Page 47 - MetalForming Magazine June/July 2022 80th Anniversary Issue

2D and 3D fiber laser
cutting machines inhouse,
3-Dimensional Services
Group is more than capable of meeting an ever-growing number of jobs and job volumes from automotive, appliance, aerospace and other customers.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
FABRICATION
Succeeding
on the
Laser
Cutting Edge PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUMPF GROUP
With more than two dozen
Rochester Hills and Lapeer, MI. The firm supplies prototype and small-to- medium-run sheet metal parts, com- ponents and assemblies to automotive, appliance, aerospace and other cus- tomers worldwide.
Back in 1992, founder Doug Peter- son, with his five coworkers, set out to build a design engineering and proto- typing company in a 27,000-sq.-ft. facil- ity. Right away, the 1994 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament provided a huge opportunity. FIFA had awarded the United States the World Cup tour- nament for 1994, with nine locations across the country were selected to host matches, including the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI.
A friend of Peterson’s tipped him off that organizers were looking at con- cepts for a grass field to be installed for the indoor venue, to be used for 1993 exhibitions and 1994 tournament play. Ideas in play at the time to hold grass sections included wooden and cardboard frames.
“I listened to my friend explain this,
and thought that, because the grass would have to be grown outdoors prior to installation inside, very sturdy fram- ing was needed,” Peterson recalls. “So we designed a steel hexagonal frame system (his fledgling company had experience providing such frame mem- bers) that could link together and hold the grass in place, plus withstand the outdoor growing seasons.”
Peterson and his team, using its rapid prototyping capabilities, con- structed a small hexagonal-frame cor- ner of a soccer field and the company’s presentation to the selection team won it the job. Now the small company had to figure out how to deliver on the $1 million-plus contract. Deliver it did, and 3-Dimensional Services, with the successful turf-box system under its belt, was on its way. In 1994, on that turf-box system, the United States played Switzerland in the first-ever indoor World Cup match.
Today, 3-Dimensional Services boasts 540,000 sq. ft. under roof, including 120,000 sq. ft. in Rochester
In 2022, 3-Dimensional Services Group celebrates 30 years in busi- ness, employing every conceivable metal forming and fabricating process, and tool-building and maintenance machining, assembly, and more in
44 MetalForming/June/July 2022
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