To go along with the 2022 Winzeler Gear Calendar, we have curated a playlist of 12 songs to enhance Erich Schrempp’s beautiful gear art designs. Each song should immerse you into the story of each image, combining that month’s theme, art design, and sound all into one harmonious experience.

January: Astronomy

“Moondance” by Van Morrison 

January depicts the beauty of the moon. The art showcases the moon itself, highlighting the different shapes, patterns, and textures that come from its abundance of craters, all forming together into the shape of a gear. The music showcases another side of the moon’s beauty: its ambiance. The moon’s beauty is much deeper than just that of astronomy, as you will hear in Van Morrison’s depiction of a romantic dance under the moon.

February: Psychology

“The Windmills of Your Mind” by Dusty Springfield 

February delves into the various processes of our brain, much like the turning of a gear. The art shows the struggle of the mouse inside of a maze, searching for the path to the light at the end of the tunnel – or, in this case, the cheese at the end of the maze. Springfield’s cover of “The Windmills of Your Mind” explores how fascinating the human mind is, and just like a mouse, it always finds a way forward.

 

March: Metallurgy

“Your Molecular Structure” by Mose Allison 

March shows the unique properties of molten metals. The reflecting pearlescent rainbow of colors and mix of smooth and sharp edges, much like the teeth of a gear, are reflected in the art to showcase molten metal’s mix of characteristics. Allison’s song “Your Molecular Structure” takes the common science principle and repurposes it to describe their partner.

 

April: Marine Biology

“Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles

April dives deep into the amazing world beneath the ocean. “Octopus’s Garden,” written by Ringo Starr of The Beatles, was inspired by Starr’s fascination he formed with an octopus he saw while on a cruise away from the band. We find that same fascination in the Hawksbill Sea Turtle, where we took inspiration from the turtle’s intricate gear design on its shell. 

 

May: Aerodynamics

“Come Fly with Me” by Frank Sinatra

May puts you in the driver’s seat of a P-38 Lockheed Lightning aircraft, allowing you to see the gears that help keep it aloft. Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me” invites the viewer on the ride of a lifetime aboard this classic aircraft. 

 

June: Archaeology

“Raiders March” by John Williams

June takes you on a journey deep into the sandstone caves of Arizona, where this gear art depicts the discovery of ancient drawings left behind by a civilization of the past. John William’s “Raider’s March,” the theme from the movie Indiana Jones, sets the tone for adventure and exploration. 

 

July: Mathematics

“Fractals” by Mannheim Steamroller

July shows you one of the most complex forms of mathematics through gear art: fractals. A fractal represents an infinite loop – a never-ending collection of repeating patterns – where the beauty lies in its chaos. Both the artwork and music by Mannheim Steamroller look to capture that beauty, and they make the perfect pairing. 

 

August: Meteorology

“Stormy Weather” by Billie Holiday

August throws you into the eye of a storm, but which side do you see? The radiant, golden glow of the sun is shown shining through the gear-shaped clouds; however, as you move your eyes down the photo, you get a hint of the gloom that comes along with the change in weather. Billie Holiday’s “Stormy Weather” further explores a storm’s gloomy nature, comparing a storm to sorrow.

 

September: Cryptology

“Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers 

September tests your decoding skills as you receive a secret encrypted message through the gear imagery. Lucky for you, you are well equipped with the perfect tool for this mission: a cryptography decoder. “Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers immerses you into the scene of an action movie, as you use your decoder to decipher this message. 

 

October: Seismology

“I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King 

October shakes up the calendar with a seismic shift. As the coffee rattles and the seismograph jolts back and forth, drawing out a familiar gear shape, all the signs of an earthquake are there. But have the Earth’s tectonic plates really moved? Or, has a loved one just shaken up your world?

 

November: Paleontology

“Jurassic Park Main Theme” by John Williams 

November takes you back to the Cretaceous period, a time when the Tyrannosaurus Rex was roaming the land, right before their extinction. Join our paleontologist as he uncovers the gear-shaped fossil remains of this fearsome creature: will this discovery be a centerpiece at a museum? Or, will it be the next big scientific breakthrough, as seen in Jurassic Park?

 

December: Cryogenics

“Let it Snow” by Dean Martin

December exposes you to temperatures well below freezing, as ice crystals gather around these gear forms. Dean Martin’s “Let it Snow” provides the atmosphere of a snowy winter night, a much more comfortable level of a cold than the one depicted. As the lit fireplace warms you up, enjoy the stunning crystalline structures of absolute zero.  

