When engineers design custom fabrications, they have a few standard hardware options to choose from: rivet nuts, PEM nuts, and weld nuts. But what they may not know is that the hardware they select can have a direct impact on factors like cost and lead time.  Believe it or not, hardware installation is one of the biggest bottlenecks at a sheet metal fabrication shop. If a hardware installation process isn’t the right fit for a [...]

When in doubt, design your sheet metal parts for press brake forming instead of stamping—unless you need extremely high volumes of the same part.  Let us explain.  Sheet metal fabricators often receive drawings of parts that have been designed for stamping rather than press brake forming. Unfortunately, stamping and press brake forming have different design considerations. And unless the customer is prepared to pay an astronomical amount of money to have the part stamped, they [...]

Difficult parts don't always seem difficult on the computer or on paper.  When a buyer requests a quote for a custom fabrication, one of the best things they can do is bring an engineer into the conversation right from the very beginning.  Connecting engineers and fabricators up front is as simple as copying an engineer on the RFQ email. It not only streamlines the communication process for the buyer, but also helps reduce cost and [...]

Raise your hand if pickups are a major source of frustration for you! You know how it goes. . . Your precision sheet metal fabrication shop calls to let you know that your custom fabrications are ready for pickup. You go through the hassle of scheduling a truck—or maybe you send one of your own trucks out. The driver makes the 90-minute drive, only to arrive at the fabricator and discover that their trailer can’t [...]

Back in July of this year, we mentioned our new partnership with BeehiveFund, a nonprofit management consulting organization that helps manufacturing companies achieve cultural, operational, and financial improvements while increasing morale and productivity.  Since then, we’ve been working with BeehiveFund’s team of engineering consultants to implement lean manufacturing principles and practices in our shop. This ongoing project will span an entire year, but we’re excited to share our first progress update with you today.  The [...]

We talk a lot on this blog about how to optimize sheet metal fabrication designs to improve quality, cost, and lead time.  But perhaps the easiest way to guarantee all three of these benefits is to let the experts at Ameritex design your sheet metal part or assembly for you.  We’re proud to offer comprehensive design and engineering services to our valued customers. Read on to learn more about what to expect from this process.  [...]

Lead time is a huge priority for many of our customers. Ameritex is always seeking out new ways to deliver precision sheet metal fabrications at record speeds—like with our new CADMAN software that helps us automate processes.  During the quoting process, our customers often ask us for quick tips on how to get their parts back faster. We thought it would be helpful to compile some of this information into a list of easy design [...]