Metal Products Company saves time with INDUSTRIOS software

American Metal Products Company (AMPCO), a leader in comprehensive tube bending and metal forming for the transportation industry, recently upgraded its manufacturing system to improve customer service and the entire production process.  INDUSTRIOS Software, Inc., developer of INDUSTRIOS manufacturing software, was their partner of choice.

When AMPCO required inventory improvements, they again turned to INDUSTRIOS for the solution.  This decision was based upon their long and trusted history, the INDUSTRIOS team’s commitment to service, training, robust manufacturing feature set and efficient technical support.  AMPCO’s implementation objectives included eliminating late sales orders, improving production and reducing overtime shifts.

AMPCO processes many orders daily, with overtime shifts needed to meet demand and provide superior customer service.  Efficiently managing these shifts had been a painstaking process, requiring additional shifts during Saturdays.  With improved visibility and control of manufacturing and internal processes, this is no longer the case.  In the first five weeks after the INDUSTRIOS implementation, no employee worked during the weekend and no extra full-time shifts were required.  These improvements have also provided AMPCO with increased efficiency and cost savings.

AMPCO made core changes with INDUSTRIOS.  Time and cost savings were enabled by streamlining sales orders and using standard INDUSTRIOS reports, while internal communication, efficiency and production was improved.  Roxanne Morrisey, Controller of AMPCO said, “INDUSTRIOS has changed the course of the company... the dynamic of our business.”  It is anticipated that with these improvements, increases in sales and profits will be received.  

American Metal Products Company is now enjoying these enhancements.  Reduced overtime, improved production, time and money savings, efficiency and enhanced customer service are a result of one manufacturing solution.  INDUSTRIOS.

About American Metal Products Company (AMPCO)

AMPCO has supplied the transportation industry with precision tube bends since 1950. Our facility employs a variety of fabrication techniques, including mandrel tube bending. The result is a seamless, wrinkle-free bend that looks great while meeting the most rigorous quality standards.

The foundation of our company is built on custom tube bending, mostly for Original Equipment Manufactures in the transportation industry. This includes exhaust, radiator, charge air, and air intake tubes for heavy equipment, truck, and recreational vehicles. We also make some structural components and other metal fabrications.

For further information, visit http://www.ampcotubes.com or call 800-503-5060.

About INDUSTRIOS Software, Inc.

INDUSTRIOS Software, Inc. has a 15-year history of providing manufacturers with solutions to manage their operations, improve customer service, and streamline and simplify daily activities in their organizations. The mission at INDUSTRIOS continues to focus on the unique requirements of small to mid-sized companies and provide solutions that enable customers to grow and prosper through better informed business decisions.

For further information, visit http://www.industrios.com, e-mail at info@industrios.com, or call (866) 275-9028.

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Tufco Introduces Custom Formulations For Wet Wipes Manufacturing

Wet wipes manufacturer Tufco Technologies Inc. introduces custom formulations capabilities to meet the needs of its contract customers. Tufco offers full-service formulation development for a variety of non-woven materials that can be used in the wet wipes manufacturing process. Our formulations team, develops custom formulations to meet a product need, procures raw materials for customer use, and quotes prices for raw material delivery directly to the customer.

An award-winning supplier of wet and dry wipes, wide web flexographic printing and adhesive laminations, Tufco creates cost-effective solutions for its customers at operations in Green Bay, Wis., and Newton, N.C. For more information on Tufco’s wet wipes manufacturing capabilities, please contact:

John Michaud
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Tufco Technologies, Inc.
P. O. Box 23500
Green Bay, WI 54305-3500
(920) 336-0054
(920) 336-9041 (Fax)

Tags: custom formulations development, wet wipes manufacturing, wet wipes manufacturer, wet wipes, dry wipes (http://www.tufco.com/services/wipes/)

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Texas Instruments expects revenue hit from earthquake damage to Japanese manufacturing plant

Chip maker Texas Instruments Inc. said Monday that "substantial" damage to one of its major manufacturing plants near Tokyo in last week's earthquake will result in extra costs and lost revenue in the first half of this year. The Miho plant, which produces mostly analog chips but also makes digital light processing technology used in televisions and projectors, won't return to full production until mid-July. It handled about 10 percent of the semiconductor company's output by revenue last year. A second plant was damaged less severely.

