The Municipal Clerks & Treasurers Insititute Features Precision Plus’s Jeff Lemmermann As One of Their Instructors

July 19, 2014

The Municipal Clerks & Treasurers Insititute Features Precision Plus’s Jeff Lemmermann As One of Their Instructors

2014, CFO, CTO, cyber security, Gree Bay, Jeff Lemmermann, July 13-18, Municipal Clers & Treasurers Institute, Precision Plus, program presentation, University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

The Municipal Clerks & Treasurers Institute educational program at UWGB from took place from July 13, 2014 through July 18, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

As part of this year’s program, Precision Plus’s CFO and CTO Jeff Lemmermann presented a 3-hour “Cyber Security” class. The program is held annually and consists of 33-34 hours of classroom instruction per year for a total of 100 hours of programming over a three year period. Local government officials completing the three-year program sequence earn all of the educational points needed for the education portion of the WCMC, CMTW, and CPFA certificates.

Educational Development

July 9, 2014

Precision Plus Intern Matt Dowell Places 5th at SkillsUSA Nationals

Michael Reader

Precision Plus intern Matt Dowell and his team placed 5^th out of 22 teams at the National SkillsUSA Competition in Kansas City, MO.

Matt and his teammates Mikaela Coose and Cecily Fico earned the a trip to the national competition by taking 1^st place in Wisconsin’s SkillsUSA Engineering Technology/Design Competition in Madison on April 29-30, from six teams competing in this category. Precision Plus congratulates Matt and his teammates!

Their product, called ecoTUBE, is an innovative medical tube designed to dispense 100% of any salve or ointment.

The national competition spanned from Monday, June 23 through Saturday, June 28, 2014. In the Engineering Technology/Design category, teams of three students demonstrated their ability to design an innovative an engineering project and present those ideas along with a display and live model. During the presentation, students were judged on their performance as a professional team, presentation of their project to a panel of judges from the engineering field, their storyboard presentation model, and the overall effect of the presentation.

Matt and his teammates developed their project while taking the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) capstone course Engineering Design and Development (EDD) at Wilmot Union H.S. Their advisor for the SkillsUSA competition was George Troupis.

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

Problem Origination: Team member Mikaela Coose’s dog suffers from dry-eye syndrome, which requires regular application of an ointment medication. The ointment comes in a tube, most similar to that of a toothpaste tube, but smaller in size. Because this medication is costly and a substantial amount remains in the tube after it is squeezed out, the team decided they would redesign the current not user-friendly squeezable tube design for these types of applications.

PROJECT DETAILS

Design Statement: Patients find it increasingly difficult to utilize the full value of expensive salve medicine due to the current structure of medical tubes.

Design Objective: Design and develop an innovative medical tube that allows patients to more adequately utilize the full value of costly salve medicine.

Target Market:

Elderly or Individuals with Arthritis – due to the limited force needed to squeeze the medication out compared to other containers
Handicapped or Disabled Individuals With Limited Motor Skills
Anyone Looking to Save Money – The product’s low waste results in cost savings

Description of Product Overview (As Shown On The Video Above):
The design was rendered in Autodesk Inventor, and 3-D modeled using the same software.

The first segment shows ecoTUBE’s assembly sequence
- The spring moves left into the far left component
- The assembly moves from left to right, snapping the left most pieces together
- The plunger gets screwed on
- An O-ring is added to seal the assembly
- The product is placed in the tube
- The sub assembly from before gets snapped into the tube
- The cap gets placed on it.

The second segment shows an working model of ecoTUBE

The third segment demonstrates the child lock on the bottom of it. Initially it just spins, but once pushed in, it twists the entire unit

Note: There is also a model that does not include the child lock, and is geared for over-the-counter products such as sunscreen, toothpaste, etc. The team included a child lock on the original design presented, as their target market was medical-type applications.

Personal Project Roles Of The Team Members:

Matthew Dowell – Headed up the CAD modeling and prototype building

Mikaela Coose – Presentation materials such as the PowerPoint and Storyboard

Cecily Fico – Much of the documentation such as the design brief and made the label

ABOUT THE TEAM:

This was not Wilmot’s first trip to Kansas City, as Mikaela Coose (past Senior) and Matt Dowell (past Junior), made their second trip along with new member Cecily Fico (past Sophomore) to the 50^th SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. Having placed 14^th in last year’s competition in the Engineering Technology/Design category, Coose and Dowell learned what it would really take to bring their presentation to the next level.

