posted Dec 22, 2011 3:21 PM by Dave Davidson
Dinner at Conley’sInstallation of Officers and Year-End-Review Wednesday, December 21, 2011 from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM (PT)
Please join us for an end-of-the-year party in the upstairs private party room at Conley’s Place.
This will be a night to bring your spouse, friend,or significant other and socialize over a nice
dinner. Chairman Jim McCall will talk about thehighlights of our year and we will install some new
officers.
Officers installed include:
Terence Geyer, Eastern Washington University: 2012 Chapter chair,
Martin Weiser, Eastern Washington Universit: Chair Elect, Jim McCall:
Past Chair, Dave Sorg; Chapter Treasurer. Chapter secretary position is
still vacant |
posted Dec 14, 2011 2:54 PM by Dave Davidson
A Visit from SME Education FoundationRodney
Grover, Senior Fund Development Officer at the SME Education Founation
had the opportunity to visit Jim McCall, Reiff Injection Molding,and
Chris Wood of Hanson Worldwide. Both Jim and Chris are avid supporters
of the IMAGINE TOMORROW program at Washington State University at
Pullman, WA. This competition pulls teams from high schools across
Washington for cash prizes for themselves and their schools. The teams
compete against each other in designing, engineering and building
projects of the future.
|
posted Dec 14, 2011 2:48 PM by Dave Davidson
posted Nov 13, 2011 10:54 AM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 14, 2011 11:45 AM
]
SME supports The Edge FactorRodney Grover, the Senior Development officer of the SME Education Foundation recently announced the Foundations support for the EDGE FACTOR, a program designed to increase the awareness among young people of the importance of manufacturing, and the fact that manufacturing can be "cool". EDU Factor Full details coming December 1
EDU FACTOR is made up by two key components, released in stages:
Stage 1: The first is a series of teaching videos captured by the Edge
Factor team while on location to shoot the Edge Factor Show episode.
Every set of Edge Factor Show is in essence a visual smorgasbord of
teaching moments for engineering and technology classrooms around the
country. Hosted by Educational Leaders, these short teaching videos go
deeper into the technology seen on the Edge Factor Show, explaining it
in a way that is incredibly engaging and understandable because it
relates to an exciting EFS episode. It essentially harnesses the EFS
story and creates an object oriented-learning experienced of real-life
application of textbook theory.
Stage 2: The second component is an online community, designed to
give teachers a series of tools they can use to maximize the visual
resources from the Edge Factor. THese tools will help them put together
presentations for the classroom, for recruiting and for general
awareness events.
Sign Up for details: CLICK HERE
There is talk of the skills gap, the lack of engineers,
manufacturing being dark and dirty. Talk of the need to spark the
imagination of young people, the need to change the face of
manufacturing. The talk is over. Meet EDGE FACTOR and team. 
>> Join us
Edge Factor is excited to have the SME Educational Foundation as a
partner. As our Manufacturing Community Foundation, all support will
run through SMEEF.
Click HERE to support us.
Edge Factor is dedicated to rebranding the manufacturing industry by
using the medium of film. Our team is pushing the limits in order to
break the misconception that manufacturing is dead. Edge Factor
believes that we need to show that the future of our economy lies in
getting back to making things again. To help raise up a generation of
people that will share this passion, Edge Factor is rolling out high
end products that will assist teachers and educators, parents and
businesses share this vision.
We have not been alone in our quest, many have stood beside us and
dedicated time, resources and most importantly, finances. Will you join
the growing list of supporters on this journey?
OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSORS:
 
|
posted Nov 12, 2011 4:23 PM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 12, 2011 4:31 PM
]
Pat Ferro, CMfgE, Assistant Professor
Gonzaga University
Listen to our past SME certification holders as they talk about
their achievements and the impact of certification in their
professional development. Watch and see how continuous learning leads
to continuous improvement of skills and abilities! |
posted Nov 9, 2011 2:08 PM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 22, 2011 3:33 PM
]
March 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM - March 29, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles
WESTEC, the region’s
definitive manufacturing event returns in 2012 to the Los Angeles
Convention Center with a renewed spirit and commitment to growing
manufacturing. WESTEC is the key event for people, technology and
innovation to come together to solve industry challenges and learn about
new technologies and processes. Be a part of the change.
