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I always wonder, when I see videos like this: who creates the system of little machines that nudge, shove and knock items from one step to the next? What's the

by 0898 3y ago

I always wonder, when I see videos like this: who creates the system of little machines that nudge, shove and knock items from one step to the next? What's their job called? And when that is your job, can you just go into any factory and come up with the answer – or do you specialise in a certain field? And all the parts you use commodity, or are they specific to pencil making, for example? If anyone has any light to shed on this field of work I'd be interested to learn more.

alexdeloy 3y ago
I reckon that is called material flow and logistics and is an area inside mechanical engineering schools. I worked in the past for companies doing just that in every size from a pencil to parts as big as a car.
greggyb 3y ago
In a similar vein, but for different products, but also with much more focus on the "back end" of the process: https://youtu.be/GDzBE6vz5r0?si=UfbbEIveujVciaTs https://youtu.be/GDzBE6vz5r0?si=UfbbEIveujVciaTs
mschuster91 3y ago
> who creates the system of little machines that nudge, shove and knock items from one step to the next? Industry automation companies. A big part of the German Mittelstand - a ton of companies of all sizes, from small ventures like HEITEC over mid-sized like KUKA (the robotics guys that the German government in all its ignorance tolerated to be bought up by China) to giant megacorps like Siemens. Particularly the small shops aren't really known, not even here in Germany... but worldwide, out of ~3.400 businesses classified as "hidden champions" aka market leaders in their niche worldwide, Germany has 1.573 such companies, surpassing everyone including the US worldwide by far [1]. Think of it like YKK from Japan, the undisputed champion in high quality zippers, just even less known to the general public... such machines that nudge, shove and knock items, each of them is made by a dedicated German company specializing in a specific type of machine, made with parts made by another dedicated German company. Yes, conglomerates could gobble all of that up and use advantages of vertical scaling, but they're all owned by the founder families and their descendants, in many cases across many generations. They won't ever sell out or share their knowledge, and so they remain in business because they have ironed out all kinks and wrinkles in their specialty machines over decades if not centuries - and upstart competitors have to start from scratch. On top of that, their staff is extremely loyal, you can't just go and poach them and their knowledge. [1] https://www.iwd.de/artikel/hidden-champions-die-starken-aus-der-zweiten-reihe-424550/ https://www.iwd.de/artikel/hidden-champions-die-starken-aus-...
fidotron 3y ago
Those are production engineers. Curiously if you dig into the whole Toyota Production System/Kanban/JIT literature you encounter a lot of this, especially the work of Shigeo Shingo who came up with the mistake proofing/zero defects/single minute exchange of die ideas. Most of the actual tactics in use are shockingly simple, but it is the ability to move the needle to total reliability that makes the difference.

by 0898 3y ago

alexdeloy 3y ago

I reckon that is called material flow and logistics and is an area inside mechanical engineering schools. I worked in the past for companies doing just that in every size from a pencil to parts as big as a car.

greggyb 3y ago

In a similar vein, but for different products, but also with much more focus on the "back end" of the process: https://youtu.be/GDzBE6vz5r0?si=UfbbEIveujVciaTs https://youtu.be/GDzBE6vz5r0?si=UfbbEIveujVciaTs

mschuster91 3y ago

> who creates the system of little machines that nudge, shove and knock items from one step to the next? Industry automation companies. A big part of the German Mittelstand - a ton of companies of all sizes, from small ventures like HEITEC over mid-sized like KUKA (the robotics guys that the German government in all its ignorance tolerated to be bought up by China) to giant megacorps like Siemens. Particularly the small shops aren't really known, not even here in Germany... but worldwide, out of ~3.400 businesses classified as "hidden champions" aka market leaders in their niche worldwide, Germany has 1.573 such companies, surpassing everyone including the US worldwide by far [1]. Think of it like YKK from Japan, the undisputed champion in high quality zippers, just even less known to the general public... such machines that nudge, shove and knock items, each of them is made by a dedicated German company specializing in a specific type of machine, made with parts made by another dedicated German company. Yes, conglomerates could gobble all of that up and use advantages of vertical scaling, but they're all owned by the founder families and their descendants, in many cases across many generations. They won't ever sell out or share their knowledge, and so they remain in business because they have ironed out all kinks and wrinkles in their specialty machines over decades if not centuries - and upstart competitors have to start from scratch. On top of that, their staff is extremely loyal, you can't just go and poach them and their knowledge. [1] https://www.iwd.de/artikel/hidden-champions-die-starken-aus-der-zweiten-reihe-424550/ https://www.iwd.de/artikel/hidden-champions-die-starken-aus-...

fidotron 3y ago

Those are production engineers. Curiously if you dig into the whole Toyota Production System/Kanban/JIT literature you encounter a lot of this, especially the work of Shigeo Shingo who came up with the mistake proofing/zero defects/single minute exchange of die ideas. Most of the actual tactics in use are shockingly simple, but it is the ability to move the needle to total reliability that makes the difference.