With Fico on board, the Wilmot team devoted most of their free time throughout the school year to work on their ecoTUBE – coined for its economical and ecofriendly qualities – an innovative medical tube designed to dispense 100% of any salve, such as medicine gels, toothpaste or sunscreen lotion.

During the week of June 22 -27, 2014, Coose, Dowell, and Fico had the opportunity to demonstrate and explain their creative idea to each of the judges in personal interviews as well as to the public. They also took on a spontaneous team problem-solving problem, involving building a roller coaster for a marble out of provided materials. The team ended the competition week with a professional presentation of their product. Wilmot came very close to medaling at the Awards Night, but were completely thrilled to find out the team notably placed 5^th in the Nation.

Although Coose will be moving on to study engineering at Olivet Nazarene University, Dowell and Fico have a promising future as they look forward to using the priceless experience they have gained to improve and eventually compete at the next SkillsUSA Conference in 2015. Dowell is looking to a future of becoming a mechanical engineer, and Fico desires to be a civil or architectural engineer.

Industry News

July 3, 2014

Building a Nation of Makers: Six Ideas to Accelerate the Innovative Capacity of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises, or SMEs

2014, education, entrepreneurship, executive summary, Gerald Baliles, Howard Milstein, infrastructure, June 14, manufacturing., Miller Center, Milstein Syposium, Naational Press Club, Six Ideas to Accelarate Innovate Capacity, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, University of Virginia

Michael Reader

In their Executive Summary, the members of the Milstein Commission on New Manufacturing proposes the following actionable ideas to accelerate the pace of America’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers:

Talent Investment Loans to Expand Human Capital
Upside-Down Degrees to Connect Classroom Learning with On-the-Job Learning
A Skills Census to Build a More Efficient Skilled Labor Force
A National Supply Chain Initiative to Fully Map America’s Manufacturing Ecosystems
Up-Skilling High School Students with Expanded Technology an Engineering Certification Programs
A “Big Trends-Small Firms” initiative to Diffuse the Latest Technologies to Manufacturing SMEs

–Find a detailed explanation of these ideas can be put into action at the end of this post

“By almost any measure, the American Dream is in peril, and it has been for some time…” With these opening remarks, Gerald Baliles, Director and CEO of the Miller Center of the University of Virginia and former governor of the State, began a news conference at the National Press Club on June 13, 2014 to release a report by the Miller Center’s Milstein Symposium: Ideas for a New American Century.

This was the first commission of a multi-year initiative by the Milstein Symposium whose goal is “To find and implement practical nonpartisan solutions to pressing economic concerns in the areas that include manufacturing, entrepreneurship, education, and infrastructure.” Its laser-focused vision is “To determine the next steps our nation must take to continue to vitality of the American Dream in the 21^st century, and most importantly, to find the way to put those steps into place.”

Twelve eminent thought leaders convened to draft six practical, nonpartisan and actionable ideas to foster the growth of manufacturing SMEs.

Howard Milstein, a philanthropist and entrepreneur, remarked that with “changes in technology, logistics and global economic conditions,” the U.S. can experience a manufacturing renaissance. However, as a nation, we have to have “the fortitude to make the right decisions now” for it to happen.

Here are the six ideas that were proposed by the members of the Milstein Commission on New Manufacturing aimed to accelerate the pace of innovation for America’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers, as they appeared on their Executive Summary:

Click to see a larger image.

VIEW THE FULL REPORT
WATCH A REPLAY OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE

Company Updates

June 30, 2014

Dream It. DO IT. PA – What’s So Cool About Manufacturing? Watch These 8th Graders Produced Videos!

19 teams, 8th graders, about manufacturing, dream it do it, grassroots, initiative, Lehigh Valley, Manufacturing Institute, movement, moving manufacturing forward, Pennsylvania, Skill Up Partnership, videos, Whitehall-Coplay

Michael Reader

Dream It. DO IT. Is a national grassroots initiative by The Manufacturing Institute in Washington, D.C. “The initiative offers local manufacturers, schools, community-based organizations and other stakeholders the opportunity to partner with a respected national platform to promote manufacturing as a top tier career choice in the United States. Dream It. DO IT. Engages students, parents, and educators, and partners them with local manufacturers. Groups in 21 American states have joined this movement thus far.

