C&R Manufacturing
Below is a view of C&R Manu., a 43,000
square foot facility.
This Main Page discusses job shops, tool makers, and their economic importance. This discussion is followed by the following specific C&R Manufacturing topics:
Company Background
What is a Job Shop?
Operations Management
Marketing
Part / Product Flow
Inventory of Machines
ISO 9000 and Quality
Information Tech
Human Resources
Personnel
Future of C&R
Detailed Valve Production
Tour
Detailed Lathe Spindle Production
Tour
ECONOMIC
IMPORTANCE OF JOB SHOPS.
I have chosen C&R Manufacturing for this
VTOUR for several reasons. Small job shops such as C&R represent an
essential and important part of the manufacturing base of the United States.
Historically, and currently, these job shops account for an extraordinary
portion of the prosperity of the United
States.
During the last 200 years, the United States has been blessed by migrations of millions of farmers, artisans, craftsmen, businessmen, businesswomen, and entrepreneurs from Europe, Asia, and Africa. The mix of blessings bestowed on this country are many including philosophical, economic, natural, and human resources, etc. This mix has yielded much prosperity to most in our society - an important part of this mix has been the contributions of the tool makers, manufacturers, and machinists.
Tool Makers are Everywhere
Consider, for example, as you look around the room that everything in the room, except you, was dependent upon a tool maker for the form of its existence. The plastic parts in your computer and keyboard were made by injecting molten plastic into dies made by a tool and die maker. The sheet metal housing on your computer was formed using a tool in a sheet metal brake. The integrated circuits on your motherboard were etched in silicon using photographic masks made by a skilled computer technician who made the die for the masks. Everything we use including most services exist because of the skills and craftsmanship of tool makers. Interestingly, early books on management and organizational theory used to highlight the essential contributions of tool and die makers. However, automation and the displacement of management thought towards finance and marketing in 1970s, 80s, and 90s have obscured the continuing contributions of these individuals.
Greater Machining Automation -> Continuing Economic Importance
It is erroneous to assume that since employment in manufacturing has declined, its importance to our economy has also declined. The mistake in that thought is clear when one considers the decreasing number of farm workers and the increasing importance of agribusiness to the health and welfare of our economy. The parallels between automation in our manufacturing economy and our experiences in farm automation are clear, just as clear is the strategic importance of each of these essential economic sectors.
Shared Heritage from The Great Migration to America
Surprisingly, many of us share a common
heritage, being the descendants of immigrants to the United States.
("Between 1892 and 1954, 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island. Today more than 40
percent, or over 100 million, of all living Americans can trace their roots to
an ancestor who came through Ellis Island.") My family is not atypical,
consider the Machlers and DeLurgios. My maternal Grandfather [Alois
(Louis) Machler] migrated from Switzerland to the United
States at about the turn of the
century. He was a skilled craftsman (pattern maker) for the Evens and
Howards Hydraulic Brick Company in St.
Louis, MO. As you might infer,
Evens and Howards manufactured bricks including ornamental brick facades for
large buildings, thus the need for pattern makers (if you have ever toured the
Anheuser Busch brewery in St. Louis, you will see brick artwork typical of Evens and
Howards). My paternal Grandfather and Grandmother (Antonio and
Mariantonia DiLurgio) migrated with my Father from Italy in
about 1912 as my Grandfather worked on the great railroad expansion. Many
of their descendants (including my Father Louis) became initially tool and die
makers, factory superintendents, and then mechanical, design, and industrial
engineers, and then businessmen. Your ancestral connections to the crafts
and job shops might be a surprise to you.
BACK TO
C&R MANUFACTURING.
The parts shown below represent just a few of
the types of smaller parts that C&R manufactures. Parts like these go into
thousands of low volume, highly precise machines, tools, and products.
Despite our strong industrial base and the fact that many of us share a common "manufacturing" or operations management heritage, many business and economic students are unaware of what a factory or processing plant really is. They are unaware of the historical and contemporary significance of small-to-medium manufacturing facilities, particularly the tool makers. In part, because of this, I have developed this VTOUR. Consider a plant tour of C&R Manufacturing by clicking on the following choices:
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Company Background
What is a Job Shop?
Operations Management
Marketing
Part / Product Flow
Inventory of Machines
ISO 9000 and Quality
Information Tech
Human Resources
Personnel
Future of C&R
Valve Production
Spindle Production