Page 27 - MetalForming-May-2018-issue

FABRICATION
Laser-Focused on
A 36-tray tower and sheet-handling sys- tem allow Fab Met- als to run lights-out and ensure efficient
and continuous material supply for an attached fiber- laser cutting machine.
Throughput
To meet rising demand for fabricated-metal products, Fab Metals purchased a 6-kW fiber laser in 2017, and three months later brought in another, an 8-kW model.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
Fresh out of welding school in the early-1970s, Tom Hensley could not have known what technology awaited in his journey down the metal- fabrication path. In 1987, he opened a small two-man shop in Dayton, OH, armed with a couple of welding machines and metal-cutting saws. Over time the company has added press brakes, shears, and laser-cutting machines. In the late ’90s Fab Metals relocated a few miles down the road, in a New Carlisle industrial park, adding more equipment—and customers.
Today, Fab Metals, with nearly 60 employees, owns the whole park, hav- ing taken over adjoining space as other tenants left. Putting the finishing touch- es on a new 40,000-sq.-ft. building next door to its main 30,000-sq.-ft. opera- tion, the job shop, primarily serving automotive and truck customers, will soon have 100,000 sq. ft. under roof. It certainly needs the space, with eight press brakes, welding and machining equipment, a powder-coating opera- tion and more, all contributing to annual double-digit growth.
www.metalformingmagazine.com
MetalForming/May 2018 25