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The productivity index also helps determine what equipment to jettison. The indices for two of the shop's current turning centers have been low. The problem isn't that there are issues with programming, tooling or the machining process in general. Instead, it was determined that they aren't capable of machining the type of complex parts the shop was and is pursuing. There simply hasn't been enough work to feed them. As a result, these machines will soon be sold and replaced with better-suited equipment. In reviewing the productivity index for specific machines, the shop asks itself a few questions when that value is low. Is there a process or programming issue? Were there machine alarms, and, if so, why? Are there enough sales for this machine, and does the machine match our core competency? Do the employees have all the hand tools, gages and related equipment they need to effectively run that particular job? Typically, the result of identifying solutions to those types of issues shrinks the gaps in green A job ran over an entire weekend, only requiring an operator to come in two hours each day to check on the two machines, resulting in a productivity index of approximately 10. Badger Mill Supply Corp. in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, manages the shop's SupplyPro tool vending system that Parker Tumanic shows me here. This system tracks tool cost to job number, because simply tracking average tool cost isn't terribly valuable. While tooling might represent 6 percent of overall costs, it might be 2 percent for one job and 30 percent for another. The shop can then investigate to see why the tooling cost for that latter job is so much higher than the average. The system ensures that the shop never runs out of tools, and also stores other items such as gages and chuck jaws. Modern Machine Shop 83 Productivity Index