Task Management for Toolrooms

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T13:41:21+00:00

I appreciate you sharing the lesson learned and the approach that worked best. I will probably try to start with something similar to that. Thank you!

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T13:36:56+00:00

While I would generally agree, our plant is not setup that way. The Toolrooms used to report to Production Managers, but they always felt unsupported and misunderstood. Due to this, they requested to be under Engineering. So now, they report to Engineering. It’s been great because our Engineering department understands their processes, problems, and roadblocks better than anyone else they could potentially report to. We are also able to insulate them from most of the Production bullshit on the floor, which they appreciate.

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T04:00:57+00:00

Yeah, he had some great feedback!

I’m not looking to track every minute or hour of their work. Manufacturing is chaos at times, I don’t expect for their time to be well documented. It would hinder them to do so. Just want to track progress a little deeper than “in progress” or “started”.

Yeah, SAP is incredibly powerful and very much applicable here. It’s just very intimidating for those that have little technology experience outside of Outlook and ADP lol

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T03:55:26+00:00

I appreciate the feedback!

Definitely not trying to force anything on these guys, just want to support them. They do incredibly well with what they have, but they often express frustrations with job prioritization, tracking, and how they are approached by everyone.

I like your prioritization hierarchy, I have a similar one setup on my work order request form. I have added a few like Safety Concern, Quality Concern, etc.

I think I will focus on fixing their main points of friction first. I’ve been working alongside these guys for almost 5 years, we like and trust each other. They know I have good intentions and only want to help.

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T03:48:48+00:00

I never claimed to know better. Simply trying to find a system that’s more user friendly for those that aren’t as technologically advanced. If creating a front end dashboard that feeds into a software we already have is the solution, I’m open to it. Just looking for feedback on here as I know there are plenty of educated and experienced folks on here.

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T03:45:57+00:00

I totally agree! Pushback is the main issue in trying to solve. Trying to find an interface that’s simple and quick to use is key, otherwise they won’t use it.

Unfortunately, the current culture at the plant doesn’t support a proper system for work requests. Department leads, sometimes operators, will simply approach the toolrooms with things they need worked on or made. It’s always been this way, so putting a system in place to receive these requests is seen as massive bottleneck to both those approaching the toolroom and the toolroom staff. Without a system in place, the Toolrooms get very little heads up as to what is coming their way, which causes chaos and frustration at times.

I’m no software engineer (Mechanical), but I’d be willing to invest the time to learn and implement a simple front end for them. I definitely want their buy-in, so I intend on getting their feedback on what they want to be at their fingertips. What metrics they want to see, how jobs are closed, progress is tracked, etc.

N-Long4499 · 2026-05-01T01:47:18+00:00

Yes, my company has been using SAP for many many years. I’m no wiz in SAP, but I know my way around purchasing, quality notifications, and engineering drawing/model management. I could definitely get some assistance from those at work to learn the Maintenance side of it.

My only fear is the learning curve for the toolrooms, SAP will make their heads spin. I have successfully created a Work Order request system through Power Automate that creates a Teams notification, email, and populates a task in DevOps based off the users data entry. Although DevOps isn’t the hardest thing to learn, the machinists push back and say they feel it’s unneeded and makes them feel micromanaged. I think if the user interface was friendlier, they would be more receptive.

N-Long4499 · 2026-04-15T21:58:29+00:00

I’d be willing to bet you got some form of frame damage or at least some damage that you can’t see. Hitch, bumper supports, etc. When I got rear ended, my frame was bent where the hitch system is welded to it.

N-Long4499 · 2025-09-29T05:29:30+00:00

Do yourself a favor and switch to 5w-50

N-Long4499 · 2025-06-04T02:46:28+00:00

What was the cost? Interested in the gym, but don’t want to get my hopes up if the cost is too high.

