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Results: 50
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What's driving these industries?
Interviews with several TUBE expo exhibitors reveal that two booming industries throughout the world are energy extraction and automobile production. Although some industries are expected to lag in 2012, notably the U.S. housing construction...
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More than a metal fabricator - a problem solver
The management team at Airtronics, San Jose, Calif., has seen the manufacturing landscape change greatly over the last 25 years. Plenty of computer and seminconductor work has gone overseas, and the fabrication work that remains is much lower in...
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Owners’ Gather to Benchmark and Improve Their Businesses
Sarah Miller Caldicott, author & great-grandniece of Thomas Edison
Sarah Miller Caldicott, a great-grandniece of Thomas Edison, will deliver the Friday keynote presentation at The FABRICATOR®'s Leadership Summit: 7th Annual Metal...
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Capital spending carries the rebound into 2012
Manufacturing technology consumption took an unprecedented dive
during the recession, but since then the industry has bounced back
dramatically. In the metal fabrication arena, most technology
categories are experiencing some healthy gains, as...
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8 hidden costs of material utilization
Precision Sheet Metal User Groups consist of up to six noncompetitive, geographically dispersed metal fabricators. Group members have found they can learn a lot from others, especially from other shop owners who have endured and overcome similar...
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High mix, fast delivery--on time
High-product-mix manufacturers may have problems with off-theshelf
TOC, as described in Eliyahu Goldratt’s The Goal, a book that
tells how a fictional company manages its operations around a
constraint. In a high-mix, low-volume operation, the...
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Growing health care revenue by selling direct
Midbrook, a Michigan fabricator of washing equipment, has worked
hard to diversify outside of the automotive business. One key to its
success has been its approach to selling to health care facilities. The
fabricator has decided to circumvent...
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Who’s calling? Your machine tools
The evolution of the smartphone has provided the opportunity to improve notification systems to include vital information along with the standard message. Imagine having real-time access to machine and production status from home or the cabin. But...
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Time is money--so, so much money
Quick-response manufacturing (QRM) focuses on what’s called the “manufacturing critical path time,” or MCT. In manufacturing, time is money--in fact, it’s a lot more money than many realize. Rajan Suri uncovers why in his new book
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Discover technology, opportunity at FABTECH® 2011
North America's largest metal finishing, forming, fabricating, and welding tradeshow returns to Lake Michigan shores Nov. 14-17.
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Same building, new people, new business
A Tulsa, Okla., job shop launches just as the economy starts to recover. The shop moved into a facility that was previously home to another, now defunct fabricator. The building is old--but everything else is new.
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Knowing the grammar of metal fabrication
Several employees at Metcam, an Atlanta-area fabricator, underwent a relatively new program--the Precision Sheet Metal Operator, or PSMO, certification from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association. The certification requires in-depth knowledge...
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How the sales function became so important
Fred Wilke of Wilke Enginuity knows how important the sales function is. Small jobs helped the company grow, but in 2007 they were looking to take the company to the next level. It was time to concentrate on the larger contracts. Then the...
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Aerospace manufacturer champions employee ownership
This California fabricator finds success with its employee stock ownership plan. The ESOP gives everyone a stake in the business. ESOPs go against conventional wisdom in retirement planning, where the financial gurus promote investment...
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Finding fabricating opportunities in the defense sector
Fabricators interested in exploring defense-related contracts need to do some homework before they get started, and they also need to understand that government agents aren’t manufacturing specialists. They buy products, not processes, so...
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Manufacturing's Multiplier Effect
Sales at B&W Trailer Hitches dropped severely during the recession,
but the fabricator had no mass layoffs. Instead, workers gave back to
the community, fixing and repairing public parks, community centers,
even employees’ homes. Judging by the...
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Distributor, metal fabricator, metal finisher--wraparound service
This Atlanta area company is an extruded metal distributor, architectural metal fabricator, and metal finisher all rolled into one. Such vertical integration gives the company a leg up over the competition.
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Metal fabricator asks what else customers need--and grows
This Buffalo, N.Y., job shop is difficult to pigeonhole. It offers contract fabrication services, assembles complex material handling systems, and distributes certain products, including rooftop support systems. The company grew so diverse simply...
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Being fair and competitive
Salem Metal Fabricators quotes a fair price, regardless of the economy, and has been able to maintain long-term customer relationships because of it.
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Metal fabricator’s product launch proves profitable
A business doesn't have to be glamorous to be profitable. For Zeus metal Works, a Siler City, N.C., fabricator, heavy-duty cabinets, a necessity in many industries, have opened the door (so to speak) to new business opportunities.
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Maximizing scrap yield
Do you feel like you are getting the best price for all of the metal that you scrap?
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Stamper enters solar market via partner
Bennett Machine & Stamping Co., Geneva, Ohio, made its foray into the solar energy market from another manufacturer in Painesville, Ohio, American Roll Form. Bennett's ability to construct dies of various complexities, run them in a variety of...
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Finding customers at trade shows
Metal fabricators still consider tradeshows to be an important part of their marketing efforts, but are they really doing enough to attract customers at these events? A few tips can help them maximize their sales efforts at tradeshows.
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Streamlining the purchasing job
Sometimes the new guy has some good ideas. Giese Manufacturing, Dubuque, Iowa, learned that when they had a recent hire take over purchasing requirements.
