Supporting Our Customers Is A Key Priority.
19 days Until We Ship!
Looking at the IMTS.com website there is a countdown to when the show starts, T-31 days and 19 hours. The real date for us to put everything on a truck is 16 days. Saturday August 25th is when our truck shows up here and everything is on it ready or not. It is a date that we plan for look forward to in anticipation for months, but you blink and it is here. To see more of the machines that we are bringing see booth6646.com
Our preparations have been going well and we have two of the 6 machines almost finished. They should be done Friday. Two more next Friday and the last two the day prior to shipment. With something new on each machine it is a challenge to say the least. Our engineers have all been working overtime to get a lot of neat new features for you. Here is a quick run-down:
o “The Jobber” New Servo cycle control with New automatic grinding wheel dresser
o Thrufeed Microsize Machine: New Operator Control, with a pulse generator
o BEDROCK Series of Centerless Grinder with volumetric stock removal capability and New CNC Regulating wheel Dressing
o Hi-Accuracy system grinding transmission valves. Robotically unloading, cleaning, gauging and palletizing
o Generation X Guidewire grinding machine with New Laser Gauging System
One of the really cool things that we do in our booth is actually grind parts, get our hands wet with coolant and enjoy ourselves. Many people look at tradeshows as work, tedious experiences, boring, monotonous, “another part of their job” or an interruption to reading the USA Today while they sit at a conference room table. Not in our booth! We promise you the following:
A fully engaged Royal Master Grinders Employee who is knowledgeable in the products and is prepared to answer all of your questions on site. You will never leave our booth feeling like you needed more of an answer, or wondering if you will ever hear from us again.
This is your IMTS Team that will be available at Show Site:
John Memmelaar Sr President
John Memmelaar Jr Vice President
Rodney Allen Vice President Sales and Marketing
Bob Hoffman Customer Applications Engineer
Rich Fletcher Customer Applications Engineer
Todd M. Chief Engineer
Arnold B. ...
They welcome me with those famous words…“Arnold, You Are an Ironman!”
“Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles, brag for the rest of your life!”
I once heard someone say “if you want to see what you’re made of, come try an Ironman.” That was the first step I took on my journey to finish sports most grueling one day event. Sitting in front of my computer, I watched a video on Hulu of the Ford Ironman World Championships of 2008 and was instantly fascinated at the determination and joy on the triathlete’s faces as they crossed that finish line. I would do this race and finish!
It’s July 22nd at Four AM and the buzzer goes off. With not much sleep that night, I slide out of bed. I had prepped my gear the evening before so after a quick breakfast I grab my bags and the family heads to the car. We’re staying at a lodge about 12 miles outside Lake Placid (ironically it’s the last 12 miles of the bike route which is all up hill). As we near the town I realize I had forgotten my timing chip back at the room. Not wanting to wake our youngest who was staying with my parents I had opted not to turn on the lights and missed the chip. My already nervous wife graciously drops me off at transition and runs back to pick up the timing chip. You can cut the tension in the air with a knife as we prepare the rest of our gear for the day’s event. Body glide, water bottles, gels, tires…all check out. I get marked by one of the volunteers with my race numbers and finally slip into my wetsuit. My wife shows up with the timing chip about 15 minutes before the professionals start. With my chip strapped on, I make my way out to the lake and with 2,900+ people wait for the cannon to signal the start of our day. As we tread water the announcer amps up the crowd and the cannon fires exactly at 7 AM!
The swim of the Ironman in Lake Placid is a two loop course that totals 2.4 miles. What you don’t realize is that as all 2900+ people start, you end up swimming to stay afloat! It’s a contact sport at this ...
IMTS2012 update
There is a familiar question looming around Royal Master last week. It is the very basic “where are we at with …..” This could be anything from a sub assembly for a feeder for the show to the status of our new booth. Regardless of what the topic is, the answer is typically, “pretty good, but we are waiting on X”
X is usually a singular part for a feeder, a vendor who took a few extra days of vacation or we have everything and are just waiting for it to be put together. When we return in full force next week from vacation, we will have most everyone at Royal putting something together for the show or preparing a small but important task.
