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Author
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Topic: The best 35mm projector
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Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 12-24-2006 04:22 PM
quote: Richard Fowler
Japan was an easy role model after WW2 to implement lean manufacturing due to rising from the ashes and a very homogenious population
Course, the 14 points of management by W.Edward Deming helped this along as well.
Hmm...like microswitches and phase controls for the STRONG brains: having to change out them danged cheap micros every flipping year, while those expensive phase controls can last many years..and then some..
So, who's saving money? .. Looks like a tradeoff to me.
I'd rather stick with cast iron bearings - seen many-a-Simplex - from Standard to XL - not have their intermittents die or needs rebuilt due to the cast iron sleeve in the nose cover and main casting not failing out as does the Century movements ...and I do put a drop of oil the front oilite bearing one every other month.
My big gripe is those DAYTON motors mounted on those end seal cooling fans in the X-90 console (and they use oilite bearings..) where they run all the time -- and the wick inside discentrates where it cant oil both end bearings. I can disassemble these motors and soak up the oilite bearings with light oil to get a few more years out of them.....
Granted, the XL frames are leaky suckers, but are they tolerable to wear and tear..
AND prob why STRONG elected to keep the same movement in their Apogees: to keep a good thing going and cut some costs.
Lean - kinda what the theatre manager does as well since I've been there and done that as well. Run the operation LEAN, yet OPERATIONAL-keep inventory down to a minimum, cut all excessive costs as possible, watch payroll-keep it under a certain percentage of the "house nut", et.al. ...just to keep the profit and expense margin under check.
-Monte
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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-24-2006 04:51 PM
Many decades ago products were made to last, and consumers kept their products for many years.
In the automotive industry Detroit would gradually release technology over a period of many years. With any product patent protection and having the competition reverse-engineer your product was an ever-existant problem.
Today we have both a disposable and hi-tech world economy. And in todays manufacturing one stays ahead of the competition by releasing new technology as quickly as possible via new products. Consumer electronics is an excellent example.
Personally, I do believe that the construction of many yesteryear products were vastly superior to what is made today. What has improved today is the vast array/availability of engineering materials. Also, many new people in manufacturing think of all this wonderful new technology, to which I say what is old is new again. For example, Lexus is heavily advertising their headlights that turn with the steering wheel. Gee Whiz, doesn't that sound like a Tucker?
However, I do strongly believe in Lean Manufacturing. It is critical in todays world economy where one needs to produce World-Class products economically. Having a union shop where job-classifications are specifically defined does not cut it any more. Having person #1 bolt in hole, person #2 puts nut on bolt and person #3 tightens and no-one helps each other out or takes responsibility because its not in the defined job description does not cut it! This is where the Japanese have us beat.
With Lean and CIM concepts GEMA is able to produce (in Detroit) technologically advanced engines that are vastly superior and less expensive than what is outsourced overseas. Furthermore, the workforce is required to be more educated and flexible and yet their wages/benefits have not been cut.
How does Lean effect the cinema exhibition industry? How many times have I heard about dark screens because the IATSE projectionist would not go to the box office to get a delivered print, but only waited for the print to be delivered to the booth door? How many times have movie goers experienced all aspects of film-done-wrong due to todays popcorn kid "film-shredders"? etc, etc, etc!!
What Monte describes as Lean implementation by theatre managers is all wrong. Lean is not about cheap! It is about eliminating waste but ensuring quality! When I worked for Century Theatres, oooohhhh the wasted food that was thrown out every night!!!!
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Sam D. Chavez
Film God
Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 12-25-2006 01:39 AM
Someone has obviously drunk the Kool Aid.
You can state it in as much detail as you wish but concept and practice are two different things.
I worked for a company before and after they went to "lean" manufacturing, took the classes, wore the Tee shirt, etc,.
I saw factory execs who don't get out much tell me if we ran the factory 3 shifts a day at full efficiency, how much money we could make, ignoring the fact that you first need products people want to buy and in amounts that warrant running a factory 24/7, not the other way around.
There was even a sign in the factory "Quality Is Not Goodness, It Is a Process". While this is quite literally true, it is also incredibly simplistic, kind of like the Bible Thumper who comes to the door trying to save you asking, Have you let the Lord into your heart?