Labels: manufacturing, aerospace, defense, energy, automotive, medical device, consumer goods, transportation, plastics, electronics
How Do You Define “Manufacturing”? It takes people to envision new products. It requires technology to bring them to life. And it demands innovation to imagine products for growth industries. WESTEC, the region’s definitive manufacturing event, returns in 2012 to the Los Angeles Convention Center redefined, and with renewed commitment to area industry. WESTEC is a true manufacturer’s think tank where creativity, vision, and strategy join forces to spotlight the promise of ground-breaking products for vital global markets. The focus is on people using technology to innovate. WESTEC is where collaboration starts – a place to network, form relationships, and build partnerships. WESTEC is where technology takes center-stage, putting new developments, integration, and solutions right into your hands. A West Coast Legacy WESTEC has always been the West Coast’s “can’t miss” event, a technology showcase that helped generations of manufacturers grow their businesses. WESTEC is more than a manufacturing exposition. This is where you’ll meet experts who can help apply cutting-edge equipment, make sense of lean methods, and manufacture with composites, titanium, or other advanced materials. Think about the many technology breakthroughs of recent decades: chances are they were unveiled at WESTEC. Only WESTEC brings you the very latest technologies – from cutting tools to multi-tasking machine tools, all from top international equipment manufacturers. Learn from fellow attendees how WESTEC can help your company cut costs, enhance quality, or earn a place on an OEM’s preferred supplier list. If these are your company’s goals, WESTEC is where you need to be! Manufacturing is evolving, and so is WESTEC. In addition to expert-led conference sessions, WESTEC 2012 brings you the Emerging Technology Showcase highlighting applications for micro, nano, and additive manufacturing; Milestones in Manufacturing, a celebration of key technology developments; eye-opening plant tours; and a presentation of California-made products. Ready to redefine your business? Plan to attend the event that is manufacturing: WESTEC. Get the most out of your visit by bringing your company team. Go to westeconline.com or call 800.733.4763.
|
posted Nov 9, 2011 2:05 PM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 22, 2011 3:21 PM
]
February 15, 2012 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
W. 1905 Miles Avenue PO Box 250, Hayden Lake, Idaho 83835
LA Aluminum is a single source manufacturer for all
your permanent mold aluminum castings. We offer turnkey production
including but not limited to tooling, casting, machining, pressure
testing, plating, mold alteration, powder coating and assembly.
Labels: aluminum, casting, Machining, manufacturing, Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Starting the Process
It all starts with you, the customer. L A Aluminum Engineering can take your idea, drawing, print or sample and present it to our department heads: Quality, Manufacturing, Machine Shop, and Tool Making. They will develop a strategy to manufacture a permanent mold for your specific casting situation, ensuring that the job will be successful. In some cases we are able to recommend design modifications that will increase productivity, enhance the functionality of a part, or reduce mass and other changes that will reduce the cost to the customer.
Once the strategy is decided upon regarding how we can provide the component to meet customer specifications, we go to our design and mold making process. This is where our Tool Maker creates the 3D drawing using SolidWorks modeling software on the computer.
 Mold Making
Our Tool Maker writes a program in SURFCAM (3D CNC program) and sends it to one of the FADAL CNC machining centers at LA Aluminum. From there, the actual cutting of the cast iron mold takes place. Cast iron is used because of the stability of the alloy and excellent tool life, which saves the customer time and money. This is also the phase of the process where any shell cores or steel cores are made. Shell cores are made from fine sand and are only used once, then destroyed.
After many hours during the making of the tool we are ready to actually construct the first casting for a first article customer evaluation. This is where any final changes are made to the design and all dimensional and cosmetic items are corrected. After approval is given, we move on to the casting process. Our fully automated machine shop is equipped with CNC mills and lathes. We can do simple drilling and tapping to complex 4th & 5th axis work.
Once the mold has been prepared with the mold coat (used to help release the casting and reduce wear to the mold), a casting is made. There may be inserts in the casting, a shell core or solid steel core.
Only the Best Aluminum
Now we are ready to melt some aluminum alloy. Each ingot is certified as to its purity. Only primary aluminum is used at L A Aluminum. The ingot is brought in from storage and preheated to remove any potential moisture.
 The ingot is placed in the gas fired crucible (the silicon carbide crucibles are where the aluminum alloy is melted) which is heated to approximately 1300 degrees F. L A Aluminum has five crucible melting / holding furnaces with a total melting capacity of 5,600 pounds per hour. Temperature control is important in all aspects of the pouring process. The use of thermocouples and laser temperature sensors are utilized to insure optimum temperature control.
The aluminum is ladled into the mold and allowed to freeze or solidify over a predetermined time period. Once this is completed we remove the casting from the mold and place it on a pallet for its journey through the rest of the process.
Removal of risers, gates and inlets are performed on the saw. Then the part travels to the heat treating and aging process. Parts are carefully loaded into wire baskets and placed on a table to be heat treated. The amount of time in the heat treat and the temperature are critical factors since the temper of the alloy is determined in this process.
