Friday's are Made Easy...

I sleep better at night knowing my data is safe and secure.

Have you backed up your data recently?  Too many people and companies do not back up their data on a regular basis, the same goes for having multiple levels of security with anti-virus and anti-spam/malware software.  Your network access keys on your modems and routers should be long and strong and changed often.    I use two levels of back up of data - every night my data goes to the cloud through a paid backup service while I am sleeping and I also have a local backup drive that is running all the time. 

When it comes to backups and security, I am "paranoid".  Every night, every changed file on  my work server and home computers automatically uploads changed files to the cloud for safe keeping and there are multiple versions to restore from.  I have a continuous backup of data during the day to the backup drive. 

I have had the instance of having a hard disk failure, and fortunately, it was painless and inexpensive to restore from the cloud.  For a small amount of money, the cloud provider sent me a jump drive overnight mail and I was backup and running quickly, without losing a single bit of data.

Just food for thought, I also use a paid service that monitors all of my credit cards, bank accounts, credit reports, etc. for suspicious activity.  This saved me a lot of time and effort as I was one of the millions of people whose identity was stolen.  I was notified immediately that someone using my credentials of SSN, name, address, etc. had opened up an account at a "big box" electronics store.  A squash was put on this immediately.  Unfortunately, the actors were able to open up a number of accounts for high dollar items at furniture stores, jewelry stores, etc.  These stores didn't bother to subscribe to credit reporting agencies, so they had no idea that there were stops on my credit, it was being monitored, etc.  One jewelry store was out over $3,000.  Of course, the culprits were never apprehended.  All I had to do was file a police report and the "service" took over the rest.

 So, before you go to bed at night, lay in bed stare at the ceiling and think about what all you would lose if your computer data vanished over night.  All of those pictures, documents, videos, financial information, open orders, customer information, AR, AP, etc. 

Have a good night.  Sleep well.  No nightmares about data loss!

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

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

Nurse Ratched @ the AFS Texas Meeting

Howdy from Texas,

Good gosh, we are already into February, where did January go?  The AFS, American Foundry Society, Texas Chapter got together for a board meeting and supper and horse raising last Friday night in H-Town, Houston.  An outstanding time was had by all, even with the hall monitor Nurse Ratched, making sure everyone had a ticket to get into the meeting room.  In past years, everyone came and went as they pleased into the suite, but this year the "monitor" didn't allow that.

With the advent of the Wild West Web, I took pictures on my IPAD during the board meeting and with a mobile hotspot, instantly uploaded them to Facebook for the world to see and enjoy, and as a bonafide that the board members were actually there and not off playing golf...

Weather was great and the fellowship was even better.  Nothing like getting together with a bunch of metalcasters and discussing the industry and how to improve it.  There is a full slate of events coming in the new year.  I got to talk with Synchro ERP customers there which is always a plus, listening to their ideas, how things are going, and making sure everything is "All is Well".

Texas State University and alumni were well represented at the event.  The professors and students have really gone the extra mile to become a force in the metalcasting research area and turning out great graduates ready for the industry.  Dr. Laura Bartlett is doing a most outstanding job.  Pictured below with one of her students who had a research paper published in the Journal of Metalcasting.

Well, until next time, I will see you on down the road.  Safe Travels!

Shane Allen
AFS Texas Board Member Class of2017
Synchro ERP
Head of North American Operations

Synchro ERP Customer Can...

Have a Safe Day

Howdy from Texas and this is my second post of the New Year!  Y2K + 15.  It's been fifteen years since the horror and disasters and near disasters of Y2K!

"Have a Safe Day".  I sometimes get a quizzical look from others when I bade them "Have a Safe Day" instead of "Have a Good Day" or some other friendly parting comment.

Why "Have a Safe Day".  When I started at Texas Foundries, AKA Citation Lufkin, the most important training I received during my new employee training were the safety courses.  Safety was a mantra and was not just a "passing thought".  A metalcasting operation is an inherently dangerous working environment.  However, the uninitiated would be led to believe that the biggest safety concern and issue was the liquid metal.  In reality, and I recently had the opportunity to confirm this with a metalcasting insurance agent, that the majority of the accidents and fatalities, yes, you can die at work, are related to forklifts and not wearing PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, especially eye shields when in the grinding and finishing areas.

Texas Foundries and the employees were proud of the safety record and worked very hard to maintain a safe and secure work environment.  We achieved, if I recall correctly, four million man hours without a lost time accident.  The company gave away nice "gifts", some that I still have today like flashlights, coolers, etc. for reaching certain milestones and anytime there was a huge milestone, the company catered a huge catfish fry that was all you could eat.

Unfortunately there were lapses of judgment and the lack of management supervision during the course of my tenure there and metalcasters went to work in the morning, but never returned home.  Forklift races in the early hours of the morning are never acceptable.

