Fasterestest » manufacturing

Clinkenbeard’s Fasterestest Blog

Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:59:27 +0000

Clinkenbeard’s Fasterestest Blog addresses two key audiences:

1. The Rockford business, political, economic development, manufacturing, and aerospace-related communities;

2. All professionals who wish to engage in a forum that focuses on any issues of “speed to market” as they relate to all areas in the product development cycle in relationship to metal casting, rapid manufacturing and rapid prototyping.

It is true that these key audiences are similar in scope to our other social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and our Fasterestest Group on Linkedin), but this blog allows readers a forum to present more in-depth comments and more detailed lead topics. It is also the social media site where we have found that most Rockford-area business and economic conversation takes place. So, we thought we’d perpetuate that with this mission statement.

With respect to our slogan, Fasterestest,” that’s simple: we operate under a speed strategy that creates a healthy sense of urgency in our workplace and allows us to deliver some of the “shorterestest” lead times on Earth for the manufacture of our customers’ products and prototypes.

So, please, join, participate, learn, teach and enjoy this site! It’s ours as much as it is yours.

The Staff of Clinkenbeard

Manufacturing in the Rock River Valley

Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:13:40 +0000

We are very pleased to promote other blogs when their work is of such good value. Got a few minutes. Read Manufacturing 2.0 on the Rockford Register Star’s website.

Here, Rock River Valley manufacturing experts discuss the many facets of manufacturing: technology, education, training, events, people and any other aspects of manufacturing activity occurring now or planned for the near future.

This is a critical part of our economic community. Use this blog to get the word out and solicit feedback on local and global manufacturing. Readers to the blog hope to better engage employers, employees and our future work force and increase their understanding of manufacturing now.

Some Thoughts on the Future of Rapid Manufacturing

Some Thoughts on the Future of Rapid Manufacturing

Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:04:49 +0000

Here are two good articles about the future of rapid manufacturing.

The first one is, “An Electronic CEO Fireside Chat With Ron Gustafson, Clinkenbeard,” on Product Design & Development’s website. In this article, PD&D Editor David Mantey asks Ron Gustafson questions such, What is the greatest challenge you’ve ever faced at Clinkenbeard?, What’s the method behind the “Fasterestest” madness?, What is the future of rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing?, and more.

The other article is called, “Realizing the Rapid Manufacturing Dream,” by Adina Shorr, CEO of Objet Geometries, and appears on Next Generation Manufacturing’s website. Shorr’s article begins, “Over the past seven or so years, the world of rapid prototyping has increasingly embraced digital technologies, bringing further gains in flexibility and even greater savings in time and cost. Some of these technologies and the accompanying materials can be applied in other realms – with rapid manufacturing as one of the promising avenues under exploration.”

Where do you see the future of rapid manufacturing heading?

Farnborough International Airshow 2010

Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:49:40 +0000

Is it too early to discuss the Farnborough International Airshow 2010? Anyone making any plans for next year yet? It takes place exactly one year from now this week?

Some Thoughts on the Future of Rapid Manufacturing

A Healthy Sense of Urgency as an Element of Corporate Culture in the Rapid Manufacturing Industry

Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:49:41 +0000

Something’s kind of nippin’ at me today, and I wonder if I’m alone in my feelings? It has to do with the response time I experience in doing business in a B2B context with more than just a few companies.

In addition to my role as project management at Clinkenbeard, I purchase a variety of raw materials consumed by the Clinkenbeard machine. To be honest, I have a difficult time finding companies who have a healthy sense of urgency needed to deliver products and services when I need them. As I speak with many people who call to inquire about the services we offer, I find that I’m not alone in this search for companies who possess this sense of urgency.

Clinkenbeard specializes in expedited delivery. Our clients have THE NEED FOR SPEED. We have developed a reputation for accepting the challenging deadlines posed by this group of clients. Maybe it’s that we are so used to meeting challenging deadlines and working in an environment of rapid response that we expect everyone else do to the same. Or maybe I’m correct in my being under whelmed by the response rates and senses of urgency I experience in dealing with some companies today?

What has been your experience?

I believe that customers deserve immediate feedback. If I can supply information immediately I do so; if not I reply with a time estimate to supply this information, so that the customer knows that their email or voicemail has been received and the wheels are turning to supply the information they require.

