If dramatic increases in throughput and substantial reductions in cost are important  next steps  for your metal factory, then the metal shop productivity course presented at the METALCON International 2013 show on Oct. 2 at the Georgia World Congress Center was a great place to start the journey.

The course was taught by Bill Wilkins, MetalForming Inc.'s Chief Operating Officer, and Andrew Dugenske, Manager of Research Services and a principal research faculty member at the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Research Institute.

The well-attended class stated a basic reality of modern manufacturing: To compete effectively in today's connected age, your operation needs to be lean and agile. If you are not, you will be outpaced by those who are.

 MetalForming Inc. has been in the forefront of bringing software solutions to market that can network  metal component manufacturing machines together to optimize operational efficiency from the moment an order is entered on a tablet in the field through to the manufacture, loading and delivery of finished metal orders back to a customer or job site.

The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Research Institute in turn has been a leader in information technology and software design focused on lean factory design. The collaboration between engineers at MetalForming and Georgia Tech has led to a number of innovations currently being integrated in metal factory operations across the country.

As an example of what operational inefficiencies really cost, the presenters referenced an Association for Information and Image Management study that found that businesses typically spent $20 in labor to file a document, $120 in labor to find a misfiled document and $220 in labor to reproduce a lost document.

Wilkins and Dugenske walked their class through the inefficiency warning signs to look for in a metal factory and how to develop a game plan to become more productive and competitive. They explained the different organizational tools and models that comprise "lean manufacturing," the Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) and others.

A recent British study has shown that the combination of lean manufacturing (establishing a systematic approach to eliminate waste) and MES (which relies on real-time metrics to provide good data for decision makers) provides the best recipe for success.

The study showed that productivity was increased, on average, by 25%; scrap was reduced by 26% and delivery performance by 26%.

The presenters also modeled cases in which a metal components manufacturer with six trucks operating 260 days per year moving parts loads that average 20 tons could save roughly $400,000 annually with software that helped optimize loading and route planning. Optimized slitting processes could bring the same kind of savings resulting from better throughput and reduced scrap costs.

To learn more about the presentation, or to receive a copy, contact MetalForming at (770) 631-0002.

The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute is an interdisciplinary university-based research institute that brings together top researchers and thought leaders from science, engineering, policy, robotics, and management to help define and solve some of the greatest challenges facing U.S. industry today. http://www.manufacturing.gatech.edu/

MetalForming Inc. (MFI), headquartered in Peachtree City, Ga., and privately held, is the largest supplier of high-end architectural sheet metal machines in North America. The company is also a world leader in providing software, communications, training and consulting services for companies in the metal building and roofing industry. http://www.metalforming-usa.com/