The first Monday in October brought us a new machine – a brand new Brother tapping center.

Waiting for offload

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to open the rear of one of the units to get the machine inside.

 

 

 

 

 

The guys waited for the forklift to bring it in.

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone watched as the machine was placed.

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is, in place.

 

 

 

 

 

Why did we buy a new tapping center?  Let’s just say it will increase our production and reduce our backlog, helping us provide you with “the best service in the industry”.

Oh, those shoes!

Our award-winning "Shoe Probe" ad

A FEW YEARS AGO, thanks to some very creative thinking and PhotoShop, we produced a fanciful advertisement featuring a sexy-looking ladies shoe with a ruby stylus in place of the spike heel. We called it the “Shoe Probe”. The ad was a BIG hit. It even won an advertising award. We featured a large picture of the Shoe Probe on our booth at trade shows. Inevitably, someone would jokingly ask, “Where are the shoes?” So this year, we made a pair and took them with us to the show. We hired a local model (Liz) to wear the shoes on the booth. We even gave away plastic literature bags with our Shoe Probe printed on them. WOW! The combination of Liz and the shoes was a knockout.

Liz wearing the shoes.

Some attendees even requested photos with Liz and the shoes.

Here’s the corker! Several people asked to BUY the shoes. Understand that these shoes aren’t made for walkin’. They were specially modified by our crack team of machinists in order to attach a red ball to the heel.

Maybe we’ll open a branch making ladies shoes? Who knows?

Fajita Friday at Q-Mark

L-R: Maggie (foreground), John, Rich, Kevin, Ryan, George, Clint, Jeff's hand

L-R: John, Rich, Kevin, Ryan

Clockwise from left: George, Clint, Jeff, Britt (seated), Dung (behind Britt), Oliver (standing next to Dung), Maggie (seated), Mark (standing, behind Maggie), John (seated), Rich (seated)

Friday, August 26 was our first Fajita Friday.  From 12:00 noon to about 1:00 pm, we all enjoyed homemade fajitas.  They were made by Brittany Cervantes’s father.  They were eagerly devoured by our entire staff.  Lunch included warmed corn tortillas, chicken fajitas, homemade salsa, homemade guacamole, fried jalapenos, and assorted sodas.  It was terrific!  Thanks to Britt and her Dad for making it happen.

NTMA Board of Directors

Last evening I was elected to the Board of Directors of LA/NTMA.  LA/NTMA stands for “Los Angeles (chapter of) National Tooling and Machining Association”.   The NTMA was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1943.  It  is the national representative of the custom precision manufacturing industry in the United States.  Like Q-Mark, most of NTMA’s nearly 2000 members are small businesses, privately owned and operated.

As a member of the LA BOD, I’ll help oversee the activities and expenditures of the LA chapter.  The NTMA operates two machininst training centers in Southern California.  About 6 months ago we hired a recent machinist graduate of one of NTMA’s training centers.  He’s a productive member of our staff and a welcome addition to Q-Mark. 

I’m honored and delighted to serve at NTMA.

Our NTMA plaque

0.6 mm diameter balls? No problem.

0.6 mm diameter drilled ruby ball

This is one of several 0.6 mm (.024”) diameter ruby balls drilled at Q-Mark today.  A steel gage pin protrudes from the blind hole in the ball to facilitate handling.  The precision hole in the ruby ball is about 0.3 mm diameter x 0.3 mm deep.   

Our capabilities amaze me at times.  I grew up in a conventional machine shop about the time CNC controls first emerged.  Machining anything like this tiny ruby ball would’ve been completely out of the question.  The idea would’ve been greeted with hoots and laughter.  Now, it’s just another day at Q-Mark.

Q-Mark Lowers Prices On More Than 100 Items

Q-Mark is delighted to announce NEW, LOWER PRICES on more than 100 catalog items.   These price reductions are made possible by our continued investment in newer, more efficient manufacturing technology.

Please email sales@cmms.com to be forwarded a copy of the new price list.

WESTEC in Las Vegas? SME says NO.

A representative from WESTEC’s producer, the non-profit Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), was kind enough to respond to our post regarding a rumored venue change for WESTEC in 2011.  We were emphatically informed that WESTEC is NOT moving to Las Vegas in 2011.   SME is, however, doing a conjoined show with the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA) in Las Vegas in 2011.    The SME website (www.sme.org) confirms that WESTEC will return to its long-time home at the LA Convention Center in 2010.

Q-Mark Exhibits at WESTEC 2009, March 30 – April 2

Our booth at WESTEC 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center

Q-Mark exhibited at WESTEC 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center for four days, March 30th through April 2nd 2009.  For the second consecutive year, we donated booth space to Rayco CMM Fixtures, who had a nice display of their modular holding fixtures for CMMs.  Q-Mark and Rayco products are highly complimentary.  If you’re measuring something on a CMM, you need both tooling (Q-Mark) and a means to hold the workpiece (Rayco).

Rayco

Booth traffic was lighter than in previous years, but interest level in our products from visitors was exceptionally high.  We met several new potential clients and said hello to several long-time clients.  For a giveaway, we handed out “stress balls” printed like million-dollar bills.  They were a big hit with visitors given the recent economic climate.

In 2010 the show will be shortened to three days from four.  And the rumor is that in 2011, Westec will move from its long-time home at the LA Convention Center to a venue in Las Vegas.  Ch-ch-ch-changes…

Some industry gossip… Renishaw was a no-show this year at Westec!  They appeared in the show directory with their usual 400 square foot end-of-aisle booth reserved, but at the last minute, the Renishaw booth was occupied by a manufacturer of industrial booties and energy saving window film!  What’s up with THAT?

Our competitor, Renishaw, was a last-minute no-show at WESTEC with another company occupying their scheduled booth space.

Cyborg Print Ad Hits The Presses

The second installment of the “Q-Mark Advantage” campaign.

What do you think?

Q-Mark Releases “Viral Video”

This is our first crack at viral film making. There are many more short films to come.

We just released the video to YouTube, Vimeo and Quality Magazine’s own “Q-Tube” which recently launched this year. The short film shows some shop footage of how we make our product.

What do you think?

Special thanks to Kevin and Sean who put a lot of work into the making of this film. Thanks for watching and be sure to check out our spiffy new YouTube channel here!

-Q-Mark Staff