Follow the featured playlist on Spotify  

Request your 2022 Winzeler Gear “Science” calendar  

Visit artist and photographer Erich Schrempp’s website  

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Known for utilizing principles of scientific molding and industry-leading technology, Winzeler Gear continues to build on our reputation as an innovative gear system designer and world-class manufacturer of precision molded plastic gears. Operating a successful manufacturing facility since 1940 has fashioned milestones that accurately represent who we are today. In the spirit of continued momentum and to best represent our commitment to advancing with the times, we believed it was time to update our brand identity to best reflect the achievements and imaginative approach at Winzeler Gear.

In an effort to align our energy and artistic flair to gear manufacturing, Winzeler Gear is thrilled to share that Winzeler Gear is launching a new logo and color palette that now embodies the vibrant essence of our brand. The modern appeal is just a component of our ongoing communication with customers, strategic partners, suppliers, and employees which landmarks our continued growth plan.

In addition to our new look, we have updated our message and user experience with a new website. We are approaching a new era at Winzeler Gear as we prepare for our company’s 100-year anniversary, investing in enhancements that will continue to build on our trusted partnership.

To learn more about us, click here.

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The focus of the radio show, as stated on their website, is to “examine the workplace and the challenges faced by business owners and job seekers.” You can listen to my interview on January 18, 2018 by visiting Wharton’s website. As of this posting, my interview is, for now, relatively current so it is at or near the top of the list.

During the interview, I made the case for generating a workforce of smart people with a combination of brains and skilled hands. There are many individuals who enter high school who are autodidacts, learning by doing. In the past, these people would be found in the hands-on classrooms: metal shops, woodworking, auto shops, and so on. Those high school classes disappeared to be replaced by computer labs.

Now manufacturing is struggling to find people with practical problem-solving skills. And they are looking to the education community to develop the paths for students to a successful manufacturing career. Manufacturing should not be looked upon as the second choice to a four-year degree. Students need both the understanding of the opportunities in manufacturing, as well as the tools to acquire the skills manufacturers are seeking.

Please contact me to discuss how Winzeler Gear is partnering with schools to start developing the next generation of skilled hands.

The post The WORKPLACE interview on Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School appeared first on Winzeler Gear.

This year the theme of our 2018 calendar is Gear Jazz. Our photographer/artist, Erich Schrempp deftly integrated gears, great Chicago jazz artists, and their instruments into a striking series of Gear Jazz art. Erich collaborated with twelve jazz artists and together made some beautiful images. You can download a pdf of our calendar here.

When making precision plastic gears, we find it incredibly valuable to bring everyone together from the projects inception…designers, engineers, mold builders, materials suppliers…anyone who has a stake in the project’s success. It can create a bit of chaos, and even some conflict. Lively discussion can bring about a complete change in the gear assembly. Yet having everyone “in the room” from the very beginning results in a better solution and a better gear.

Recently I heard from a friend who received our 2018 Gear Jazz calendar. “I love this year’s theme of jazz!  Years ago, when I was just starting my research and teaching in creativity/innovation, I came across John Kao’s book, ‘Jamming.’  He used jazz (jam sessions) as a metaphor for creativity.  You may like this quote from the book:

“Like jazz musicians playing off each other to create new sounds, at once unpredictable and harmonious, managers must learn to compose teams that work together to create music on the cutting edge.”

I think this is as true today as when he wrote it 20 years ago.”

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Winzeler Gear participated in the 2015 FashionNext program and was asked in the summer of 2016 to donate materials again. Our gears were evidently the perfect tie-in with author Laura Ruby’s futuristic scenario.

Part of the judging criteria included the ability of teams to incorporate materials that were supplied by the museum. When you look at the nine entries you will see obvious, and more subtle, integrations of our gears. Click on each image to blow them up. Can you find the gears in each entry?

There were nine teams from across the Chicago area, each with a fashion professional who mentored them as they created and presented their entries.

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Every year the TMA committee seeks members that have the same passion and vision for our association and industry today as our founding members. The Committee is comprised of Tim Doran, Joel Goldberg, Gregg Panek, Paul Prikos, and Tony Dupasquier. Kent Gladish is our research advisor.

I had the honor of introducing Tom and presenting the Winzeler Award, which was created in honor of my grandfather, Johnny Winzeler. Jim is the 44th recipient of this award.