As an example, a challenge was presented to 8^th graders representing 19 teams from 16 public schools and a Catholic school in Lehigh Valley, PA, to produce 2.5-minute video clips about area manufacturers themed “What’s So Cool About Manfacturing?” The Lehigh Valley Skill Up Partnership group was the first in Pennsylvania to participate in Dream It. DO IT.

Watch this compilation of all the outstanding entries:

Congratulations to Whitehall-Coplay School for receiving the most votes. Here is the winning video:

Moving manufacturing forward!

Employee Spotlights

June 28, 2014

Precision Plus’ Barry Butters Is Certified to Teach Project Lead The Way’s Engineering Design and Development Capstone Course to High School Students

Michael Reader

Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training at Precision Plus spent two full weeks at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in June to complete intensive training to enable him to teach the course ‘Engineering Design and Development’ (EDD) to high school students. The course is a capstone course of the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) curriculum.

As per the description of the capstone course on PLTW’s website, “Engineering Design and Development (EDD) gives students the opportunity to work in teams to solve problems of their own choosing. Under the guidance of a community mentor, teams employ all the skills and knowledge gained through previous coursework to brainstorm, research, construct and test a model in real-life situations (or simulations); document their designs; and present and defend the designs to a panel of experts.”

Butters participation was sponsored by the Elkhorn Area School District. Beginning in fall 2014, he will be teaching Elkhorn Area H.S. students as well, as other students from local school districts, the EDD Course at Precision Plus’ classroom.

The instructors’ training at Milwaukee School of Engineering teamed up the participants to go through a simulation of the EDD program, which they will be teaching during the school year. Butters collaborated with Phil Winegar, Technology and Engineering Instructor at Menomonie High School, and Brent Siler, Technology and Engineering Instructor at Middleton High School.

The mission for the teams in the training course was to come up with a problem, a solution, develop three design models to implement the solution, and, after choosing one, present their project to a panel of engineers.

Butter’s team pursued a solution for preventing young children from chocking on food. The team focused on the development of a consumer device that would check the softness of food. It was not so much about having a working solution to the problem in two weeks, but rather about understanding how to approach the entire engineering process to come up with a solution.

After a great deal of brainstorming and a decision matrix, three possible prototype solutions–a spring-loaded plunger, a collapsible knife, and an elastic cutter–were printed on a MakerBot 3D printer.

Next, the team selected one potential solution and the solution was tested through experimentation. In the image to the left, butters tests the selected model for its ability to detect the softness of food consistency.

Finally, the results of their entire project and engineering process were presented to a panel of engineers for scrutiny and recommendations. Pictured on the image to the right are Butters and his teammates Phil Winegar and Brent Siler.

Upon completion of the course, Butters and all the other participants received certificates from PLTW Master Teachers Sharon Tomski and Denise Kimblern, PLTW Affiliate Director Steve Salter, and MSOE V.P. of Academics, Dr. Frederick Berry.

All the training course graduates were looking forward to teaching this program in the fall.

Company Updates

June 25, 2014

Ready to Celebrate Manufacturing Day on October 3, 2014? Real Manufacturing Numbers Make This Celebration Even More Special!

2014, awareness, Elkhorn, grass root movement, Manufacturing Day, manufacturing numbers, MFG DAY, October 3, Precision Plus Inc., third, U.S. Economy, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

For the third year in a row, manufacturers across the U.S. will celebrate Manufacturing Day (MFG DAY), on the first Friday of October, which this year falls on October 3, 2014. MFG DAY is a movement which, “seeks to improve public perception of manufacturing careers and expand understanding of its value to the U.S. economy. Manufacturers open their doors to educate the public through open house tours and events.”

In preparation for the upcoming national celebration, an infographic entitled “What Manufacturing Really Looks Like—Celebrating Manufacturing Day,” designed by Grass Roots Marketing, showcased some real manufacturing numbers:

Manufacturing Drives Our Economy:

Manufacturing supports more than 17.4 million U.S. jobs
$1.00 spent in manufacturing creates $1.48 for the U.S. economy
Manufacturing comprises nearly 12% of our GDP
U.S. Manufacturing is the 10^th largest economy in the world

Manufacturing Pays:

Nearly $60k – Annual average salary of entry-level manufacturing engineers
More than $77k – Annual average salary of manufacturing workers

America Noticed – 2013 MFG DAY Results:

834 organizations hosted open houses and events with 35,000+ attendees
80 million learned about Manufacturing Day through Discover Communication’s Science Channel an “How It’s Made”
1000s of news articles published in a myriad of publications including Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Industry Week, US News and World Report, Thomas Net and Boston Globe
Penske Racing No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion race car deck lid featured the Manufacturing Day logo at NASCAR ® Sprint Cup
15 governors issued proclamations officially recognizing Manufacturing Day
9 floor speeches were delivered in Congress

Stay tuned for Precision Plus’s celebration details in Elkhorn, Wisconsin!

