Atlas Mfg. Hosts CVTC Advanced Welding Students for Hands-On Laser Welding Training
Atlas Mfg. recently opened its doors to advanced welding students from Chippewa Valley Technical College, giving the…
The Buy American Act and Buy America Requirements – For Sheet Metal Manufacturing
Three different domestic-sourcing regimes can land on the same fabricated sheet-metal part, and they do not say the same thing. The Buy American Act governs what a federal agency buys directly. The Buy America requirements govern what gets built with federal grant money for transit, highways, rail, airports, and water systems. The Build America, Buy…
Maximizing Sustainability with Smart Returnable Packaging Solutions
Returnable packaging is custom fabricated steel that carries a part through the supply chain, comes back empty, and does it again, often hundreds of times. A returnable rack, container, or tote replaces the corrugated boxes, foam, and wood crates that get built up at the supplier, torn down at the receiver, and thrown away. For…
Mastering Product Quality Planning: Strategies for Flawless Production
Quality planning is the work that happens before the first part is cut: agreeing on which dimensions are critical, how they will be measured, what evidence the buyer needs to approve the part, and what statistical proof shows the process will hold tolerance across a full run. On a fabricated sheet-metal part that means tying…
Atlas Manufacturing: A Story of Precision, Challenge, and Success in PQP Implementation
One of Atlas Manufacturing’s medical device projects shows what a well-run Production Quality Plan (PQP) makes possible. This is the story of moving a part from prototype to production under the exacting standards of the medical device industry, guided by a thorough Production Quality Plan. The Challenge The project started with a medical device company…
Lean Manufacturing in Sheet Metal Fabrication: Reducing Waste and Lead Time
Lean manufacturing is the systematic removal of everything in a process that the customer would not pay for. In a sheet-metal shop that means the hours a job spends waiting between the laser and the press brake, the steps an operator walks to find the right punch, the skeleton scrap left on a nest, and…
