Discover how collaborating with our customer on strategic outsourcing netted a big win for both

There’s traditional outsourcing of component parts, including fab and machining as needed. And then there’s strategic outsourcing. This is the story of how Ace partnered with one of our customers on strategic outsourcing. The result? Big wins for both!

A global leader in process technology, our customer manufactures complex equipment for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Outsourcing component parts on an as-needed basis was an expensive and time-consuming process. So Ace talked to the customer about how we could collaborate to simplify outsourcing and make it both faster and less costly.

Ace came up with two options:

Option one: outsourcing by machine type. This option includes kitting, where components parts are grouped together so that the customer doesn’t have to worry about all the component parts being at the right place at the right time. This option also includes mechanical assembly and subassembly of windows, doors and conveyors.

Option two: full machine release; which allows the customer to send us an order for equipment that might have as many as 700 different parts. Ace manufactures all component parts, inspects and sends kitted component parts to the customer, sequenced according to how they build the machine.

How does the customer benefit?

Our customer reduced and, in some cases eliminated, internal processes like:

• Receiving parts
• Inspecting parts
• Material handling

They also experienced gains in:

• Quality of assembled parts
• Fewer production delays (time looking for lost parts)
• Administration – less purchasing and accounting time
• Reduced investment in capital equipment

How did Ace win?

• We increased our customer’s capacity and won their trust
• We proved that, by partnering, we could reduce both ours’ and our customer’s administrative costs
• We significantly reduced POs, allowing the customer to send one BOM that included a multitude of parts
• Both parties had more ownership of the project

That’s what we call a win-win!

Achieving the perfect weld; Ace offers Orbital TIG applications for process piping.

Some would say, ‘Nothing is perfect.” But at Ace, the perfect weld is routine, thanks to Orbital TIG sanitary welding capabilities. According to VP of Engineering, Kevin Bailey, “The Orbitalum 165 CA is ideal for automatic sanitary tube welding applications. At Ace we focus on sanitary weldments for our OEM partners, and the quality of the weld is as close to perfect as you can get. With this technology, we can offer our customers high standards for applications like stainless steel sanitary tubing weldments, process piping and manifold parts.” In addition to the automated power source, Ace uses the Orbitalum weld head 76S, ideal for food and pharmaceutical applications providing capacity to weld up to 3.0” OD sanitary tubing.

As Ace continues to expand its influence in the sanitary OEM industries, our newly added Orbital Welding System will allow us to better serve our dairy, pharmaceutical and packaging customers.

In a recent interview, Kevin notes, “From a business perspective, there are five key benefits with this technology. 

1. Gives our customers the option to manufacture their TriClover sanitary fitting and process piping applications with ACE
2. Provides consistent, high quality sanitary orbital welds
3. Is a cost effective, automated solution for orbital welding
4. Meets superior sanitary standards for process piping and other applications
5. Opens up new opportunities for our food, dairy, pharmaceutical and packaging customers

Ace Adopts SolidWorks

We listen to our customers

So says Kevin Bailey, VP of Engineering at Ace Metal Crafts, on the decision Ace made four months ago to adopt SolidWorks across the organization. “In fact, most of our customers use SolidWorks, so it just made sense for us to be on the same platform.” He added, “With a common 3D software, SolidWorks enables us to communicate engineer to engineer seamlessly. We can use our customers’ native files without having to incur extra time to save as a different file format. And if we have a question, we simply email native files back and forth and never lose file attributes in translation.” Kevin describes SolidWorks as a win-win. “It gives us work efficiencies and cost efficiencies from plug-ins that third party software developers provide for manufacturing.” The gains accrue to Ace and to its customers as well.  

Ace Makes the "FAB 40" List of Top Fabricators

”Ace Metal Crafts Co. moved into a new building in Bensenville, Ill, doubling its plant size, and expects to produce $3 million more this year than it did last year.”

- The Fabricator

 

According to James Manyika, San Francisco-based director of the McKinsey Global Institute, the “unsung heroes” of the recovery from the Great Recession may be what he identifies as regional processors, and this includes fabricated metal products. Our sector alone has hired back 179,000+ jobs since 2010.

