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More from Tim Heston
Manténgase seguro con la soldadura láser manual
- By Tim Heston
- May 15, 2023
- Safety
- Article
La soldadura láser manual ha producido algunos resultados sorprendentes. Pero en la búsqueda de la productividad, los fabricantes no pueden olvidarse de la seguridad.
- From The Fabricator
Metal fabrication industry's great technological transition, cultural balance
- By Tim Heston
- May 11, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Many new machines shift knowledge from the metal fabrication shop floor to the office, where offline programming and simulation make production much more predictable. But what about shop culture?
- From The Fabricator
Fabricator launches ProFab Alliance to provide shared resources for small shops
- By Tim Heston
- May 8, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Most metal fabrication shop owners and managers know all about chaos on the shop floor. Indiana-based ProFab (Progressive Fabricator) Alliance would like to make chaos the exception, not the rule, by uniting fabricators under an industry group of a shared management system and philosophy.
- From The Fabricator
How augmented reality is being used to train the next generation of welders
- By Tim Heston
- May 1, 2023
- Arc Welding
- Article
Augmented reality can’t replace the real-world experience for a welder, but the technology can better prepare welding students before they even strike their first real arc.
- From The Fabricator
Precision metal fabrication needs more exposure to those outside manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 24, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Last month's FMA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas highlighted the need for outreach, but also showed all the enriching teamwork and problem-solving that the metal fabrication sector has to offer the manufacturing industry as whole.
- From The Fabricator
Perfecting the job shop schedule in metal manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 17, 2023
- Manufacturing Software
- Article
A job shop’s production schedule is never perfect, but that doesn’t mean metal fabricators can’t improved upon it.
- From The Fabricator
How one manufacturing company is reshaping a Virginia community
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 17, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Virginia MetalFab doubled sales between 2021 and 2022, all while losing several weeks of production moving to another, much larger facility in Appomattox, Va. But making sales goals isn’t the driver; it’s about changing people’s lives.
- From The Fabricator
Misconceptions about cobots and safety in manufacturing, fabrication settings
- By Tim Heston
- Apr 14, 2023
- Automation and Robotics
- Article
Collaborative robotics are commonly seen as inherently safe in the manufacturing industry. In truth, how safe cobots really are depends on the application, a fact any risk assessment should take into account in a metal fabrication shop.
- From The Fabricator
Tech Topic: Avoid deburring when laser cutting sheet metal
- By Tim Heston
- Mar 22, 2023
- Laser Cutting
- Blog Post
Precision metal fabricators now take a holistic and automated view of the blanking process: deburring, part leveling, part removal and stacking—essentially, everything it takes to get a part to the next major operation.
- From The Fabricator
How fabricators diversify revenue streams and find new customers
- By Tim Heston
- Mar 20, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Some custom and contract metal fabrication shops grow on the backs of just several large accounts. All seems well, until one of those “whale” accounts pulls its business.
- From The Fabricator
Count’s Kustoms dips into automated deburring
- By Tim Heston
- Mar 18, 2023
- Finishing
- Article
Count’s Kustoms, the custom car and motorcycle shop of “Counting Cars” fame, is all about craftmanship. Automaton really didn’t have a place until employees started to spend hours on monotonous deburring.
- From The Fabricator
AI and the future of metal manufacturing
- By Tim Heston
- Mar 14, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Artificial intelligence could be used to enhance our existing knowledge or prevent us from needing to learn anything in the first place. The latter is the nightmare scenario for the future of metal manufacturing.
- From The Fabricator
Dynamic shaping thick metal with dynamic beam laser technology
- By Tim Heston
- Mar 10, 2023
- Laser Welding
- Article
Dynamic beam laser technology might be the future of the industrial laser as the beam uses dynamic shaping in to suit an application’s and metal shop's needs.
- From The Fabricator
The value of talk in the job shop and how culture builds sustainability
- By Tim Heston
- Feb 20, 2023
- Shop Management
- Article
Conventional wisdom in lean manufacturing says that material handlers should stage tools and material for operators. The less wasted movement operators make, the better. Still, how does this affect shop culture and idea generation? It's worth putting more value in talking a communication in the metal fabrication job shop.
- From The Fabricator
How low-code apps could streamline the manufacturing shop floor
- By Tim Heston
- Feb 16, 2023
- Manufacturing Software
- Article
Software runs the modern world, but not all problems can be solved with out-of-the-box software. Low-code apps could help metal fabricators customize programs to meet specific manufacturing needs.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 04/16/2024
- Running Time:
- 63:29
In this episode of The Fabricator Podcast, Caleb Chamberlain, co-founder and CEO of OSH Cut, discusses his company’s...
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