More on Deckel
I forgot about my earlier post about about deploying our DMG milling machines. Well, September came and with it the second machine, a DMC 160U. Also Doublock, a rugged, powerful and rigid machine. Because my employer had a tradition of starting jobs only once they are overdue, as soon as the machine was operational and the DMG folks left, they put a large billet of titanium on the machine and started cutting. Making a long story short, after about two weeks of cutting the part was scrapped. The material cost alone was $45,000, and there were weeks of prep work done long before we ever put it on the DMC. No matter, it was scrap now. During the investigation we discovered that DMG never calibrated the machine during deployment. It did not cause the failure, merely contributed to it. So for the second time I sat through a meeting between my company's leadership and the DMG reps, who explained that this never happens at DMG, they are good, reliable company.
Shortly after that I left this employer and landed a job closer to home. My new employer just purchased a DMU 50, so I had a lot of relevant expertise to aid in the successful deployment of the new machine. The only problem: The machine was dead when I arrived. This is a new machine, never made a chip, 45 days after it hit the floor it was not yet operational. We went through an incredible list of problems: Bad axis drive motors, bad E-stop circuit, bad door switch, just to name a few. At one point I had to physically wiggle wires in the controller cabinet to keep the machine going. So once again I had to sit in the meeting and listen to the now familiar speech by my buddy from DMG, saying that this never happens at DMG, they are good, reliable company.
The trouble is that we lost over 90 days of production and our product missed the window of opportunity in the market. We will never recover the time we lost.
Incredibly, the salesperson from DMG convinced my boss to buy another DMG milling machine. A bigger, faster machine is the answer to our capacity shortage. They negotiated the details and signed the contract. Being a de-facto DMG expert, I was looking forward to a new machine. However, as the delivery time came closer, DMG started to renegotiate the contract parameters in their favor. At this point my boss decided to not continue the negotiations, and simply canceled the contract.
So again I ask: what happened to DMG? At first I presumed that only the American side was less than fully competent, but it turns out that even new machines are built with failed components, so the problem seems company-wide.
It seems to me that the problem is not that DMG America employs incompetent people, but rather the factory in Germany does not adequately inform and equip the American field personnel. The fact is that service people here are very much able to maintain and repair the machines. Their service visits however, are always delayed by long calls to Germany, which slows the progress of the repairs, due to the time zone difference, and the apparent 30 hour workweek in Germany.
Don't take me wrong: the service guys are great, hard working people. I know about a dozen DMG service guys on a first name basis. Because we spent a lot of time together, I know their stories.
In contrast: At the same time as the DMC 160U was being deployed, Makino was installing a MAG3. They left only after we made a couple weeks of testcuts, and then we never celled them again for service. We do get the occasional courtesy visit when a service person passes through the area, he will check the lube and fluid levels, filters, etc, but the machine runs and keeps running. I appreciate him coming by without a requesting call, and taking care of the machine as if he owned it. I don't even know his name.
Shortly after that I left this employer and landed a job closer to home. My new employer just purchased a DMU 50, so I had a lot of relevant expertise to aid in the successful deployment of the new machine. The only problem: The machine was dead when I arrived. This is a new machine, never made a chip, 45 days after it hit the floor it was not yet operational. We went through an incredible list of problems: Bad axis drive motors, bad E-stop circuit, bad door switch, just to name a few. At one point I had to physically wiggle wires in the controller cabinet to keep the machine going. So once again I had to sit in the meeting and listen to the now familiar speech by my buddy from DMG, saying that this never happens at DMG, they are good, reliable company.
The trouble is that we lost over 90 days of production and our product missed the window of opportunity in the market. We will never recover the time we lost.
Incredibly, the salesperson from DMG convinced my boss to buy another DMG milling machine. A bigger, faster machine is the answer to our capacity shortage. They negotiated the details and signed the contract. Being a de-facto DMG expert, I was looking forward to a new machine. However, as the delivery time came closer, DMG started to renegotiate the contract parameters in their favor. At this point my boss decided to not continue the negotiations, and simply canceled the contract.
So again I ask: what happened to DMG? At first I presumed that only the American side was less than fully competent, but it turns out that even new machines are built with failed components, so the problem seems company-wide.
It seems to me that the problem is not that DMG America employs incompetent people, but rather the factory in Germany does not adequately inform and equip the American field personnel. The fact is that service people here are very much able to maintain and repair the machines. Their service visits however, are always delayed by long calls to Germany, which slows the progress of the repairs, due to the time zone difference, and the apparent 30 hour workweek in Germany.
Don't take me wrong: the service guys are great, hard working people. I know about a dozen DMG service guys on a first name basis. Because we spent a lot of time together, I know their stories.
In contrast: At the same time as the DMC 160U was being deployed, Makino was installing a MAG3. They left only after we made a couple weeks of testcuts, and then we never celled them again for service. We do get the occasional courtesy visit when a service person passes through the area, he will check the lube and fluid levels, filters, etc, but the machine runs and keeps running. I appreciate him coming by without a requesting call, and taking care of the machine as if he owned it. I don't even know his name.
