COMING SOON: SMART MANUFACTURING

There have been a lot of innovations in manufacturing in recent years. Lean, Kaizan, micro-machining and more. Each of them with a specific set of purposes and benefits.

Here’s another term: Smart Manufacturing. This one is more than an efficiency program. Smart Manufacturing is the convergence of information, technology and human ingenuity applied to the inventing, manufacturing, shipping and sales of an item. It’s been getting most attention in large, global companies, but the same principles will apply to any size manufacturer.

Smart Manufacturing doesn’t replace Lean or any other program you have in place. In fact, those efficiencies will become even more in demand.

You can read more about it in this Special Report from Rockwell International

Check Out Our New Website

Change has become a constant here at Dalco Metals. New customers, new processes, and brand new, industry-leading new equipment.

We want you to tour our facilities for yourself. But, in the meantime, please take a tour of our newly remodeled website.

You’ll see new and improved services, an expanded list of products and a fresh focus on customer service. Not just ‘pretty pictures,’ but a better resource for your constantly changing needs.

www.dalcometals.com

Oh, and we’re serious about having you tour our facilities here in beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin area. See the “Our Location” tab for details.

What Americans Know About Manufacturing

Recently, Delloitte and The Manufacturing Institute surveyed Americans to find out what they think of manufacturing. The results were surprising, and supportive.

Here are a few samples:

1. Do Americans continue to believe manufacturing is vitally important?

The survey showed that 78 percent of Americans believe that ‘American manufacturing is vitally important to our economic prosperity’ and 76 percent think it is also ’important to our standard of living,’

2. Do Americans think that we have the skills and resources to compete globally?

60 percent said “yes” because they believe we have an advantage in technology, R&D, and skilled workforce.

In Industrial Maintenance and Plant Operation, author Mike Collins comments on the terrific positives uncovered in the survey, but also problems, including ‘image’ (stemming from large corporation layoffs) and lack of consistent workforce development, especially in new technologies.

Check out his complete article, including more from the survey, here.

Job Shop Managers, the Next Generation

We won’t use the tired phrase “things are changing,” but Tim Heston’s recent Fabricator Magazine article, “Job Shop Managers, The Next Generation,” shows us how the skills and responsibilities of shop managers has shifted in a fairly short amount of time.

He writes that a mere two decades ago “many shops had one or two customers that made up the lion’s share of their work, and people trusted that work would always be there. These days it’s so different. A shop with one or two large customers may have steady work coming in the door, but for how long? Job shop managers know a diverse customer base helps build a stable business.”

Today, even small shops are setting up sales departments and developing comprehensive marketing programs to generate consistent new business. And that’s creating a new breed of manager.

You can read the full article here

Business Forecast for Wisconsin

We’ve got good friends throughout the Midwest, but let us take a minute to brag a little about Wisconsin. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a survey of 500 CEOs gave the state a huge ‘thumbs up.’ They graded the states on taxes and regulation, quality of the work force and living environment. Wisconsin made the biggest jump of any state, and one of the largest in the history of the survey, rising to 24th from 41st. While some of the changes being made here are still in debate, they see our “Open for Business” approach as a strong positive. And that’s good for everyone.

You can read the full article here

Dalco Featured in Modern Metals Magazine

We’re proud that Modern Metals Magazine has featured us again, this time for our latest addition: The Dalco Metals Stretcher Leveler.

Roller leveling is a good choice for most applications, but for manufacturers cutting with laser machines, it’s a different story. They need material that is stress free and remains flat when cut. Although roller levelers will supply an extremely flat product in most applications, they don’t eliminate the trapped internal stresses entirely. This can cause problems, especially when a laser system is running “lights out "over the weekend or at night when nobody is around.

Enter the Dalco Metals Stretcher Leveler.

"Another word for stress free is memory-free," the article quotes our President, Bill Ring. "We receive material in a master coil. It’s a circle, and we’re trying to turn it into a straight line, or taking away that coil memory." The control system on Dalco’s leveler allows the company to ensure that material is memory-free when it leaves the facility, and there’s no guesswork involved.

Call us! We can’t wait for you to see it in action. And you can see the complete Modern Metals article, “Consistent, Reliable Processing” here

What's Driving Steel Prices???

These days, we’re all facing rapid fluctuations in steel prices. But price changes are one thing. How they affect the supplier – customer relationship is another.

Because nobody has a crystal ball to accurately predict the future, we thought you’d like to hear a no-nonsense explanation from Glenn Kidd, long-time industry expert, who spoke at Fabricator Magazine’s Leadership Summit, “Metal Matters” last month. He explained how the growing demand for both steel and scrap, combined with global demands has created “an extremely volatile” market.

You can hear a brief interview with Mr. Kidd here.

Here at Dalco Metals, we constantly strive to give you the best value, and that’s one thing you can always count on.