Kanban inventory management was developed in the 1950s by Taiichi Ohno, a Toyota executive. He took notice of the way supermarkets handle and replenish their inventory, and applied those strategies to the manufacturing process. Today, kanban is a major component of lean manufacturing[...]
The idea behind a
supply agreement
-- whether with a roll forming company or another manufacturer -- is pretty simple. The supplier provides everything a customer needs for a particular service, and the customer can count on a specified price and single-source service. Everybody wins.[...]
Quick: Which charges higher prices for metal fabrication -- a company that has in-house roll forming tooling capabilities or one that outsources it?
When it comes to cutting metal, there are plenty of ways to get the job done. But when it comes to high-tech, accurate cutting, two of the most popular options are water jet cutting and laser cutting. They’re lean, they’re mean, and they look cool in action.
So in the battle between the water[...]
There’s nothing new or mysterious about “just-in-time” or JIT manufacturing. The idea has been around since the 1970s, and all it means is that you receive what you need just when you need it -- hence the popular term just-in-time delivery.
Yet, when it first came into practice, it shook up[...]
When you invest in metal materials, you expect them to last. But it’s a mistake to assume metal is immune to degradation from environmental and other factors. Corrosion can wreak havoc on the structural integrity and aesthetics of your parts. That’s why it’s important to know the factors of[...]
In metal forming, the specifying engineer or purchasing agent can select from several approaches to come up with completed commercial products. But roll forming is almost always the most flexible and durable of these processes. Many product profiles that are challenging to make through press[...]
There are four main metal forming services used in the manufacturing industry today: press braking, stamping, extrusion, and roll forming. All have advantages and disadvantages, so the one you choose will depend on a few important factors:
A continuous improvement mindset encourages both initiation and implementation of changes to manufacturing processes to improve “customer delight” (our quality policy statement) and other measures of company performance. In Dahlstrom's case, manufacturing process improvement helps us offer both[...]
Duplex stainless steel has been around for almost 100 years, but it seems to be coming into its own now. This late blooming is somewhat surprising given duplex stainless steel’s qualities. Its expanding popularity could be the result of its advantages over traditional austenitic and ferritic[...]
