Tag Archives: metal shims

Milwaukee Weld Fixture Specialists Travel 200 Miles To Deliver Custom Steel Shim Order.

By | |
Leave a comment

The President and Founder of Rentapen Inc., a small machine design and build services company and manufacturer of weld fixture tooling components, drove from Waukesha, WI to Iowa to deliver precision shims to their customer.

On June 6, 2013 Rentapen Inc. received a large purchase order of metal shims to be cut and delivered by June 10, 2013 from a company that they have been doing business with for many years.  The machine tool and engineering design company is using the shims for a weld tooling and machine leveling project.

Laser Cut Steel Shim Sheet.

Laser Cut Steel Shim Sheet.

The order consisted of 96 metal shim packs for a total of 480 total shims. This work order was completed in less than 24 hours by Rentapen’s excellent team including Laser Operators and assembly workers.  Rentapen’s steel shims can be designed and cut into many different shapes and thicknesses.

 

“Our culture state says that we go the extra mile.  Well sometimes we have to go more than a mile to fulfill the needs of our customers,” said President Susan Straley.

Rentapen RAPid Shims™ are often used for adjustability in weld fixtures, and work holding fixtures.  Rentapen Inc. also to cuts Die Sharpening Shims, bridge shims custom shaped shims, stainless steel, steel and Naams shaped shims.  Rentapen Inc. has been in business since 1976 and is known in the industry as “the Shim King”.  Iowa machine tool design company relies on Rentapen Inc. for all their steel shim needs.

Custom Shims

Custom Shims

Rentapen Inc. cuts hundreds of thousands of shims each year and each order is different.  They use their RAPid Order Processing System™ to quote, cut, and ship their shims faster than most companies can even get out a quote.

Rentapen Inc., is the Weld Fixture Specialist and The Shim King, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components. Rentapen Inc, located in Waukesha, WI, has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  Rentapen is a Certified Woman Owned Business and owner of RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.  Visit Renatpen’s Order 3D Model page to download your RAPid Tooling Components today!

 

 

Sales Goals Exceeded By 22% In First Quarter For Weld Fixture Tooling Components Company.

By | |
Leave a comment

Local Wisconsin Weld Fixture Specialist Company Sees Big Numbers In The First Quarter.

April 9, 2013, an article in the Milwaukee Area Business Journal entitled “Manufacturing growth to outpace GDP in 2013, 2014”  by Jeff Engel stated that the expert projections are that manufacturing will outpace overall economic growth in 2013 and 2014, with a 2.2 percent manufacturing increase in 2013 compared with overall gross domestic product growth of less than 2 percent.
Rentapen Inc., an engineering and manufacturing company located in Waukesha, WI has exemplified growth in the first quarter of 2013 by exceeding its sales goals by 22% in the first quarter.

Rentapen is a multifaceted manufacturing company with their ability to design and build many different types of weld fixtures.  Their engineers create 3D CAD drawings of weld and assembly tooling they design.  Rentapen’s customers sometimes just want the drawings and they build the fixtures in house.  Some customers prefer to get the fixture designed, built and tested by Rentapen.

3D ModelsAnother side to Rentapen Inc., is their line of RAPid Tooling Components™.  This line is made up of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, RAPid Risers™ and RAPid Shims™.  These components are used by manufacturers that build weld jigs and assembly fixtures and other types of work-holding tools.

Besides increasing sales, Rentapen Inc. has increased their customer base for RAPid Tooling Components™, Pro/E CAD and Solidworks Designs and weld fixture build projects.  They acquired twelve new customers in the first quarter.

The Business Journal article stated, “In Milwaukee, the manufacturing sector has expanded the past four months, according to the Institute for Supply Management – Milwaukee report compiled by Marquette University. “

Maybe this will help improve the job outlook for the area.  Rentapen’s factory has been busy enough in the past couple months to justify hiring help to pack their precision steel shims and shim packs — RAPid Shims™.

Rentapen’s shop team assembles, packages, and ships their RAPid Tooling Components™, including their custom and standard metal shims and shim packs.  Also, Rentapen has been seeking a Machine Tool Designer and Weld Fixture Design Project Lead Engineer.

