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More from Eric Lundin
- From The Fabricator
More about the moral imperative
- By Eric Lundin
- Apr 11, 2012
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
In a recent blog post, my colleague Tim Heston described the need for the U.S. to develop an advanced manufacturing base with turn-on-a-dime flexibility. He called it a moral imperative, and I couldn’t agree more. The U.S. hasn’t lost its position as the world’s largest manufacturer, but...
Fabricator reduces part handling, improves consistency with combination bender
- By Eric Lundin
- Apr 11, 2012
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Full Vision Inc., a manufacturer of components and equipment for the off-road industry, encountered a hurdle in manufacturing roll-over protection systems (ROPS) and falling-object protection structures (FOPS) for its customers. To make a ROPS or FOPS, it needed three machines or two setups on three machines. This led to too much part handling and more scrapping of parts than necessary. A combination rotary draw and push bender from Horn Machine Tool allows Full Vision to make a complete part with one setup on one machine, eliminating part handling and reducing scrap.
TPJ’s 2012 Industry Award Winner: Chicago Tube & Iron
- By Eric Lundin
- Mar 5, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
Don McNeeley, president and CEO of ChicagoTube & Iron, describes the big turning points in a company's inflection. For many companies, a point of inflection is the plateau between the company's youthful growth phase and the decline into old age, the point at which profibility slows. The winner of TPJ's 2012 Industry Award, Chicago Tube & Iron has a history of disrupting the growth-plateau-decline pattern.
What's driving the tube/pipe industry?
- By Eric Lundin
- Feb 1, 2012
- Shop Management
- Article
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 sector, on balance the year is expected to be stable for the tube and pipe production and fabrication industries.
Fabrication automation
- By Eric Lundin
- Jan 10, 2012
- Automation and Robotics
- Article
Need help dealing with the skilled worker shortage? Eric Lundin, editor of TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal, interviewed several automated equipment manufacturers for their perspectives on automation for tube and pipe fabrication.
Dealing with high forces, metal in motion, hot parts?
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 21, 2011
- Safety
- Article
The main topic at the 2011 EDTR Roundtable conference in Wilmington, NC, was safety. Many of the issues involve high forces, metals in motion, and red-hot parts—in other words, topics relevant to any and all tube and pipe producers and fabricators. Editor Eric Lundin summarizes the main hazards and recommended practices for mitigating them.
- From The Fabricator
Cleaning up in the Gulf
- By Eric Lundin
- Dec 12, 2011
- Arc Welding
- Blog Post
It has been nearly two years since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank into the Gulf of Mexico. For most of us, the story slipped off our radar a few weeks after the rig exploded (April 20, 2010); the story made headlines again when the well was capped temporarily nearly three months later...
- From The Fabricator
This is the new normal
- By Eric Lundin
- Nov 7, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
The worst of the financial crisis of the 2008-2009 time frame is history, and as the recovery progresses, I think it’s fair to say that we’re all wondering when everything will get back to the way it was … when will we have a low unemployment rate, a thriving manufacturing sector, a healthy...
- From The Fabricator
The best of management-labor relations, the worst of management-labor negotiations
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 28, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Two stories of management-labor relations came to my attention in the past few days, and the two stories couldn’t be more different from each other. They’re so opposite that Charles Dickens’ well-known introduction to A Tale of Two Cities accurately describes them. “It was the best of...
- From The Fabricator
Speculators panic, bubbles burst, then we start over
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 13, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Invest, invest, invest. The modern world has no shortage of ways to invest money if you have a little extra cash sitting around: real estate, commodities, stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, and so on. Some specialized firms even invest in money, writing forward contracts to buy or sell...
Fabricating antenna components
- By Eric Lundin
- Sep 9, 2011
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
Mobile phone systems are mainly electronic, but a fabricated tube plays a critical role—known as a waveguide, this rectangular tube connects the transmitter to the antenna. Precise bending and forming are critical to manufacturing a waveguide that provides a strong, clear signal.
- From The Fabricator
Learning lessons from McDonald's Corp.
- By Eric Lundin
- Aug 31, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
I saw a bold headline a few days ago: “Why McDonald’s wins in any economy.” As far as I am concerned, this is more of an advertisement for an article than a headline, and I am wary of flashy advertising, but it lured me in anyway. I figured a small investment, a few minutes of my time, might...
- From The Fabricator
Two teens killed at work
- By Eric Lundin
- Jul 27, 2011
- Safety
- Blog Post
The story is a heartbreaker. Two teenagers, 14-year-old girls on the threshold of attending high school, were detasseling corn on a farm in northwestern Illinois when they were electrocuted after coming into contact with an irrigator. Detasseling is practically a rite of passage where corn is...
Fabricator leaves its competitors in the dust
- By Eric Lundin
- Jul 20, 2011
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Article
It wasn't that long ago that Joe Fabiani decided to make a custom exhaust system for his Porsche. A member of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) and racing enthusiast, he soon found himself making exhaust systems for fellow PCA members. That led to founding a company, FabSpeed Motorsports Inc., which initially relied on outsourcing for nearly all of the fabricating. Fabiani recently opened a new division, FabSpeed Precision Services, and invested nearly $1 million in equipment in the new division to eliminate outsourcing.
- From The Fabricator
Job losses and the jobless recovery
- By Eric Lundin
- Jul 19, 2011
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
It seems like everyone is wondering when, or if, the U.S. economy is going to shake off the doldrums. Believe it or not, a headline from the Los Angeles Times, “What recession? It’s boom time again in Silicon Valley,” made it clear that a recovery is well under way in northern California....
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 05/14/2024
- Running Time:
- 62:12
Cameron Adams of Laser Precision, a contract metal fabricator in the Chicago area, joins the podcast to talk...
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