Category Archive: Announcements

On October 2nd, more than 2,500 businesses across the nation took part in Manufacturing Day, a manufacturing-minded day in which industrial production companies open the doors of their facilities to the public.

Among some of this year’s many participants was Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, who attended our open house at Manor Tool & Manufacturing Company. There, President Preckwinkle toured our modernized industrial setting, noting the opportunities Manufacturing Day offers to people eager to learn more about industrial careers.

Preckwinkle acknowledged a valuable truth about National Manufacturing Day — while it’s undoubtedly beneficial for corporations to interact and receive feedback from the general public, Manufacturing Day also provides an incredible outlet for burgeoning students to familiarize themselves with a field they are passionate about.

The opportunity presented by Manufacturing Day for students can, in turn, result in a positive future for corporations, as well.

“Manufacturers face a growing need for educated and skilled workers,” Preckwinkle said, “and events like this are designed to build interest in these careers among the next generation that will soon enter the workforce.”

Thus, Manufacturing Day proves a catalyst for a cyclical process in which manufacturers give to students, and in which students will, hopefully, give back to manufacturers.

President Preckwinkle, who has been committed to the support and growth of manufacturing careers for some time, used the platform to discuss the industrial field and its benefits.

Manor Tool was founded in 1959 as a tool and die shop and since that time has grown to be a recognized leader in manufacturing, providing customers with modern and technology driven metal stamping.

Manor specializes in punching, bending, forming, and deep drawn stampings in more than 44,000 square feet of manufacturing space and state-of-the art equipment and machinery.

Come join Manor Tool this Manufacturing Day, Friday OCT 2, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, as we exhibit with the Illinois Technology & Manufacturing Association at 1651 Wilkening Road, Schaumburg.  This event will be geared towards students interested in STEM education. We couldn’t think of a better way to commemorate American Manufacturing than to help galvanize STEM interest in our youth!

Manufacturing Day (MFG DAY) was founded in 2012 in order to help improve the way that the public perceives manufacturing industries in America.

Three large and important American trade organizations — the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing institute, and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MAP) — joined forces with the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA) to start the event.

MFG DAY is an important event. Shifting the perception of manufacturing is its primary goal — the day allows companies in various manufacturing industries to influence how the public views them. The common perception in America of manufacturing has not kept up with the times, and MFG DAY allows manufacturers to shift perception to the reality of modern industry.

MFG DAY also fulfils a number of other important functions. It allows manufacturers from across America to come together, identify challenges they share, and work together for solutions. MFG DAY also gives manufacturers a valuable opportunity to face an issue that effects everyone in the manufacturing industry — a shortage of skilled workers. Manufacturers can use the day to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and the rewards of a career in manufacturing.

This year, MFG DAY is being celebrated on October 2, with some events taking place before or after as well. Ranging from Mexico to Canada, and from across the United States, more than 1,000 manufacturers will be hosting MFG DAY events for the public, including demonstrations, conferences, expos, and open houses.

Manor Tool & Manufacturing Company, an industry-leading metal stamper for more than 50 years, fully supports to aims of MFG DAY. We have always promoted community, STEM education, and safety.

Keep an eye out for our next blog — we’ll be taking you on a virtual shop tour of our state of the art facility. You can also find helpful resources on our site such as the following guide to edge type selection for deep drawn stamping!

The manufacturing industry has helped shape the face of our country for hundreds of years. With the development of new technologies, many professionals have been able to meet the growing application demands of the industry. As time progressed, applications became increasingly challenging, spurring the need for newer technology and competent workers to utilize said technology.

Manufacturing is widely considered a “traditional” industry, in which most of the professionals have decades of experience; though experience is a highly sought after trait, many workers have long since reached retirement age. With these workers retiring, the industry is looking for the next generation of engineers.

At Manor Tool, our team is all too familiar with this problem—that’s why we regularly participate in educational programs to encourage interest in manufacturing.

