AJLM Manufacturing Inc - Case Study Example

AJLM manufacturing Inc EXECUTIVE SUMARY Welding industry have been progressing incredibly over time and AJLM manufacturing Inc. is also making progress and expanding the company. The company is in its overhaul strategy of digitalization and it is planning to even introduce arc welding robots to serve in the production lines. In order to increase speed all the systems need high speed welding. The present welding speed is due to outdated system that is not up to date. There is need to develop a new low cost high-speed welding method, which can make a high quality weld seam. It is prudent that the company look at all the researched information before embarking on the plan of choice. DISCUSSION AJLM Manufacturing Inc. has announced its plans to improve its welding capabilities and improve the processes in the facilities within the company. AJLM Manufacturing Inc. is the small provider of metal welding and fabrication in the region, the company is now making it public its strategy to expand and improve welding services it is providing to its customers in different industries (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). The company’s vision is to be the company that provides precise welding capabilities to its customers in the best way they can. The company has a very good background with regard to welding services and in light of its move to expand and digitize it operations AJLM Manufacturing Inc. is confident that it has the ability to provide the best quality service required for application in diverse industries ranging from commercial to automotive industries. The company is planning to upgrade its welding equipment (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). The expansion will also include upgrading current spray arc, stainless steel and aluminum welding as well as silver soldering systems. With digitization and expansion the company will be in a better position than before to provide the essential welding service. There are different welding systems used by the company and with the company have continued to offer its customers quality source of welding services in the region and now moving across to other county. With this the company is alive to the fact that it is very important not only to be equipped with a lot of welding capabilities but also to upgrade them as well (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). When it comes to welding the company adopts different technique and uses different tools they have acquired and the ones they have kept and maintained over time. The current project at hand is to digitize and expand, and the companies technicians will be trained to acquaint themselves with the new system, this upgrade will be a wonderful opportunity for the company to expand its capabilities. Company is involved in wide variety of welding services and fabrication, it welds for the automobile industry the food industry and now the need for a different solution is tenable. The company planning to introduce the use of Hobart cyber wave 300 Tig welders in its new project (Jeffus, 2004). Miller welding system is also under consideration for the new project. With expansion come more responsibilities and the companies’ workers ought to have the right systems specifically for the jobs that go through the company Laconia facility. In the new project the company intends to hire only certified welders according to the standards laid out for the welding company. The project will enable the company to continue consistently delivering quality service that the customers in every industry need. The company is going beyond only welding service provision but also into metal fabrication and in the expansion it is planning to set up high capacity machining centers, and any other system that need to be in place for high-precision fabrication and machining (Jeffus, 2004). Improved service should go together with the size of the company and with expansion there is need to upgrade and digitize system. In the new project laser digitizing will be implemented in the welding system. With this the welding procedure will be more precise, better and economical. The machines solutions by ACSYS are very exact in precision (Jeffus, 2004). It is good for metal industry because it is based on conoscopic holography technology and it enables the setting up of 3D data of different varieties. The advantage of this technology is that it will enable the company to use the 3D file for production and reproduction and making it easy to process in CAD software. The technology will be of great to the company because of its great efficiency and the grid measuring distance being too small. With the quality lens system very accurate measurements can be achieved. It has the greatest precision over different applications because it is a patented process. In the tool the images shown are of ACSYS laser scanner design (Jeffus, 2004). The laser beam draw a line in the metal to be cut making welding easier and time saving. It works such that light that is reflected from this light dot is captured by sensors lens hence falling on the conoscopic crystal. This technology when inbuilt into the company it will be able to expand its service to different industries including even the aircraft industry. It will bring in efficiency to the company and hence reliability. Customers will trust more the company and expansion will be easier. The adoption of laser beam will also allow for two or more metal parts to be joined together permanently with no extra material required. It is the best option for laser joining. The high flexibility of lasers will make it possible for many applications to be adopted. It will enable the welders to precisely weld points to the keyholes. This will be done over many meters with slim seam geometries and minimum warpage. Very many industries have adopted the laser technology and to be with them at bar in competition the company have to adopt it (Jeffus, 2004). This technology is flexible precise and quick especially in weld point precision and in automotive industry making of sensors using stainless steel bushes. ACSYS welding systems during the welding procedure don’t increase materials going into work pieces. In the new system is also the fiber laser technology that will be inbuilt and it uses a large focal depth. With the upgrade there will be a resultant process-tolerant welding eve with materials of different wall thicknesses. AJLM Manufacturing Inc. will be modernized by installation of computer aided design. The design will be done such that the