We are very proud of our testing department. Over the years we have gathered many testers for checking the various assemblies we make. Our team puts assemblies through electrical as well as mechanical testing, including pull testing.
We are surprised by the number of manufacturers that don't know what pull testing is. According to the IPC manual, "Axial (longitudinal) force is applied to evaluate the mechanical integrity of the crimped connection." (IPC/WHMA-A-620E 19.7.2) Since we build to IPC standards, we perform pull testing at the beginning of every crimp job. Testing means we are confident that the assemblies we send to our customers not only work but are built to industry standards. Below: Seth demonstrates how to pull tester works. It's always a happy day when new equipment shows up. We all gather around the freight truck, waiting for the forklift to deposit our new equipment into our shop. We ooh and aah over unwrapping it and it usually takes a few of us to lift it off the pallet and place it in it's new home. We turn it on and try it out, a million questions flying. It's a fun time, when future possibilities become reality, and the benefits of the new machine are greatly appreciated.
We got a new crimping machine today. It's red and beautiful and will improve our speeds exponentially. We already have machines to help us crimp but every new machine means more machines available for work. Out team is excited to be able to go faster and get jobs to customers sooner. The more we do to lift up and support our customers, the more we are contributing to their success. Below: Meet Clifford, our latest crimping machine. We have a saying at the shop: if your favorite coping method has a 12-step program, it's probably not healthy. We encourage constructive ways to deal with stress so that our team members can handle the normal stress of having deadlines and making amazing assemblies without taking that stress home and hurting their families and friends. Addiction is real and it can be a serious problem in the workplace.
According to Advanced Recovery Systems, 70% of people with an active addiction to drugs and/or alcohol still maintain a job. (https://employers.advancedrecoverysystems.com/addiction-in-workplace/) This can lead to absenteeism, high turn over, loss of production, workplace injuries, conflict amongst team members, and decreased work quality. We love our team members and the last thing we want is to see any of them suffering from an addiction. We provide fun ways to destress at the shop that keep our team members healthy and happy. On their breaks, our team members can play on our Nintendo NES Classic. They can go outside and soak up some vitamin D while racing our RC cars. They can shoot some hoops with our mini basketball set. They can play records on our record player. They can have a snack from our breakroom's snack drawer. They can also take our mini trebuchet outside and launch dog biscuits for the shop dogs to chase. We work very hard at Bridgeview and our team members are driven people who give a lot of themselves to help make our company successful. In turn, we provide them with healthy ways to manage stress. Below: Seth (left) shows off one of his favorite albums to play in the shop. Ben (right) is trying his hand at Duck Hunt, the famous Nintendo NES Classic hunting game. |
AuthorsChristina and Kevin Hayward Archives
November 2024
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