The Winzeler Award has its roots in the establishment of TMA. On August 27, 1925 eight (8) company owners gathered to form the Tool, Die, Special Machinery, and Manufacturing Association. Max Heinze was elected as the first president. Johnny Winzeler joined the association in 1927 with his company Reliance Die and Stamping. Max and Johnny were association pioneers. My father, Harold, and Max’s grandson approached TMA in 1971 to establish awards to recognize our industry and association leaders.

Originally two awards, one for service to the industry and one for service to TMA were ultimately combined into the Heinze-Winzeler Award. In 2008 the Awards committee changed the name to the Winzeler Award recognizing that for the last 20 years my family has been the sole sponsor of this award.

Following is an excerpt of my speech where I introduced Tom at the March 4th event:

This evening we are honoring Tom Simeone, President of Manor Tool & Manufacturing.

My awards committee is challenged with identifying and tracking TMA members that have the same passion and vision for our association and industry today as our founding members including my grandfather Johnny Winzeler. The Committee is comprised of Tim Doran, Joel Goldberg, Gregg Panek, Paul Prikos, and Tony Dupasquier. Kent Gladish is our research advisor.

Manor Tool was started by Tom’s father Lee in 1959. Lee was trained as a mechanic in the Marines. Upon returning from the military, he obtained a manufacturing job that gave him the opportunity to learn the tooling and stamping business. Lee and his wife Louise started Manor Tool in 1959.

Tom was the youngest of 7 children and grew up sweeping floors and cleaning machines at Manor. Tom excelled at math and went off to the University of Illinois Engineering school, not sure what he wanted to be when he grew up. Ultimately after graduation, he was attracted to the family business and entered tool & die apprenticeship training. While an apprentice, Dad made sure Tom worked in all aspects of the stamping business. Tom’s engineering education combined with his apprenticeship prepared him well to help grow the family business.

Tom has been very active at TMA having served on the Board of Directors, and Government Relations Committee, and is currently a major contributor to the Manufacturing Education and Careers Committee. Tom is also a director of mHub a Chicago manufacturing innovation center. When you spend time with Tom it is obvious that he is passionate about advanced manufacturing, promoting our industry, and TMA.

Tom met the love of his life; Courtnay, on the Northwest side of Chicago in 1989. They have 3 children; Angelo ( 25yrs), Emily ( 22yrs.), and Aldo (19yrs.). The family tradition continues with Angelo and Aldo now working at Manor Tool. Emily is currently a senior in Communications at DePaul University.

Tom’s hobbies are golfing, fishing, bird-watching, and gardening with Courtnay. She grows the flowers. And Tom grows the vegetables. One of his favorite pastimes is relaxing, sitting in their back yard on Saturday or Sunday mornings having breakfast/ drinking coffee looking over the garden and birds while reading and listening to music.

On behalf of the Winzeler family, TMA members, and staff, I am honored to present you with this Swiss Atmos clock in recognition of your outstanding service to our industry and TMA.

Congratulations on becoming the 44th Winzeler Award Winner.

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At Winzeler Gear, we are on a journey with our partner, Engel, to implement a smart factory and 4.0 to drive more waste and inefficiency out of the plant. We are looking at our overall equipment efficiency and find improvements that justify the investments, which drives the need for predictive and preventive maintenance to keep machinery up and running.

As you may know, I am a mechanical engineer by degree, but my background is in racing. And in my mind, the biggest example of IoT is Formula 1. And we are trying to do the same thing, gathering large data and using it productively to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.

Winzeler Gear has a vision of what we want to do, investing time and money to wire up the equipment and get the IT infrastructure in place. Then we are also developing a strategic plan for talent. There will be different gaps in our talent pool tomorrow. And it is one thing to collect data, but something else to do something with it. We need the talent to be able to analyze all the data we are collecting and make it useful to help us minimize our labor but still provide 100% perfect parts to our customers.

You can see the entire interview here.

Wolfgang Meisen, Head of Communication adn PR, KUKA Roboter

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It was my great pleasure to introduce Jim and present him with the award which was created in honor of my grandfather, Johnny Winzeler. Jim is the 43rd recipient of this award.

Jim established his company in 1983, Hommer Tool & Manufacturing Co., which today is one of the premier suppliers of mold components. The company is currently under the leadership of  Jim’s son,  J.R.