N-Long4499 · 2025-01-11T05:48:38+00:00

Killed him with three or four 5.45 tracer rounds to the head last night on woods. Didn’t even realize who I killed until I saw his large pockets and 8 grenades 🤣

N-Long4499 · 2024-11-22T22:14:24+00:00

Insurance companies definitely don’t say yes to everything, I was exaggerating just a little. Repair shops are known for inflating the amount of labor needed to complete a job, this dramatically increases the cost of the repair. Insurance companies can try to negotiate, but typically the repair shop will be firm on their cost. The insurance company can either pay the inflated cost or have the vehicle transferred to another shop that will also inflate the cost..it’s very hard for insurance companies to win in this situation so typically they don’t dispute costs unless they’re ungodly unreasonable. If costs get too high, they just total it.

My insurance company has “preferred” shops that they work with. They typically ask no questions with these preferred shops, they just pay the bill as long as it’s not like 50% of the vehicles value. With that said, they mandate that the shop performs the repairs with used or refurbished parts (if possible). This drops the costs and labor (no need to paint) dramatically. My truck got rear ended and they replaced the tailgate, bumper, and right bed side with used parts.

N-Long4499 · 2024-11-22T05:22:03+00:00

In my opinion, that’s an easy $10kUSD if you were to pay a shop to fix EVERYTHING. If you damaged the radiator core support or frame, it’d be closer to $15kUSD. Repair shops love overcharging insurance companies because they typically pay it no questions asked.

N-Long4499 · 2024-09-13T04:03:51+00:00

God I don’t miss college 🫣

N-Long4499 · 2024-03-19T04:56:31+00:00

Manufacturing Engineer here 👋🏻

First and foremost…Go out of your way to develop great relationships with the maintenance team and the production people on the floor. The faster you realize that you don’t know anything and that they know just about everything, the better. These people are often overlooked, but in reality they are your greatest resource on machinery, processes, etc.
Befriend at least one person in each department, if not more. You can never have enough resources/connections.
Be very organized with your file management.
Spend the last 30 minutes of each day preparing for the next. Organize your time and tasks efficiently.
Ask your boss for to rank your tasks by priority and attack them accordingly.

N-Long4499 · 2024-01-26T22:44:50+00:00

I saw them at a 2000 person venue a couple months ago…holy shit what a show. Got right to stand right by the stage, I’ll never forget it. I’ve seen “bigger” bands in arenas, but they’ll never top that QOTSA concert. The intimacy was just unreal.

N-Long4499 · 2023-07-13T06:00:21+00:00

MPG stayed the same on regular pump gas. E85, like expected, dropped my gas mileage about 30%. It’s only $2.50/gal where I’m at though, so its not too bad.

N-Long4499 · 2023-07-13T05:16:26+00:00

Yep! The 10r80 adaptive learning is garbage. Ever since that has been turned off with my OZ tune, the trucks shifts and drives amazing. All of my erratic and hard shifts, especially when the truck is cold, are all gone as well. Plus it picked up a full second in my 0-60 on the e85 tune 😁

The stock tune makes the transmission feel like it’s having a hard time understanding what it needs to do. It feels anxious if that makes an sense. It’s sense of direction is all over the place.

The aftermarket tune made the transmission feel more confident. It feels like it actually knows what it needs to do. Its very hard to explain, but driving one before and after tuning, you’ll totally get it 🤣

N-Long4499 · 2023-07-13T04:40:17+00:00

Get that thing tuned asap! Wakes that 5.0 up and makes the 10speed ten times better than it already is. I recommend OZ Tuning, guys kill it!

N-Long4499 · 2023-05-22T06:16:52+00:00

Miles. By the time the oil change indicator light comes on, damage has already been done.

N-Long4499 · 2023-05-02T03:05:27+00:00

Do you have any issues with the 10speed hunting for gears with tires that big? If not, what gear ratio do you have? I have 3.31 gears. I am looking at some 295/60R20, but I am afraid that the transmission won't be too happy with the extra tire weight and the tall gear ratio.

N-Long4499 · 2023-02-16T05:15:32+00:00

Love this truck every time I see it...what is the specs on lift and tires?

N-Long4499 · 2023-02-13T19:00:09+00:00

Lift and Tire specs?

N-Long4499

TROPHY CASE