 Machine Shop
CNC MACHINING - MAZAK lathes and FADAL machining centers are used to provide additional services to the customer. Once the parts come from the finishing department and heat treating, it goes to the machine shop. Our machine shop is run by capable machinists and operators who program the CNC machines to operate the required customer specifications to the part.
We specialize in aluminum, brass or free machining steel up to 8” round by 14” long for our Mazak CNC Lathes. Tolerances possible: (under 1”=+/- .0005), (1” to 2.5”=+/-.001), (over 2.5”=+/-.002). Our Computer Numeric Control turning centers can perform a wide variety of operations: turning, facing, grooving, drilling, boring, tapping chamfering, countersinking, profiling, knurling, reaming, tapering, threading, counter bores and radius.
 L A Aluminum’s Fadal Vertical Machining CNC centers (Made in the USA) have a 30 Tool Automatic Tool Changer. These centers offer spindles with the torque for milling steel and high speeds for cutting aluminum. We mill aluminum or brass up to 18” by 36” with tolerances of boring = +/- .001 and millwork = +/- .003.
From simple turning operations on the lathes to complex machining tasks on the 4th and 5th axis FADAL machining centers and horizontal machine, L A Aluminum provides its customers a turnkey project solution to fit most modern requirements. These combined capabilities allow us to take responsibility on projects from start to finish.
Final Detailing, Plating & Powdercoating
Finish work which includes deburring, sanding, grinding, plating and powder coating provide additional job cost savings. Reducing the amount of work required in the customer's shop means that cost is reduced by lessening or eliminating the need for extra handling of the part. Light assembly such as stamping part numbers, attaching labels, bagging and packaging to customer specifications are all available at L A Aluminum Casting Company. Complete assembly is offered as an additional service to improve the customer's profit margin. One stop, one shop, and your product will be shipped to the location of your choice.
Go or No Go
 During many of the procedures and upon completion of all the machining operations L A Aluminum performs quality checks to ensure the manufactured part meets the exact customer specifications. These tasks vary from performing S.P.C. (Statistical Process Control) on machined castings, to using "go/no-go gauges" (to determine if threads are correct) to pressure testing using a testing apparatus. Additionally, we verify our heat treat process by testing the hardness using the mil spec MIL-H-6088F.
Our quality program is always improving as we change to meet our customer's requirements. Seminars, in-house training, along with the certification of all testing apparatus(s) guarantees we are on the leading edge of the latest technology.
The Quality Assurance Program at L A Aluminum is designed to meet a wide variety of industries, including commercial, military, automotive, industrial, and farming. Our primary goal is to meet or exceed customer requirements. Specific casting control measures include: Heat Treat Certification, Hardness Testing, First Article Inspection and Pressure Testing. All equipment and tools are certified at regular intervals to MIL-STD 45662.
Finished and Ready to Ship!
 After all quality and order requirements are met, the final inspection is performed in the shipping department. Every piece is inspected by our shipping team. They are the final approval station in the process. Once the shipping team is satisfied, the parts are carefully packed and shipped according to the order instructions.
This concludes your tour of L A Aluminum Casting Company. Thank you for joining us.
Please take a moment to fill out our "Send me more information" form and let us know your comments and/or questions. | |
|
| |
|  | | |  | | | |
L A Aluminum Casting Company
W. 1905 Miles Avenue
PO Box 250
Hayden Lake, Idaho 83835
Copyright © 2007
L A Aluminum Casting Company
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
posted Nov 9, 2011 2:01 PM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 22, 2011 3:24 PM
]
January 18, 2012 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
1633 W 1st Street, Cheney, WA 99004-8800
A facilities and plant tour
of the company's Cheney, WA. The company specializes in custom
engineering and manufacturing large scale HVAC systems, and services a
number of different industries. Haakon's custom approach to engineering
and manufacturing allows a high level of customization to meet the
stringent requirements for a wide variety of applications; from general
office to food and dairy to highly sensitive computer chip
manufacturing.
Labels: engineering, HVAC, Manufactuiring
  ENGINEERING All units are designed and engineered from our head office in Richmond, BC allowing for focused engineering solutions and consistent quality. - Fans are based on tests and procedures performed in accordance with AMCA Publication 211 and AMCA Publication 311 and comply with the requirements of the AMCA Certified Ratings Program.
- Dampers comply with the requirement of the AMCA Certified Ratings Program for air leakage.
- Casing insulation provided with NFPA flame spread rating not exceeding 25 and smoke developed rating not exceeding 50.
- Casing acoustical performance tested by an accredited independent laboratory. Sound transmission loss values shall conform explicitly with the ASTM designation E90-85 and E413-73. Sound absorption values shall conform explicitly with the requirements of the ASTM Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption Coefficients by the Reverberation Method: ASTM C423-84A and E795-83
- Silencer acoustical performance tested by an accredited independent laboratory conforming explicitly with ASTM E477-90.
