1. S M E C HAPT E R 2 4 8 - - Q UE ST K O DIAK P LA NT T O U R - 1 9 S EPT 2 0 0 7
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Inland Northwest Chapter 248 • Spokane, Washington
g
INDEX TERMS:
STIRLING ENGINES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Figure 1 (a) (b) — [PHOTOS by Fred Cousins ] (Left) [SME Chapter 248 member Dan
Stirling_engine Tabish hands off a New York Strip to Doug McGuire, filet mignon was also on the menu. Dan is
an executive committee member and past chair, Doug will be stepping up into the role as chapter chair
STIRLING ENGINES in 2008. (Right) SME member Victor Gilica teaches at NIC (North Idaho College) located in
http://travel.howstuffworks.com/ Couer d’Alene, Idaho. A “Stirling Engine” enthusiast and proponent, over dinner he described an
stirling-engine.htm internal competition at NIC where students compete to develop and build model Stirling engine de-
signs. (SEE pictures below) This
Other recent SME 248 Events overlooked technology, if more suc-
http://chapters/sme.org/c248 cessfully commercialized could have
broad 21st century implications. It
is not dependent on fossil fuel, and
can be designed to generate mechani-
cal energy from a variety of external
S M E C H AP T ER 2 4 8 - - heat sources. As there are no inter-
Q UE ST K O DI AK P LAN T nal combustion cycles involved, there
T O UR - 1 9 S EP T 20 0 7 are no polluting ccombustion arbon
by-products.
Inland NW Chapter 248 Contacts:
Figure 3 and 4 — Stirling Engine
Vice Chair: Tony Wisniewski Desktop Models designed and built
Chair-Elect: Douglas McGuire for an internal competition at North
Idaho College. This technology uses
Treasurer: Robert Ladd external heat sources and a hot and
Secretary: Dean Croskey cold section differential to drive
pistons. It is a low noise, low main-
Newsletter: Dan Tabish
Webmaster: Matt Feider On May 16, Chapter
http://chapters/sme.org/c248 248 had its annual
2007 Chair: David A. Davidson steak barbecue. The
Deburring/Surface Finish burning question: can
Specialist engineers cook?
VoiceMail: (509)-230-6821 Chapter 248 Event – Liberty Lake, Washington., Sept 19, 2007 by Dave Davidson. Event photos by Fred-
Cousins and Dave Davidson
(e): ddavidson@mgnh.org Jim and J. McCall own and operate Reiff Injection Molding Co., a manufacturer of plas-
www.deburringsolutions.com tic injection molded parts originally established in 1979 in Walla Walla, WA. The com-

2. S M E C ha pt er 248 -- Q ue st Ko d ia k P l a nt T our - SM E Ch a p te r 24 8
1 9 Sep t 2 007
D. A. Davidson [ed.]
Plant Tours — Collaborative opportunities for cross-pollination of ideas
for manufacturing, services and lean process implementation...
PAGE 2
(Cont’d from p. 1) but
the loss of the company
facilities as well, as the
large customer had
been providing facilities
for the plastic injection
molding operation for
its own convenience.
The company has
not only survived but
has successfully ex-
panded its business
through utilizing its in-
ternal strengths to provide exceptional customer service that competitors find difficult to duplicate. As a family business, fa-
ther Jim McCall has a strong process and operations back-
ground working with Whirlpool Corporation in Michi- gan
after receiving a master’s degree in engineering from
the University of Michigan. Son, J. McCall, has a
Figure 3 — SME Chapter 248 members listen as owners Jim and Jay
McCall explain their operation as well as the basic principles involved
in transforming thermoplastic granular feedstock used as the basic raw
material into molded products by carefully controlled heat and pressure
strong plastic materials background with a degree from Western Washington University. Together, they are in a position to not
only offer manufacturing services but custom engineering development and materials selection advice to customers who need
this kind of process development assistance to take parts from
prints in the design stage and turn them into reality. They have
locked in customer relationships not only by being a manufactur-
ing source for plastic molded products, but by also being a de-
sign and engineering resource to customers who have new prod-
uct in the formative stage. They are especially adept at assist-
ing customers in modifying or tweaking original designs in such
a way to make actual production operations more practical, fea-
sible and cost efficient.
As an example of this, Jim McCall, explained an especially
challenging design and operational problem the com-
Figure
pany had been faced with recently involving “puffer noz-
4—
zles”. This molded component is part of a sophisticated
Plastic
quality assurance system used in the food and produce
Injec-
industry. As items are passed down the length of an
tion
inspection conveyor they are analyzed by an optical/
video system which can identify defective or non-

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D. A. DAV IDSON (ED.)
Reiff Injection Molding —Success from extensive process
technology knowledge coupled with customer need anticipation
PAGE 3
Customer Service: The other weapon in Reiff’s arsenal is customer service that goes the extra mile after the parts have moved
from the design stage and into production stage. Marilyn McCall manages office operations and closely monitors customer
needs. The company has developed such close relationships with customers that it provides what the Wall Street Journal has
recently described as the next level of customer service — not just meeting customer needs and desires, but in some cases —
anticipating them.
The company has also carved out a special niche strategy in that it avoids becoming a commodity supplier, but focuses its
attention on customers who need the kind of quick response for shorter runs of parts that have become Reiff’s specialty. The
company has also recently acquired marketing rights to one of its major product lines “The Gripper Caddy” (shown in the pic-
ture on page 1)
The Reiff success story then is a combination of highly effective customer assistance at the design and engineering level
coupled with outstanding responsiveness to customer needs once part production has begun. □
Plant Tours: cross-pollination opportunities:
cross-
SME and SME chapters have a strong tradition of arranging plant tours for members to view operations in a wide cross section
of industry and business. Recently this concept was taken to the next level when SME arranged for COLLABORATE 2006 an
event designed to draw attendees from across industry to share ideas on everything from new manufacturing techniques to
lean implementation. Participants included representatives from Toyota, Daimler, Lockheed, Northrop, Ford, the Army and
others. In addition to attending technical and networking sessions, pLant tours of Siemens Electronics and Boeing Delta
Rocket assembly facilities were offered.
Figure 5 — J. McCall explains operation of the computer controls on the com- .
pany’s TOSHIBA 190 Ton x 10 oz. injection molding machine to Jeff Dorner-
berg, an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. at Eastern
Washington University. The university located in Cheney, WA. was a recipient
of an SME Education Foundation grant ($220,000.00) used in the construction
of it’s new computer science facility.
Figure 6 — The plastic injection molding cell at Reiff Molding includes four
different injection molding machines of varying capacities. The smallest ma- NEXT TOUR: 6:00 PM February 23, 2007
chine is a 25 ton x 1 oz, where as the largest is rated for 300 ton x 30 oz. The “Lean” Plant Tour, MacKay Manufacturing, Spo-
first figure is a reference to the amount of force the screw mechanism is capa- kane WA.. With the Inland Northwest Lean Man-
ble of exerting when pressing the mold segments together. The second figure agement Consortium. Details to follow
refers to the maximum amount of raw plastic material that can be injected.