From the Web: Finding a niche; faking a roar; falsifying welding certificates

How does a small fabricator compete with global competition? Sometimes, by being small, local, and able to supply smaller quantity orders.

At Keystone Display in Hebron, Ill., employees work nearly around the clock on weekdays producing metal displays found in stores that hold myriad items—candy, mugs, socks, spray paint, screwdrivers. A dampening of demand for large volumes of the items actually has worked in Keystone’s favor.

“Instead of 3,000 displays from China, (a customer) might come to us for 500 displays because we can do it in a lot less time , and they can order smaller quantities,” said owner John Streit. “We’ll make small items that might be a $5 display, to one that might be several hundred dollars.”

The company has an interesting history. It began in Chicago in the 1930s as Keystone Metal Products, making items such as bird cages. The metal shortage during World War II put the company out of business until the early 1950s, when it started up again in Hebron.

Keystone sells to product marketers for companies like Sherwin-Williams, Mars, and Wrigley Gum, rather than retailers. Its diverse customer base provides an interesting reward for its 55 employees, who sometimes see their handiwork in stores. Streit said, “We’ve done a sign holder several times over the years that goes in McDonald’s. (Employees) can show their children, ‘Hey, look; mom or day made this display at work.’”

For most of automotive history, a signature feature of vehicles like the Ford Mustang has been the roar of its engine, a sound Americans have associated with vehicle power and performance for decades.

Put the pedal to the metal in a new Mustang or F-150, and you’ll hear the same style of roar, but it’s a sham. “The engine growl in some of America’s best-selling cars and trucks is actually a finely tuned bit of lip-syncing, boosted through special pipes or digitally faked altogether. And it’s driving car enthusiasts insane.”

Are these “enhanced” engine sounds a “refined growl,” or a “mind trick?”

“Among purists, the trickery has inspired an identity crisis and cut to the heart of American auto legend. The ‘aural experience’ of a car, they argue, is an intangible that’s just as priceless as what’s revving under the hood.

“ ‘For a car guy, it’s literally music to hear that thing rumble,’said Mike Rhynard, 41, a past president and 33-year member of the Denver Mustang Club. He’s swayed between love and hate with the snarl-boosting sound tube in his 2012 Mustang GT, but of the computerized noise, he’s unequivocal: ‘It’s a mind-trick. It’s something it’s not. And no one wants to be deceived.’”

As the demand for welders rises, more high schools girls are taking an interest in the skill.

From 2010 to the present, The American Welding Society (AWS) has seen a 40 percent increase in female members. According to an AWS study, women now comprise 5 percent of America’s welders.

Career schools in Butler County, Ohio, also are seeing an increased interest in welding by females and have expanded their recruitment of high school career tech students—students like Butler Tech junior Megan Thompson, who “loves the tactile nature and clarity of the welding process. Either you made a proper weld connecting two metal components, or you don’t.”

Megan’s welding instructor, Shane McKinney, said, “There are certain (welding) jobs that women are actually better at. Their fine-motor skills seem to be better and they are very meticulous, because we’re talking about making very small welds on intricate type pieces like (welders) are doing for the aerospace industry, and work of that nature.”

Megan might want to make sure that her certifications are valid. Four former welding students of the Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Dutchess County BOCES have sued over forged AWS certifications given to them after they completed a two-year program.

“The suit contends that the students were not told of the forgery until after BOCES reached a settlement with the state Attorney General’s Office for deceptive business practices and false advertising.

“‘BOCES forged the AWS certificate by Photoshopping the AWS logo onto the certificate it issued to students,’ the Attorney General’s Office wrote. ‘The parents probed further and discovered, by contacting AWS, that AWS had not authorized the use of its logo on the BOCES certificate and that the BOCES course did not comply with the curriculum or tests provided by AWS.’”

Apprenticeships are alive and well in Manitowoc County, Wis., where 71 students are enrolled in the Youth Apprentice Program, a partnership between local business and education that offers students the opportunity to explore possible careers with still in high school. The paid internships are treated as graded classes and take the place of three general elective classes.

An article about the program on htrnews.com featured high school senior Kyle Curry, who spends his morning working in the engineering department of Jagemann Stamping Co.

Speaking about his apprenticeship, Curry said, It’s just a really good experience for me getting prepared for college and the workforce in the future. (Engineering) gives the creative side of my mind time to think a little more.”

Along with the internship, students in the program must pursue related instruction. Curry is taking classes at Lakeshore Technical College. He credits his internship and classes with advancing his CAD ability.

The program is successful. Reportedly, 94 percent of former students are still employed or continuing their education in the same program area of their youth apprenticeship.

Tool designer Brian Wendt, who mentors Curry, said “It can be hard to find people who put forth a good effort and do a good job. It’s nice to have high school students, because you can try and instill (good work ethic) at a young age where they don’t yet have bad habits.”