The Tube and Pipe Journal March 2017

Taking inventory of any sort of item is a monotonous task that kills productivity and saps morale, and tube and pipe are especially challenging. Scott Ross learned a thing or two about inventory control at one of the most inventory-intensive companies in the world, Amazon, and has brought some of his knowledge and experience to the tube and pipe industry through his company, Invictus Inventory.

Tube bending has advanced remarkably over the last 30 years or so, both in the technology available and forming knowledge. Few industries have done as much to innovate as aircraft, and other industries have benefited, especially automotive.

In its efforts to train welders consistently and deliver products on time, Team Industries Inc. looked for welding equipment that would minimize training time and maximize consistency. It discovered three Miller products that helps it achieve these goals.

Just as hydroforming was “discovered” in the late 1980s or early 1990s, as it transitioned from just a few specialized industries into more mainstream manufacturing segments, another, related process is forging a similar path: Hot metal gas forming. Similar to hydroforming, but performed at elevated temperatures, it does many of the things hydroforming once did – forms difficult shapes and complex shapes, reduces part weight, exhibits less wall thinning than some competing processes – but takes them further because it works with more pliable material.