Content tagged with "companies"
Results: 51
Article
October 9, 2007
Ridin' the storm out
Editor's Note: This is the third article in a three-part series on Tennessee Stampings LLC. Part I in August explored the company's lean practices. Part II in
September discussed how the company's use of sensors and mistakeproofing led to its growth. Part III examines the company's... Read more...
Article
August 8, 2007
Ridin' the storm out Part I
Editor's Note: This is the first article in a three-part series on Tennessee Stampings LLC. Part I explores the company's lean practices. Part II in the September issue discusses how the company's use of sensors and mistakeproofing led to its growth. Part III, which will appear in the... Read more...
Article
November 8, 2005
Trailblazing with waterjet
With waterjet cutting, Johnson Enterprises has been able to attract new customers outside of its core sawmill industry customer base. A long way from its modest machine shop beginnings 20 years ago, Johnson Enterprises Inc. in Val D'Amour, New Brunswick, Canada, has become a leading... Read more...
Article
June 8, 2004
Dangerous curves
Provocative lines and innovative materials are the hallmarks of luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Cars Ltd. Jaguar has reaped the benefits of aluminum since 1922, when the company, then known as the Swallow Sidecar Co., designed sidecars out of lightweight aluminum panels. Since then the... Read more...
Article
June 8, 2004
Plasma pleases plenty
In case you missed it, check out this excerpt from the article "National research programs explore plate welding for shipbuilding" in the March 2004 issue of The FABRICATOR®: One project objective is to introduce laser cutting technology—which is already being used to cut sheet... Read more...
Article
June 8, 2004
Advanced lubricant technology for high-strength steel
Figure 1 As if the recent rise in steel prices weren't enough, now automotive stamping suppliers are faced with the difficult task of getting high-strength steel (HSS) to form parts with tooling designed for mild steel. In an effort to reduce vehicle weight and improve gas mileage,... Read more...
Article
June 8, 2004
Revving up weld quality
Before introducing new resistance welding systems, Ford Motor Company's New Model Product Development Center was cluttered and dark, and it was difficult to work there because of the high number of weld controls and weld guns being used (left). Installing weld controls and associated... Read more...
Article
June 1, 2004
Why companies really fail and how to turn them around, Part II
World-class manufacturing is a common catch phrase, but it's usually used even though the company has done nothing to justify the highfalutin title. Many companies have been using manufacturing resource planning (MRP), lean manufacturing, kaizen, kanban, Six Sigma systems, statistical process... Read more...
Article
June 1, 2004
Why companies really fail and how to turn them around, Part I
Why do some companies fail or continuously underperform? It's a complex question with as many "answers" as there are heads of industries and university scholars. In actuality, the most common reason for business failure is poor cash flow. Most organizations experience severe cash flow problems... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Safety pays
Now more than ever, fabricators must believe that safety pays . It pays to make safety a high priority, to invest in safety training, and to provide a safe workplace. The pressure to reduce costs during this very competitive time is great, but it is imperative that owners and managers... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Making plasma cutting easier
For many people, the world of plasma cutting is a complex and daunting place, with a cryptic set of rules that can be mastered only by highly trained technicians after weeks of training. For every change of material or thickness being cut, a long process ensues of resetting gas mixtures,... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Designing an off-road sport truck
They're big. They're mean. They growl and snarl. Untamed beasts, they're at home anywhere, regardless of the terrain or the climate. They prowl over mountains or deserts or backwoods trails, whether the conditions are warm or cold or wet or dry. They're custom-made off-road trucks, and... Read more...
Article
August 14, 2003
Article
August 14, 2003
Any good news in manufacturing?
This article was inspired by a reader's reaction to Part II of David Goodreau's two-part series about the state of manufacturing, The Perfect Economic Storm and the 100-year Flood in Manufacturing . The reader asked, "Can you find ANY good news out there for the industry?" While... Read more...
Article
August 14, 2003
Workplace stress—Part 2
In his bestseller, Spontaneous Healing , Andrew Weil, M.D., wrote, "All illnesses should be assumed to be stress-related until proved otherwise. Even if stress is not the primary cause of illness, it is frequently an aggravating factor. To say that a bodily complaint is... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Welding aluminum with inverter-based power supplies
Direct Current All welding power supplies transform relatively high-voltage, low-current incoming power to lower-voltage, high-current welding output using a transformer. In the past the transformer operated directly from 50- or 60-hertz incoming alternating current (AC). At these... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Workplace stress—Part 1
Among the many definitions of stress in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is "A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Advancements in waterjet technology
Stream Lag Caused Taper, Corner Problems Budd said he courted the gear processing market, but prospective customers wanted parts with a perpendicular edge, which he was not able to achieve with the 2-D abrasive waterjet equipment he was using. In 2-D abrasive waterjet cutting, the... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Tuning a piano—making the most of your best resources
Editor's Note: Is your company in survival mode? There are questions you should be asking and steps you can take to improve your company's position—instead of shooting the pianist. Ever listen to someone playing a piano that's out of tune? Remember the sound? Completely sour.... Read more...
Article
July 10, 2003
What price workers' compensation insurance?
According to an article in the June 23 issue of The New York Times , the cost of workers' compensation insurance has soared to its highest rate in nearly a decade, adding yet another heavy burden on businesses and the struggling national economy. Nationwide, the average cost of the... Read more...
Article
July 10, 2003
The problem with quality
The companywide scores, which represent the number of problems per 100 vehicles, are as follows: Considerable variation exists among individual divisions of some OEMs. At GM, for example, Cadillac's results prove to be the second best in the survey (103), while Hummer's are the lowest (225).... Read more...
Article
June 26, 2003
Laser-integrated robotics for assembly
Recently a cell phone manufacturer set out to be the first to develop an all-aluminum flip-type package for its ultracompact cell phone. Conceptually, the manufacturing seemed feasible, except for the joining of the materials.
Overlooking the Obvious
In the early phase of... 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 26, 2003
Managers are not necessarily leaders
There are business leaders and there are business managers. And while some leaders are managers and some managers are leaders, many times leaders and managers are very different animals. All too often we fail to recognize these differences in our businesses' day-to-day operations.
Many U.S.... Read more...
Article
June 26, 2003
Making hands-free straight, saddle, and miter cuts
Since its inception in 1969, the company had used traditional, manual processes. Pipes were moved into and out of the work area by forklift, and pipe cutting was done with either a hand-powered mechanized torch or a hand-held torch. For straight end cuts, an operator attached a... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Waste not, want not
How good are tube fabricators at finding hidden waste? Uncovering and eliminating hidden waste has as much to do with being profitable as any other manufacturing cost. We all know how to quote and define the structured costs involved in a job, but what can we do to take care of waste that... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Stretching metal's forming limits with HSP lubricants
The trend in metal stamping is to use more and more aluminum and other lightweight materials, such as advanced high strength steel (AHSS). The need for technology to help improve metal flow of these materials in deep-drawing applications also is increasing. In many cases, a stamper's original... 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
June 12, 2003
Using technology to implement lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing meshes today's information technology with Toyota's much-lauded just-in-time (JIT) approach, which has been adopted by many manufacturers. The Toyota Production System assembly line manufacturing methodology, developed in the 1950s, professed the importance of "getting the... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Found art
Arnold's first job out of college was with the New Arts Foundry fabricating bronze statues. However, he quickly grew tired of following someone else's blueprints. A year later he landed a commission to design and fabricate 150 feet of ornamental iron railing for a private residence. After... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Your best safety resource
The committee is made up of busy people—presidents, CEOs, vice presidents, directors, managers, and engineers. They come from businesses located in several states—from New York to the Deep South. They share the common struggle of helping their businesses weather the current economy,... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Looking to the future
The decision to produce cut-to-length steel and blanks at the new plant arose from regional stampers' and other manufacturers' need for these products. Designing a Custom Facility Once committed to building a new plant in the Southeast, Thompson's management began planning the... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Job shop reduces costs, improves laser's output
The Laser Station regulator can be mounted to a secured surface to eliminate movement and potential leakage at the tubing connection.
Such multilevel capabilities enable a customer to reduce the number of vendors it needs, thereby lowering handling and administration... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Handling the rush
Photo courtesy of Hanna Steel Corp., Fairfield, Ala.
Think delicate: an antique vase, velvet gloves, the sweet sound of string music.
Then imagine a typical stamping operation: bam-bam, metal on metal, all day long.
OK, now put those two together. Voil—you've... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Don't be a hot dog with heating heads
Welders use heating heads to preheat steels before welding, maintain heat between welds, heat treat after welding, and heat before straightening or bending. Heating heads can be safe every time they're lit when you use them safely. However, heating attachments probably are the most dangerous... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
10 questions to ask about equipment leasing
A lease finances only the value of the equipment expected to be depleted during the lease term. The lessee usually has options to return the equipment to the lessor, purchase the equipment at fair market value or a nominal fixed price, or renew the lease. Approximately eight out of 10... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Batter up! Turning an aluminum tube into a baseball bat
Although wooden bats still are the only type used in professional baseball, aluminum bats are used extensively in nonprofessional baseball and softball leagues. In fact, nearly 95 percent of all baseball bats used in the U.S. are made of aluminum. Hillerich & Bradsby Co. (H&B),... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2003
Overcoming organizational paralysis
What if you were powerless or incapable of moving? Wouldn't it be awful if you found yourself in a situation in which you knew you had all the appropriate limbs, plus the desire for movement, but still couldn't move? Paralysis is not something any of us wants to experience or even think... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Siege planning or strategic planning
Soon after that comment, toward the end of a globalization workshop titled China and the Middle Market Manufacturer, organized by GSSC and Harris Bank/Bank of Montreal, one frustrated attendee, likely representing a company that had never before been affected, lamented what many... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Applying and handling die lubricants
Effective application of die lubricants typically is overlooked in many stamping facilities. Many companies try to get by with applying as little lubricant as possible, just so they don't have to deal with the mess. However, metal stampers need to move away from thinking of in-die... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Truckin' along through a stamping plant
The earlier cab models were built in a facility that was converted in 1921 to produce the model S truck line, a truck with a 1.5-ton load capacity and a top speed of 30 MPH. The company determined that it could not competitively launch a new line of vehicles without building a new... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Making the cut
Choosing the proper blade for the application, optimizing its use, maintaining the saw, and using a cutting coolant all pay productivity dividends. Choosing and Using a Blade Sawing pipe and tube stock is fundamentally more difficult and more complicated than cutting barstock or... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Improving perforating die performance
To perforate the part material, the material must fail. The harder the part material, the greater the forces on the punch and matrix become, resulting in sudden shock, excessive wear, high compressive loading, and fatigue-related failures. During impact and penetration, the cutting edges... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Using narrow-gap GTAW for power-generation equipment
The new shroud was welded with narrow-gap GTAW. The groove in this shroud was open by 6 degrees and 0.28 in. (7 mm) wide at the parallel section. This process allows uniform welding with first-layer penetration in all positions. The wire feed and base metal fusion rates can be... Read more...
Article
February 14, 2002
The new face of manufacturing on the Net
The other shoe started to drop for the First Wave of Internet start-ups nearly two years ago now, and keen observers could have forecasted much the same fate for first-mover Internet players in the manufacturing sector such as e-STEEL, Suppliermarket.com, Metfabcity, and aluminium.com.... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2001
Overcoming the skilled labor shortage
The booming business climate manufacturers experienced in the '90s increased the number of jobs available to skilled workers and lowered the unemployment rate. This, along with the dirty, sweaty work image that has been, perhaps erroneously, attached to engineering has dealt a blow to recruiting... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2001
Surviving an OSHA inspection
Every employer knows about– and some fear a visit from– the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal regulator and watchdog of workplace health and safety. Unless an employer has successfully undergone an OSHA inspection or one by a parallel state agency,... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2001
Article
March 13, 2001
Article
March 5, 2001
Article
February 15, 2001
Managing innovation in the factory
The common view that new things start in a research and development lab is not always true. Some useful innovations come right off the factory floor. Even more result from an effort to solve a customer's problem. Twenty years ago, Eric von Hippel, a professor at Harvard Business School, found... Read more...
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