Need help adjusting to troubleshooting for others (as lead person)

[Shade1992]

Hello my name is Shade Murphy and I am 21 years of age. I started in a machine shop a year ago through a temp agency in dire need of a job.
When I started I didn't know what a lathe was, but had a strong background in mathematics and computers, so the company I am currently working for decided to hire me on.
It is a part shop, and I was fortunate enough (unfortunately for the company) that within my 3 month temp agency time, all but two of their experienced employees had quit or gotten fired.
What I know:In the last 9 months, I have been taught alot by my manager and at this point I can handle any set up on any of our Okuma lathe 1 spindle-1 turret, or 2 spindle-1 turret machines.
I am able to program indepthly, edit programs to improve cycle time, calculate feeds and speeds, and troubleshoot new/old setups efficiently and accurately.
My problem: Recently, I am seeing less setup time, and had been training some of our newer people ( our average employee experience level is around 1 year) to set up. Naturally, I have been given the oppourtunity to no longer troubleshoot for myself (operating and set up),but for others.
I have been feeling extremely overwhelmed because I found that I am not a very good teacher, and when I start to become overencumbered by 3 or more people asking me to come fix their machine, I get flustered and make mistakes. Big mistakes.
A week ago we had a barfeed error, which i fixed, but the barfeeder bugged and tried running an inch long part while holding on to approx .150. Needless to say it crashed. I was in a rush when I came to fix it and didnt realize that when the bore crashed it got pushed back.
Well the face groove came in after and tried rapiding in .025 farther than the afroementioned pushed back bore had bored out. (500 dollar face groove, needed to be shiped from Sweden= 2.5 days of downtime on our newest machine)
Then today, we had an operator run a spade drill into 316 without coolant. I attempted to pull the same spade drill out and replace it, but we had none in stock. I asked him to hang it while I was helping another operator, and when I looked over i seen him using my brand new indicator to dial it in.
Afraid that he was going to break it, i ran over and suggested to take over, and lost in translation was the fact that he hadnt touched it off in z yet. Break bell ran, And i forgot to touch it off. Load monitors had been turned off by said operator, and so when the shorter drill didnt drill as deep as it should, a rough bore, finish bore, profile bore, and a carbide ID threader all got wiped out
But it doesnt stop there. We were using a 3 jaw chuck in a 9 tool setup. The insert drill and spade drill were hung in blocks next to eachother but the jaws had been turned down. After replacing all the crashed tooling, I touched every tool off in z and x.
When the shorter spade drill ran during its last .200 the Insert drill clipped the top of the jaws. Now the turret needs realigned.


TLDR: I crashed 2 machines in a month and am facing possible suspension.
My question: How did some of you adjust to becoming the goto guy for everyone. Should I tell my operators to not touch the machines until I get there, or trust that they can do it themselves with verbal explanation?
What can I do to stop further mistakes? Should I just tell my employer that maybe I am not ready for a job where I have to take responsibility for so many other people?


Sorry for the wall of text, but you know how difficult it can be to describe any situation in a machine shop.


Thanks in advanced.


-Shade

 

[Ray C]

First, I think the employer is being a bit negligent for tossing you in head first. If they're going to give you responsibility outside of taking care of yourself, they should be paying you for it AND talk it over with you first. As a person whose run engineering teams for most of my life, if I have plans for a person, I discuss it with them first.

First things first, you not only need to worry about setting-up machines properly but primarily, watch for your safety and keep and eye open for the safety of others. If this shop is a sweat-shop and would rather see product turn-over vs appropriate safety, you might start thinking to look elsewhere. Also, if you've got a computer background, are you sure this is what you want to be doing? Get those questions answered in your head.

After all this, only you can decided if you want to take-on more responsibility. If you accept that task, then you need to lay-down rules and procedures. You can't go walking around haphazardly helping folks and setting things up. You need to outline some kind of schedule and create a checklist of what needs to be done before you press the "go" button. If you don't like doing things in an organized fashion, this job might not be right for you.