In fact, fabricated metal products had the most pronounced jobs bounce-back of all since then. He attributes this in part to the “re-shoring" trend, as OEMs choose suppliers close to the final assembly plant and, ultimately, the end customer.

To make the list, Ace had to meet criteria including robust growth. But it doesn’t end there. Citing regional players as a strong model, The Fabricator says, “it’s all about location, location, location. You can send information instantaneously from one side of the world to the other, but there’s still no way of getting around trucking a batch of fabricated parts to the assembly plant, which is ideally nearby.” And that bodes well for regional fabricators like Ace.

Customers of the “Fab 40” (http://www.thefabricator.com/fab40/view) were asked how they saw the future of the business. It was a mixed bag. Some sectors like industrial maintenance still struggle, but food processing, a major focus for Ace, is predicted to be on the rise. And on the question of national players vs. regional going forward, The Fabricator had this to say, “The industry may see growth in larger players, which help meet capacity and risk-reduction demands as OEM’s pare down their supply base. But the small, nimble shops probably will dominate the market for some time to come.”

According to Anthony Schneider, Senior VP of BKD Corporate Finance, an industry watchdog, “The job shop is fluid, nimble. This has made smaller, independent fabricators successful, if they have the right culture and outstanding customer service.”

“Considering the staggering number of large and small fabricators in the country, being 24 on the list of today’s Top 40 means we’re doing something right!”

Jean Pitzo, CEO, Ace Metal Crafts Co.

Producing sanitary frames with lightning speed and accuracy is now possible with the tube laser

“What Ace can do with their tube laser takes sanitary frame weldments to a whole new level of speed and accuracy.”   -Ace customer

For food companies, nothing is more sacred than sanitary weldments and manufacturing But speed to market and cost efficiencies are also crucial. So at Ace, we’ve been able to achieve all this and more with tube laser technology.

Today Ace manufacturers frame weldments using the tube laser to go from the customer’s 3-D model directly into machine G-code, a process that allows us to eliminate mistakes and produce consistent, accurate frames—frame after frame. The seamless, single piece flow process is just part of the story; frame weldments that once took ten weeks before tube laser technology now take half the time with exact precision at a lower cost.

So speed to market, accuracy and cost efficiencies are assured. Where’s the magic? There is no manual entry of dimensions or measuring for things like the saw, the mill or drills. According to Ace Engineering VP, Kevin Bailey, “When you think about the fact that there are hundreds of components in each frame, you risk compound errors if you’re not using tube laser technology. It lets us take the customer’s 3-D model and go straight to G-Code programming without translating through other software. We can cut precisely as the customer designed the model.”

While many fabricators use tube laser technology to produce commodity parts, Ace specializes in fabrication of sanitary equipment for the food industry. At Ace we utilize our decades of fabrication know-how along with the latest in technology to turn your 3-D models from concept to reality.

To see a demonstration of the tube laser in action, contact Kevin Bailey at kevin.bailey@acemetal.com

Fool-proofing with the tube laser

“They’re doing stuff with their tube laser that eliminates the need for a tape measure on the shop floor—making it fool-proof!”  - Ace Metal Customer

At Ace, we focus on Value Engineering. This means we take your product and engineer a better outcome, like improving the end quality. Here’s a “for instance.”

With our tube laser, we go in and make slots and tabs in the tube. We also etch the surface for component parts. This ensures that the welder is always in the right location. We actually give the welder a 3D assembly print with visual work instructions to match A to A and B to B. As one of our customers likes to say, “You can’t screw it up!”  This plays an important role in eliminating mistakes around interpreting a print. It dramatically reduces reworks—that means lower labor costs and consistent quality. Repeatability is assured.

We even thread parts with the integrated CNC tapping heads, eliminating secondary operations and associated materials handling. Whether it’s small to medium, thick or thin-walled, round, square, rectangular, triangular, I-Beam, H-Beam, C Channel, stainless, mid-aluminum, oblong holes, slots or tabs. If your engineers can dream it, Ace can process it with our advanced Mazak FABRIGEAR Tube and Pipe Laser.