Robots make a lot of sense for tube and pipe welding. The return on investment for a typical robot system can be seen usually within six to 24 months, depending on the parts, complexity of the system, and learning curve of the manufacturer. Quality improvements are typically seen immediately. In addition, by tracking the process, manufacturers can make changes to improve production time and determine the throughput of the system for accurate part production projections.

Nanofibers--fibers 1,000-times smaller than the diameter of a human hair--can help to improve filtration efficiency, filter cleanability, filter life, and energy consumption when the cartridge filters are used properly.

State-of-the-art CNC programming systems speed the first stage of CNC programming by allowing the programmer to import CAD models to define the geometry of the part. That's just the first part, however. To really speed up the design phase, CAD programmers should keep several tips in mind.

Today several companies offer technologies that help beginning welders get that hand motion just right. None claims that the technology will replace the real thing, of course, but they do say that training in the virtual world can give students a significant leg up by the time they weld for the first time. It helps teach students what really happens between the welding arc and workpiece, why certain hand motions produce good beads while other motions don't. And it also may help introduce welding to students who wouldn't have given the trade a second thought.

Denman & Davis calls itself the largest general-line, independent service center in the Northeast. The company has about 65,000 square feet of inventory and manufacturing space in Clifton, N.J., another 70,000 square feet in Slatersville, R.I., and another 35,000 in Albany, N.Y. The company distributes a variety of hot-rolled and cold-finished bars, structural shapes, sheets, and tubing, but has discovered a fruitful niche with plate, used in pressure vessel, power generation, and processing applications.

Mid-West Metal Products, Muncie, Ind., has perfected work flow through ERP and the company's virtual manufacturing plan.

MG Products Inc., Elkhart, Ind., successfully made the transition from a machine shop to a full-scale tube fabricator thanks to the investment in a laser tube cutter.

Stamping sensors can go a long way in protecting valuable dies and eliminating downtime associated with repairing dies after crashes. So why aren't more shops using them? Perhaps it's because their misconceptions get in the way of making a wise investment.

A new resource tool takes away the guesswork and the apprehension when welding titanium: The American Welding Society (AWS) D1.9/D1.9M Structural Welding Code—Titanium. Released in July 2007, the code goes beyond the limitations of previous documents by providing the information required to engineer a structural titanium product from start to finish.

For many jobs, the toughest part isn't roll forming the parts themselves—it's getting those parts to the customer. Parts are cut-to-length, then placed on immense wooden frames in such a way that allows the maximum load on a truck. That's a lot of material handling. But what if a shop eliminated the packing altogether by taking the roll forming to the job site itself?