Thus, safety is instilled into the very fiber of my being.  It's a "bonafide" that I as well as the other Synchro ERP team members know metalcasting and can assist your facility in running efficiently and productively and most importantly profitability.  You don't gain this kind of knowledge without having experience it in the real world in the bowels of the foundry where profit and loss is decided on a daily basis.

I make sales visits to metalcasters.  I travel with my own PPE of hardhat, earplugs, and safety glasses, with the exception of the heavy and bulky metatarsals.   Oh sure, this is a "sales tactic" in some respects with my name and company logo on the hard hat,  but I want to make it crystal clear to the metalcaster that I am visiting that I know metalcasting and appreciate safety.  When I was at the foundry, it always impressed us when contractors or consultants showed up with their own PPE.  It gave us a warm and fuzzy feeling that they knew what it was all about.  I had the pleasure of "busting" a group of our corporate folks for being in the foundry working without any PPE.  I had asked them in advance to bring their own safety equipment and metatarsals as they were going to be in a very dangerous area of the plant, the shipping dock.  They paid no heed to it, but after the safety manager lectured them and how they might "blow" our four million man hours and get hurt or even killed, they paid attention.

I was reminded of safety not long ago when a friend of mine from the foundry were with others and were walking through a door way at a store.  The entry floor mat was curled up.  Funny, at the same time both of us bent down to straighten it, it was just automatic.  We didn't have to say anything to each other, we just did it naturally.  Another person with us asked "why did you do that, it's not your job to do that"?  We both answered in unison, SAFETY IS EVERYONE's RESPONSIBILITY!

Until next time, see you on down the road.

Shane Allen

Synchro ERP

Head of North American Operations

2014 Out as a Lion. 2015 In as a Lion

Howdy from bitterly cold and wet Texas!

Yea, I know my Northern USA and European friends would scoff at mere 19f low temp, but here in Texas, BURRR...

Synchro ERP ended 2014 with a lion roaring as we added a multitude of new customers, which is unusual based on past experience.  Typically, from the week before Thanksgiving through the New Year, sales slump as metalcasters are focused on the bottom line and getting work out the door before the close of the year.  Plus, many metalcasters take a shut down during the holiday season.  Of course, past experience is not always an indicator of future experience!

Here we are in the first week of 2015 and the lion is still roaring!  We have already inked two brand new customers into the world of Synchro ERP!  The Synchro ERP Express has left the station and there is no turning around!

Anyway, I do hope you and yours had a safe holiday season and wishing you all the best in 2015.


Ah, a blog posting would not be replete without some pictures!  These are pictures of my very favorite spot in the whole wide world.  A mere twelve+ hour solid drive from where I am at, and you are still in Texas!  

Big Bend National Park
These pictures are actually some screen grabs of live webcams in the area, which I call the West Texas Trans Pecos Big Bend Region.  Meaning, the area west of the Pecos River...

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

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations 

I'm a Foundryman...

Howdy from Texas,

Looking back on it all, I didn't start my "career" as a foundryman.  Heck, I didn't even know what a foundry really was until 1994.  I started out "life after college" as a computer programmer for insurance companies, chemical companies, cosmetic companies, and state government.  Looking for a "change of pace and location" and the opportunity to get my MBA,, I stumbled into the foundry business.  A foundry was hiring a computer programmer, I applied, and got hired and spent twelve years smelling burned sand, chemicals, and hearing and feeling the massive molding machines at work.  I got "down and dirty" all of the time crawling in the rafters, working around the machines, etc.

I was very fortunate as a number of people at the foundry, Texas Foundries AKA Citation Lufkin, took me under their wing and taught me the foundry business.  The Industrial Engineer, payroll, accounting, sales, order processing, shipping, metalurgical departments - heck, the whole facility taught me the foundry business.  Most importantly, I wanted to learn the foundry business and I embraced it and found it exciting and fascinating.  After my stint at the foundry was done, I fortunately made the leap over to Synchro ERP.  That in itself is an interesting story that I will have to share someday. The story goes a long ways as to explaining "who I am and what type of person I am".   

When I see a fire hydrant or a man hole cover, I see foundries at work.  When I see new products, I wonder, what kind of application could this be used for in a foundry.   Case Point example, I stumbled across a new product called NeverWet and my first thoughts were, wow, this is neat and then how could this be used in a  foundry environment?  At the foundry, ductile iron and steel, we were constantly battling rust on castings in stock.  Castings were treated with oil, placed in special containers with absorbent materials,  etc.   Unless you are a foundryman, you might not even realize that rust and corrosion are issues in a foundry, especially on finished castings out of the shot blast tumbler.

It would be good to hear from you to see how you got the foundry industry in your blood!  Drop me a line and let me know! 

At the end of the day, Synchro ERP is all about metalcasting, our people know metalcasting, and we can assist your metalcasting operations.

Well, tis the season here and I want to wish you all the very best and have a very safe season.

I'll catch up with you on down the road next year!

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations