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faster with less com- plexity, so we can pro- vide higher-quality parts at an overall lower price.”
Growth Begets Software Upgrade
Such dramatic growth, encom- passing more than 2000 exhaust products and hundreds more products on the custom-fab side,
has led Fuller to upgrade his shop-management software. The goal: increased visibility into the shop floor, more accurate inventory control and purchasing and stream- lined production. Paperless flow also is on the wish list.
“We just integrated the entire Job- Boss shop-management package,” says Fuller, noting it was about time he replaced his aging accounting-based system. “We’ll be able to more closely track orders through the shop, become better at ordering materials just in time, and focus on establishing time stan-
dards in the shop and ensuring we meet them. Then, down the road, we’ll focus on reducing a lot of the
paperwork we’re pushing around.”
In fact, in October 2013 JobBoss released its BOM Import module, soft- ware designed to minimize the time required to convert bill-of-materials data into production requirements. A press release, quoting JobBoss senior prod- uct manager Sue Irby, notes that “BOM Import captures data from a single or multi-level BOM structure and imports it into JobBoss to create quotes and jobs.” Automating the import process is exact-
An unusual application for the 2D Trumat- ic L2510: carving flat-shaped cutouts
in exhaust tubing to enable welding together these X-pipes. “We fab- ricated a fixture to hold the pipes
perpendicular to the laser beam, and the laser cuts the pipes like
they’re flat stock,” says Stainless Works owner Ron Fuller.
ly want Fuller is looking for, to avoid manually entering BOM data and to reduce or eliminate inaccurate material inventory on the shop floor. Irby adds:
“Shops can expect a time savings of as much as 2 hr./day per engineer (using BOM Import), for a quick return on investment.”
What’s next on Fuller’s investment agenda?
“I’m looking for automated sawing equipment,” he shares. “I want to be able to stack up a bundle of tubes on a loader, program cut lengths and the number of cuts and walk away. I haven’t found the right machine yet, but I’ll know it when I see it.” MF
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