Category Archives: Metal Talk

Purchasing 101

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Are you new to purchasing in the Manufacturing Industry? Welcome to a brief snippet of what this job is about. From a metal manufacturing view point, everything comes down to Part Numbers and Purchase Orders aka POs. Here at VIP we treat Part Numbers and Prints as one in the same. We like to keep things simple because we always fabricate to print. Fabricating to print is difficult in itself, because there are many engineers that can design parts but can it be built is the question. This is a whole new topic. So staying on topic, you can read more about what a manufacturing print is about by clicking here.

A part number is a print and can also be referred to as a drawing.

Drawing = Print = Part Number

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Welding Shortage in Manufacturing

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05/18/2020 by Adele Samudio

Throughout the last decade, Manufacturing has slowly gained its course back to the US, but in order to continue to stay here, US Manufacturing has to stay current with the Thought Process on how to overcome manufacturing labor shortages. Today, Welding is one of the hardest hit labor shortages.

Technical Skill Labor Shortage: As the Baby Boomers and Gen X skilled Welders are coming upon their last years, within the Manufacturing world, we find ourselves with a limited amount of successors in the field, which was predicted years ago. Today, we are seeing this issue come up more and more.

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How To Speed Up An RFQ

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In Manufacturing time is crucial when sending in a Request for Quote, therefore; you should always submit your request with the proper documentation to speed up the process.

First, you must understand the basic information needed to provide a quote. This information will be required by any manufacturer which is the following.

  • Full Dimensional Prints
    • Material Type
    • Material Thickness
  • Finish call out such as paint or powder.
  • Quantity

With one of these details missing, it is technically impossible to provide a quote. More information about RFQs can be found here.

Now since you understand the basic information needed for an RFQ. The following items are critical details to provide an accurate quote in a timely manner.

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Tube Laser Cutting

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Amada F0M2RI 3015

             Amada F0M2RI 3015

We have recently invested in a laser cutting system with rotary index, which allows us to laser cut all types of metal tubing of various sizes and shapes. Due to our ongoing demands of our customers who were looking for a more efficient and economical way to cut and add special features to tubing, we bought an Amada F0M2RI 3015 laser. Here are some specifications of our new laser and all the neat tricks it can do: Continue reading →

Chemical Film vs. Anodize

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It’s been a while since we’ve posted, so we figured we would give you a post relative to what we have seen recently in manufacturing. For some reason, we have been seeing a lot of engineers who are calling out the incorrect finish for their parts, and we want to help set the issue straight! Simply put, chemical film (also known as chromate conversion, yellow iridite, or alodine) and anodize are NOT the same thing. Most people assume that they may have similarities, that they can be used interchangeably, but this is not the case for most instances. So let’s take a close look at what each finish is and when you should use them. But first, I’d like to point out and say that although we are a metal fabricator, we actually have an in-house metal finishing shop as well as a sister metal finishing company, and have knowledge on when and when not to use each of these finishes. Continue reading →