Video Transcript

Narrator: This video is brought to you by OSG USA, Inc. Shaping your dreams. If you're looking for real-world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hi everyone and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you've joined us today. Before we get started, take a moment to hit those Like and Subscribe buttons so you never miss an episode from MSC and our industry partners.

Today manufacturers are under constant pressure to improve productivity, maintain quality, and get more out of every tool on the shop floor.

But when it comes to threading operations, even small improvements in life consistency and performance can have a significant impact on overall efficiency. I'm excited to welcome Stephen Putek, Product Engineer at OSG USA, to discuss the new HY-PRO Sigma tap and how OSG is helping manufacturers tackle a wide range of threading challenges. Stephen, thanks so much for being here, and welcome to Tooling Up.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Hey, great to be here and thank you for having me on.

TONI NEARY: So, Stephen, before we get into the product itself, tell us a little bit about your role at OSG and your journey into the machining industry.

STEPHEN PUTEK: So, I've been a product engineer with OSG USA for just a hair over four years now. I originally got my degree in mechanical engineering, but ever since I started working with OSG, I've had a lot of on-the-job learning because I had very little technical background when it came to CNC machines. So a lot of being able to run machines, being able to go out and visit customers to see the machines that they are using, and troubleshoot any of the applications that they're running on those machines has really been insightful and made me a better engineer in the long run, being able to apply the theoretical that I learned in school with the practical I've learned here on the job.

TONI NEARY: And I love the fact you really had the chance to see both the engineering side as well as the practical realities that manufacturers are dealing with every day.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Absolutely. These ongoing customer conversations play a big part in any product development that we have going on here at OSG USA.

TONI NEARY: So as you've worked with customers over the years, what are some of those recurring challenges that seem to keep coming up again and again?

STEPHEN PUTEK: Anytime it comes to tapping, usually the whole point is to make a good thread, and some of the problem is either we're not making good threads or we’re having problems getting chips out of the darn way, and that's going to make it a bit of a headache for any operator that's got to go in, stop the machine, stop the process in order to get rid of chips that got wrapped around the tap or are causing problems. So being able to clear those chips away and making sure that we're making a good, consistent thread, that gauge is just fine is. Those are the two big ones that I could see.

TONI NEARY: And I want to talk a little bit about just different materials, especially when you're looking at your small to mid-size manufacturers. Is there any variance that they had there just based on the type of material and how often they have to shift that out?

STEPHEN PUTEK: Especially for smaller shops, it's a bit more of a headache. When you get into the large manufacturing facilities with, you know, dedicated cells for production. Usually those cells are dedicated to one machine, one type of tool, and once they have it dialed in, they don't have to worry about changing a thing. Smaller shops where you got maybe 5 to 10 machines, and you got a bunch of different jobs coming in the door, it’s basically whatever the job tells them to do. So one day it's carbon steel, the next day it's aluminum, the third day it's stainless steel. And they could be on that job for a week, or it could be multiple weeks. It could be just a day. So being able to have the versatility to bounce around from material to material is kind of critical for them.

And people, especially in those job shop environments where they have to bounce around between those materials, and then they get a particularly troublesome one, such as 304 stainless, that can cause a lot of headaches on their end.

TONI NEARY: And I love the fact that you're looking at the whole solution. It's not necessarily one big problem. It's a combination of factors that can really impact productivity and overall efficiency on the shop floor.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Yeah, I mean, any sort of downtime that we have trying to fix problems on the machine is, is money down the drain because people are paying for that machine time and making sure that we can minimize all the problems that those customers can get, making sure we get good, consistent threads where customers aren't worried about hitting the cycle start button, and, you know, praying that the tap doesn't snap on them, that's what we're trying to help out customers with, especially in those job shop environments.

TONI NEARY: And it sounds like manufacturers are consistently being asked to do more than ever before. Is that what ultimately led OSG to take this fresh look at the HY-PRO platform?

STEPHEN PUTEK: That's a great question, Toni. And yeah, we saw a really good opportunity here to kind of give us the next step in the HY-PRO brand, a brand that customers have been able to trust for a long time. We saw this as a great opportunity to address those concerns that some customers have with the older taps and bring something new to the table.

So HY-PRO Sigma is the next evolution of the HY-PRO brand, and that's going to be launched on July 1st.

TONI NEARY: So before we get into some of these specific enhancements, give us the elevator pitch. What is HY-PRO Sigma?

STEPHEN PUTEK: HY-PRO Sigma is going to be a premium tap at an affordable price. So we're really looking to make sure that those smaller shops, where sticker price is a little bit more of a concern, especially if we're only doing this job for two days. You know, we want to make sure that they don't have to pay super big bucks in order to get the best performance that they can out of it.

TONI NEARY: And I love the fact that it's consistent performance and you're looking at the reliability as well. So in short, this is like the next evolution. This is HY-PRO and the next generation.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Yeah exactly. I mean, this is the next generation of HY-PRO that we have. HY-PRO’s been around since before I was born. So now it's finally time to take it up and have it evolve to meet the changing demands of the market.

TONI NEARY: All right. So we're talking about a classic and taking it to the next level. So let's dig a little bit into what makes HY-PRO Sigma different. What are some of the key design enhancements that OSG introduced to help address these challenges that we've been talking about?

STEPHEN PUTEK: Yeah, when we were designing the HY-PRO Sigma, we wanted to take all those real-world scenarios that we run across into consideration. So we want to make sure that customers with the Sigma are able to get rid of those chips, effectively evacuate them. We want to make sure that it's a durable tap so they can hit cycle, start, walk away from the machine without any issues.

And obviously with any OSG products, we want to make sure they get good, consistent threads with them.

TONI NEARY: And all of those enhancements map us back to the challenge you mentioned earlier, which is tool life, thread quality, and chip management.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Yeah, exactly. So making sure that we balance all three of those things and making sure that we maximize out, you know, the best aspects of all of those things is going to give us the best value to our customers.

TONI NEARY: Stephen, you've done such a great job walking us through the engineering behind HY-PRO Sigma. But what do those enhancements actually mean for manufacturers on the shop floor?

STEPHEN PUTEK: That means that they're going to be able to have a tap that lasts longer, have a tap that they're not worried about having break on them when it comes to a little bit more of a difficult material, and it means that they're going to have more consistent performance and more reliable tools that they can trust to run effectively.

TONI NEARY: Earlier you mentioned that many shops are machining different materials throughout the day. Is that really where your HY-PRO Sigma shines?

STEPHEN PUTEK: Yeah, absolutely. So whether you're going to be running into any of your carbon steels, alloy steels, stainless, cast irons, some of your nonferrous, HY-PRO Sigma is going to be able to perform well in any of those materials without any problems.

TONI NEARY: And that's really valuable when you are working with these job shops and manufacturers that are really looking to reduce complexity without sacrificing results.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Definitely, it's going to make sure that they have the best tool for any material that they come across or any job that comes their way.

TONI NEARY: So it sounds like the HY-PRO Sigma was really designed for manufacturers looking to simplify tooling decisions, maintain consistent performance, and confidently move between a wide range of materials and applications.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Exactly.

TONI NEARY: And I think that's really been the theme throughout this entire conversation, helping manufacturers reduce complexity without sacrificing results. Stephen, thanks so much for joining us today and sharing the story behind HY-PRO Sigma.

STEPHEN PUTEK: Well, thank you for having me on, Toni.

TONI NEARY: It was so great to have Stephen with us today. To learn more about OSG’s new HY-PRO Sigma taps visit: www.mscdirect.com/products/hypro-sigma

Or contact your local MSC representative. And don't forget to subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode. Thanks, and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level, and subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.