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Fabricator touts precision production
Diversified Metal Products’ demanding niche—nuclear fabrication—spurred growth throughout the economic downturn. Its mix of production and one-off fabrication may give the contract fabricator a leg up in the years ahead.
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Shaking off the albatross of manufacturing’s image
A northeastern job shop gets a new building and a complete makeover, with bright colors, a sleek front office, a quality assurance room that looks like a laboratory, and with it all, a new image.
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How small batch sizes define modern manufacturing
The long-held belief that setups should be amortized over the largest possible lot sizes needs to change. As setup times become shorter, they become less relevant, and, according to some, so does the old notion of economic order quantities.
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Managing people as people, not assets
Elizabeth Miller never thought about managing a metal fabrication shop, that is, until the unthinkable happened. When her husband died, her life changed dramatically, in more ways than she could have ever imagined.
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Metal Fabrication Industry: A portrait in prose
Three books together paint a good picture of this industry. It’s a combination of technical knowhow, pragmatism, down-to-earth humor, and big-picture thinking.
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What are the differences between quality control and quality assurance?
The terms quality control and quality assurance are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. Quality assurance is a big-picture program executed by company management; quality control is a small-picture initiative that takes place...
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Implementing an environmental policy
No longer a green dream, environmental stewardship is becoming an imperative for manufacturers and fabricators. Thanks to its nearly decade long efforts, Alpharetta, Ga.-based Metcam has made impressive strides toward achieving this goal.
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How a big fabricator grows even bigger
Mayville Engineering Co. of Mayville, Wis., has grown into a metal fabrication powerhouse, with seven plants that altogether employ more than 1,000 workers. But it hasn’t been an easy ride. Less than a decade ago, MEC was struggling to find its...
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Get the most from your quoting software
Even a modern quoting software package is no guarantee that all job estimates will be done consistently and correctly. But tips, such as investigating the software's full capabilities and establishing master routing templates, can help the...
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The FAB 40: Back to business
The FAB 40 listing for 2011 indicates that metal fabricators are gearing up to cope with an expanding manufacturing economy.
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Lower-tier suppliers and the automotive recovery
The automotive suppliers who survived the recent economic crisis are smaller than before and their capability to add capacity has been reduced. With predictions of 15 million cars sold in 2011, this is a big concern.
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Field selling for fabricators: direct or rep?
When stepping up sales initiatives, shop owners stand at a crossroads: Should they hire a direct salesperson or go with a manufacturer’s rep? There are pros and cons to each. To start, fabricators should fully understand the economics behind the...
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Government procurement provides potential profit
The U.S. military has a large and stable demand for tube and pipe. Learning about this demand is the first step for a fabricator interested in becoming a U.S. government supplier.
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Diverse, quick, and growing
Tennessee job shop finds success through diversifying its capabilities, from laser cutting, press brake bending, and robotic welding, to milling, turning, and boring. The shop turns around many jobs in only a few days.
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3-D CAD: Modeling with limited resources
Columnist Gerald Davis reminds us that CAD modeling has its limitations and that it's still necessary to build a prototype rather than just relying on simulation.
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Everyone on the same page—electronically
E-commerce now involves the full gamut of business communications, from quoting and paying invoices to job tracking. Technology, sources said, has made the supply chain more transparent, accountable, and efficient.
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Hamburgers, metal, and mettle
White Castle’s metal fabrication subsidiary has abided by continuous improvement principles for decades—long before Toyota became a major player in the United States.
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The repatriation of U.S. manufacturing: The case for bringing business home
Some manufacturing work formerly outsourced to other countries is beginning to return to the U.S. What’s behind this shift, and how can fabricators best position themselves to acquire some of this repatriated work?
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CRM and the job shop
In manufacturing, measuring is everything. If you don't measure the process--and use the best metrics--you can't improve it. That thinking applies to sales and marketing just as it does the manufacturing floor--and this is where customer...
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Capital spending set to spike
2011 capital equipment spending could rise significantly, according
to a recent survey from FMA Communications, publisher of The
FABRICATOR. When compared with 2010 projections, projected plasma arc cutting investment jumped 47 percent, turret...
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Success going paperless
By eliminating its work order packets, Advanced Laser Machining Inc. has saved time associated with trying to make corrections once engineering changes were made to jobs in progress and reduced the risk of upsetting its customers.
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FABTECH ushers in growth
At this year’s show, many attendees said they expected significant
growth ahead. Some companies have acquired previous competitors,
and the recession’s survivors are gearing up for growth.
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Fabricators anticipate growth in 2011
Metal fabricators expect continued growth in 2011, but uncertainties
abound. Many firms are going into the New Year with a straightforward strategy: Improve what you can control to prepare for what they can’t.
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11 ways to increase your job shop's online presence
Most job shops have Web site, but they don't do much with them. They might as well be billboards on a road to nowhere. However, with a little knowledge about constructing a proper Web site and optimizing the site for Internet search engines, those...
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The 3 P’s of sustainability
To remain viable in the future, companies must focus on sustainability and pay attention to three key components of the sustainability puzzle: people, profit, and planet. Safety also is an important part of this puzzle.
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Sizing up the job
Accounting is straightforward, but it’s not iron-clad; fabricators have latitude in the accounting system they use to bid on contracts. A bottom-up approach, one that analyzes all the costs that go into making a component, is suitable for many...
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