The Dallas-based company has arranged to shift about 60 percent of Miho's production of silicon wafers to other plants. The company is looking to shift even more production. Texas Instruments didn't estimate the hit to revenue or the extent of costs in the first and second quarters. It will provide details when it reports first-quarter results on April 18.

The plant, located 40 miles northwest of Tokyo, will be returned to service in stages beginning in May. Full shipments will resume in September. That plan could be delayed if power is interrupted or other complications ensue. Japan began rolling blackouts to conserve power Monday as it tried desperately to stabilize nuclear reactors at risk of meltdown in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.

Texas Instruments said the building is sound but warned that it will take about three weeks to repair systems for delivering chemicals and other supplies. Goods under production were damaged, although the company said it could salvage about 40 percent. A second plant, at Aizu-wakamatsu, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, was not as heavily damaged. The company said equipment is being restarted and full production is estimated by mid-April. A third plant about 500 miles south of Tokyo escaped damage and is running at normal capacity.

Japan is home to a number of chip factories, with Japanese chipmakers alone accounting for about 20 percent of global semiconductor capacity. Earlier Monday, Barclays analysts said uncertainty around available chip supply could drive hoarding of certain chips, pushing prices higher. The shares rose 17 cents to end regular trading at $34.56, but they fell 76 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $33.80 in extended trading on the news. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Digital Manufacturing - project four laser cut box

This is the forth in a series of Instructables on how to use CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) and CAM (Computer Aided Machining). if you have been following along you should be getting quite good at using prodesktop so there is not as much detail in the photos and we will be focusing more on the design part of the program as engineering drawings and photo album have been covered in the first three instructables. This project is a simple laser cut box which little kids love to play with, or you can cut it out of clear and use it to display an object.

If you haven't seen project one, take a look as it covers where to get the Prodesktop, how to activate the software,  how to navigate the screen, what you will need and the mouse functions.

Digital Manufacturing - project one Key tag
Digital Manufacturing - project two desk name plate
Digital Manufacturing - project three 3D printed box
Digital Manufacturing - project five printed toy car

As computer tutorials don't translate to text very well, for this series of  instructables most of the info is in the photos. So click on the first photo and use the arrows to go to the next photo. The boxes in the photos show the location of the icons and have have text in them when you hover the mouse on them.

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Digital Manufacturing - project one Key tag

Digital manufacturing doesn't have to be expensive or difficult,  with an old computer, free software and a hiring a machine for a few minutes you can make things that would not be possible in a home workshop!

This is the first in a series of Instructables on how to use CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) and CAM (Computer Aided Machining). The first project is simple and can be cut out of plastic with a cheap laser cutter, or If you want you can send your file to an engineering shop and have it cut out of steel, aluminum, or almost any material you can think of with, either a high power laser cutter, water jet cutter, or plasma cutter as the process is the same. This will probably cost less than you think,as the CAD program featured here is free and it only requires an old computer to run.

As computer tutorials don't translate to text very well, for this series of  instructables most of the info is in the photos. So click on the first photo and use the arrows keys on your keyboard to go to the next photo. The boxes in the photos show the location of the icons and have have text in them when you hover the mouse on them.

If you download the Instructable as a pdf the photos will have numbers in different locations  and the notes will be on the bottom of the photos. Other projects are here :

Digital Manufacturing - project two desk name plate

Digital Manufacturing - project three 3D printed box

Digital Manufacturing - project four laser cut box

Digital Manufacturing - project five printed toy car

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