Many of you may remember Brianne, our intern who made her blogging debut two years ago. Now going into her sophomore year of college, she is back for another summer with us. Her responsibilities have increased as now she is just not handling my budget and some pre-show promotions and database management, but she is now responsible for our leads that we get from the show.
Our Booth 6646.com will be back, and we are currently working with Creative Thunder Design (www.creativethunderdesign.com )to put the finishing touches on it before we go live with our 2012 version. It will have all of our details on the show, what we are doing in our booth as well as other projects that we have done this year, all updated for 2012. If you have anything that you want to see, let me know.
Also two years ago Arnold our Head programmer made his Arnolds World Debut. Last weekend he SUCCESSFULLY completed an Iron Man triathlon. 2 mile swim, 112 miles on a bike, and 26.2 mile run. I will be talking with him to make a blog posting of his experiences. Congratulations!
What I did on my Summer Vacation
Summer vacation this year came with a few unexpected surprises, twists and turns. My daughter and I drove out to visit a friend of ours in Kansas. Chris and I grew up together , restoring cars as we got older, and lucky he made a career out of teaching others to restore classic automobiles. This program at McPherson college ( www.Mcpherson.edu) boasts a world class restoration program with sponsors such as Jay Leno and Hagerty Insurance, as well as spots on ESPN and a few classic car programs on Cable.
As I went through their shop and Chris gave me a tour I noticed a Fadal, Bridgeports, lathes of various types, and other metal and wood working equipment. I was impressed with their program, and the quality of workmanship that they do on these cars. Currently they are working on a 1915 Pierce Arrow, 1908 Holsman, 1929 Stutz Blackhawk Phaeton, 1928 Franklin, 1966 Mustang Fastback, 1957 Cadillac, 1953 Studebaker, 1950 Mercury Convertible.
From there we visited a friend of his that had a number of older Mack Trucks from the 1920’s. He had a unrestored 7 ton Mack, and outside his shop he promised the next time we came he would fire up his oil well engine that has a 12″ bore and 18″ stroke for us.
From there My daughter and I traveled with our friend to Colorado Springs. The area was well under control with the fires subsiding, and we met other cars of the Pre 1915 vintage for a car tour. After about 400 miles in four days, on Friday 16 cars set to climb pikes peak in our cars. After 2 1/2 hours up, we found the summit in our 1912 Model T Ford and parked. Proud of ourselves to be able to climb the 19 mile highway with a 7000 vertical change in altitude, we had a lunch, and began our decent. 45 minutes later we were at the bottom safe and sound. Below is a video of the decent in various stages.
What does this have to do with Grinding and Royal Master? Not much. Why Did I write about it? It was fun to walk into others lives for a two week period, see the machines that we make in use in an educational setting, drive a car with parts that I have made in our machine shop up a really big hill, and ...
What's coming up for IMTS 2012
If you goto IMTS.com it shows that there is 115 days until IMTS arrives. For most people when July or August rolls around you start to make reservations or plan your visit. At Royal Master we have begun in earnest to start building equipment for the show, and engineering a lot of new and cool stuff. We are planning on 7 machines, each having something new on it. We are bringing our Bedrock System, Gen X, a couple of TG-12×4’s and a Robotic System.
We will also be bringing two new engineers to the show. Jesse and Brian started with us about 9 months ago and are experiencing their first IMTS. When we explain the magnitude of the show to them, they gloss over. Jesse is a recent graduate from NJIT and Brian comes from a different industry. They have experienced and MDM West with us in February. MDM is half of everything that IMTS is, but IMTS is just a totally different beast. We are curious to see their reaction after they walk around.