- ETL unit certification for all electrical installations.
- Roofcurbs and units designed for IBC
- Certified fan assembly earthquake restraints.
- Storm louvers tested in accordance with AMCA 500-L99 for wind driven rain.
- Casing deflection analysis of custom units.
- Units designed to withstand Tornado forces (upon request).
- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for both structural and airflow dynamic analysis using Ansys Workbench v12 — Mechanical and CFX Package.
- Static structural analysis
- Dynamic structural analysis
- Modal analysis to calculate system resonnance (vibration)
- Harmonic response analysis (vibration)
- Heat Transfer analysis
- Computational fluid/airflow dynamics analysis (CFD)
- Airstream/airflow simulation in units
- Airflow mixing analysis (including heat transfer)
MANUFACTURINGManufacturing is supported by three factories; Richmond, BC, Cheney, WA, and Kingston, ON. Utilizing a wide range of materials and diverse suppliers, each component is custom made for the specific unit; from access doors to fanbases. 
Each factory leverages state of the art equipment to ensure the highest level of quality and each unit undergoes an extensive quality control unique to each and every unit. 
|
posted Oct 31, 2011 1:40 PM by Dave Davidson
[
updated Nov 24, 2011 3:02 PM
]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3bkZBJV7X8
November 15 and 17, 2011 at 6:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Gonzaga University ? Jepson Center, Wolf Auditorium, Spokane
TO REGISTER or for Questions: call Dan Tabish at 922-7663, or you can email at dan@inlandmet.com.
Topics Covered
What is Steel? Steel Designations (AISI, ASTM, AMS, trade names) -plain carbon steels -alloy steels -stainless steels -tool steels Heat Treating Theory Mechanical Properties and Their Measurement Heat Treating Methods -furnace atmospheres -through-hardening -carburizing -induction hardening -annealing -stress relieving Steel Applications The
instructor is Dan Tabish of Inland NW Metallurgical Services. He has
been in the testing and heat treating business for over 20 years Jepsn center is designated as JC The
Jepson Center is the home of the business school. It is the building
labeled ?JC? on the map. (directly north of the small lake on the map).
Parking is available on the surrounding streets and in some lots on
campus. If you park in a lot on campus, be extremely careful to park in
visitor spaces only! Please arrive early
so that you have plenty of time to find parking, make your way to the
Jepson Center, and get signed in for the first class. Labels: Alloy selection, steel, manufacturing, hardening, stress relieving, tools steels, Heat treat theory, heat treating
Event Organizer: DAVE DAVIDSON (SOCIETY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS, Co-Chair:MMR Tech Comm | Advisor: DESC Deburring/Surface Conditioning Tech Group)
|
posted Oct 28, 2011 12:01 PM by Dave Davidson
Kathy Looman, West Coast Membership manager for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers sat in on the Chapter 248 Executive Committee breakfast meeting on September 7. Following the meeting Kathy had the opportunity to visit several Spokane companies with long time associations with SME. (1) Reiff Injection Molding, a family owned company run by 2011 SME-Spokane chair Jim McCall. Jim had the opportunity to explain how the company recovered after having a large segment of it's business off-shored to India years ago by a major US corporation. The company has since not only replaced the business that was off-shored, but is expanding beyond its former production values by providing a level of customer service to its US customers that anticipates customer needs. (2) MacKay Manufacturing with Katie Mackay. MacKay Mfg. has a well desrved reputation as a precision machining center of excellence. It recently won a supplier of the year award over a group of 1000 vendors to a major manuafcturer of electron microscope equipment (for quality, consistency and delivery. (See KREM-TV news coverage at http://dryfinish.blogspot.com/2011/07/mackay-mfg-spokane-wa-machine-shop.html) and was a nominee candidates for the Association of Washington Business's Manufacturer of ther Year Award. Kathy was able to view company operations involving precision machining of surgical/medical tools, electronics, and infra-red optical camera housings among others. The company is a privately owned, family run business that has thrived with a very successful implementastion of lean manufacturing. SME Chapter 248 members have had the opportunity to tour the company on "Lean Benchmark" Tours on a number of occasions. (3) Hanson Worldwide: Chris Wood. At Hanson, Kathy had the opportunity to view operations of a company that specializers in the design, engineering and manufacture of extremely large equipment for the Aerospace manufacturing, agricultural, mining and oil/gas industries. (See company video at:http://www.thefactorycompany.com/capabilities.htm) SME Chapter 248 organized a plant tour of the facility in the spring of 2011- |
|