Last January, our company partnered with the University of Illinois to give students real world engineering experience. With support from Manor Tool, a senior engineering student team of four tackled some significant assignments. Students were tasked with:

• Performing in-depth research on casting and other technologies that may be applicable for die fabrication

• Selecting two dies and reviewing each for cost and lead time reduction

• Analyzing current stamping drawing designs, materials, and applications

• Researching lubricant technologies for the materials selected

• Analyzing force and friction environments in which the dies much withstand during stamping operations

• Development of progressive die fabrication and lubrication alternatives for die design

• Reviewing alternatives with Manor Tool personnel for applicability, feasibility, cost, potential prototyping, testing and economic analysis

• Finalizing recommended designs, lubricants, and economic analysis for delivery to Manor Tool & Manufacturing Co. along with final report and presentation

   Back Row left to right: Pratham Gandhi, Brian Hoppe, Matthew Wiencek, Jingtin Lin. Front Row left to right:  Kevin Segebarth, Tom Simeone

Our engineers provided students with feedback for each of these tasks and helped finalize the results for highly detailed reports and presentations. Each team of students worked diligently to complete assignments under the watchful eye of Manor Tool’s team of specialists.

“It was great seeing the students’ progression over those few months, said Kevin Segebarth, General Manager of Manor Tool. “I was impressed by their very professional manner and eagerness to learn—in my experience, many engineers don’t fully recognize the importance of continuing to learn and grow.”

Learn more about how Manor Tool supports the next generation of engineers by contacting us today.

Manor serves a variety of clientele, so it is vital for us to constantly keep up with the latest technological advancements and offerings to help our customers with all their project requirements. As a result, we are always acquiring new machines to stay flexible and competitive.

We’ve previously introduced you to “Freddy,” our robotic work cell designed to dramatically reduce cycle times and add innovation to our automated metal stamping processes. We’ve also talked about our C5 Express Press, a high-tech turret press, a more cost-effective option for smaller order sizes such as prototyping and initial development.

We are now proud to present the Hammond Roto-Finish HR-17CPT, our new deburring machine work cell.

It features a working capacity of 12 cubic feet (481 liters), heavy duty welded steel construction with a certified pressure vessel tank head that operates as the main building component of the bowl, and a polyurethane lining, with an additional 50% lining in high wear areas.

These features increased our capacity, allowing us to vibro-deburr more parts, using one of our four different types of ceramic media. We can now vibro-deburr a larger capacity, including larger and heavier parts, and have expanded our overall weight capacity (800-1,200 lbs.)

The Hammond Roto-Finish has a U-shaped curved wall processing bowl, a full 90° wrap-around separation screen, a pneumatic operated discharge gate with a manual pneumatic valve standard. This design allows us to change various deburring media quickly and efficiently. This is a significant improvement over our old deburring machine, which required us to separate parts from media via magnets, and change out media manually.

Thanks to the Hammond Roto-Finish, we can now produce more parts with less handling. A new jib crane also leads to more efficient loading and unloading of parts and different media, easing the burden on our operators, which increases safety measures throughout our facilities.

Previously, we had to add soap and water manually, which had led to some rust and corrosion of parts if it wasn’t handled correctly. We also needed to dry parts in dusty corn cob in a mixer. This was a very labor-intensive process. Parts that run through the Hammond Roto-Finish are cleaner and require less labor. Water and soap are now automatically programmed into the system. Added to the cell was a new Holland spin dryer to eliminate the dusty corn cob drying process. The new Holland spin dryer quickly heats and dries parts. This allows us to package cleaner and dryer parts faster for shipment.

Contact us today to see how the Hammond Roto-Finish can save you big on your next project.

As part of the International Manufacturing Community, Manor Tool and Manufacturing/Vogel Tool in partnership with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office, attended the International Business Fair in Bogota, Columbia this October.

Among the participating companies that traveled with the Illinois Trade Delegation were:

The 5 day Trade Fair had a various number of benefits for each participant.

• Learning the Culture
• Lead Generation
• Legal and Financial Vetting (Business Law)
• Foreign Business Structure
• Manufacturing Facility Tours 
• Decision Maker Process
• Dealers & Distribution Contacts
• Quality Standards

A highlight of the experience to Bogota’ was the fact that this mission allowed us to share a unique experience of travelling to a new location, learning about, and becoming familiar with both the culture and a different way of doing business, while measuring our future efforts and successes in a different market.

When asked about the opportunity and the experience to represent Illinois Trade Mission, Manor Tool and Vogel Tool President Tom Simeone stated:

“This experience allowed all of the Illinois delegates to go beyond making a mere “sales pitch” to our partners in Columbia.   It allowed us to take the necessary time to examine and to see how our products would affect the realities of us doing business in Bogotá.  We found that with meeting with the business decision makers and asking direct questions, that critical advances were made in what would help all of our fine companies succeed in the region, along with which partners in Columbia would benefit from our specialty products”.

