Estimated vs. Standard vs. Actual

A recent home DIY project that I undertook illustrates the need for metalcasters to have good firm control over their estimated vs. standard vs. actual costs.  At the end of the day, a foundry either "wins" or "loses" by what happens on the foundry floor  with regards to the P&L (Profit and Loss)

As an illustration, a simple toilet seat replacement project went horribly awry.  I mean, replacing a toilet seat should be a simple task - unloosen the vinyl screws, and simply replace with a new one.  Literally, no tools are required.  However...

 

I estimated this project to take no more than five minutes.  The toilet seat replacement had already been purchased and was just sitting there for me to carve out five minutes to replace.  I had gotten tired of being reminded that the toilet seat needed replacing, so it became a #1 DEFCON FIVE priority to keep peace in the house.  Peace and Harmony will Prevail!

However, when I went to loosen the screws, they were fastened too tight.  Ok, I grabbed a wrench and a screw driver and attempted to "break it" apart.  Nope, not going to happen.  The brass screws were very fragile and corroded.   After about twenty minutes of trying the "simple" things to solve the situation, I resorted to penetrating oil and left it alone.  Already, I am fifteen minutes beyond my estimated time and at best the standard time would have been no more than ten minutes.


However, I came back to the project after allowing time for the penetrating oil to do it's thing, got a bigger screwdriver and some vice grips.  After about thirty minutes of clock time, I had managed to loosen one side of the seat enough, but it would go no further.  The other side just would not budge - at all.  Ok, so at this point my estimated time and standard time are blown clear out the water and this is now turning into a major time consuming project.

Time to disassemble the toilet seat with all of the fancy brass screws, hinges, etc.  Time to call out the BIG TOOLS.  I'm a big tools kinda guy, I have virtually every kind of tool known to man and it has been said that I could pull a transmission on the side of the road and repair it with what I have.



Plan D - we are way past plan A, B, and C.

Got my indispensable and 2nd favorite tool out, the ole bolt cutters.  I never go anywhere without bolt cutters, having needed them to bust through padlocks when locked in hunting leases or losing a padlock key and needing to break in.  Oh, of course in Texas I've been told that driving around with bolt cutters in the back of the truck is somewhat illegal, never the mind...  I'm a renegade.  Suppose I could blow off the lock with the Glock, but that is a little brash and way too noisy.  BTW - my favorite tool is the simple pair of dikes - diagonal cutting tool.  Never leave home w/o one of these either.  McGyver is proud - way beyond just simple duct tape.



Anyway, moving right along, got the one side free with the bolt cutters and took out the heavy artillery of the hammer drill.  I went to work on the one side where it was frozen up and just shredded the screw head to nothing.  Of course, I had to be very very careful not to shatter the porcelain bowl of the toilet  - otherwise the project scope would have increased dramatically.  At this point, estimated and standard time have no meaning or bearing on this simple little project.

  

I'm pleased to report that the project came to a successful completion probably three hours after it all started.  AND - most importantly there were no LTA's  (lost time accidents) or LWDI's (lost work day incidents) regarding this project - lock out tag out was not required, however, safety glasses were worn during the bolt cutting and the grinding - safety, it's a #1 priority.

So, let this little toilet seat exploit be a funny reminder to you that if you do not have control over your times and costs on the foundry floor, making that casting might be costing you a lot more money at the end of the day.

Until next time, See You on Down the Road....

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations
sales@synchroerp.com
800-323-2808 xt. 1


















   


  

Tickling the Red Dragon's Tail

Wishing Jean-Marie the safest of travels and bon voyage on his impending trip to the Red Dragon land, China.

Jean-Marie will be meeting up with our agent in China and attending the Metal + Metallurgy China 2012 Exhibition in Beijing.

Speaking of China, Team Synchro ERP received another signed contract today from a major player in the metalcasting industry who is ramping up a brand new facility in China.

Tickling the dragons tail is real life term that was coined during the Manhattan project during WWII when the USA was developing the atomic bomb. It refers to "almost" creating a prompt critical reaction with plutonium.  Did you know that plutonium is classified as a metal and there is a whole science dedicated to plutonium and uranium metallurgy?   The former Rocky Flats installation north of Denver Colorado was at the forefront of plutonium metallurgy, along with LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.  If plutonium was available on the open market, it would be priced at about $4,000 USD per gram.   Department of Energy Plutonium Prices and Weapons-Grade Plutonium Price Hits All-Time High

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

Death, Taxes, and Surveys

I've taken the old adage of "death and taxes" and added a new one - surveys.  It seems as if anytime I call someone, send an email, buy something, use some service, I get hounded with requests for survey feedback.  "Please take this survey to rate our customer service, the survey will take no longer than thirty minutes to complete".  At the end of the day, I could do nothing but survey's all day long.  The worst are the surveys that continue to hound you until you are dead!   I have even had companies postal mail me and call me on the phone demanding that I complete your survey.  Too much!