With respect to manufacturing, the goal remains the same. We strive to supply quotations in 24 hours or less in most cases. Our staff has been exposed to a wide range of manufacturing processes, which allows them to identify the absolute fastest process for the part our customers need. Once we identify the Fasterestest process to make customer parts the rest will soon be recent history!

Clinkenbeard Named “Best in Class” by Aerospace eBusiness for its Use of Social Media at Paris Air Show

Mark Ricotta — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:14:23 +0000

Clinkenbeard, a Rockford, Illinois-based rapid manufacturing and prototyping company, was named by Aerospace eBusiness as “best in class” for its use of social media during the Paris Air Show, which took place June 15 through 21.

One of Clinkenbeard’s key markets is the aerospace industry and Clinkenbeard’s Ron Jr. “Reg” Gustafson attended the aerospace-dominated show and monitored and participated in the company’s social media networking, which included a Twitter page (www.twitter.com/Clinkenbeard) and a company blog (http://Clinkenbeard.info).

Other participants on the Clinkenbeard social channels included customers, prospects, the aerospace trade press, local Rockford, Illinois, media, economic organizations, individuals from the state of Illinois, a number of participants associated directly with the Paris Air Show, and more.

Aerospace eBusiness also reported ( http://ludozone.net/2009/06/22/social-media-at-paris-air-show-by-the-numbers/) that Clinkenbeard had the third most active Twitter account of all companies tweeting at the show, out-tweeting companies ranging from Raytheon to GE Tech Infrastructure.

A week before the show, in a news release, Gustafson encouraged all interested parties to “join the conversation and participate.”

This call for participation was one of the likely reasons involvement was so great, Gustafson said.

Gustafson added that, “One of Clinkenbeard’s key metrics of success is our adherence to meeting and exceeding the time-to-market requirements of our customers. Our company slogan is ‘Fasterestest.’ We think our having communicated in a real-time mode from the show is a form of our ‘Fasterestest’ way of doing business. ”

According to Aerospace eBusiness, “Most of the big companies used Twitter in a ‘traditional’ way, simply as a relay for the press releases they had posted elsewhere. However, there were two exceptions. GE started using their accounts early and was very active on the community boards and other social media outlets well before the show started. Clinkenbeard (Rockford, Illinois), a small US manufacturer of complex cast and machined parts, was the best user of the medium in the industry class and was rewarded with great coverage including a television spot back in Illinois.”

According to Gustafson, both sites will continue to be active components in Clinkenbeard’s integrated marketing mix.

Social media company D.D. Griffith Consulting assisted Clinkenbeard in launching the social media sites and will continue to provide consultation to Clinkenbeard with respect to Clinkenbeard’s ongoing social media communications.

# # #

About Aerospace eBusiness

Aerospace eBusiness is a website operated by Ludo Van Vooren, a 15-year veteran of the aerospace industry. Mr. Van Vooren blogs about eBusiness, Social Media, Internet Marketing, International Business Development, and Online Supply Chain Management. He now spends the majority of his time developing the Internet as a communications and news vehicle for the aerospace and defense industry.

About Clinkenbeard

Clinkenbeard is a worldwide leader in the rapid production of complex castings and machined parts using a wide variety of plastics and metals. The company’s principal markets include US defense and government, aerospace, aviation, automotive, truck, marine and agricultural. Some of Clinkenbeard’s aerospace and aviation clients include Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce. The patented Clinkenbeard® Toolingless Process is industry renown for producing metal castings efficiently, affordably and extremely fast. The process is based on machining sand cores and molds without the expense of tooling. All machining is done using CNC, which produces superior speed and accuracy.

# # #

Mark A. Ricotta
815.708.7254
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markricotta

Paris Air Show: The Activity at the Rockford Booth was Greater than I ever Imagined!

Eric Voyles — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:56:00 +0000

The activity at the Rockford booth was greater than I ever imagined!

I really did not know what to expect. And I certainly never expected the level of interest that we experienced.

Rockford first set its sights on aerospace no more than three years ago when in 2006 the Carter*Burgess (now Jacobs Engineering) targeted industry report came back and identified aerospace manufacturing and R&D industry as a potential industry to target for expansion and attraction.

In 2007 Winnebago County did a more comprehensive study of the immediate cluster of aerospace companies within the Rockford Metro Suburban Area. This study revealed a rather large concentration of 90 aerospace and aviation companies in the immediate Rockford area.

