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Finding lean in simple inspirations
No facet of a metal fabricating operation is too insignificant for lean improvement. If you’re looking for ideas on areas to tackle, this article will help.
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Product line manufacturing meets contract fabrication
Fabricating know-how and modern machine tool technology help Tie Down Engineering, Atlanta, balance its made-to-stock and made-to-order product line operations with a growing contract fabrication operation.
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Meeting deadlines in contract metal fabrication
A Houston fabricator maintains a 99 percent on-time delivery rate. The business maintains its place as a reliable link in the supply chain, and the shop’s growth strategy aims to keep it that way.
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Fabricator helps entrepreneurs grow
As part of its unofficial business plan, Cumming, Ga.-based Accufab gets in on the ground floor and helps entrepreneurs to get off the ground. As a result, the company is able to grow with its customers.
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Introduction to plasma marking
Fabricators mark parts for various reasons using different technologies, each with its own benefits. This article describes several marking options and further discusses plasma marking.
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Nesting software makes the intelligent connection
Nesting software continues to evolve. Once a relatively simple program that allowed you to achieve a fairly decent nest with minimal engineering, today’s software provides enhanced material management and whole-operation connectivity.
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Stationary parts don't make money
Seeing bins of parts lying around in your shop? Maybe it’s time to get away from the large-batch method and try one-piece flow. Rather than make a large quantity of Component 1, then Component 2, then Component 3, while a welder downstream waits...
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Cellular manufacturing meets the front office
Quick-response manufacturing takes a time-based approach that looks at the entire process from start to finish. This includes one vital element: restructuring the organization away from a job-function approach and toward lead-time reduction. To...
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How quick response drives profits in metal fabrication
CR Metal Products Inc., St. Louis, follows the lessons of quick-response manufacturing, which preaches decreased capacity utilization of equipment and increased attention on just how jobs can be turned around in the quickest manner possible.
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Metal fabricator revamps raw material purchasing strategy
General Sheet Metal Works revamped the way it handles raw material purchases. Floor personnel now release specific orders, while the purchasing department communicates with suppliers about future demand and negotiates contracts. Most important,...
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Beating the summer heat
Summertime and the factory is even hotter. Here’s a look at one option for making conditions more tolerable and safer for your workforce.
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Turning the brights on the automotive industry
2012 has the markings of a transitional year for the automotive industry. If the sales
and efficiency gains achieved by the industry, which began in 2009, can be sustained, there is ample reason to believe that salad days lie ahead of...
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How to obtain stamping equipment financing
Capital expenditures are necessary for any successful manufacturing business. Stamping is no exception. Here are four easy ways for you to be well-prepared to apply for a loan to finance an unexpected (or planned) new equipment purchase.
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The problem with estimating using paper and pencil
Metal fabricating companies that rely on a seasoned worker who knows all of the production processes like the back of his hand and transfers that experience into the job estimating function are common. Fabricating operations that run that...
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The job shop schedule: Always imperfect, ever adapting
There's one constant about job shops specializing in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing: change. Changes happen continually, which
means schedules must continually adapt. Today, software is allowing
job shops to ensure the production schedule...
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Adding tradeshows to your job shop marketing mix
If you do your due diligence and take advantage of all of the opportunities tradeshows present, these events can be a valuable part of your marketing mix.
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5S or 6S: What's the safe choice?
Everyone wants a safe work environment, but some companies feel that the safety needs to be a separate category of 5S, making it 6S. Others argue that the safety is clearly covered in the 5S methodology. Both may be right.
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Manage your small-parts inventory better
By trusting your vendors to deliver small parts in a regularly scheduled manner to your facility, you are learning a valuable lesson about the nuts and bolts of efficient supply chain management
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What’s the word, hummingbird?
Think social media is just for big companies or individuals with nothing else to do? Think again. Social media has evolved into an important part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, even for job shops.
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Another day, another economic recovery
One Columbus, Ohio, job shop recovered quickly from the recession. The organization has a history of financial conservatism and pragmatism—and today’s black ink is a testament to the shop’s success.
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The weakest link in fabrication often is made of paper
Fabrication shops traditionally have relied on stand-alone software systems for various business functions and filled in the gaps with a paper trail. Today’s integrated systems can alleviate the headaches associated with paper-based tracking and...
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A total look at the cost of owning dust collector filters
A form that covers the total cost of ownership gives a fabricator a useful tool for comparing the real costs of operating an existing dust and fume collector with different filters.
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Think before you scrap
Before you scrap your iron frame, think about
the benefits of using the original frame.
Adapting your old cast press frame to new
technologies may be easier, cheaper, and
greener than you may have thought.
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Automating the RFQ
Robinson Laser recently sold its steel assets
to Cargill and, as of 2010 is focusing
entirely on the laser cutting of flat parts.
To optimize operations, the organization
essentially has automated its estimating
process, from quick price checks to...
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The impossible dream
From the CAD operator's point of view, he can use several tricks for sheet metal modeling that can keep the design in the realm of can-do manufacturing—the land where the tooling and metal processing technologies are commonly available.
