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| Stainless Steel Fabrication | > | Northern Advantage | > | Case Studies |
Success Stories
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Case 1: Laser Welding |
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| Problem: Recently, one of our customers had a project that required a high grade stainless steel alloy that is only produced in 48" wide sheets. The fabrication was a thin gage rolled cylinder with a stringent circumferential tolerance. Butt welding the sheets together was the only option. Traditional welding methods would have distorted the material out of tolerance, so we needed an innovative solution. Solution: Northern used its extensive laser welding experience to produce a 56 x 94" flat sheet. This custom blank size was then rolled and laser seemed. Results: The resulting stainless steel fabrication had tremendous weld strength, was nearly distortion free and met the tight fabrication tolerances. |
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Case 2: Laser Cutting Flexibility Saves Weekend |
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| Problem: On a Thursday afternoon, a regular customer came to us with a crisis. They had over 40 hours of laser cutting work they needed done, and they needed it by the end of the day on Monday. Solution: While other fabricators may have balked at this situation, Northern jumped on the opportunity to nurture this relationship. Our automated CNC programming software allowed our engineers to convert CAD drawings into CNC code by mid-day Friday. We did not have to charge additional overtime labor to our customer, because our "lights out" laser cutting cell ran unattended over the weekend. Results: The last shipment left Northern at 3PM Monday afternoon, and we cemented another customer relationship. |
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Case 3: 5-Axis Laser Cutting vs. Cheap Labor |
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| Problem: One of our long time customers has been receiving stiff competition from China and Mexico, and we were eager to help them reduce their manufacturing costs. We identified a component part that required too many operations and used a costly band sawing process on tough stainless steel trapezoid tubing. Solution: The component was rerouted for 5-axis laser cutting. The new process eliminated 3 saw operations and the corresponding band saw blade costs. Additionally, it eliminated 2 separate laser operations previously done on our flat laser cutting machines. Results: The customer received price reduction on extremely competitive product, helping improve their position in the market. |
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Case 4: Design for Manufacturability |
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| Problem: A customer's air nozzle assembly had 110 individual components with 3 different sheet metal thicknesses. The prints required the assembly to be riveted and then silicone sealed. Solution: Northern was able to reduce all of the sheet metal parts to a single thickness through creative press brake forming. We also eliminated the riveting and sealing requirements by replacing them with gas tight laser welding. Total components reduced from 110 to 28. Results: We were able to reduce the number of components in the assembly from 110 to 28 and the laser weld was functionally superior to the previous sealing process. These efforts gave our customer a 22% cost reduction |
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Case 5: Complex Forming / Bending |
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| Problem: A customer needed a custom formed shape in a 24 foot sub-assembly. The tolerance in a critical venturi area was +/- 0.06" and it was inspected by a go/ no go gage. The 24 foot long sections then had to be welded together to complete the assembly. Solution: Northern used its extensive experience with complex forming and it’s recently acquired 600 ton 20 foot Cincinnati brake to produce the desired shape. We then achieved full welding penetration in the 3/16" material for the entire 96 feet of welding. Results: The laser welding caused so little distortion in the final assembly that the critical venturi area stayed within it’s extremely demanding tolerance. |
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