By Mary Ellen Doran, Director, Electronic Communications
Did you see the article on the latest state of manufacturing in this past Tuesday’s AGMA Industry News e-newsletter? Chances are good, if you read the e-mail, that you were viewing it on a mobile device, most likely a smart phone.
For the past few years, AGMA has been closely monitoring use of technology in our industry. When we first started looking at analytics back in 2010, less than 3% of all e-mails were viewed on a mobile device. In 2014, the average was in the high 30% with several e-mails clocking in at more than 40% of opened e-mails viewed on mobile devices. Our data is showing that gear manufacturing communication has moved to the Internet in full force.
AGMA is making decisions for our online presence based on our analytical research. Today, if you bring up
www.agma.org on your desktop, you will continue to see our robust home page with lots of industry news that is updated daily. But if you are using a mobile device, you will see our new responsive version of our site. It provides the same great information – just in a format that is easier to use on your smaller devices.
Now, more than ever, manufacturing customers are going to the Internet to do research on products they seek and their corresponding suppliers, and they’re not just looking for your websites. Having a wider presence on the World Wide Web provides better search results for your company, and thus a better chance of getting in front of potential buyers when they type a term into a search engine. Does this mean that you have to run out and start a blog, post videos to YouTube, get a presence on Facebook, and learn how to tweet daily? While I will never discourage the pursuit of social media – and the analytics are building more of a case for these endeavors – these require ongoing maintenance and valuable staff resources to make them work correctly for your company. Look at Siemens USA’s presence on Twitter with over 20,000 followers (AGMA has 508 followers as of when this article was written). But these followers have been earned over the course of six years of Siemens work and 3,100 tweets. While these numbers are impressive, you can never lose sight of your own analytics and follow that information in the direction that gets the most traction and ROI for your individual company and the services and products you provide.
Right now, according to multiple sources, YouTube is the most popular among source of social media among manufacturing marketers. Visual marketing has been trending for several months with these powerful smart phones everybody is watching more video, but the “how things are made” aspect of videos provide special interest. Horsburgh & Scott have several great videos on YouTube, as do many more AGMA members and other gear manufacturers. Loading videos is free, and you can take the video you upload to YouTube and place it on your website.
But do not forget about more traditional free and paid online advertising. Some online buyers’ guides, such as the AGMA Marketplace, have built-in search engine boosts to the back end of their systems. Our AGMA Marketplace listings utilize Google™ Map It! and Google™ Site Search not only to assist with people that are using the Marketplace to find you, but also to push your URL up in searches on the back end.
Lastly, remember to take advantage of all the other free opportunities that come with your AGMA membership to spread you across the web – free job postings, member news, and free e-newsletters – if you did not read the Tuesday AGMA Industry News sign-up to start receiving for free by sending me an e-mail –
doran@agma.org.
So, pick up your smartphones and tablets, watch your analytics, and get the word out about your products and services.
AGMA Foundation Offers Scholarships
The AGMA Foundation offers a $5,000 scholarship to assist engineering students whose programs focus on gear technology or gear research. The scholarship is made possible by generous contributions to the Foundation’s Annual Campaign.
The program is open to both undergraduate and graduate-level engineering students.
Help the AGMA Foundation alert students about this scholarship opportunity by spreading the word.
The AGMA Foundation awarded four scholarships in 2014 to the following outstanding students:
Matthew Cane
A current employee in the gear industry, Cane is enrolled in a weekend Bachelor’s program in Industrial Technology at Southern Illinois University. Matt said, “With the AGMA Foundation’s support, I’ll be able to advance my knowledge, skills, and abilities even further. In today’s global economy, it’s not just companies that have to compete globally. The individuals who make up those companies do, as well, and this scholarship will definitely help me maintain my competitive advantage.”
Ryan Hall
A senior at Valparaiso University, Hall is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He said he is grateful for the scholarship and that, “The AGMA Foundation Scholarship will help me achieve my goals by relieving the financial burden of my education and allowing me to focus on what I am passionate about—my education and research. This scholarship will allow me to dedicate more time to my research, allowing me to make a more significant contribution to the scientific community, specifically renewable energy research.”
Tyler O’Brien
The AGMA Foundation is proud to have presented a third scholarship to O’Brien. O’Brien said, “I am delighted to be continuing my education as a fourth-year student in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program at Rochester Institute of Technology with the help of the AGMA Scholarship Foundation. The Foundation’s continued support of my education allows me to participate in the extraordinary opportunities offered by RIT, such as cooperative education work experience at various companies and hands-on learning experiences both in class and in extracurricular activities.”
Jacob Van Dorp
Jacob Van Dorp, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Waterloo, received the second AGMA Foundation Scholarship. He said, “The cost of post-secondary education is high, but with the aid of this scholarship provided by the AGMA Foundation, I will be able to continue pursuing my degree. I look forward to my continued education in mechanical engineering and gear technology.”
A printable brochure about the scholarship program is available at www.agmafoundation.org, which you can link to from your website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media outlets.
The 2015 scholarship application deadline is July 1, 2015 with award notification in August. For specific eligibility requirements and application guidelines, please visit the AGMA’s scholarship website, www.agmafoundation.org.
Speaker Added to 2015 Annual Meeting Lineup
Theo Maas, CEO of Siemens Mechanical Drives Business Unit, has just been added to an all-star lineup of presenters at the 2015 AGMA/ABMA Annual Meeting this spring in Napa Valley, California.
His presentation will outline what global consumer and B2B trends are on the horizon and how these influence various industries, such as mass transportation, agriculture, marine, and wind. There will also be information on what is happening in Europe and in China – where they were, what happened, and what is anticipated.
