While other Midwest manufacturers are struggling, plumbing manufacturer Bradley Corp. is projecting it will double in size in the next four years. This growth is attributed to the company's flexibility—its ability to adapt equipment, processes, and scheduling to quickly turn around incoming customer orders.

After adding a coil-end joiner, automotive stamper Pax Machine Works increased its productivity approximately 33 percent, reduced its scrap, and created a safer working environment.

To stay competitive in today’s market, stampers must build dies from materials that adequately perform with as little maintenance as possible. Appropriate tool steels can be cold-rolled steel to solid carbide. The key is to know when to use a lower-grade steel and when to use a higher-grade tool steel.

Fineblanking in various forms is increasingly becoming accepted by the automotive industry for producing sheet metal components with smooth edges that don't require additional finishing operations.

High-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels require new ways of thinking about extending punch life. At the same time, there are many tried- and-true techniques that still work.