It's good to get opinions from others but, it's also good to ask yourself all the really hard questions -and give yourself honest answers. -And don't play games with yourself... If you're honest with yourself, then take whatever actions are necessary to reach your goals and so you can continue to be honest with yourself. You might need to do it in small steps but, the ultimate ability to live inside your own skin is something you must decide to do as a conscious act.

Ray

 

[Shade1992]

Thank you for your time and response Ray. Being a college dropout (Regents Recipient, although was too immature to commit to college) Im hesitant to try to take that next step in life. At work its a hard balance on both ends. I can safely assure you the employer isnt necessarily telling me to ignore safety and just bust out setup after setup to turn over parts asap, But mixed with seeing the schedule and my personality; I tend to put this sort of pressure on myself. Unfortunately I tend to agree with you that due to the fact that I currently lack the ability to slow things down and make a clear and organized "to do list", I may just be unfit to do the job.
I will say however that I am extremely confident in my ability to take (not make ) any tooling and blueprint and ensure that it is running to the best of its capabilities with the capacity of said tooling and clamping fixture. I just find it difficult to jump into everyone else's situation and do the same.
I do love my job, although the pay isnt great... seems like a redundant theme in machining. Maybe I need to step back, step down, and try to focus more on the solo ( programming/drafting) side of things and less on the managing and machining side of things; given my skill set. Thanks again ray.

-Shade

 

[valleyboy101]

Hi Shade,
I have to wonder what is the management like? Putting a 1 year off the street employee in charge of 3 new employees, running expensive machines hardly seems like a good idea for the company or fair to you. As you say when you have 2 guys waiting for advise while you are helping the third really puts a lot of pressure on you. All that I can suggest, is do one thing right at a time, wait til it is done and move on to the next problem. When you are frazzled and feel under pressure it is a prescription for mistakes and crashes. Just relax and deal with the problem at hand and put other things to the back of your mind. (it takes practice)
It is worth talking to your manager and don't say that you can't do it, but explaining the situation and your desire to do as good a job for the company as you have in the past. Try to work something out.
At worst you have had a really good year of learning and have a basis of knowledge and experience for the future.
Hope all goes well and that my suggestions help.
Keep us posted.
Michael

 

[Ray C]

For a young guy, you're alright. Probably have a good head on your shoulders too so, instead of beating yourself up about departing from something you didn't want to do (i.e. college) be thankful and proud of yourself for making the decision you did. At this point in time, your life is far from set in stone. Next time you get into one of those hustle-and-bustle modes of thinking and operation, take a step back and try to observe yourself and the environment right at that moment. Ask yourself, what's wrong with this picture and figure-out a better course of action to improve that situation at-hand. I'm thinking that in time, you will be able to lead others but it's best to first have a darn good idea of how to handle your own tasks at hand. Once you got that down, then maybe, share a little more of yourself with others and try to help them but, always remember... always watch-out for number 1 -and that would be you. Once you gain a few successes under your belt, take a moment and be proud of yourself. Then get your butt back to work and figure-out the next thing to improve about yourself or the environment around you.

Ray

 

[Shade1992]

Thanks Michael. I wish it was only 3 employees, but there are 9 employees in the department under me, one other equal and then the manager. I didn't intend for the post to seem so sympathy seeking as it is. I suppose if to be honest the pressure to keep things rolling is a personality flaw of my own. My management is great, the owner however is a different story. One way or the other though, between the two posts I see that machining in production isn't always about the latter (production). So thank you both for helping me further my understanding of my new role and progressing from my old role. What I have gathered is that being the bottom line in any high cost decision/operation, isn't about getting things back running asap per-say, but about getting things back running correctly, the first time, without even taking the chance of making a mistake. Being young and having a 'go go go' personality was great when I was worried about myself and my production, but back then I knew exactly what I did before I got there and knew all the steps i took, as to where I could avoid mistakes. Even if things dont work out at this company, This is still an experience that I can apply to all facets of work and life. Thanks for the input guys, I really do appreciate it.