Companies included those engaged in Power Management and distribution, R&D and prototype development, manufacturing of component parts for a diverse number of sub-assembly’s, logistics, and large amount of maintenance and repair operations.

In 2008 RAEDC began discussions with several of its largest investors in the aerospace industry to determine if developing a cluster strategy would make sense for the region.

It was due to and through these conversations that RAEDC received help from SupplyCore to determine that there was an even larger group than thought. In fact, 130 aerospace suppliers existed in the Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin area.

This aerospace group encouraged RAEDC to attend the Paris Air Show and determine if there was room for Rockford on the global aerospace stage.

I really did not know what to expect. I never expected to come back with 33 business cards received in conversations at the booth, or in meetings with entities wanting to know more about Rockford. I never expected the level of interest that we experienced.

I will be presenting our results to key RAEDC volunteers and local aerospace leaders, but I now expect that they will encourage RAEDC to continue our efforts.

I will also expect this will include participation at the Farnborough International Airshow next year from July 19 – 25, 2010 in Farnborough England, asking for DCEO to partner with RAEDC again, working to get more Rockford area companies to attend that air show and then inviting several new leads and prospective clients to come and visit Rockford.

Here is what I found interesting. As I looked around the show I found that the size of our cluster here in greater Rockford region, in total companies, was comparable to several other very well known US locations and several regions in countries that were presenting aerospace for attraction.

WOW!!! We definitely have something here to crow about in the Rockford region!

I hope that Clinkenbeard and Leading Edge Hydraulics each got what they wanted out of the show. I believe they did.

I know that while I was in the booth one of Clinkenbeard’s clients came by to introduce himself to Reg Gustafson, Project Manager for Clinkenbeard, and to thank them for quality work on a rebuild of a part for a WWII War Bird. I witnessed another potential client step up and ask about quoting a piece of work.

As I was busy outside in meetings, and in the booth so infrequently, I am sure that other such conversations occurred.

Leading Edge Hydraulics attended the Paris Air Show to research the potential of entering the aerospace market with their products. My understanding from Russ Dennis, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Leading Edge Hydraulics, is that they came away being favorably impressed as to the potential.

In addition, we were able to publicly announce that Kaney Aerospace was the finalist for a prototype development opportunity for an Australian company, Tigerfish. We were able to distribute information on Kaney Aerospace to at least one other entity specifically related to their composite capabilities.

Other entities whose information was distributed included: Ingenium, Balanced IT, Emery Air, Chicago Rockford International Airport, Greater Rockford Airport Authority, Northern Illinois University, Rockford College, Rock Valley College, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and Ingersoll Machine Tool.

# # #

With Thanks to Special Guest Author

Eric Voyles, VP
RAEDC
+1-815-987-8118

http://www.rockfordil.com/

Clinkenbeard Will Blog and Tweet from Paris Air Show

Mark Ricotta — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:32:16 +0000

Please see release below. Clinkenbeard will be the only Rockford company communicating from the Paris Air Show in real-time with aerospace and aviation customers and prospects and the Rockford business community. The Rockford Area Economic and Development Council will be blogging on a local Rockford television website.

News Release

Date: June 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, please contact Ron Jr. (Reg) Gustafson, 815.226.0291, reg@clinkenbeard.com

Clinkenbeard Will Blog and Tweet from Paris Air Show

Key audiences will be Clinkenbeard aerospace and aviation customers and prospects, the Rockford business community, and Rockford-area and industry media; the company encourages participation by individuals and companies that comprise each of these key audiences.

(Rockford, Ill.) — Ron Jr. (Reg) Gustafson, project manager for Clinkenbeard, a Rockford, Illinois-based rapid manufacturing and prototyping company, will be communicating with customers, prospects, the Rockford business community, and the media through a blog and Twitter while he attends the Paris Air Show, June 15 through 17, 2009.

According to Gustafson, he will be using the social media tools to build and reinforce relationships with Clinkenbeard customers and prospects by providing information from the show about trends, events and products being discussed, presented, and exhibited at the show.

Gustafson indicated that he also will be communicating about news and information he learns about that could impact the Rockford business community in a positive way.

Gustafson encourages anyone to join the conversation and participate, including the trade press and the local and regional Rockford media.