Click here to see the entire PDF.

Company Updates

June 12, 2014

Precision Plus Welcomes Three New Members to the Team

Barry Butters, CAM, CNC, Dawn Tibbitts, Elkhorn, Lucy Mulderink, Melinda Jaworski, new members, Precision Plus, SetUp/Reapair, Swiss precision, Tornos, training, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

Welcome to Lucy Mulderink, Melinda Jaworski and Dawn Tibbitts to the Precision Plus Team in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Lucy joined our team in May. In her position as a Setup/Repair Machinist, she is responsible for the setup, process validation of programs and repair on the Miyano platform.

Both Melinda and Dawn joined us this week. Their training will begin in the classroom, where Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training will bring them up to speed with the Precision Plus Operation.

After the initial training in the classroom, Melisa will begin her training on the Tornos platform with Matt Fryar. Melinda Jaworski resides with her family in Delavan. She comes with some machining experience from MicroPrecision and Bliss Machining.

Dawn Tibbitts also resides in Delavan with her family. She comes with some CAM experience from Iseli and Medplast. Once she completes her in class training, Dawn will begin her training on the Tornos platform with Curt Hibl on second shift.

Glad to have you on the Precision Plus Team!

Employee Spotlights

June 7, 2014

Introducing the 2014 Precision Plus Summer Interns

2014, Alden Filko, Amanda Mudlaff, Augie Scott, Interns, Internship Program, Jake Ruemmele, Mat Dowell, Precision Plus, Riley Bruce, Sergey Klyukvin, Summer, Tristan Steiner, Troy Steinfest

Michael Reader

Precision Plus is pleased to announce the selection of these nine young individuals to participate in the company’s 2014 Summer Internship Program. The nine were selected from nearly 40 applications submitted by bright and talented students.

[pb_slideshow group=”6″]

Riley Bruce – Riley is a 2014 graduate from Elkhorn High School. He plans on attending a four-year university for Engineering. Riley was on the Soccer Team, Mathletes, and the E-Tech Club. He also supports the Youth Soccer Program as a volunteer.

Matt Dowell – Matt is a junior at Wilmot High School. Matt participates in the Key Club and in the Skills USA competitions. This year, he and his Skills USA team have qualified for the Skills USA National Competition in Kansas City on Monday, June 23^rd through Saturday June 28^th.

Alden Filko – Alden is a junior at Richmond Burton High School. Alden participates on the Math Team, Future Problem Solvers and (WYSE) Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering. He also participates in the Marching Band and is a member of the Cross Country Team.

Sergey Klyukvin – Sergey is a 2014 graduate from Williams Bay High School. He plans on attending U.W. Madison in the fall. Sergey has participated on the Basketball Team, Math Team, History Club, Spanish Club, and in Student Government.

Amanda Mudlaff – Amanda is a junior at East Troy High School. She is the Captain of her Cheer and Poms Teams and she is also on the Track and Field Team. She is a FFA member, Wrestling Manager, Multi-Cultural Club Member, and a Youth Cheerleading Coach. Amanda is also a National Honor Society member.

Jake Ruemmele – Jake is a 2012 graduate from Elkhorn High School. He has just finished his sophomore year at U.W. Platteville. Jake is an accomplished swimmer. He was the Captain of the High School Team and was 1^st Team All Conference. He is also a member of the U.W. Platteville Swim Club. He is a member of the National Honor Society and a Member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.

Augie Scott – Augie is a 2014 graduate from Woodstock High School. He plans on attending Purdue University upon his return from a German Work Exchange Program this fall. He participated on the Football, Basketball, and Baseball Teams. He participated in the Key Club, Peer Mentoring, and Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering. Augie is also a member on the National Honor Society and German Honor Society.

Troy Steinfest – Troy is a junior at Elkhorn High School. Troy is on the Football and Golf Teams and serves on Student Council. He also participates on the Math and Academic teams. Troy is also a member of the National Honor Society. He will be attending Badger Boys State Leadership program from June 16th through the 20th.