The Winzeler Award has its roots in the establishment of TMA. On August 27, 1925, eight (8) company owners gathered to form the Tool, Die, Special Machinery, and Manufacturing Association. Max Heinze was elected as the first president. Johnny Winzeler joined the association in 1927 with his company Reliance Die and Stamping. Max and Johnny were association pioneers. My father, Harold, and Max’s grandson approached TMA in 1971 to establish awards to recognize our industry and association leaders.

Originally two awards, one for service to the industry and one for service to TMA were ultimately combined into the Heinze-Winzeler Award.  In 2008 the Awards committee changed the name to the Winzeler Award recognizing that for the last 20 years my family has been the sole sponsor of this award.

Following is an excerpt of my speech where I introduced Jim at the March 5th event:

Tonight we are honoring Jim Hommer Senior who was unanimously voted the 2016 recipient of the Winzeler Award in honor of my grandfather Johnny Winzeler.

Jim’s education and career path are not unlike other award winners. Jim was on the college track in high school until he went to college and realized he preferred to learn by doing. After a short college career, his dad introduced him to a friend with a plastic mold-making business and encouraged Jim to “learn a trade.”  Jim listened and started a mold-making apprenticeship along with theory classes at TMA.   Jim was overconfident and restless, bounced from shop to shop, and ultimately graduated as a journeyman mold maker. Jim’s restlessness continued and he pursued many careers including mold designer, tool steel sales, and manufacturing management. Not all were successful, but these experiences gave Jim the tools and desire to start his own business. One failed tooling component business ultimately resulted in starting Hommer Tool in 1983. With his Dad providing free labor and financing from his father-in-law, Jim pursued the niche of producing specialty core pins and round tooling for molds. Today Hommer Tool is one of the premier suppliers of mold components, currently under the leadership of  Jim’s son  J.R.

Since the foundation for Jim’s success was his apprentice training, he started giving back to the industry by teaching mold-making classes at TMA in 1972 and continued for 5 years. When he joined the board of directors and was elected Chairman in 2001, he joined Toast Masters to master the art of public speaking to ensure that he was prepared for his new position.  Jim spent 7 years on the board and many years on the program and entertainment committee. After leaving the board, Jim became a certified NIMS auditor and volunteer to promote our trades in high schools and community colleges. Today Jim volunteers as a tutor to deprived North Chicago high school students and enjoys promoting manufacturing apprenticeship career paths.

Jim married Terry, his high school sweetheart in 1967, they originally met in 4^th grade. Terry and Jim have a son Jim Junior and a daughter Katie who have provided them with 5 grandchildren. Needless to say, a lot of time today is spent enjoying family activities and being involved with the grandkids.

Winters in Florida allow Jim to enjoy boating, fishing, and golf.  Terry and Jim love to travel although Terry is not invited on Jim’s annual long-distance cross-country ride on his Harley.

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There are many paths to a successful career. On Monday, November 16th, Winzeler Gear and QCC, both of Harwood Heights, IL, will be at Ridgewood High School in Norridge, IL presenting an option many high school freshmen students likely have never considered…manufacturing.

In recent years there has been a big push to give more students the opportunity to go to college. Yet, statistics show nearly 45% of recent graduates with a college education are underemployed, accepting positions not equal to their education. Plus they carry an average $30,000 of debt. It is no longer clear that a 4-year college education has a good return on investment.

In stark contrast, a study of Northern Illinois’ top 100 jobs shows students with both a high school diploma and an associates or technical training education will have the level of education needed for 70% of those top 100 jobs.

Winzeler Gear has been exploring ways to fill the skilled-worker void, working with a number of schools and organizations and providing much-needed resources. Winzeler Gear has recently helped establish a local Manufacturing Advisory Council to assist Ridgewood High School to explore careers in manufacturing.

In addition to the presentation on November 16th, Ridgewood students will be invited to tour QCC and Winzeler Gear facilities in early December. Then in 2016 Winzeler Gear plans to offer internships so students can experience working in a manufacturing facility firsthand.

Manufacturing is hungry for qualified, skilled workers. Presenting students with options they had not even considered will go a long way toward meeting that need in the future.

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He had his engineers rent a backhoe and turn an empty lot into an off-road track. Now that is better than a dark room and a PowerPoint presentation.

Dale also highlighted Winzeler Gear and posted some of our Gear Art on his blog at the end of his post. And those that know Winzeler know-how every day is Love The Product Day. We have gear art, gear fashion and an art gallery in the middle of our design and manufacturing precision plastics gear facility.

I invite you to take a look at Dale’s short post. It can help you shift your perspective on your product or service, and how to make it fun for yourself, your people, and your customers.

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