Pictured from left to right: Atsushi “Attsie” Hashimoto– Unytite Fastening Ana Maria Vega Velez– Translator/Interpreter Michael Wynn– Vogel Tool Raymundo Flores– Illinois Department of Commerce Yuji “OJ” Ozeki– Unytite Fastening

Success of this 5-Day event was due in part to the hospitality that was shown by our hosts in Bogota, which enabled our delegation to broaden our understanding of business communication in Columbia.

The translators supplied by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office, helped us gain a much richer and truer understanding of the culture and our Colombian contacts.  Conversation in a foreign language can be amazingly subtle, nuanced, and complex. This trip illustrated that translation is of the utmost importance when doing business, ensuring that both sides have a clear understanding of what is critical to the business process.

Ultimately, Manor Tool/Vogel Tool’s participation in the Illinois Trade Mission to Bogotá, Colombia helped all the representatives that also attended to revisit our approach to a new region.   We are now developing products for a part of the world completely new to our business.  This has now also given us the opportunity to refine and improve products that will benefit customers around the world, bringing them the highest quality products, with unsurpassed service from Illinois, USA.

For more information on this event you may contact the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office at 312-353-8040

Manor’s metal stamping and deep draw services encompass a wide range of metals. And since we offer custom tooling and fabricating services for such a diverse array of customers, all in need of specific requirements, we are always on the lookout for the latest machinery to help us serve customers’ needs the best way possible.  In modern, flexible manufacturing, jobs vary, and so should machine tools.

November’s blog mentioned “Freddy” – our robotic work cell that has proven to drastically reduce cycle times for a number of clients. It’s certainly been an innovative use of automation for metal stamping at Manor. Now we’ve added a high-tech press to our arsenal of equipment: a new turret press from Finn-Power, the twenty-year pioneer in hydraulic turret punch presses.

Our new C5 Express Press is a unique combination of reliability, versatility and high performance, as well as ease of operation and maintenance. As a lower cost option for initial low-volume, development volume, or prototyping, the new press offers customers the ability to develop parts before investing in hard tooling for large volume runs.

Manor’s new Finn-Power C5 Express features an auto loader, robotic pick up sheets and loads, and remote programming, all designed to increase production time. Fully networked, the machine allows engineers to develop processes from drawings, using sophisticated NC Express Cam software that generates the G-code for tool paths that are sent to the machine for manufacturing.

The new press adds full networking capabilities, faster processes, lower noise levels, more energy efficiency, and a safer operation. The Finn-Power C5 Express features 20 main tool stations and three multi-tool stations, utilizing one station with 24 tools up to ½” in diameter, and two 6-tool stations with up to ¾” diameter. The result is 53 total tool stations, and a maximum punch diameter of 3.5”.

Additional features include multiple tool-holder sizes that can be switched from station to station, the option for additional index stations, multiple shaping capabilities, multiple job runs from one setup, and an automatic built-in scrap conveyor for fast scrap removal. The machine also offers fast loading and unloading with a smaller footprint.

Manor notes that this new press will allow for immediate tool availability in a short amount of time. The new press, along with Manor’s relationship with suppliers, allows them to have tools delivered to clients within two days.

Two days:  That’s good news for company and clients alike.

Learn how tools like our new Turret Press allow us to help customers reduce the cost of Metal Stamped parts in our eBook:

In an ongoing effort to streamline its manufacturing processes, Manor Tool recently partnered with Coe Press Equipment to implement dedicated feed lines with great success.  The new equipment resulted in positive changes to the manufacturing process, including increased throughput, efficiency and time management.

Before Manor implemented the SpaceMaster Series 3 compact coil line in its facilities, it relied on mobile feed lines that could be adjusted to meet the particular requirements of each job. While this strategy had its own benefits, general manager Kevin Segebarth quickly discovered that its downsides outweighed those perks. The mobile feed lines delayed the start of a project by hours, including the time spent to locate specific items and relocate equipment.

In keeping with Manor’s shift towards lean manufacturing, Segebarth reached out to Coe Press Equipment to streamline the process. Coe recommended the SpaceMaster which, unlike Manor’s existing equipment, was bolted to the floor and dedicated to Manor’s Bliss press.  The SpaceMaster combined three processes, including unwinding, straightening and feeding. It was capable of processing material between 10 to 24 inches wide, and between 0.020 and 0.250 inches thick, with a weight of up to 11,000 pounds.