Of course, the "funniest" was a website that would not let me press the button of "submit order"until I completed their survey rating their website.  Guess what, I took my business else where! 

The worst survey's are those that start out with "If you can't give me a gold star on every item, I need to know before you submit the survey".  WRONG!  What a way to skew the results and not get true customer feedback.  When I purchased my Ford F150 last year, the dealer hounded me through the entire process that if I couldn't rate them at 100% on every item, then the MUST know about it before I submit it.

I donated blood last weekend, got a survey on Monday - "please rate your experience".

When I flew to the Metalcasting Congress, I got survey's from United on both legs of the trip - asking my opinions.

Guess what, I'll let you know when you are not doing a good job.  I was at a restaurant recently and had horrid service, I mean horrid.  I filled out the companies web form to let them know.  Didn't hear anything back.  Submitted another form.  Still nothing.  Submitted another form saying that since they didn't respond, I'll never be back.

Then, at my local grocery store, in the self check out lane, the clerk was more busy with texting than customer service.  I had an issue that the machine thought I was underage and couldn't purchase the wine.  I had to go and disturb the clerk so that I could continue checking out - he was none to happy to be disturbed in the middle of his texting and he let me know it.  I continued checking out and had coupons and once again I had to disturb the clerk's texting - this time he let me know I was inconveniencing him as he said "wait a minute".  I said "excuse me" and he finally came over very abruptly and rudely and did his job.  That evening, I wrote the company about how if I was a manager there and if I had employees texting during work, I'd fire them on the spot.  They got right back to me.  I no longer see that checker there!

I run into the same thing with texting at a local DIY store.  It's gotten as bad as survey's.

Anyway, thought I would vent a bit - at Synchro ERP - trust me - we won't hound you with survey's and only provide you with the global leading metalcasting specific software.

If you liked this blog, please send me only positive 100% gold star feedback in the form of a survey

 
Consumer Survey Fatigue

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen
Synchro ERP Head of North American Operations

Happy May Day +1

Let me be the last to wish you a happy May Day.  When I think of May Day and the associated parades, my mind always pictures the Russian Politburo standing atop Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum watching the military parade of their might.  Of course, the Russians often used this to showcase new military hardware and equipment.  If I recall my Cold War history correctly, the "bomber gap" came out of a May Day parade when the same airplanes were flying over again and again.

Times have changed, fortunately,and the Cold War has been relegated to history.  Somehow the world survived this MAD (mutually assured destruction) period in history.

All is well within the land of Synchro.  The recent Metalcasting Congress has been an outlandish success for the entire Synchro team - as well as global metalcasters.  We have seven demonstrations scheduled so far this week, but we always have room for more.  In fact, as I type this I am getting ready to give another guided tour!  At Synchro, it is all a team effort behind the scenes, team members pitching in to help out with support and sales.

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen
Head of North American Operations 

I"ve Joined the 67,000,000

From what I recall in my marketing MBA classes there are classifications of customers such as those on the bleeding/leading edge of technology known as the innovators, then the early adopters, early/late majority, and then the laggards.  This is known as the "diffusion process" of products into the market place.


Depending on a person's or companies characteristics, they will fall into one of the above categories - as to when they embrace a product or idea.   Typing for myself, I am a "mixed bag" in that in some areas I am certainly on the bleeding edge and in other areas I am a "trailing indicator", but never a laggard.  Generally speaking, I like to think of myself as an early adopter on most things. 

Recently I came by an IPAD and now fully understand why sixty-seven million of them have been sold, as of April 2012.  Even though I have had it only a very short time, it has become an indispensable tool.  I am able to rapidly surf the web, monitor the Synchro support desk, make SKYPE phone calls with it, use MSN, FACEBOOK, etc.  Already I have found that some applications are "worthless" while others are very useful.  I do believe my favorite thing with the IPAD is the ability to read books on it.

Ok, middle aged and I'm resisting having to wear glasses.  :)  I find the IPAD very easy to read a book on as I can adjust the font size, good back lighting, and it is very comfortable and easy to read from.  As it is spring time in Texas, I spend a lot of time in the evenings and on the weekends sitting on the front porch and the IPAD is right next to me. 

In the metalcasting industry, it is truly amazing to see the two broad extremes of metalcasters and their philosophy on embracing new things.  I am constantly astounded by the number of metalcasters that in 2012 still resist having any software and "making do" with pieces of paper and maybe a few spreadsheets.  On the other end of the spectrum, our newest customer is "full speed ahead" with the Synchro implementation.

So, as a metalcaster reading this blog, where do you fit in with all of this?  Yes, it is true, software is not as "sexy" as a new molding machine - but it is so essential to effectively and efficiently running your business.  Give me a call or shoot me an email and let me give you a grand tour of the Synchro software and see for yourself why so many metalcasters are making the choice.

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

Shane Allen
Head of North American Operations.