If you followed our blog since it came about 2 years ago I talk about a lot of different topics. Some of them are grinding related, others are not even close. Regardless I appreciate everyone who visits it and calls me to have a laugh or a “yea I hate that too” conversation. Believe it or not I have had a number of calls about the coffee incident.
Stop back often this summer and fall for updates about RMG and updates for the show.
John
The Mazak is here and a lot of other good Stuff
Is been a crazy few weeks since my last blog entry, however we have not been sitting idle. Finally our new Mazak Nexus 6800 Arrived on Monday and it is currently being installed. It took a good long day to get everything moved in, and our Mazak engineer is working diligently to level the machine, and hook everything up, our goal is to make a part in a week. It was unfortunate that John Sr was not at RMG this past week as he is away, however to be honest, he probably got tired of the 56 photo text messages that I sent him of the progress that day. The most stressful point in the day was them squeezing it through the bay door. With less than 4” on each side of the machine and less than 12” on the top, our Rigger made it fit without even having to get a running start.
I also had a really cool experience with Embassy Suites Hotel Chain. After coming back from the MDM West show, I got talking with Bob Hoffman who is a serious coffee lover. And we got talking about the lack of good coffee at not only the Anaheim property, but at their Chicago property where we stay for IMTS every two years. We love their hotels, and their two room suites, but their coffee just stinks. It tastes like cardboard, and it can take lessons from even the worst truck-stop brand.
I decided to call the customer service line and see what happens. After being on hold for 7:46 seconds, I met a representative.. She took my information including the “complaint” and told me the property manager would get back to me in three days. The classic brush-off I figured.
Nope. I got an e-mail from the manager thanking me for my input and that they would bring it up at the next property review meeting. The next day ( day #3) I got an e-mail from the customer service line representative making sure that my issue was addressed, and informing me that there was now a credit in my Holton Honors account. Figuring that this would be a good opportunity to Bring up Chicago’s bad coffee, I did and I Have had the same positive responses. Kudos to Hilton and their customer service for caring. I will find out if they did anything ...
A little about RMG
We recently had a customer come to our company and notice our little construction project in the shop. It looked a lot nicer than it did a few weeks ago on my last blog entry as we have poured the concrete and it looks like wea re expecting a really big machine. The customer asked us if we did everything ourselves to prepare for the machine, and proudly answering “yes”. He then asked why? The answer “ because its fun”
We have the concrete poured with a small addition, four handprints. The Handprints, three generations of Memmelaar’s, are now embedded in the concrete at Royal Master. This is really kind of cool for a lot of reasons. Running Royal Master has always been the same family lineage since 1950. Growing up, it was a part of daily conversation, what projects there was, tradeshows that were upcoming, My father going on the road and visiting customers, was normal conversation for our dinner table. My mother held it all together in those years as my father grew the business, making it what it is today.
As we wound down the Machining center that we are replacing, the K&T as it was known as, became a all consuming part of my household life, and my father’s also. In an attempt to stockpile enough parts to get us through two months of downtime, we would run 7 days per week for 5 months. As the pallet train was unreliable, Rich Fletcher and myself would set up a long running job usually about 2.5 hour run for the weekend, and off we would go. I would usually go back every 3 hours on the weekend to change parts, sometimes even on the way to “date night” with my wife to get out one last part.
During the day on Saturday and Sunday, my two daughters would take turns going back to the shop with me. The big machine fascinated them, and making it run was the part they loved the most. Both daughters would help change the parts, and my youngest loved to press the button sequence to make it run another cycle, my oldest loved the fact that the 2” insert end mill looked like a disco ball, and we had to wait for it sometimes to engage the part so she could say over and over, “cool”
The day we took the machine ...
Whats new since 2011!
Royal Master is closing out 2011 as our best year ever. We had many great projects for both the medical and non-medical industry as well as being introduced to a few new industries. We want to thanks all of our customers who have made this possible and we look forward to another productive year in 2012.