The benefits of using Coe’s SpaceMaster were immediate. In the past, changing coils took workers at Manor up to 20 minutes to complete, especially with heavier coils. The new machine cut that time span by more than half. The SpaceMaster featured automated functions that required fewer operators and labor. It even improved safety conditions for workers on the floor, especially when errors in the feed line caused equipment to lurch unexpectedly.

Happy with the results, Manor ordered another SpaceMaster, this time one that could handle coils up to 40 inches wide and between 0.015 and 0.250 thick, with a weight of up to 15,000 pounds. At the end of the day, Manor’s lean initiative produced faster processing times and a safer working environment.

The story of Manor’s lean manufacturing success was recently featured in this month’s MetalForming magazine. If you missed the issue, you can now read it online.

There’s going to be a big party in Milwaukee this summer–Harley Davidson is celebrating its 110th anniversary. Manor Tool & Manufacturing is proud to be a sub-contractor for this American manufacturing success story. Any motorcycle enthusiast will tell you that the Harley Davidson V-Twin engine is synonymous with torque and that unmistakable rumble that you can hear miles off. This American icon has transformed and grown as America has transformed and grown, and through it all one thing has remained the same, quality and craftsmanship.

I grew up around Flatties, Knucks, and Panheads, and though I would be hard pressed to give up my Electraglide for a tank shifter and foot clutch, a V-Twin is still a V-Twin. The key to Harley Davidson’s success is more than just image; today’s riders demand world class quality and cutting edge designs. Harley has been able to deliver both without forgetting its roots.

A motorcycle, as with so many complex machines, is a collection of subassemblies. No one manufacturer can do it all; they must rely on trusted vendors to supply them with the parts and pieces. To be a supplier to a company like Harley Davidson, a vendor must possess an equally high commitment to quality. Manor’s quality program is based on a culture of continuous improvement. Manor knows that quality is a moving target; to maintain it takes commitment and vigilance. Delivering defect free parts is what has made Manor a trusted vendor for numerous customers who demand precision and quality. Harley Davidson, as with so many modern manufactures, lives and dies by the quality of their products.  Doing business with suppliers with a robust quality program is not just a good business strategy; it’s essential.

Manor’s focus on quality and defect free products has led them to be awarded the ranking of 61 in Quality Magazine’s Top 100 quality leaders. Manor’s quality program is based in their ISO 9001:2008 certification. Their ISO certifications apply to an impressive list of manufacturing capabilities, including the manufacture of precision metal stampings, deep drawn stamping, machined components and assemblies, and the design and construction of tooling.

Quality, craftsmanship, and a dedication to providing customers with the best products available have made companies like Harley Davison and Manor industry leaders in their fields.

As you take time to celebrate the 4th of July, every year it is a great time to reflect on the freedoms that we all share living in the United States.  Taking time to realize what others have done before us to protect our freedoms should be an important part of our holiday celebrations. 

As we all know, freedom and the prosperity that can come with it are always being attacked from forces that look for an opportunity to gain power or wealth.

In that light, everyone at Manor Tool hopes you will take a moment to think about a problem that is damaging America’s future: Intellectual Property Theft.

Manor Tool has joined the National Alliance for Jobs and Innovation (NAJI) to raise awareness about the problem of stolen intellectual property (IP) and its effects on almost every aspect of our economy.

This problem isn’t just about a few bootleg products or “borrowed” ideas.

Every year, foreign firms in the world’s biggest countries, steal billions of dollars worth of IP-protected information technology (IT).

Like Manor Tool, many U.S. companies have invested major amounts of capital in Specialized Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software as well as AutoCAD and MasterCAM power robotics for manufacturing.

These technologies are expensive and a giant commitment. So when people cheat and steal them, it means American companies like Manor Tool lose a major competitive edge, which harms everyone involved.

We are extremely proud to join with NAJI in this critical endeavor because these crimes undermine innovation, put law-abiding businesses at a major disadvantage, and take jobs from the cities and town of America.

It is one reason we hope you take a moment out of your busy day to learn how you can help in the movement to stamp our Intellectual Property Theft.

To learn more about how you can get involved with the NAJI’s effort to stem the tide of Intellectual Property Theft, please visit their website (https://naji.org/) or contact a Manor Tool representative today.

The time to stop the theft of IP-protected IT is now!