“Not only are we a manufacturer, but we serve manufacturers.  So when manufacturing is busy, we get busy,” said Susan Straley, Rentapen’s President.

Sue and George Straley - Owners of Rentapen Inc.President and Co-Founder of Rentapen Inc., Susan and George Straley, have been dedicated to their machine designing company and satisfying their customers’ needs to reduce costs since 1976. They have continued to stay positive during these hard economic times and it has been paying off.

Rentapen’s increase in shim and tooling component sales are a result of an overall trend in Manufacturing in the Midwest. Manufacturers in the Midwest are growing in sales and investing in machine tooling.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components™. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.

 

Weld Fixture Design Company Engineering Manager Seeks to Grow With the Company.

By | |
Leave a comment

Rentapen Inc.’s, Design Engineering Manager, Blake Peterson, Continues His Education To Improve Productivity.

On January 7, 2013 Blake Peterson started another fast paced group of classes toward his Bachelor of Science Degree majoring in Business Management. Peterson joined Rentapen, the Weld Fixture Specialists, in November, 2011 as Engineering Manager. Rentapen designs machine tools for companies that manufacture a product. Rentapen specializes in Weld Jigs and Shims.

The company also manufactures a line to weld tooling components called RAPid Tooling Components™. These RAPid Tooling Components™ consists of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, Clamp Risers and Shims.

Lindsey Frick, Associated Editor for MachineDesign.com, found information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which projects a need for 17,830 additional engineers each year for the next 10 years. Lindsey also wrote in her article that Community colleges are an untapped resource for potential engineering students.

Currently, Peterson is conducting interviews for an Engineering Project Manager that will quickly grow as Peterson grows. The Machine Designer position will involve the conception and design of weld fixtures and guiding and teaching CAD Drafters and interns as they learn.

Peterson, Engineering Manager, is expected to graduate in 2014 from Cardinal Stritch, located in the greater Milwaukee, WI area. Peterson is taking the necessary actions to get ahead in his engineering and management career. He is taking advantage of accelerated on-line classes to improve his ability to lead and expand his knowledge base. Some of the classes Peterson is looking forward to taking are Management of Leadership, Business Ethics, and Strategic Organizational Leadership.

At Rentapen Inc., Peterson is already seeking responsibilities outside the Engineering Manager title that he currently holds. He works closely with the shop to solve issues and evaluate scheduling needs. He works with the Leadership Team to expand Rentapen’s capacity to build small to medium weld jigs.

Peterson already has an extensive background of engineering management experience; however, Peterson decided to further his education in business management to understand more of the financial side of the business. The role that Peterson plays in the company, he hopes will transition from Engineering Management to more of the total Operations Management. Since joining Rentapen he has had to learn Pro/E CAD software. He has also learned each of the customers’ engineering standards to help him as he guides and checks the work of the machine designers.

Teach and Guide CAD Drafters and Interns

For the past three months Peterson has been guiding the Design Engineering Team as it focuses on reducing costs for manufacturers through lean weld fixture design. He has also been working with the Leadership Team to enhance Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™. RAPid Tooling Components™ are an extension to Rentapen’s mission to save manufacturers time.

The role that Peterson is aiming for is to oversee the operational side of the business. He wants to move into leading the managers and participating in the planning. His new education will help him to know what to do to increase profits, increase cash, and reduce costs.

Rentapen’s Culture includes an emphasis of constant learning and self- improvement. The machine tool company’s culture statement says, “Rentapen is only as good as its team members. We aim to hire and retain the best … We are flexible. We are constantly improving ourselves and our processes. We delight in learning new skills, improving ways of doing things….”

Weld Tooling Company Helps Educate Engineering Students and Machine Designers About Adjustability.

By | |
Leave a comment

>Rentapen, Weld Fixture Components Manufacturer, Provides Lessons in Machine Design Using Videos and Youtube.

On January 2, 2013, Rentapen added another lesson for new machine designers entitled, “Product Piece Part Holding with Precision — Why use Adjustability with Shims

The lesson is part of the on-going tutorials put out to help prepare CAD Drafting students and new engineers on the art and science of Weld and Assembly Fixture Design. A fixture is used to hold product parts in place in the factory while they are being manually or robotically welded or assembled.

