Now more than ever, your sheet metal shop operations need to be lean in order for you to get the most out of your socially distanced workforce. 

Does your business have a framework for solving problems? Lean expert Art Smalley shares four solutions that can reshape your shop. 

Here, jam-packed in the pages of SNIPS, were all the nuts and bolts you needed to get your sheet metal shop operations off the ground. It was legendary!

How to apply the 5S method of lean manufacturing to your sheet metal shop. 

One of the most common misconceptions about lean manufacturing techniques is that they only apply to large-scale operations. Lean is the continuous improvement of operations to cut down wastes. “What lean tends to do is look at the system and try to identify what adds value,” explains Robert Van Til, Ph.D., professor of lean studies at the Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science and chair of the Industrial Systems and Engineering Department. 

If you haven’t started applying lean construction techniques to your sheet metal shop, it’s not too late to start and get ahead of your competition. A few years ago, many ductwork fabrication shop owners wondered if lean manufacturing techniques actually could apply to job shops (high mix/low volume).

There are a number of articles and books written on lean manufacturing techniques and lean construction, including many in the pages of Snips about applying lean in sheet metal shops. This article will highlight basic lean principles and tools specific to the spiral fabrication shop.

Lean manufacturing techniques are being applied successfully throughout the construction industry and are especially useful in the shop. To improve your ductwork fabrication methods, consider these five suggestions.

State and local leaders attended Uponor North America’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for its ninth expansion in Apple Valley, Minnesota, and its 11th in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

While many lean manufacturing techniques were pioneered in the automobile industry, it has also been successfully applied to high-mix, low-volume job shops including sheet metal forming shops.