Did you see that?!

“You don’t need that loupe to see how that insert failed!” stated another salesperson as I examined a coated carbide insert that had most of the radius broken off.

I kept looking.

He was correct.  On THAT corner I certainly did not need the loupe.  

However…

On the opposite corner, I was able to see built up edge which was the root cause of the catastrophic failure on the first corner.

The point to this story?  In order to properly investigate what is happening with a cutting tool, the salespeople working with you must be able to see the geometries clearly.  If they cannot, they are guessing at what the tool is actually doing while in use.

Basic Equipment

The basic expectation of the people I work with is that they carry four pieces of equipment with them to visit a customer:

1. A notebook to record notes and observations as they occur.
2. A pen or pencil to write on the paper in point 1.
3. A flashlight to see clearly in your machines and to look more closely at your parts.
4. A 10x loupe (minimum magnification) to be able to see the features on the tools we need to examine so we can compare to the massive wall posters we have supplied you for years showing the failure mechanisms of inserts, drills, and taps.

Notes on the above points: 

• An iPad can suffice for points 1 and 2 so long as use of a notes app is available.
• The light on their iPhone is not a suitable substitute for point 3.

More Advanced Equipment

If we are supplying PCD tooling, the expectations rise to include:

1. A 20x loupe either in addition to the 10x loupe or in substitution.
2. A portable microscope such as a Dinolite complete with height stand for adjustment and at least one “V” block.
3. Silly Putty or something similar to pick off dust and dirt.
4. A 0.002mm indicator (0.001mm preferred) with adjustable magnetic base.
5. Various hand tools as needed.

The first group is the minimum expectation you, the customer, need to have of the technical salespeople who visit you and want to work with you to solve problems.  Without this equipment at a minimum, these salespeople are not visiting to help you.  Instead, they are visiting to sell you something.  

There is a difference.

If the people working with you on your complex PCD reamers are not carrying the equipment in the second group, they are translators taking information from you and sending it to someone else and then taking the information from that someone else and giving it back to you.  You need to figure out who that “someone else” is as they know what features to look for on your tools.  Why cut out the “translator?”  Because something is always lost in translation. 

Remember, we are chasing microns to make these tools work as they should.

The Investment Required

The cost of the above items in the first group is as follows:

1. Notebook – a few dollars.
2. Pen or pencil – a few dollars more.
3. A good flashlight – approximately $20.00.
4. A 10x loupe – currently listed at MSCDirect.com from $10.40 and up.

So, for a grand total of less than $40.00, the salesperson can write down notes and see clearly what is happening with most of the tools they are selling you, providing they know what they are seeing.

The cost for the second group is:

1. A 20x loupe – approximately $20.00.
2. A portable microscope such as one from Dinolite complete with height stand for adjustment and at least one “V” block – total for this set up is $550.00.
3. Silly Putty or something similar – approximately $5.00.
4. A 0.002mm indicator with adjustable magnetic base - $400.00.
5. Various hand tools as needed - approximately $50.00.

Grand total for this group is $975.00.  

“That’s a lot of money!” 

Yes, it is.  However, when a typical new tooling program for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 manufacturer where the customer is tooling up four machines with an average of 7 different special PCD tools for a grand total of 84 tools (7 tools needed to machine the part * 3 per spindle * 4 machines = 84), the total value of the program for ONLY the PCD tools will be $168,000 (84 * $2000 per tool = $168,000). The investment needed in the equipment to properly support you, the customer, is 0.6% of that project.  

Note: this calculation does not consider the other taps, drills, tool holders, etc. that are included in the tooling package.

Not much in the grand scheme of things, right?

I have all of this equipment with me when I travel, and have had the same equipment for the last 10 years with a recent upgrade to the microscope.  

The equipment has paid for itself many times over in the ability to solve problems sitting with the customer or standing machine side as we work through what is happening with the tools I supplied them.  The same equipment also helps to solve the same questions with competitors’ tools supplied to you but, because the competitor did not bother to properly equip themselves so they can properly support you, I was asked to help determine what is happening. 

The result is we have the capability to take a picture of the feature on the tool that needs to be modified and send ahead of the tool so the shop is fully prepared on what actions to take so we can turn the tool around more quickly.  In the current age of using Microsoft Teams and Zoom, we can even share a screen with the shop as we look at the tool(s) in question.  

One Success

As an example, we were working with a customer to supply them with a tool on a new program.  The problem is there was slight chatter present in the form of black marks, or “tiger stripes.”  As we watched the tool run, we could feel the vibration.  However, as we examined the tool, nothing appeared to be wrong.  As we continued to examine the tool using a 10x loupe, we thought we could see something very slight that was the likely cause.    

The next step was to examine the tool using a microscope.  The picture below taken at 100x magnification shows the area we detected.  The tool had been laser finished blending a primary relief with a secondary relief while transitioning around a radius.  The result was there were two very slight high spots that needed to be cleared.  The area is circled in red and even with that the issue is not clearly evident.  

Had we not had the ability to look at the tool closely, immediately after watching it run, hearing it run, and seeing the results first-hand, this area might not have been located.  We would have made a change to the tool that had a high probability of resolving the problem, but we would not have known for sure the root cause.  As it now stands, we were able to determine what truly caused the problem and develop a strategy to move forward in the future successfully. We learned from the situation and were better for it.

All of this from a $550.00 investment a number of years ago.  

Expect more from your technical salespeople.  You deserve the support.

By the way, did you find Pikachu? He's in there.