“We are encouraging our customers and prospects to participate, and hope that other Rockford companies and organizations as well as the media will join the conversation,“ Gustafson said.

With respect to Clinkenbeard customer and prospects, Gustafson added that, “One of Clinkenbeard’s key metrics of success is our adherence to meeting and exceeding the time-to-market requirements of our customers. Our company slogan is ‘Fasterestest.’ We think our communicating in a real-time mode from the show is a form of our ‘Fasterestest’ way of doing business.“

Clinkenbeard’s blog can be accessed at http://clinkenbeard.info and the Twitter page can be accessed at http://www.twitter.com/Clinkenbeard

Both sites are being designed for the show and will be show-ready June 11.

Social media company D.D. Griffith Consulting will be consulting and assisting Clinkenbeard in organizing its social media communications.

For more information, please contact Ron Jr. (Reg) Gustafson, 815.226.0291, reg@clinkenbeard.com

About Clinkenbeard
Clinkenbeard is a worldwide leader in the rapid production of complex castings and machined parts using a wide variety of plastics and metals. The company’s principal markets include US defense and government, aerospace, aviation, automotive, truck, marine and agricultural.

Some of Clinkenbeard’s aerospace and aviation clients include Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce.

The patented Clinkenbeard® Toolingless Process is industry renown for producing metal castings efficiently, affordably and extremely fast. The process is based on machining sand cores and molds without the expense of tooling. All machining is done using CNC, which produces superior speed and accuracy.

About the Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show takes place every two years, and brings together global leaders of the aerospace and aviation industries. This year’s air show will take place June 15th through June 21st in Le Bourget, France, which is just north of Paris. The Paris Air Show that took place in 2007, which Clinkenbeard attended, brought together almost 2,000 exhibitors from more than 40 countries and was attended by more than 400,000 visitors, which included manufacturers, suppliers, trade representatives, public officials, media, and delegations from around the world.

# # #

Mark A. Ricotta
815.708.7254
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markricotta

Clinkenbeard to Attend Paris Air Show

Mark Ricotta — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:13:59 +0000

Clinkenbeard to Attend Paris Air Show; Selected as the Host Company for Press Conference to Announce a Rockford, IL, Delegation to the Show.

Ron Jr. (Reg) Gustafson, project manager for Clinkenbeard, will be attending the Paris Air Show June 15 through 21 in Le Bourget, France. Reg will be attending the show to support current Clinkenbeard customers such as Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton-Sundstrand as well as to help generate new business for Clinkenbeard.

The Paris Air Show takes place every two years and brings together global leaders of the aerospace and aviation industries. The Paris Air Show that took place in 2007, which Clinkenbeard also attended, brought together almost 2,000 exhibitors from more than 40 countries and was attended by more than 400,000 visitors.

Clinkenbeard operates two facilities in Rockford, Illinois. For the first time in history, the city of Rockford will be sending a delegation to the Paris Air Show to help generate business for the Rockford area. Clinkenbeard will be a part of this delegation.

A press conference was held in Rockford May 28 to announce the delegation’s trip to the air show. Clinkenbeard was selected as the host company for the press conference because of its past history with the air show and its leadership position relative to the aerospace and aviation industries.

Clinkenbeard Receives Official ITAR Registration from the US Department of State

Mark Ricotta — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:34:13 +0000

Clinkenbeard, a Rockford, Illinois-based company that specializes in the rapid prototyping and manufacturing of complex castings and machined parts, announced today that it has received official International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration from the United States Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

Administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), under authority established by the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), ITAR regulates the manufacture, export and transfer of defense articles, information, and services. Companies receiving this certification demonstrate that they have knowledge and understanding to fully comply with the AECE and ITAR as well as having corporate procedures and controls in place to ensure compliance.

“US defense and government markets are key segments of our business,” explained Ron Gustafson, president of Clinkenbeard. “This certification is evidence of our commitment and ability to safeguard all defense- and government-related data for our customers and our country and our government‘s trust in our doing so.”

ITAR regulations were designed principally to control the information and materials of defense-related technologies and ensure that technologies are only shared with US persons unless approval from the Department of State is received via a special exemption. The registration of a company to comply with ITAR regulations allows them to work in conjunction with the US military, and companies that work with the US military, and expresses the company’s obligation to handle ITAR protected products according to all regulations.

Fasterestest » manufacturing

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