-Shade

- - - Updated - - -

take a moment and be proud of yourself. Then get your butt back to work and figure-out the next thing to improve about yourself or the environment around you.

Ray

That bit made me laugh (a few times). Thanks Ray. I was feeling pretty down on myself after a day like I had today; but a few beers and a good movie later, I feel like I can take your advice and turn things around tommorow. *Cheers*

 

[valleyboy101]

Thanks for the reply Shade,
You're young and smart and learning fast - you'll do GOOD.
Every day can't be a good day but as long as the trend is upward it's good- just remember where you were a year age and how far you've come.
Michael

 

[ScrapMetal]

Shade,

I'm not real surprised to hear of your situation, given your location (I just noticed it and that got my curiosity going). There are not a whole lot of people with CNC/machining skills available in this area.

Anyway, try to only focus on the task at hand, double check EVERYTHING before hitting the button. As you've already concluded, getting it done "right" beats out getting it going fast and in the long run it also saves both time and money. You'll become quicker with solutions as you practice. At the same time, keep an eye out for opportunities for you to pursue the line of work you really want to do.

Best of luck,

-Ron (Elkhorn, NE) :hi:

 

[chuckorlando]

I'm not much help in real world experience so take it with a grain... What I am is a guy who's brain is constantly in over drive. It can be real hard to keep things straight as I have a million things running around in my head.

Maybe you could write up a check list for each machine. Print them out and hang them at the machines. Spend the time with each guy setting up the machine according to the list. Talk about why each step is needed. Repeat. After a few times your guys should be able to do it.

If they cant do it with 100% confidence (not always the same as accuracy) the rule is, dont do nothing. Dont touch the machine untill you are there to walk them through it. That way you now whats been done before you get there. If he has started set up, pull it down and start from the begining.

I will also say the worst thing you could ever do instructing me would be take my job and do it for me. I wont learn watching you. Your better off starting from step one and just watch the man do his job. Only stopping him when he is wrong. Then explain why he's wrong, what will happen or not happen, and why "this" is the right way.

 

[Big Rack]

At time being fair to middling on a couple of CNC lathes the owner would hire temps to run them so I kinda know how you feel. First: patience you need it. Second: Willingness to train (see patience) Third: Understanding that not everyone is the same. We had one guy come in with 25 years experience running one part one way with one setup.
Finally if you have some workers that seem willing to learn which is vastly different from eager to show off be kind to them, if you have someone who is not suitable tell the boss and let him make the decision but make sure the boss is aware because things do roll down hill.
Example we had a part that 30 per hour on a barfed lathe was profitable I set it up on my Swiss style Hardinge I good bust 90-100 an hour I would expect 50-60 from a temp we had about 1500 pcs ran with a broken groove tool over 2 days after I don't know how many running good? Checking parts? Filling out the QC sheets? At first I was livid one operator was a guy's wife with bad vision other was 3rd shift runniing his butt off trying to help others. Fixed the problem by realizing the groove mics were tricky as hell talked them into buying a set of digital mics and made a go no go gage. In other words made it a lot easier for them. Same machine different job came in set parts counter to 25 manually inspect parts. Next day it would run the program to a point wait and them time out. At that time Hardinge service was around $90 a travel hour $135 on job and a per diem for expenses after all day on phone where the software guy says it's a machine problem machine guy said it was program. Turned out the guy running it couldn't find the parts counter and changed a dwell in the parameters of course didn't say exactly what he did. Another time same machine same oprerator we had a relay go out on barfeeder and it lost the end of bar signal had to have the parts so set the counter to 5 manually change bar, operator discovered that machine would just alarm out never thought that he was smacking a unchucked bar against the cutoff tool and beat out the x axis ballscrew bearings. He worked out better in the fabrication department.
So patience, ability to see with others eyes and keep the boss informed. Turned out the women worked out pretty good as she would always come and get me. Of course I had to fix all the bad pieces from the groove fiasco in an old superslant one at a time. So if you ever move the window in a up armored Humvee or pop a top on a can of Miller's that was me.