Maas joins a distinguished list of presenters for this year’s meeting, which includes:
Complete Champion Leadership: How Fast Can You Get Fast?
Derek Daly, International Racing Champion, Best-Selling
Author, and TV’s Face of Motor Sports
Rethink, and Thrive
Michael Rogers, Author and Futurist-in-Residence,
The New York Times
Looking at the Reshoring Initiative
Harry Moser, President, The Reshoring Initiative
Economic and Market Outlook – Getting Old or Starting Fresh?
James P. Meil, Principal, Industry Analysis, ACT Research
Many of the presenters are in attendance for the entire three days, which gives the attendees unprecedented access to these professionals.
Beyond the general session presentations, this year’s Annual Meeting offers many opportunities for networking with old friends and meeting colleagues in the industry while taking advantage of the unique Napa Valley location.
This year, the meeting’s networking activities will take advantage of the vineyard location to hold the first evening event in the Trinitas Estate Cave, located on the grounds of the Meritage Resort and Spa. Here in the hushed serenity of the cave, the attendees can make new friends and reconnect while sampling the Trinitas current releases.
Thursday night, April 30, attendees will have the experience of a lifetime with an off-site tour, wine tasting, and wine pairing dinner at Artesa Vineyard in Napa. The trip will include a chance to taste and compare the Artesa Estate Reserve and Limited Reserve wines in the winery. Then, attendees will partake in a dinner in the barrel room where these same wines will be served along with specifically paired courses prepared by the chef and sommelier The final networking event of the 2015 Annual Meeting will take place at the Meritage Resort with a reception, dinner, and entertainment. There will be a DJ, and comic Wayne Cotter who will provide the night’s entertainment. Once a computer engineer, Cotter is now a favorite of the talk shows, having appeared dozens of times with both David Letterman and Jay Leno. A top nationally touring comedian, Cotter hosted the Fox Television Network series “Comic Strip Live” and been nominated as “Best Standup Comedian” in the American Comedy Awards.
A silent auction will take place during the Friday reception. Items will include gourmet food, wine, sports, and travel packages along with other tantalizing goodies that will entice attendees to open their wallets to benefit the AGMA Foundation. Proceeds will support the Foundation’s scholarship, training, and research programs – which include a recent grant to AGMA for the historical research and educational aspects of the AGMA Centennial Celebration.
Throughout the annual meeting, the Meritage Resort and Spa promises to be a comfortable and convenient setting for peer-to-peer interaction. An active vineyard, complete with a tasting room and estate cave, surrounds the resort. The resort is only five miles from downtown Napa and equal distance from the San Francisco, Oakland, or Sacramento airports.
This is a can’t-miss event in a perfect setting, accompanied by interesting colleagues, exciting adventures, good wine, and delicious food all wrapped up into a memorable three-day experience.
Further information about the joint meeting, including registration, hotel reservations, agenda, and program updates is located online at www.agma.org. Any additional questions can be directed to AGMA at (703) 684-0211.
Two Popular AGMA Courses Available Online
Through generous support from the AGMA Foundation, AGMA is able to provide gear engineers with two popular seminars in a self-paced, online video format. The two courses available are Ray Drago’s “Detailed Gear Design” program and Robert Errichello’s “Gear Failure Analysis” course. Not only are these video courses available as your schedule allows, but by taking the course online, you save time and money by avoiding travel costs.
The “Detailed Gear Design” seminar, taught by gear expert Ray Drago, P.E., of Drive Systems Technology, Inc. is divided into 15 one-hour segments and supporting training documents. Detailed Gear Design teaches students about gear design and then walks students through carefully crafted “problems” that will demonstrate the practical application of the optimization methods presented in this seminar.
This program is best for gear engineers, gear designers, application engineers, people who are responsible for interpreting gear designs, technicians, and managers that want to better understand all aspects of gear design.
The majority of the course material is presented through qualitative descriptions, practical examples, illustrations, and demonstrations, which require basic mathematical and engineering skills. However, some familiarity with gear design and application will enhance overall understanding of the material.
After taking the Detailed Gear Design online course, you will be able to:
• Improve your gear designs
• Better understand gear rating theory and analysis methods
• Investigate differences in stress states among various surface durability failure modes
• Discuss time dependent and time independent failure modes related to tooth design
• Use computer generated graphics to examine mesh action and tooth interaction
The other program available online is Gear Failure Analysis taught by Robert Errichello of GEARTECH. In this program, students get the experience of the course through 11 segments consisting of a total of 10 hours of in-depth discussion of gear failure modes and supporting training documents. Gear Failure Analysis teaches students the causes of gear failure, how to prevent it from occurring, and how avoiding gear failure can save thousands of dollars in repair costs.
In AGMA’s Gear Failure Analysis online video training, students examine the various types of gear failure, such as overload, bending fatigue, Hertzian fatigue, wear, scuffing, and cracking. Possible causes of these failures will be presented, along with some suggested ways to avoid them.
Renowned gear instructor Bob Errichello uses a variety of tools and methods – lectures, slide presentations, and Q&A sessions – to give you a comprehensive understanding of the reasons for gear failure. Errichello, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in mechanical engineering and a Master of Engineering degree in structural dynamics. He has over 40 years of experience, has authored some 60 articles, and is a recipient of AGMA’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
The video presents a vast amount of knowledge not available elsewhere and is presented in a clear, well-organized and easily understood manner.
For more information on either of these video courses, and AGMA’s other online education programs, visit www.agma.org.
