature. Eventually the crack grew large enough to cause structural failure of the disk.[1]

From what I've read regarding this current issue with the brand new Dreamliner engine is that the root cause of the failure maybe related to the coating of the engine part and not the casting itself. However, whatever metalcaster made this part had to wince when they heard about problems.

Synchro ERP can help the metalcaster track the entire casting from the molding process all the way to the shipping dock with unique identifier / serial number tracking.  Additionally, Synchro provides the ability to track CAR's - Corrective Action Reporting as well as a full fledged chemical and physical properties quality system.

Until next time, happy flying and see you on down the road in Nashville for the ICI!

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

One Thing to Know for Today

Howdy again from Austin Texas USA,

I don't know who started the "trend" of the "Ten Things to Know for Today", but I can tell you that there is only "One Thing You Need to Know for Today"  and that one thing is that

1.  SYNCHRO ERP PROVIDES THE BEST SOFTWARE FOR THE METALCASTING INDUSTRY!
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Seriously, if you are a metalcaster, that is all you need to know.  Forget the other nine items.  This is numero uno.

Regardless of your size, all that matters is if you use liquid metal in your operations then Synchro ERP is for you.  Synchro is priced for any sized metalcaster, has all of the tools you need, includes all modules including future modules, unlimited support for trained users, and all software upgrades.

Until next time, see you on down the road at the ICI in Nashville!

Shane Allen
Head of North American Operations

Good Deed for the Day...

Howdy from Austin Texas where Fall has arrived,

"I guess you could say we did our good deed for the day, Mayor" is a line from my favorite picture show movie of all time, you know you go to the chilled air picture show place and have some good buttery popcorn...   The movie is Tombstone and was said by Wyatt Earp after the gunfight at the OK Corral as he was passing the mayor John Clum.   Wyatt's good deed was taking out the Clanton's and McLaury's.

Awesome movie, full of foreshadowing if you pay attention.


Well, I did my good deed for the day on Saturday by donating platelets, as I alluded to in the prior blog post. 

Anyway, how about doing your good deed for the day and getting in touch with me regarding the software needs of your facility.  I have little doubt that your good deed would yield a bountiful fall harvest.

Until next time, see you on down the road at the ICI!


Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

The importance of training...

Hello and good Friday afternoon from a sunny and relatively "cool" Texas.

Thought I should bring you to to date on what all is going on.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with my fellow metalcasters last Friday at the American Foundry Society Texas Chapter meeting at the baseball park in Arlington.  It was a good gathering, although the weather was vile and I got a stupid speeding ticket, but we were under the out of the rain under an awning to watch the game.

The food and beverages and the "Texas hospitality" were up to their usual high standards and a great time was had by all.  Synchro ERP is a platinum level sponsor of the Texas Chapter and I am also pleased to report that we are now a corporate level member of the national AFS American Foundry Society. 

Training and on-going is so vastly important in any endeavor.   When I was up in the Dallas-Fort Worth, D/FW, Metroplex,I decided I needed to get gussied up and get a haircut.  I was getting ready for lunch and was just driving and passed a beauty college - a place where people get trained to cut and style hair.  Hey, I figured I just needed a simple haircut so what harm could a beauty college be, it's not like I need dreadlocks or coloring or anything like that!  Well, the good looking girl that cut my hair was supposed to be near graduation so we gave it a whirl.  Well, this turned into being the longest haircut of my life.  The hair kept flying and she was going from side to side - and I was afraid to look in the mirror!  After an hour and a half, she pronounced me finished.  Although I didn't want it, I now have a new very short doo!  My regular hair dresser that I have gone to since 1981 will not know what to do with me next time I see her.

You know what?  Hair grows back!  Every barber and beautician had to start from scratch and learn to cut hair.  I am pleased that I was able to help a student with her all important training.  I am so committed to training that when I had minor surgery a few years ago, the phlebotomist asked me if I minded a trainee poking me.  I've got really good veins so I said no problem!  Well, it took quite a few sticks, but she finally got it done.  Yep, it hurt a bit, but I realize that training is so so important that I'm willing to be a "stuck" guinea pig.   I donate blood platelets all the time and have also been a willing subject before.  Speaking of which, I will be donating platelets and whole red cells early Saturday morning.  I'm up to about at least 25 gallons of donations for my lifetime.  That's a lot of blood, but, it grows back!

(This picture is of the Dallas Cowboys American Football team stadium that cost just short of $1 billion USD - tax payer dollars mind you.  Arlington Texas has one of the highest hotel/motel and rental car taxes in Texas at something like 18% - all to pay for the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers stadiums)

Obtaining training in Synchro ERP is so vital to getting the most out of the system, whether the facility is just ramping up or has been a long term customer.  There just is no substitute for training.

In other news, Simon and Richy have been touring North America the last few weeks and will be heading back across the pond shortly.  Jean-Marie is on his way to India for a new customer install.  Synchro has added a number of new customers in recent weeks in India, China, Mexico, and North America.  More are on their way as global metalcasters realize the need for metalcasting specific software.

Until next time, see you on down the road - very shortly - at the Investment Casting Institute expo in Nashville.

(my buddy Wyatt Earp just celebrated his first birthday - he is still bouncing off the walls - I should have named him Bouncy!)