IHMO, part of the aim at least in the US of Just in Time and Lean system are to "fool proof" the system so fools can run it, and we all know there are always plenty of those around.
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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-25-2006 08:49 AM
The other point that doesn't seemed to be addressed is about the early obsolesence. One of the keys to the relatively low cost of cinema (I know exhibitors probably don't realize just how cheap their products are by other industry comparisons of similar volume per year) is that equipment made half a century ago is still completely servicable and in low volume.
Traditional cinema equipment was built with service in mind. This is something modern manufacturing does not think about...it is all disposable.
On the last two major installations we did...the "JIT" manufacturing really turned into TOO LATE manufacturing. To the point that we often went to plan B or even plan C manufacturer. I'm not talking about unreasonable amounts of lead times expected either. We were getting lead times in excess of 8-weeks from some manufacturers (and not for odd-ball type items and not just for cinema equipment). With Made-to-order, one expects longer lead times...not items that should be more stocked.
Though not a Cinema Product manufacturer, Extron is an example of a company that seems to know how to manufacture and stock their goods. When I took a tour of their plant a couple of years ago, they explained that they constantly adjust their manufacturing to try and keep 3-months of goods on the shelves. Because of strategies like that, I tend to go to them first if they make a product I need since I know I will get it. And in fact, I can't remember the last time, if ever, I had a back ordered item from them!
Even as a dealer, the stocking of items is a tricky business...one has to choose which items and how many. It is worse than as one said about putting money on the shelf. Not only is it that, but we are taxed on the goods on our shelves each and every year too! There is something just not right about that...the government penalizes businesses for being prepaired to service their customers. It isn't like they are not going to get the tax dollars when the goods are sold!
How all of this relates to the best 35mm projector is beyond me other than I guess one that doesn't wear out would be up there. Most of the favorites listed here have multiple decades of service which speaks volumes about this industry's products. Almost no other industry can talk about 50 year old machines that are still regarded as one of the best and still in operation.
If best means best picture and/or best sound...some of you have not done any real critical evaluation (image movment, perceived flicker, wow/flutter...etc) and compared all of that to various models. The "best" is seemingly being judged on familiarity. Others seem to judge the "best" based on service life and or service ease. Certainly these are good qualities but is this best for the projectionist, exhibitor or patron?
Some machines are only expensive in the wrong hands. My whole career I've heard those that talk about the AA2 being "expensive" due to high cost of parts. The only thing I ever changed in them when I ran them as a projectionist were tension bands and the odd sprocket (normally the hold back sprocket but you do get two bites at it). In the hands of an idiot, well the intermittent sprocket will get chewed in seconds as the tenson bands wear the teeth down to nubs. It isn't the machine's fault an idiot was put in charge of running it. It would be like blaming a car for running into a brick wall with an idiot behind the wheel.
There are several good machines out there and there are serveral dogs out there. Just like in most any other industry.
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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-25-2006 02:05 PM
Both Sam and Steve bring up excellent points. One needs to manufacture products that sell in appropriate quantities. It costs a lot of $$ to just crank out parts only to have them warehoused for several years! For example, I called Wolk about some Super and E-7 parts. They quoted me outrageous prices simply because they wanted to recoup their warehousing costs over the decades!
In the old days of manufacturing all similar machines would be grouped together within different parts of the shop (lathes, mills, grinders) with those diffferent departments not being in communication with each other and a lot of wasted transportation, queue, storage and wip in between.
Flexible Manufacturing Cells are sooo much better, if they are correctly run with people working together as a Lean Manufacturing Team.
This past summer I had a paid Manufacturing Engineering Internship at Goodrich TurboMachinery Products...a very large supplier of turbine engine blades for RR, P&R, GE and Uncle Sam. My internship came to an end due to my class schedule that interfered too much with work. Among the vast work I performed was tool designing and engineering folder revision and was directly involved with the operation of flexible manufacturing cells (a key element in Lean Manufacturing).
Each cell was devoted to a specific client, and due to their flexibility several different types of blades could be manufactured with minimal change-over (very quick set-ups). And the cells were small enough where everyone was in communication with each other so that problems could be addressed at their source and be immediatly identified and corrected.
K
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