FABTECH 2018: Metal fabrication for the next generation

David Stillman felt confident his son Jonah would make the meeting on time. He forwarded him the client name and address. Jonah was new to the family business—he was only 19, after all—but he knew that he at least had the wherewithal to show up to an important meeting on time.

David arrived at the client’s office, asked to see if his son made it, and the receptionist nodded. “She told me she had met my son, told me how nice he was and how much I must enjoy working with him. Right then I knew he was going to give me a hard time for beating me to the meeting. We walked out to the conference room and I didn’t see him. I asked, ‘Where’s Jonah?’ They told me, ‘Oh, he’s joining via Skype!’”

The Stillmans, who run a consulting business called Gen Z Guru, told this story to an audience on the final day of FABTECH®, and asked the show’s attendees a poignant question: Did Jonah do what he promised? Did he make the meeting, or was he just “phoning it in”? Some agreed with the latter; a videoconference just isn’t the same as a face-to-face meeting. Other (mostly younger) attendees agreed with the former; he did indeed make the meeting. He was simply being pragmatic, using technology to be more efficient.

This story drives home an overarching theme of FABTECH 2018, which was held Nov. 6-9. The show welcomed more than 1,500 exhibiting companies and a total of 33,755 attendees from 75 countries to the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

In the past shop managers had a starkly different view of technology, particularly when it comes to “big data” and other buzzwords. Welders of older generations might think that when a company installs an arc-on-time monitor, it is a classic case of micromanagement. The youngest of welders—those who never knew a time without smartphone apps—would be surprised if their welding machines weren’t connected, and if their welding arc’s on time and characteristics weren’t tracked and analyzed.

The youngest workers today grew up in a world connected by technology—a world with Google Voice, Alexa, and Siri—and they’d be surprised if that connectivity stopped as they stepped onto the shop floors. They expect machines to be communicating, feeding each other data, sometimes even learning and working autonomously. Considering the technology on display at FABTECH, the age of the connected fab shop floor has only just begun.

A Connected Life

The Stillmans’ consulting business focuses on generations: the boomers, Generation X, millennials, and now Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2012, the oldest of whom are just now entering the workforce. Those in Generation Z haven’t known a time without technology, and they don’t remember a time before Google. They value face time, but why not use technology to make that face time more efficient and effective?

The oldest millennials came of age during the roaring 1990s followed by the tragedy of 9/11. The oldest of Generation Z came of age during the Great Recession. They take technology as a given, but they’re also highly pragmatic and competitive. While millennials want meaning, Generation Zers take a more practical approach. They saw their parents suffer from college debt and job loss, and they don’t want to suffer the same fate. As digital natives, they don’t focus on technology but instead use it as a tool. As the Stillmans explained, Generation Z is pragmatic about technology too. They don’t use tech for its own sake.

Those from Generation Z probably would have appreciated Eric Fogg’s presentation, part of FABTECH’s extensive conference. He’s the co-founder of MachineMetrics, a predictive analysis platform that focuses on machining and metal fabrication. At a bare minimum, the platform tracks actual uptime of machines—not the clock-in and clock-out times tracked by operators, but the actual value-added time during which a machine is cutting, bending, welding, and otherwise making parts.

“I worked in machine shops and prototypes for a number of years, and I realized there was a ton of information that was completely unavailable,” Fogg said. “Oftentimes I recall getting to Friday afternoon and only then finding out that we didn’t ship enough parts to the customer.”

He then showed a slide that surprised his audience. Ask most shop managers about the uptime on a certain machine, and they might throw out a number between 70 and 85 per cent. Sometimes it’s a guess, sometimes it’s based off clock-in data from shop management software. “We surveyed over 300 shops, and want to know the average machine uptime? It’s only 31.7 per cent.” This is the value-added time, when parts are being made. “Everyone knows about the big stoppages, but people overlook the brief stoppages. But all those 5- and 10-minute downtimes add up.”

Fogg recalled revealing a low machine uptime to one metal fabrication shop manager. His supervisors were upset, but the top manager just smiled. “He said, ‘You guys don’t get it. We make money now. This is a viable business now. I would have been upset had that number been, say, 98 per cent. But when I see this [low utilization] number, I see a huge amount of potential to grow the business.’”

Can’t Find a Tool or Gauge? Print It

Why would a machine be down unexpectedly? Maybe the job calls for tooling that the operator “makes work” on the press brake, or perhaps an oddball part that’s difficult to gauge is to blame.

Like past years, this FABTECH featured an Additive Pavilion, but this year more exhibitors showed not just parts printed out of metal, but tooling printed out of plastic and composites. Cincinnati Incorporated, which is selling small 3D printers, showed printed press brake tools and backgauges. Wilson Tool highlighted its 3D printing services, including printed tools and backgauges. And Markforged showcased a special offset tool printed out of composite material.

Will additive manufacturing transform metal fabrication? Probably not. It’s hard to imagine an additively produced part being more cost-effective than a stamped or laser-cut component. But when it comes to custom tools, fixtures, and even robotic end effectors, exhibitors at FABTECH showcased additive’s enormous potential.

Rise of the Robots

Gen Z also can’t remember a time without robots. While their parents and grandparents remember manufacturing that downsized dramatically thanks to globalization and automation, Gen Z is growing up in a manufacturing industry where automation is a fact of life. They take it for granted that a press brake control gives them a graphical simulation of a bending sequence, or that a robot’s welding path sequence can be simulated offline.