Rentapen’s President and Queen of Lean Machine Design, Susan Straley, has created a Weld Fixture Design Blog and posts bi-weekly educational and helpful information for individuals in the Manufacturing Industry. Rentapen has created a series of videos and instructions on best practices.

This latest Weld Fixture Design Blog addressed 3-way adjustability with weld fixtures that corresponds with the latest video that has been released on Youtube and on their website. Visitors to the blog will find a plethora of different categories on the Weld Fixture Design 101 page. Some common categories that Staley blogs about are locating pins, metal shims, machine design, fasteners and RAPid Tooling Components™.

There are over 50 different videos that a subscriber may choose from when viewing Rentapen’s Youtube channel. Most of the videos are designed to inform the viewer and will educate the viewer on how to design or use purchased tooling components.

“I am pleased that George, who has been designing machines for over 36 years, agreed to be a part of this lesson. He does a great job explaining why Machine Design Engineers should consider including adjustability in their weld fixture designs,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.

Rentapen is a Wisconsin Certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise that has been designing machine tools for over 36 years. The Milwaukee area company was voted a Top 10 Business in Waukesha County.

Rentapen Featured in December Issue of Welding Journal For “Green” Practices.

By | |
Leave a comment

Rentapen Inc., a manufacturer of Weld Tooling Components, has been recognized by the American Welding Society (AWS) for being a “Green” company.

On December 3, 2012 the Welding Journal produced a five page article in its magazine entitled “For Weld Tooling Design Company Being Green Is Second Nature.”  The article can be found on pages 32-36 of the magazine.

 Rentapen designs and builds weld fixtures and is the home of RAPid Tooling Components™.  These tooling components are products that Rentapen developed to help engineers and manufacturers save time in the design and build of weld fixtures.  Rentapen manufactures these metal shims, locating plates, and clamp risers at its plant in Waukesha, WI.

Rentapen has been a “green” company for over twenty years.  In the early 1990’s Rentapen’s President, Susan Straley and Vice President George Straley, became part of a Household ECO Team program.  Rentapen’s Owners were reducing, reusing and recycling long before Wisconsin took action and made recycling a state law.

Rentapen not only recycles in their shop, they also recycle and reuse in their office too.  Rentapen does not buy paper towels; they use cloth rags in all areas of the office and shop. Also, in every room at Rentapen there are separate bins for recycling and for garbage.

“I am very proud of this recognition.  George and I have been advocates for protecting the environment and reducing waste for a long time,” said Susan Straley, President and Owner of Rentapen.

The shop team is also conservative and mindful of waste.  They first consider the boxes of discarded material before going to the inventory of new material to build new tooling components and metal shims.

 All the paper in the recycle bins located in Rentapen’s office is shredded and used as material for shipping.  Employees are encouraged to bring in their old newspapers for use as packing material. Recycling makes good business sense for Rentapen.  In the first 9 months of 2012 Rentapen received over $3,500 back for recycling their metal waste.

The article can be found on the American Welding Society (AWS) website, under the December Issue.  AWS was founded in 1919 as a multifaceted, nonprofit organization.  The main goal of the organization was to help the advancement in science, technology and applications in welding.  The website provides thousands of articles related to the field of welding and will benefit instructors, students, and individuals already in the field.

 

Rentapen Gets Big Views of Educational Video to Teach Machine Tool Design, Weld Jig and Assembly Fixture Design to Mechanical Engineering Students and CAD Drafters.

By | |
Leave a comment

Rentapen Inc., Weld Fixture Specialists, located in Waukesha, WI, produced and published an educational video for CAD Drafters, Engineering Students, and Manufacturing Engineering Managers that has received over 3,100 views on youtube.

On September 25, 2011 Rentapen Inc., produced a video demonstrating Weld Fixture Design.  Since the video was released it has been viewed over 3,100 times. This 6.5 minute video is one of the top viewed videos on youtube when searching for Weld Fixture Design. There are 46 other videos that Rentapen has developed and placed on youtube and the website that are for educational purposes.