Tristan Steiner – Tristan is a junior at Lake Geneva Badger High School. He participates on the Football, Wrestling and Track Teams. He is a member of the Academic Bowl Team and the French Club. Tristan also serves on the Badger Academic Leadership Council.

Welcome to all!

Community Involvement

June 4, 2014

Precision Plus Participates in Delavan-Darien High School’s Technical Education Open House

Barry Butters, Delavan Darien, Delavan-Darien H.S., machining, Micro Precision Inc., Mode Industries, Precision Plus, Projects, School District, SPX, students, Technical Open House, Wisconsin, Youth Apprenticeship Program

Michael Reader

On May 29, 2014, Delavan Darien High School conducted a Technical Education Open House to showcase the projects developed and worked on by students throughout the year.

Butters engaging several of the Delavan Darien H.S. students about machining processes.

As part of the Career Technical Education (CTE) Committee, Precision Plus’s Barry Butters, as well as other committee members representing SPX, Mode Industries and Micro Precision, were on hand to provide support and talk to the students about the opportunities in manufacturing.

Students, parents, school administration, and board members attended the event. The CTE Committee is helping to build a strong cooperative effort, to provide meaningful opportunities for all of the students in the Delavan-Darien School District.

The Delavan-Darien School District is also proactively working “to revive challenging and rewarding learning options” for high school students who want to explore career paths. On April 16, 2014, it announced the return of the “Youth Apprenticeship Program.” Through this program, students will be able to get involved in industry apprenticeships (before, during, after school, or summer), as well as take targeted academic courses which are in line with their apprenticeship , and which will be available at the high school or at technical institutions or colleges.

The program, which is expected to begin with the 2014-2015 Fall Semester, will include a variety of career paths, such as agricultural science, food science, natural resources, architecture and construction, arts, audio/video technology, communications, finance, health science, hospitality/tourism, information technology, manufacturing, engineering, transportation and logistics.

Precision Plus commends the Delavan-Darien School District on its initiatives.

Educational Development

June 1, 2014

The Last Two School Visits by Precision Plus During Academic Year 2013-2014 Were a True Testament to the Spirit of Collaboration

2013-2014 school year, 2014-2015 school year, Barry Butters, Burlington Area High School, Career Cruising, collaboration, communication, concerted efforts, Inspire Wisconsin, Mike Reader, PartMaker, Precision Plus, Racine, Real School, school visits, Wisconsin

Michael Reader

During the 2013-2014 school year, Precision Plus has made a concerted effort to visit as many area schools as we possibly could. Neither Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training, nor Mike Reader, Precision Plus’ President, allowed snow or sleet, extremely cold temperatures, rain, or heat stop them from making themselves available for meetings, events, or to speak to a class full of students about manufacturing.

Butters explains to a student how a part is machined

The last two visits of the year were to the Real School in Racine, Wisconsin on their Career Day, and to Burlington Area High School to speak to students in Casey Miller’s advanced metals and pre-engineering classes. Both schools had invited Precision Plus to come to their facilities.

Butters demonstrates how the PartMaker software is used at Precision Plus

But, how did they know about Precision Plus and their efforts to close the manufacturing skills gap? These schools made use of a common resource: Inspire Wisconsin, powered by Career Cruising.

Inspire Wisconsin—the Pathway from Talent to Careers—has a distinct mission:

Inspire Wisconsin’s mission is to develop and disseminate an organized, integrated community-development platform for life-long career planning and learning which creates bridges between employers, educators and students and connects students and adult job seekers with work-based learning experiences and job opportunities.

By bringing all parties to the table–employers, educators, students, parents and job seekers, Inspire Wisconsin offers an opportunity for maximizing careers and talents. Its leadership says it all: respected individuals from education, industry, and government, who understand the importance of a highly skilled and educated workforce.

Finally, Career Cruising, developers of “The world’s most engaging and inspiring career learning program” makes it all possible. By integrating with Inspire Wisconsin, their tool can be used by Wisconsin schools. Their interactive program helps “people of ages achieve their full potential in school, career and life,” and provides an arena for matching needs with initiatives, and talent with careers.

And that is how, the last two visits of academic year 2013-2014 came to be. There were a direct result of separate entities working together: Inspire Wisconsin, Career Cruising, the schools, and Precision Plus No shots in the dark here. Instead, targeted, skilled shots that hit the bulls-eye.

Precision Plus looks forward to a great 2014-2015 year!

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