In the years to come, many Gen Zers may well be working in a shop that looks utterly different from the fabrication shops of today. One presentation made by automation integrator Acieta, at the show’s Smart Manufacturing Hub theatre, showed an image of a fully automated fab shop integrated recently at an OEM. Blanks emerge from a laser and are picked by a robot, which places pieces on a conveyor that transports them to a robotic bending cell. After robotic bending comes an advanced fixtureless welding cell in which a material handling robot handles a piece as another robot welds. The entire setup eliminated the need for dozens of fixtures.

Dan Kara, vice president, robotics, WTWH Media, gives a broad overview of the state of robotics in metal fabrication as part of the show’s FABx Tech Talks, modelled on the popular TED Talks.

“The company saw a huge reduction in lost parts,” said Pete Rogers, Acieta’s vice president of operations. “Previously the company laser-cut a batch of parts, stacked the sheets up on pallets, moved them to the other end of the facility for bending, then stacked them on pallets to transport them to welding. The automated cell now allows for them to run one single part at a time, without the need for a minimum batch size. And no one touches the part as it moves from laser cutting through bending and welding.”

Entering the metal fabrication workforce now, Gen Zers have arrived at the robotics party just in time. “It’s been a good year for robotics, and industrial robotics in particular,” said Dan Kara, vice president, robotics, WTWH Media, speaking at FABTECH’s FABx Tech Talks, modelled after the popular TED Talks. “Recently the International Federation of Robotics released its annual survey, and in 2017 the industry sold 381,000 industrial robots, which is 30 per cent more than was sold in 2015.”

Most interesting is the fact that 10 per cent of that number was purchased by the metal manufacturing sector. In fact, purchases in this sector jumped 55 per cent.

That growth could certainly be seen on the show floor, where more types of robots are entering the fray, including collaborative robots. At this year’s show, for instance, Universal Robots and Arc Specialties introduced a cobot that can not only weld, but also (grasping a manual torch) plasma-cut.

The kinds of collaborative robots are expanding, too, to include not only the familiar arms, but also exoskeletons. “These kinds of products initially were developed for the rehab and quality of life markets, and today these companies are looking for a new, much larger market,” Kara said. “They’re looking to manufacturing.”

As just one example, Levitate Technologies exhibited an exoskeleton technology that could help workers lift and manage heavy objects, like guiding heavy plate through a bending cycle on a press brake.

Record-breaking Business

There was a positive feeling about the market at the show. Despite headwinds when it comes to material prices, demand remains solid. The economy has a strong footing.

“We are quite busy right now,” said Adam Plouffe, general manager of Winnipeg-based Brunswick Steel. “Industrial construction started late this year so the work related to that has dragged into the latter part of the year. But we are also going into the first quarter already with a solid-looking order book. We’ve gained a lot of market share this past year and we’re expecting the same for next year.”

Clint Taylor of Portage la Prairie-based Cobalt Industries was similarly positive about the beginning of 2019.

“2019 is going to be big,” he said. “We already have 20 per cent of our 2018 year sold in 2019. We’re also looking at some large local projects in our area. Our market is in an upward trend that should last at least for the next 24 months.”

Regardless, the trade war and metal prices are obvious headwinds, as Chris Kuehl, economic analyst for the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, pointed out during the FMA economic forecast breakfast during the show. In the U.S., tariffs on imported metal were 25 per cent, and yet the average increase in prices between this year and last in the country has been more than 40 per cent. Canadian companies are seeing the same. What justifies the difference? Demand from a hot economy.

“The steel companies are making money while the sun is shining,” Kuehl said, adding that uncertainty about the future—how long tariffs will be in place, who will receive exclusions, and so on—has complicated capacity planning.

As Kuehl explained, most expect the U.S. economy to grow nicely into 2019. But with the Federal Reserve having its eye on inflation, interest rates are steadily rising. “We’re finally seeing real inflation, though it’s well under control,” Kuehl said. “Up until now we’ve been more or less immune to wage inflation. There was a law that used to work called the Laffer Curve. It was even logical; as the employment rate goes down, companies have to work harder to keep talent, and so wages go up. And that didn’t happen this time until very recently.”

Automation Makes It Possible

During their talk, on the final morning of FABTECH, the Stillmans of Gen Z Guru pointed out that although a fabricator’s youngest workers may be digital natives and think that meeting via videoconference isn’t at all different than meeting face to face, they aren’t entitled or self-centred as they’re often caricatured to be.

They have great respect for, and work well with, their elders, including the boomer generation. In fact, they probably would work well with show attendee Ken Kipe, newly appointed fabrication supervisor charged to build a stainless fabrication operation to serve the equipment needs of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe in Chambersburg, Pa.

“Years ago I started my own manufacturing company and revolutionized the dairy industry in this country,” he said. “We introduced the parallel milking system. The industry laughed at us and told us there was no way you could milk a cow between its back legs. Now 80 per cent of the cows are milked that way. I had that company for 20 years and sold it.”

Hearing that anecdote, a Gen Zer probably would be transfixed.

Kipe came out of retirement to launch a new fab shop, and his visit to FABTECH was his first in more than 15 years. What’s changed and what’s stayed the same?

He responded by saying that, although everything is faster (especially laser cutting), the industry’s technological fundamentals haven’t changed. “Cutting and bending and welding, the core of it all hasn’t changed. But being able to computer-control the equipment makes it much more user-friendly. In the past you had people work for years as an apprentice to learn the trade. They really learned how to run a piece of equipment. Now you rely on the computer to do that. That’s why today I hire for attitude. I can teach anyone to do the things that need to be done, and it’s so neat to see the automation come into this industry that makes it all possible.”

Contributing Editor Tim Heston can be reached at timh@thefabricator.com.

FABTECH returns to Chicago Nov. 11-14, 2019. For more information, visit www.fabtechexpo.com.