computer will be linked directly with the computer in the floor of the factory, a design leading to a very creative CAD/CAM environment (Jeffus, 2004). The installation will allow for accuracy because of computer generated details being linked directly to the computer aided manufacturing machinery increasing the quality of the services and standards produced. This project will lead to overhaul of the whole system whereby tape measures are being used, speed and accuracy also will characterize the system. The result will benefit both the company and the clients. To be inbuilt also within the system is an intelligent waveform control system with micro-controller. This is developed for the very efficient robotic CO2 welding. In welding there is always bad weld formation and to address this problem the company will introduce a new method that has control over short circuit current (Norrish, 1992). The method also uses two-step constant control to control the arc energy in arc period. In order for the company to be able to assess the worked it is undertaking it will have to it has to have complete and accurate information which are key to any welding company (Norrish, 1992). Everything will be predesigned such that all the member sizes will be shown and the connection forces have to be available. The new expansion involve taking over the factory that is closing over. Some workers will be retained while some who will not have welding certification will not be retained unless they go for further training to get certified. In setting up new plant all the best will be done to avoid mixing of steel grades. In order to avoid cost section sizes will have to be rationalized; factory handling time will also have to be reduced. Steel grade offer greater economy especially when there is no deflection governing the design. It should be made certain that the many right parts are marked for certain applications. “I” parts are normally very efficient in modern framing, whereas tubular parts are a probable options for columns and long span trusses (Norrish, 1992). Also usually there is higher cost in connection with tubular sections there is little in connection with “I” sections, their lower total average weight required to perform the same function can largely offset this, often with an “aesthetic bonus”. Asymmetric beams will also be incorporated to cut down the construction depth of floor systems. Steel plate will be used in fabrication of stiffeners and connections. BS EN 1090-1 will be installed to ensure that manufacturing controls are defined clearly and in so doing will ensure that a required range is met by structural steel components (American Powder Metallurgy Institute, 1974). This will also ensure that technical specifications are fulfilled. In setting up the new information system structure the company will subcontract to a contractor to roll out certified Factory Production Control (FPC) system. This system is the same with quality management system. With the exception inbuilt within it the contractor is required to have a documented Welding Quality Management System and nominate a person responsible for all welding activities. People resources are very essential especially if the smooth running of the industry is required. The workers will have to be retained for the closing down factory because if they are fired there could be a backlash. There are laws covering workers and workers union and if the company doesn’t act diligently it could lose a lot through lawsuits from these groups. It is true that the company have ordered that whoever will be hired as a welder will have to be a certified person, this brought to light also the fact that the existing staff that are not yet certified have to go through some training. The organizational structure between the head office and the other branch 50 miles away will have to coordinate their activities efficiently. The structure should be bottom down structure so that commands flow smoothly to the bottom at the branch (American Powder Metallurgy Institute, 1974). It is not good when a new branch operate independently especially during the take off stage. The employment process in the expansion will have to be competitive and be adequately advertised also that the best are fetched within and across the location of the factory. Three has to be a very effective factory production control which will be the permanent and control the internal production by the factory in the welding process. All the elements that will be adopted by AJLM Manufacturing Inc. and the requirements must be documented in the best way that will ensure that it is systematic and in form of procedures and policies that have been put down (American Powder Metallurgy Institute, 1974). The only thing that will ensure service quality within the system is the documentation of TPC and this will go a long way in ensuring that the desired product characteristic is achieved. Effective operational control will also be achieved. AJLM Manufacturing Inc. has to set up and draw the documentation of the technical welding process that will be required by the regulation so as the process to be assessed if it complies with the relevant requirement (Cornu, 1988). There will be declared performance together with EC and the technical document containing all the specification be constantly made available any time the relevant authorities come searching for it. The company should also ensure that it has access to the responsible welding coordinator. All the welding activities should be delegated to RWC for control and coordination. If the RWC fulfils the requirements of the following, then the competency requirements for an RWC are deemed to be met (Cornu, 1988). Welding process should adhere to all regulations to avoid irrelevant losses through the lawsuits, the digitization will also ensure that there is constant flow of information and also information can be easily accessed. Digitization reduce coordination related cost and therefore saving the company both resources and time. References AJL Manufacturing, Inc. (2015). Available at http://www.ajlmfg.com/company.php Norrish, J. (1992). Advanced welding processes. Bristol: Institute of Physics Pub. American Powder Metallurgy Institute. (1974). The International journal of powder metallurgy & powder technology. Princeton, NJ: American Powder Metallurgy Institute. Cornu, J. (1988). Advanced welding systems: 3. Berlin u.a: IFS (Publ.), UK. Jeffus, L. F. (2004). Welding: Principles and applications. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson/Delmar Learning. Read More