Starting out 2012 we have plenty to do. We start off with the receipt of a new Horizontal machining center. We retired our old Giddings and Lewis Orion and purchased a new Mazak Nexus 6800 with a 12 pallet system and 160 tool changer. We will be receiving this machine in February. To get prepared for it we are having a blast cutting concrete, as well as John Sr digging out the foundation for it. In another week or so we will be pouring the foundation.
We also have the MDM West show in California where we will be introducing new features to all of our existing products that we will be displaying. We will Have the Gen X machine, NEW Laser Gauge system, Enhanced Servo Cycle System, and our Spool to Spool system. All will be grinding product and will be available for personal demonstrations prior to the show’s opening every day
After MDM West we will be gearing up for IMTS in Chicago. We will have our same booth location with plenty of really neat new products and new accessories. We will be discussing this more in detail as the time gets closer.
Once again, thank you for your business and feel free to call or e-mail us anytime. 201-337-8500 or johnjr@royalmaster.com
Customer Service?
Customer service is one of the things within a company that everyone says to do well. You see television advertisements about how your local car dealership has an internet lounge while you impatiently wait for your car to be serviced or the plumber who boasts “30 minute response time”- with the exception of mealtimes, nap time and overnight. Recently the phone company was challenged by the cable company to deliver phone service to homes in our area. In my own house, the phone went out about a month ago. We called the phone company, to fix it and were put on hold for an hour. We finally got someone who then told us it will be three days until they can fix it and the only time they can be at our house is between 9 and 2. We said, “Are you kidding me?” We basically gave up. We switched to the cable company and saved $70.00 a month and are happy.
Last evening my daughter and I went to the local mall to get her snow boots because last year’s boots instantly were too small for her 8 year old feet. We went to the mall on a quiet evening so that we could go into a store and be the only shoppers. However, we found that we had to constantly battle for attention with the clerk’s phone as he or she texted away. Eventually, we just walked out without buying the boots. My daughter was as equally annoyed as me because she liked the boots. I was annoyed because I just really do not like to shop.
We ended up at a Sports Authority sports store where we got our boots and went to pay. At the register we noticed that on the bottom of our receipt, if we filled out a survey and gave the store a “Very good” for customer service, we would receive a $10.00 coupon. Enough Said.
I got an e-mail from one of our top 5 customers last night and it was stated in plain language:
“You are correct – the last few weeks we have received in many ******* along with the remaining ******. I appreciate everyone at Royal Master working so diligently to get these out to us. Also, Alan has been doing an excellent job in going above and beyond in checking out the delivery schedules and expediting items in ...
Merger of United and Continental
Almost everyone has an opinion of Newark Airport. Looking out the window on departure you see a lot of familiar sights: IKEA, the Jersey Turnpike, Refineries, an occasional Sopranos flashback, and lots and lots of white planes with blue tails. These planes are now marked UNITED. Scratching my head I had to look twice.
The merger of United and Continental has not just begun- it is in full swing. I travel in and out of EWR a lot. I actually have grown to like the place in an odd sort of way. It always means that I am off someplace to meet a customer or go to a show. I’m eager to meet someone I have talked with in the past or for the first time. Arriving means that home is about 90 minutes from touchdown.
When I saw the planes painted the familiar white and blue with the United name, I was disappointed and concerned. Spending about 100,000+ air miles per year in a continental plane has afforded me a consistency and level of service that I deem more than acceptable. The 16+ hours to Hong Kong always seem manageable with the smiles and hard work that the attendants put forth; which is contrasting to my experiences with United: the old planes and crabby attendants who make it a chore and frown if you ask for the can of soda during the beverage service.
I listened to Larry Kellner the CEO for years during his pre-recorded message about their quality service, newest jet fleet in the industry, etc… but the biggest test for this airline since its bankruptcy in the 1990’s is to maintain its consistency of reasonable service at a competitive rate while not falling prey to the perils of mergers gone bad. And for all of us frequent business travelers, do not forget to just give us the whole can of soda.
