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More from Tim Heston
- From The Fabricator
A reporter’s notebook from FABTECH
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 20, 2013
- Bending and Forming
- Blog Post
FABTECH® is on. It’s big---well on track to be the largest to date. Before Thursday’s close, it’s anticipated that more than 35,000 will walk the halls of McCormick Place. It’s flashy. Solid-state lasers are cutting thin, but also thick stock. I saw a 1-micron laser slice through 1 inch...
- From The Fabricator
The future of the laser in metal fabrication
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 12, 2013
- Additive Manufacturing
- Blog Post
This time next week I’ll be walking the floor at McCormick Place, seeing what’s new, what’s unusual, and perhaps a little about what the future holds in metal fabrication. Even after years covering FABTECH®, I feel like a kid at a candy store. Sometimes I think about what the industry will...
- From The Fabricator
The potential of collaborative manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 6, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
As globalization took hold in recent decades, Tony Chirchirillo was keenly aware of how many viewed manufacturing. He decided to change that perception in an unconventional way—by forming a network of noncompeting, complementary companies.
- From The Fabricator
A metal fabricator’s quiet transition
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 6, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
The management buyout of the Schott metal fabrication division was, for many employees, a quiet affair. But transitioning to become an independent enterprise did call for major changes behind the scenes.
- From The Fabricator
How cellular manufacturing can work in contract manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Nov 5, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
For the past year one contract fabricator in Georgia has operated under the cellular manufacturing concept. Even in the shop’s high-product-mix environment, the concept is working—even thriving.
- From The Fabricator
How lean manufacturing makes labor more valuable
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 29, 2013
- Automation and Robotics
- Blog Post
Last week I flew to Chicago to attend LeanFab Workshop & Tours, a continuous improvement event devoted to the metal fabrication business, organized by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International. Dick Kallage of Barrington, Ill.-based KDC & Associates (and monthly...
- From The Fabricator
Sausage-making at its best and worst
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 15, 2013
- Bending and Forming
- Blog Post
When it comes to government, I don’t particularly want to know about the sausage-making—the bargaining, arguing, and deals made (and now almost always required) to get anything accomplished. I know reading about it would just infuriate me, because inside the beltway, at least, it seems that...
- From The Fabricator
How top performing metal fabricators get it done
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 9, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
FMA’s recently released Financial Ratios & Operational Benchmarking Survey digs deep into the numbers. The results give a realistic view of the industry and reveal how successful its top performers can be.
- From The Fabricator
Roll form and shine bright
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 9, 2013
- Roll Forming
- Article
As revenue tumbled nearly 80 percent during the downturn, OMCO’s sales team searched for new markets that could carry them through the tough times and beyond. Ultimately, they found a sector that grew faster than anyone expected. They found solar.
- From The Fabricator
No-nonsense lean at Micron Metalworks
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 9, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
This Minnesota fabricator took a pragmatic approach to lean manufacturing, one that takes the challenges of the job shop into account. Employees focused on communication, organization, and simplicity. The result was an operational and, most important, cultural transformation.
- From The Fabricator
The virtues of paying your debts
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 8, 2013
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Whenever I think of the debt ceiling, I think of Vivek Gupta, managing director of Texas ProFab in Carrollton, Texas. In 2008—back when we were all debating whether we were really heading into a full blown recession (how quaint)—he told me that he not only pays the fabricator’s bills on...
- From The Fabricator
How one fabricator doubled revenue over 12 months
- By Tim Heston
- Oct 7, 2013
- Shop Management
- Article
Manufacturing boils down to three principal services: design and engineering, prototyping, and production. One Georgia fabricator has evolved to offer all three.
- From The Fabricator
Continuous improvement is forever
- By Tim Heston
- Sep 26, 2013
- Bending and Forming
- Blog Post
When it comes to a lot of things about the economy, I’m a glass half-empty kind of guy. Will the government shut down soon because of the mess inside the beltway? Yeah, probably. The jobless rates are down this week! Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts. Five years after the financial crisis and...
- From The Fabricator
Five Septembers ago: Metal fabrication and the financial crisis
- By Tim Heston
- Sep 17, 2013
- Assembly and Joining
- Blog Post
In hindsight, it’s ironic. It was early September 2008, and FABTECH was set to open in Las Vegas in a few weeks. Up until that point a hot bed of growth, especially in real estate. But then Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. Still, even a few weeks into the crisis, the metal fabrication...
- From The Fabricator
How a worldwide shipper acts like a job shop
- By Tim Heston
- Sep 9, 2013
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
How is Maersk’s new Triple E class containerships—nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall—like a job shop? Forget the fact that, as reported by BusinessWeek, the behemoth is designed to go only 16 knots to save fuel. Sure, heat-capture devices use heat from the massive ship...
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 04/16/2024
- Running Time:
- 63:29
In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Caleb Chamberlain, co-founder and CEO of OSH Cut, discusses his company’s...
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- June 5 - 6, 2024
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- June 25 - 27, 2024
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Navigating Change: The Manufacturer’s Guide to Change Management with ERP Implementation
- May 16, 2024
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