2008 General Membership Meeting Reviews

January

This month we did not have a tour due to inclement weather.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

February

This month we did not have a tour due to inclement weather.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

March

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

April

Tour of Bell Helicopter Textron Inc - Advanced Composite Center

Friday April 18, 2008

This month we had a free tour of Bell Helicopter Advanced Composite Center. Bell is well known as the world leader in helicopter design, fabrication, and safety. This was a rare and exciting opportunity to see how Bell Helicopter builds state-of-the-art composite structures for advanced aircraft.Approximately 40 people attended this meeting. This month This month the north Texas chapter of SME also hosted a 2-day conference on April 18 - 19 called the Survivor's Guide to Volunteer Leadership.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

May

Plant Tour of Metroplex Heat Treat, Inc

This month we continue our segment on materials processing. We had a free plant tour of Metroplex Heat Treat, Inc on Tuesday May 6, 2008. We learned about the heat treatment of metals. This company is one of the largest heat-treating plants in Texas and the surrounding states. The plant measures 82,000 square feet under roof on 7 acres. Metroplex Heat Treat offers numerous processes including atmospheric batch furnaces (with washer and tempers), plasma nitride, vacuum furnaces, pit furnaces, a continuous atmospheric pusher line, magnaflux, various hardening machines, and two hydrogen humpback furnaces, just to name a few.
428 Dodson Lake Drive
Arlington, Texas 76012
Tel (817) 265-5878

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

June

Plant Tour of Ball Corporation, Fort Worth Division

This month we learned what it takes to achieve production on a massive scale. We had a free plant tour of Ball Corporation - Metal Beverage Can Divisionon on Tuesday June 24, 2008. Their headquarters is in Broomfield, Colorado. They have 20 manufacturing centers in North America. Collectively all of Ball's plants produce an astounding 32,000,000,000 cans per year! (It would take you over 1000 years to count to 32 billion by hand!) The Fort Worth Operation has 2 production lines operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They produce 12 oz. aluminum beverage cans for Miller Brewing, Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Ball Manufacturing
6600 Will Rogers Blvd, Ft. Worth, TX 76140

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

July - Summer Vacation

No chapter meeting this month due to summer vacation.

This month national SME reoganized its regional staff. A webinar was held on July 10.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

August- Summer Vacation

No chapter meeting this month due to summer vacation.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

September

Plant Tour of Newcomb Spring of Texas

This month we had a free plant tour of Newcomb Spring in Dallas on Tuesday September 23, 2008. We had approximately 20 visitors. Newcomb manufactures a variety of standard and custom compression/extension springs, wire forms, and specialty fasteners. They have a full complement of in-house processing including stress relief, grinding, pre-setting, bending, and certification just to name a few.2831 Satsuma Drive
Dallas, Texas 75229
Tel (972) 241-6781
www.newcombspring.com

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

October

Dinner Meeting with Underwriter Laboratories

This month we had a dinner meeting with Underriter Laboratories on Wednesday October 29, 2008.With the flood of cheap low-quality imports and labor, manufacturing engineers should stay informedabout the product safety standards & regulations that we expect in USA. Underwriter Laboratories made a presentation that answers the fundamental questions of Who is UL? What can it do for me? How do I contact them? With over a century of product compliance expertise, the UL Mark is one of the most widely recognized and trusted safety symbols in the world and communicates to your customers that you have gone the extra step to ensure the safety and qualityof your products. This presentation will be delivered over dinner at Humperdinkxs in Arlington, which is centrally located in the Metroplex. Emmit Jack and Curtis Thornburg presented.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

November

Aerotest America Trade Show, Factory Tours, and Free Seminars

This month SME sponsore a really cool aerospace tradeshow next month at the Fort Worth Convention Center November 17-20. The show was actually sponsored by 3 different organizations who collaborate together: Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE), and the Global Wind Tunnel Symposium. We are proud to bring high tech industry to North Texas!

* http://www.aerotestamerica.com/

* Approximately 4000 visitors

* Full scale mockups of the F-35 aircraft in the arena.

* 230 exhibitors.

* Lots of great seminars and meetings.

* Tours of Bell Helicopter & Lockheed Martin. Possible tours of Vought and American Airlines Depot. Meet and greet in evening.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

December

Christmas Party!

It was another busy year for the north Texas Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. We toured several factories, held informative seminars, and even hosted a huge convention last month! To wind down the year, we had the annual Christmas party on Tuesday December 16, 2008 at Humperdink's Restaurant in Arlington (located near the Texas Ranger Ballpark). We had a short officer induction and gave away a variety of door prizes. Spouses and guests were invited. The cost was free to everyone.

Rick Neal, 2008 Secretary, SME North Texas Chapter 51

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