4 YouTube Videos Aim to Increase Your Assembly Maintenance Expertise

Suhner Machining recently filmed a series of maintenance tips and assembly videos to offer hands-on demonstrations for maintenance personnel currently using or planning to employ Suhner automated tools. 

The videos were shot at the company’s North American Service Center in Rome, Georgia.  In the videos, the presentations of the procedures are demonstrated by the division manager and longtime Suhner team leader, Lee Coleman.  “We made these videos as the first in a series,” Coleman told Design News. “Our goal is to help customers and trainers impart the proper procedures for maintenance and assembly of our automated drills, taps, and other tools. This equipment is used extensively in automotive and other high-volume production facilities and contract job shops.” 

Before Suhner began offering videos, customers usually had to show up at Suhner in person. “We would invite customers to our facility for training, or in some cases, we would go to their plant,” said Coleman.

Training on Automated Tools

The company is planning several additional videos to assist operators and especially maintenance personnel in the proper care and handling of these high-precision automated tools. Many of these tools perform thousands of operations in a single shift on the production line. 

Related:Analyzing Condition Data for Predictive Maintenance

The company expects the videos will be especially helpful for training in a locked-down world. That was part of the rationale for creating videos. “That was, of course, part of the idea. Users would no longer need to travel to be trained for basic repairs. However, the main idea was to get the information to a customer easily, something they could easily understand,” said Coleman. “A picture is worth a thousand words. We thought how great it would be if while we were on the phone with a customer trying to troubleshoot a machine issue we could send them a YouTube link to a video that would explain the problem.”

Reaching the Market

As for getting the word out about the videos, Suhner will distribute the links on an as-needed basis. “Our idea was going to be just ‘word of mouth’ or when an issue arose,” said Coleman. “However, with the help of our Marketing Agent Bernard & Company, we plan to blast the message through print and social media.”

The videos range from about 5 to 12 minutes. Suhner intends to keep the videos at that length. “Our idea was to keep it as short and simple as possible,” said Coleman. “We take complex tasks and break them up into manageable sections.”

These videos on YouTube may do the extra duty of attracting viewers who are interested in the topic but are not familiar with Suhner. “That was not the primary goal, but yes, we would like for people – current customers and potential customers – to know that Suhner is not trying to hoard information. We want to make it easily accessible,” said Coleman. “The ultimate goal is to make our customers, and potential customers, feel comfortable that Suhner will be there for them, not just before the sale, but also afterward.”

These first four videos cover the following topics on the SPINDLEmaster Max 100:

 Rob Spiegel has covered manufacturing for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include automation, supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cybersecurity. For 10 years, he was the owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.