STI Machine Tool Students and Instructors thank the GRACO Foundation for funding approximately $40,000 of new equipment and testing instruments to enhance student learning and tie directly to the skills needed for new employees at the Graco Manufacturing facility in Sioux Falls.
Items include:
Tool Pre-Setter – Currently all setting is done on the machines which will produce the actual finished pieces, so students have no experience with pre-setters. The addition of this piece of equipment will expose STI students to a second type of tool setting, increase the service life of our other machines, reduce machine downtime, and save on repair costs.
Portable Surface Roughness Gage – This completely portable unit performs traceable surface roughness measurements on a variety of surfaces, including small inside diameters. It will be a valuable addition to our inspection tools to give STI students a new way to review their work and improve the quality of their production skills.
Optical Comparator – Our students will use this modular system to measure round and complex parts on the shop floor. Exposure to this type of inspection tool teaches students the operations used for production of regularly inspected parts in an actual shop setting.
These additions will bring our Machine Tool graduates to their employers with a wider range of ready-to-work skills.