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More from Tim Heston
- From The Fabricator
How trust leads to success in custom fabrication
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 11, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
USA Dutch, a North Carolina custom fabricator, has grown significantly since the Great Recession, especially after acquiring a competing (and larger) fabricator in 2015. Managers attribute much of that growth to the company’s culture.
- From The Fabricator
Ready, set, launch: A custom fabrication startup story
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 10, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
The launch of BMF Metal Fabrication reveals market opportunities in quick response. Turn jobs around quickly, and more customers come calling.
- From The Fabricator
Gas tungsten arc welding goes deep
- By Tim Heston
- Sep 19, 2017
- Arc Welding
- Article
K-TIG, a variant of gas tungsten arc welding, introduces a unique keyhole, high speeds, and deep penetration. Those working with stainless, nickel-based alloys, and other specialty and corrosion-resistant materials have another welding technology to consider.
- From The Fabricator
What makes a custom fabricator unique?
- By Tim Heston
- Sep 15, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
A custom fabricator’s marketing message isn’t necessarily about technology and processing capabilities. After all, competing fabricators can buy identical equipment. Instead, the true “brand” of a custom fabricator is about people who are there to help.
- From The Fabricator
Technology Spotlight: The potential of self-driving vehicles in metal fabrication
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 17, 2017
- Materials Handling
- Article
Self-driving vehicles, combined with robot intelligence, could help drive efficiency on what remains a highly manual process in metal fabrication: moving parts from one process to another.
- From The Fabricator
Technology Spotlight: Uncovering the “why” in equipment effectiveness
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 17, 2017
- Automation and Robotics
- Article
A factory may have thousands of sensors on the production floor, hundreds in the welding line, but all that data may not be very useful. Data analytics helps convert that data to specific information that people can act upon.
- From The Fabricator
A symphony of metal fabrication
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 16, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
Metal fabrication happens most effectively when people work together, though the nature of manufacturing throws up plenty of hurdles to effective communication. A smart shop layout can address this.
- From The Fabricator
Plate rolling gets hot
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 11, 2017
- Bending and Forming
- Article
Why should one consider hot plate rolling? It usually boils down to two reasons: The material can’t be cold rolled at all and meet customer requirements (thanks to cracking or other defects), or the job exceeds a plate roll’s capacity for cold rolling.
- From The Fabricator
Hot rod origins, metal fabrication future
- By Tim Heston
- Aug 2, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
Well beyond its hot-rod-shop origins, Ohio-based Stainless Works and its custom fabrication subsidiary MetalFab Group are moving into a new facility in November and are poised for double-digit growth over the next few years.
- From The Fabricator
9 myths of accounting in manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Jul 14, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
Many managers, particularly those at large manufacturers, rely on financial metrics to make decisions. Problem is, these metrics are often based on traditional cost accounting, which can provide misleading information.
- From The Fabricator
How 80/20 rules metal fabrication
- By Tim Heston
- Jul 13, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
The 80/20 rule helps fabricators focus on the impactful 20 percent of their business. Like anything else in high-product-mix manufacturing, implementing 80/20 isn’t always straightforward. But when it’s working, trust and enjoyment abound among both co-workers and customers.
- From The Fabricator
Custom fabrication: Right information, right technology, right time
- By Tim Heston
- Jul 12, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
SAF Metal Fabrication is part of Southern Aluminum Finishing, a distributor of aluminum extrusions and sheet metal, an architectural metal fabricator, and metal finisher all rolled into one. Holding it all together is smart information management.
- From The Fabricator
A metal fabrication shop culture of opportunity
- By Tim Heston
- Jun 28, 2017
- Shop Management
- Article
Carey Mfg. Inc., a hardware manufacturer in New England, has some of the latest pieces of equipment in sheet metal fabrication, and everyone who operates them, many of them women, are in their early 20s.
- From The Fabricator
Change: The new normal in manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Jun 26, 2017
- Automation and Robotics
- Blog Post
If a shop doesn't change, a competitor is bound to catch up.
- From The Fabricator
How metal fabricators build community
- By Tim Heston
- Jun 20, 2017
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Connecting rural America with broadband Internet is a good thing. It may even bring down the rural unemployment rate. But it may not get to the heart of the problem.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 03/05/2024
- Running Time:
- 65:35
After Ludlow Manufacturing Inc. (LMI) received The Fabricator's 2024 Industry Award, Todd Ludlow, founder and president of the...
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