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Report from Europe: Finding the sweet spot in fabricating automato
Different markets call for different approaches to business. But automation, integrated into the right application, can shorten leadtimes,a fact that doesn't change for any fabricator in any country.
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Green efforts save greenbacks
Figure 1
DeWys Manufacturing management determined that it could reduce the variety of material sheet sizes it bought, which will translate into tighter nests and less material waste. The newfound raw material storage space then can be...
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How to get from ABC to ERP
Ever wonder what all those business software acronyms mean and which, if any, package can help you cost-effectively run your shop more efficiently? Newer systems integrate with the basic accounting, spreadsheet, and human resource packages used by...
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Older than Oscar
Family-owned, fifth-generation manufacturer Irwin Seating Co., headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich. has been thinking about the comfort and functionality of the public seating it has manufactured for more than 100 years. The company's 35 presses...
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Why lean manufacturing won't make you rich — Part II
Manufacturers often believe at least one of three common lean manufacturing misconceptions. Knowing about these misconceptions and understanding why they're not true will help set you on a path to incorporating lean tools into your manufacturing...
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Creating a time analysis to measure shop floor efficiency
A time analysis in a fabrication business is much more than just a study of labor functions. When done correctly, time analysis considers the total picture of an operation.
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10 steps to successful value stream mapping
Value stream mapping is an invaluable tool used to identify waste in day-to-day operations. Fortunately smaller companies can follow 10 specific steps to prepare for and achieve value stream mapping.
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Getting the SPA treatment
You may think your gas welding and fabrication operation is on track, but what you may not see could hurt you in the long run. Performing a safety and performance audit will help you evaluate the safety and efficiency of your operations,...
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The job shop CRM revolution
Implementing a customer-focused strategy can position companies for long-term health. A loyal customer will stick with a company through tough economic times, employee turnover, and even the occasional price increase. This article focuses on how...
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Plasma cutting and how it works
What is plasma cutting, and when is it your best metal cutting option? What information do you need to choose the right plasma system? This article answers these questions and more about plasma cutting.
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Beginning the lean manufacturing journey
LAI International, Scottsdale, Ariz., is a precision manufacturer that supplies specialized parts to many of the most-demanding OEMs in the world. Even with that success, the company realized there was still room to improve. As a result, it...
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How bankruptcy and restructuring are changing the Detroit Three
With GM and Chrysler both undergoing bankruptcy restructuring procedures, the North American automotive industry of late 2009 and beyond will be forever different from that which preceded it. The Detroit Three that emerge from this crisis will...
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Technologies help to make shops structurally sound
Tough economic conditions have hit the construction industry as hard as they have many other industries. These problems in commercial construction are affecting structural steel fabricators. New technologies are especially benefiting four...
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Selling during good times, bad times
Although tough times are upon us, an economic downturn doesn't have to put all plans on hold. If you own a middle-market company (one that has a transaction price between $5 million and $250 million) and you are interested in selling it, a...
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Survival—Are factors other than the economy dragging down your operation?
Art Hedrick, longtime consultant to the sheet metal stamping industry, has observed three internal factors that can negatively affect an operation. In this economic climate in which so much is at stake, you want to make sure that your business...
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Mining lucrative medical device prospects
The medical device industry segment holds promise for growth, and profit for stamping companies willing to work within its regulations and challenges.
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Automated collection of real-time production data
Considering that raw data from the shop floor forms the basis for all production reports, companies need to eliminate possible shortfalls in collecting this data. That's where automatic data collection can help.
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5S—The foundation for lean and safe
Lean, a popular term in manufacturing, most often is associated with organizing and eliminating waste on the shop floor. However, lean is also very effective in the office environment. Having a lean operation across the board improves efficiency,...
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Getting lean, job shop style
Ace Metal Crafts has promoted its own brand of lean that, more than anything, gives employees ownership over the process.
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Shake, rattle, and the toll
Operating an angle grinder is a tough job. Find out what angle grinder manufacturers are doing to make the tools more user- friendly, including lightening the weight, enhancing antivibration measures, and improving safety.
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ASME and AWS welding codes—Similarities and differences
Welding codes are designed to improve the quality and efficiency of welding and are used to qualify welders. Predominate among welding codes in the U.S. are those authored by ASME and AWS. This article provides a brief overview of the similarities...
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Intelligent business investments in uncertain economic times
When the going gets tough, businesses have a tendency to make broad, sweeping budget cuts, sometimes without taking into consideration the long-range effect of the proposed cuts. Key investments in certain areas can streamline processes,...
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Diversity a blessing for Blessing
Diverse customer base—from heavy equipment to medical—key to Blessing Industries' success
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5 tenets for finding and keeping new business
Ann Latham, owner of Uncommon Clarity, a consulting and strategy firm with many industrial clients, has outlined some tenets for firms seeking ambitious marketing goals: 1. Select a group to target. You might choose: Those likely to buy...
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6 structural steel lessons not found in books
Unfortunately, the proper structural steel education is not taking place before young men and women hit the shop floor. Trade and welding schools give you the basics about fabricating, but you learn a lot more on the job. To help that information...
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