Today’s proceedings with Apex Tool Group were once again fascinating. I spent my day with Cecil as we explored all the challenges associated with engineering good quality tools.
We began with a detailed overview of the seemingly verbose documents needed to communicate product goals from department to department, for example: a chart where end-user goals are ranked by importance then communicated to industrial designers and engineers. It seems, as I look over this process, that each department has its own responsibilities and fights for its own benefit. The industrial designers always want the tool’s aesthetic to be perfect, the project managers want it to fly off the shelves, the engineers want it to be manufactured just like they specified, and the manufacturers want it to be cheap.
On that note, Cecil decided to show us “THE VAULT” in the dingy, dusty corner of ATG’s warehouse. The vault, which is really more of a closet, stores old drawings for 20th century Lufkin tools, all handwritten and exceedingly detailed (think of a blueprint). Since I’m not allowed to show you an authentic Lufkin drawing, I’ve pasted one from Google below. These drawings are used to communicate the tool’s exact geometry and tolerances from the engineers to the manufacturers.
After discussing the intricacies manufacturing, Cecil and I had lunch in the breezy courtyard.
Soon after lunch, Cecil and I found ourselves somewhat unsure of what to do. So, Adam, another engineer on Cecil’s team, dared me to assemble one of the company’s new tape measures. I gladly accepted the challenge, assuming it would be four simple screws and a smear of grease. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Indeed, the process of assembling a tape measure requires one to carefully and tediously wind up a coiled spring of nearly twenty five feet. Better yet, the spring is razor sharp and thinner than a human hair (this hair analogy really couldn’t be more useful when shadowing at an engineering firm). I did, of course, wear proper safety gear, and the process took me over twenty minutes. However, at the end, I got the gift of a new tape measure; I couldn’t be more excited! Side note: if you ever need to buy a tape measure, buy the Lufkin Shockforce, it’s clearly the best option.
At the very end of the day, Cecil allowed me the reigns of his CAD software, PTC Creo. He challenged me to model a Sharpie from his desk, and I gave it my best attempt. While I have used CAD software before, and did manage to model almost all of it, Cecil gave me many expert tips to optimize my modeling process. I ended up learning a lot about CAD and design.
After only two days shadowing various people at ATG, I have already begun to get a deep understanding of all the interactions and challenges involved in manufacturing tools. Not just communicating with other engineers, but also meticulously documenting one’s work through drafting, communicating exact textures or colors through industry standards, and sending dozens of prototypes to be tooled and manufactured.
At the end of my day, one of the engineers actually gifted me a set of dial calipers! I am so excited to start using them, and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have been given at Apex Tool Group.
