Content tagged with "building"
Results: 20
Article
January 13, 2004
Beating 'world' pricing
This Finn-Power Express Bending Cell, which automates complex bending and reduces tedious and costly work stages, has last bend negative capability and fully automatic operations cycles—from loading the sheet to unloading the bent parts. "I have a precision sheet metal shop and... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2003
Taking tubular aluminum scaffolding to new heights
Photo courtesy of Fred R. Tannery Photography, Brooklyn, N.Y. Universal Builders Supply, a temporary-structures company with headquarters in Mount Vernon, N.Y., designs and constructs scaffolding, hoisting, and platforms—big ones. It was the company's proposal for a unique... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2003
Folding technology makes sweeping changes
In particular, sheet metal was used extensively for roofing and building cladding. These applications were well-suited to the swing bending machine's geometry, and the modern metal folding industry was born. A number of German manufacturers began adding powered backgauges with... Read more...
Article
November 6, 2003
Is your company a breeding ground for workplace violence?
Approximately 2 million U.S. workers are victims of workplace violence each year. In 1997 the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that an average of 20 workers are murdered each week in the U.S., and an estimated 18,000 per week are victims of nonfatal... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Washington women weld at the 'Y'
It's a drizzly, blustery Pacific Northwest morning in November with the gray light of dawn coming up behind the Cascade Mountain Range. Crew Leader Cheryl Boxx, clad in Carhartts®, squares her hard hat in place and begins checking scaffolds, rigging, welding equipment, and her... Read more...
Article
July 10, 2003
Six dangerous misconceptions about crane safety
Nearly every product today has a warning label. In fact, many products have multiple warning labels, lights, and bells. We even have warnings telling us our coffee is hot! It's little wonder, then, that many of us suffer from warning overload and just ignore the warnings. Unfortunately,... Read more...
Article
July 10, 2003
Do you use checking jigs and fixtures?
The effect that checking fixtures have on your operating bottom line is so important that they should be given a much higher priority than most tube fabricators give them. The cost of quality checking fixtures should be included in every bid when quoting jobs. In fact, costs incurred... Read more...
Article
June 26, 2003
Making the workplace safe for Spanish-speaking employees
Over the past several years, the U.S. has seen a dramatic increase in its population of Hispanic, Spanish-speaking people, with a corresponding impressive increase in the number of Spanish-speaking citizens who are entering the manufacturing work force. Having employees who speak limited... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Al GMAW: CC or CV?
I've read that constant-current (CC) power supplies are preferred for gas metal arc welding (GMAW) aluminum, but when I visit companies that sell welding equipment, they tell me I want a constant-voltage (CV) power supply. What's the real story? Can I use the more common CV power supplies or... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Getting it Straight
Before coiled material can pass through a die to produce an acceptable part, it must be straightened. Coil straightening is accomplished by bending a strip of material around sets of rollers that alternately stretch and compress the upper and lower surfaces so that the material's yield... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2003
Mediating commercial conflict
The Family Business This case involves two blood relatives, a brother and sister who had inherited a family business. Difficulties between successors to a family business are common. In fact, probate mediation among survivors and family business conflict resolution are increasingly... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2003
Reviving the past
When he looked at the outside of his building, Bellingham, Wash., YMCA Director Dave Harding realized he faced a challenge. The original Bellingham, Wash., YMCA building. The YMCA's main downtown facility was located in an early-1900s, four-story building. In recent years the interior... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2003
Sick at Work?
For some workers, various symptoms of illness appear when they enter the workplace and disappear when they leave. These workers suffer from sick building syndrome (SBS). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SBS is used to describe situations in which building... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Mixed Metals Reactions
Why, you may ask, would anyone want to start an uncontrolled chemical reaction that is really hard to stop? Well, our shop did not want to, but we did anyway, and I hope you learn from my lesson. Actually, they are lessons (plural) because we repeated the disaster twice, although with some... Read more...
Article
July 12, 2002
It happens 'under the hood'
Object Rick Walsh doesn't have a degree in landscape architecture, but he builds water gardens. He doesn't have a degree in art, but he sculpts metal. He has no formal training in welding, but welds all his sculptures. And for years people have been paying him a lot of money to create his... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Ensuring a plant's electrical system safety
Many people work in buildings that were constructed more than 40 years ago. At the time they were built, no one could have imagined the power requirements of the 21st century. An older plant has much more equipment today than it did when it was built, and each piece of equipment pulls... Read more...
Article
October 11, 2001
Inspecting for and correcting coil reel damage
Object Q. What is the most common type of failure encountered with payoff or take-up reels? A. The most common failure is overload failure, which occurs when the reel is loaded with coils that exceed the OEM's weight rating. Often, this failure is not evident with a catastrophic event... Read more...
Article
September 4, 2001
Changing the way they do business
Dealing with work loads, delivery schedules, and many other responsibilities doesn't leave managers with much time to consider factors that justify equipment improvements. Often this means ideas for improvements get shelved. However, fabricators who want to improve production and... Read more...
Article
June 15, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
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