Business Strategy

Fixed and variable cost comparisons While we sometimes become attached to our equipment, the answer to when equipment needs to be replaced should be objective rather than subjective. Each company…

As a shop owner, executive, or manager, one of your many priorities includes evaluating existing machines on the shop floor and when necessary, replacing them with newer, more efficient, and…

Continual improvements in manufacturing are a mainstay of remaining competitive. Without machine and production data, both in real-time and historical, there are no means to measure processes objectively. The fact…

How does the cost to operate older CO2 laser cutting machines compare to today’s Fiber laser cutting machines? When looking at Fiber laser cutting technology and considering the productivity benefits,…

For fabricators, there are three valuable takeaways from the current disruption in the economy. They are (1) the value of diversification of supply chains and industries, (2) the flexibility to…

Realizing your vision of a Smart Factory requires planning and also defining the business model that it will eventually serve. What are the goals and objectives? Do you want to…

  What is the effective life cycle of a machine tool? When should we look at replacing our older equipment with newer ones? This is quite the dilemma for most…

Analyzing Current Processes Taking a closer look at the processes that are implemented in fabricating your products is key to maintaining margins and remaining competitive. Most companies have analyzed and…

Over the last several years many technological changes have affected the sheet metal fabrication industry. Many fabricators I have spoken with are amazed at the technological leaps that have occurred.…

If you’ve owned a CO2 laser cutting machine then you are familiar with the periodic maintenance required for optics, beam path bellows, beam and nozzle alignments, not to mention oil…