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feature machines. Newer machines with control functions such as worn tool management can extend that to 100 hours. By comparison, the shop's one fully staffed shift still accounts for no more than 45 hours per week. Adding staff has become even more difficult in the time since the shop went to unattended production. Large manufacturing companies in the area have been adding staff themselves, bidding up compensation rates. This rural part of South Carolina has now become a highwage region. Even so, the shop has increased its payroll, including adding some employees who come in at night. Certain unattended processes reach capacity limits before the night is done, meaning attention at just the right moments can keep these processes running. On some jobs, for example, the Rota-Rack carousel is full after four hours. When an employee stops in to empty the unit, this brief intervention unlocks another four hours of production. This kind of strategic use of labor increases the value of each staff member's efforts. This is the measurable payback of the shop's investment in achieving a reliable automated process. In fact, now at 45 employees, the shop may have found its new optimal staffing level. By servicing processes that run mostly unattended, Mr. Hogge says this number of employees can keep up with a sales volume that has now surpassed what the shop had achieved before the crash. Hogge Precision Parts, call 800-489-5326 or visit hoggeprecision.com Royal Products (Rota-Rack), call 800-645-4174 or visit royalprod.com Iemca, part of Bucci Industries, call 888-5543622 or visit bucci-industries.us CoolantGuy.com, call 855-692-4266 or visit coolantguy.com Sandvik Coromant, call 800-726-3845 or visit sandvik.coromant.com WHY FORCE A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE? Download our easy-to-use Pump Sizing Program and get the optimal pump for the job, every time! Scan the code or visit our website P 313.278.7867 F 313.730.2000 size.dppumpsusa.com Represented by Global Pump Marketing mmsonline.com September 2013 MMS 97