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What Do You Do For A Living?
- Dec 30, 2008 at 3:51 PM
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- Comments (6) Total Views (84) Everyone can see this journal post.
I get asked that all the time, it's a common small talk question, I suppose.
This is how the conversation always goes:
"So, where do you work?"
"Um, The Die Cad Group, I’m in tool & die." (most people in Michigan atleast know what tool & die is)
"Oh, so you are the secretary then?" (cause you know, women can't use welders and drill presses right?)
"No, I'm a designer. I design dies in Catia V5, kinda like a 3D virtual reality sortware"
"Oh……(clueless look) that sounds neat……"
The conversation usually winds up irritating me for various reasons and I wind up saying, "I design machines (even though they are not, but most people think a die is for coloring your clothes) that make car parts."
I'm not really sure even my husband really knows what I do for a living, exactly. A few years ago for some reason we were talking to some other guys about welding and I was telling them about the different properties of different metals and why you can't weld certain metals to one another…..until I realized they were staring at me (DH included) as though I had just sprouted a golden, sparkly, unicorn horn right out of the middle of my forehead.
I've found there are two types on men when it comes to the fact that I’m in tool & die…..the ones who are in awe and ask questions like "How long have you been in the business? & Where did you go to school?" and then the ones who can't STAND that a women might know as much or maybe even more than they do about metal/tool & die and feel the need to challenge me and question everything. Which is fine, I’m not easily intimadated, and after 10 years, I pretty much know what I’m talking about if it has anything to do with design.
Anyhow….just for the fun of it, I thought I'd explain my job for you (since I don't feel like actually DOING it right now, lol).
I work for a small company, we have an office manager ( I cover for her, I will NEVER call her a secretary, cause she does WAYYYY more than answer phones and file stuff) me, and about 15 other designers, including one person who simulates everything, and one who surfaces everything.
Approximately 70% of our work here is automotive, but the other 30% is things such as appliances, lawn mowers, furniture, etc. Working in a design house is great for the designer because every job is different, we work for a wide variety of customers, on a diverse array of parts. It's challenging. Of course each of us has our niches, but we all are at some point or another exposed to every type of design. From a tiny hybrid die 2ft long, to a monster Mack Truck side panel die 20ft long.
What do I do here, exactly? Well, the way it works, goes something like this. We receive a metal part a customer would like to make. Think of any metal part on your car, this one for example.
Then we have to decide HOW we are going to make this part. In this example, it's a progressive die, many parts are linked together and pushed thru the die, so after each press stroke (the ram comes down on the die, then up, equalling one stroke) a completed parts falls off the end. The strip progresses, or moves forward one station in the die each time this happens.
After we come up with and get a process approved by our customer, we design a die. Here's the lower half of a small one for the part I’m using as an example.
And the entire die for the same part.
Of course, this is in the Catia software I mentioned earlier. It's a 3D die, in virtual space. Very neat software! It was originally designed for the aerospace industry, the military to be exact, as concept software for aircraft. It's not known to be easy to learn, but I guess I had a fairly good teacher, cause I caught on fairly quickly. I have only been designing in 3D for a little over 2 years now, the least amount of time of anyone here. Before that, it was all in AutoCAD, which is a 2D drawing software, and I designed in that for 8 years. I was top earner for this company in 2003, I was the fastest designer on the team in 2D. (Can you tell I’m a little proud? Lol)
Anyhow, after it's all designed, we make a stocklist to tell them how to order everything they need to build the die, then take every little piece of the die and separate it onto a detail sheet, and we tell them exactly how to make every single detail. Basically, these days, a die makers job is to assemble what we have designed. Taking the need for a skilled worker (diemaker) away from the auto industry, instead making only an assembler with half the knowledge (half the pay too) necessary.
Of course, there is a LOT more to it than that, but that's what I do everyday in a nutshell. It's INCREDIBLE how much this industry has changed and evolved in just 10 years…..hell…the man who is the master mind behind the progressive die, Ed Stouten, 87, was just in here the other day. The prog die has only been around for 50 years or so! It's crazy to think of where we will be in this industry in another 10 years! I highly doubt MY job will be here, we are constantly evolving and adapting to this rapidly changing industry. It's easy for me to see how the big 3 are in trouble in one way……but that's a WHOLE 'nother post!
Any questions? Pop quiz on Friday!!! LOL
Our website has some other really neat stuff on it:
www.diecadgroup.comComments:
There was a lawsuit involving one of my dies and I have to give a 7 hour deposition and explain tool and die design to a lawyer.....after my deposition, they dropped the case!
wow. I feel so uncool now. lol.
I work with die casters all the time. It's a very integral part of the company I work for.... (I coordinate work for 8 3d designers),- we design P-O-P displays, entire showrooms, instore displays and kiosks.
You are a very important person in the biz.
My husband would LOVE you. He works for a plant that makes parts for cars, as well as John Deere and Catepillar. He mostly welds, but he also runs presses that use 10,000 lb dies. Not anywere near as cool as what you do, though!
Very cool Mama. The world is so different now. I know how you feel about the weird looks. I use to be a soil specialist and was also certified to do concrete inspections, along with asphalt which I did all the time. I loved it, but people just gave me strange looks. Once I was deep into the field, I got to know everyone in the central valley as far as work goes. It got a little easier, but when I would meet someone new I almost didn't want them to ask what I did for a living....lol!!!!
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Very cool...especially with the pics.
I worked as a painting and home improvement (commercial and residential) contractor for 8 years with my ex. I got that same reaction from men. I tried to be amused by their stupidity. What else can ya do? LOL
- NorahSethsMommy
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