Custom Carbon & Graphite Machining

24 Nov

Update on The Romer Arm: It's Here

A few months ago in this blog, we detailed an Ohio safety grant that Semco applied for. The grant, supporting businesses’ endeavors to improve workplace safety, would help Semco purchase a portable measuring arm. This state-of-the-art device would be used to perform difficult measurements of graphite components inside of large machines we use at Semco for graphite fabrication. Often, the component being manufactured must be measured while within the machine. In these cases, a quality inspector would have to go into the machine, compromising the quality of measurements (the machines are tight spaces for the inspectors and thus impeded accurate...

17 Nov

Overall Labor Effectiveness (OLE) is Working

In last month’s blog, we discussed the OLE (Overall Labor Effectiveness) tracking program we began implementing recently at Semco. Efficiency in graphite manufacturing, as in any manufacturing business, is crucial to our bottom line and to our ability to serve our customers well. By eliminating waste when we machine our clients’ custom graphite components, we save them money on materials costs and get these components to our customers more quickly. The program also helps our managers determine where more training is required on the shop floor and what parts of the manufacturing process are producing unnecessary scrap. OLE is the...

10 Nov

Dave Myers Ten Year Anniversary | Graphite Materials Manager

We would like to take this opportunity to celebrate Dave Myers’ 10th anniversary as a Materials Manager at Semco. Dave is a key team member, responsible for much of the growth and success Semco experienced in the past 10 years. As a Materials Manager, he was instrumental in developing his department as we moved into the new building 10 years ago. As we’ve settled into our new facility, Dave has been key to the effective management of the graphite material that is the lifeblood of our company. When he arrived at Semco, though, Dave couldn’t have told one graphite grade...

26 Oct

Safety Committee

While it may be a cliche, it’s not far off to describe the workforce at Semco as a family. Many of us have worked together for years (or even decades), we all share a common purpose and interests, and we look out for one another. As we’ve outlined before, when working in graphite industries (or any heavy manufacturing industries), safety must be a top priority. The work environment can be a safe place, but workplace safety most certainly doesn’t come about on its own. Graphite manufacturing involves powerful machines, heavy blocks of raw materials, extremely high temperatures, and a host...

19 Oct

OLE: Overall Labor Effectiveness

Businesses, it is frequently said, run on data. From targeting specific audiences for online advertisements to running sophisticated cost comparisons, contemporary businesses crunch a lot of data to maximize profits. Much of that data comes from within the company itself, as the performance of salesmen, marketing departments, and managers is tracked and subsequent adjustments to strategy or personel is made. In the manufacturing sector, it is common (even necessary) to carefully track the performance of equipment. A program for doing this is called OEE, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness. An OEE program helps provide the management with valuable hard data on...