Cres Cor Blog 2: Week One Reflection

 

Nick Bollinger

Hawken Project

5/17/2022

Cres Cor Blog 2

Week One Reflection

              Week one at Cres Cor was exciting. I arrive every day around 7:30, check in with Ryan (my mentor), get my computer set up and running, and then we head into the daily 7:45 meeting with the three supervisors. It’s a short, informal meeting where Bob, Joe, and Butch run through the goals for the day, who didn’t show up for job, and any moves they had to make to keep their departments running as smooth and efficient as possible.         

On day one, after the meeting, I got the official shop tour from Ryan, and then a more detailed run through of each department from the supervisors. Joe walked me through fabrication and explained the whole process. The fab process starts with a shear or laser cut to cut the sheets of raw material to size. It then goes to the turret where holes, louvres, and spots for the fasteners are punched into the sheet of metal. After the turret, the panels are sent to the press brakes where they are bent to the correct and necessary shape. After the press brakes, the parts are delivered to the assembly line.

              Butch walked me through the assembly department and explained the progression of all seven assembly lines. Each line is set up slightly different for each different product that is built on the different lines. It is difficult for assembly to run smooth because each day, Butch has to juggle people not showing up along with finding missing and backlogged parts from fab. Parts from fab are missing and backlogged because Joe, the fab supervisor, also deals with machine operators not showing up or taking too long on certain jobs.           

              Bob then showed me around the non-insulated assembly line and the cleaning and packing department. Clean and pack relies on fab and assembly to deliver them complete parts and units so that they can put all of the spec labels, caution hot labels, clean the units for the final time, and pack them up in cardboard and plastic wrap. After they are done with clean and pack, the units go off to the loading dock to be shipped.

              Days two and three were pretty laid back, we had a few interviews for 2^nd shift press brake operators and some clean and packers. On Friday, the Cincinnati (press brake company) sales guy came in for a quick follow up meeting since we just installed two new press brakes.

The photo is of the front of the shop. Assembly is in the front, fab is in the back left and clean and pack/shipping is in the back right.