This video provides seven important tips when building a weld fixture.  These tips are designed to help Manufacturing Engineers produce the very best designs. Rentapen Inc., is a custom precision
RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ company that takes pride in educating their customers and students in the industry.

“I started my educational Blog, Weld Fixture Design 101, after I learned that 40% of our Engineers in the United States will be retiring in the next 7 years.  I feel strongly that those of us who have been working in design need to share our knowledge with those coming up behind us, so they don’t waste time making the same mistakes we made,” said Susan Straley, Queen of Lean Machine Design
and President of Rentapen.

Engineers and students of Engineering and Machine Tool Design can sign up to be notified every time a new blog is posted by signing up for Education and Updates on the Rentapen website.  However, if you just want to see any new videos, subscribe to Rentapen’s Youtube Channel.

“Instructions on how to see how many views your video has received on Youtube said that a count of 200 views was really good, so I was pretty shocked and pleased to see our video on machine design tips received over 3,000 views,” said Straley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milwaukee Welding Fixture Specialist Demonstrates Precision Fixtures

By | |
Leave a comment

Rentapen Inc., discovers 32 different footprints for
creating 3-way adjustments with RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™.

On November 14, 2012 Rentapen Inc., launched a new page on the Rentapen website introducing 3-way adjustability for RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ under the Shims menu dropdown.  These RAPid Tooling Components™ help Engineers save time and also saves time in the machine tool build process.

These newly developed RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ create adjustability for locating pins to fit for precision welding.  The locating pin’s position in the weld fixture can be finely tuned before mass production begins.  Precision shims are added or removed between the blocks to make sure the pin is in the right
location.  When in the right location, the final welded product meets product’s tolerance specifications.

Rentapen’s RAPid Shims™ are created with precision sheet metal for fine adjustment of the fixture before welding begins. The RAPid Blocks™ are created with counter-bored hole on both sides for design versatility.

“We knew our RAPid Blocks were versatile, but we were surprised to learn there are actually 32 different ways to position the blocks along with shims to create the 3-way adjustment that is often needed in a precision weld fixture,” said Susan Straley, President and Owner of Rentapen.

In the next few weeks Rentapen Inc., will be producing a “How To” video displaying how 3-way adjustability can be used.  There will be a series of blogs coming out that can be found on the Weld Fixture Design 101 web page that will help describe how to use these tooling components in detail.

“I just posted a blog talking about our standard tolerance on locating pins and the ways to use our RAPid Blocks with shims to create 3-way adjustment in weld and assembly fixtures,” said Straley.

 

 

Rentapen wins Award for Excellence in Business

By | |
Leave a comment

On November 9, Rentapen, Inc, a woman-owned machine tool design and build company was honored for its achievements in exceptional marketing by the Waukesha Award Program.


Rentapen Inc. specializes in weld and assembly fixtures and custom and standard precision shims. The weld jig and assembly fixture design and build company was selected for the 2012 Best of Waukesha Award in the Miscellaneous General Business Services category by the Waukesha Award Program.

Earlier in 2012, Rentapen also was voted one of the Top 10 Businesses in the Waukesha Area by the Waukesha Business Alliance and the Biz Times. That award was based on Customer Service, Growth, and Employee Relations.

Each year, the Waukesha Award Program identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Waukesha area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2012 Waukesha Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Waukesha Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Rentapen
Rentapen works with manufacturers when they are tooling up their factories to produce their products. In response to their customers’ need to reduce the time needed to design and build a fixture, Rentapen developed a line of standard yet versatile components. These components save machine designers and manufacturers time when designing and building their weld and assembly fixtures.

This simple weld fixture contains Rentapens time-saving RAPid Tooling Components(TM)

The product line, called RAPid Tooling Components include clamp risers, blocks, plates and precision shims. They are quickly becoming popular among machine tool designers and have grown to be half of Rentapen’s sales. Thanks to a dynamic website where 3D models of the components can be downloaded and placed easily into designs.

About Waukesha Award Program

The Waukesha Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Waukesha area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Waukesha Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in the Waukesha community. The organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. The Waukesha Award Program’s mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

What Where and How of Metal Shims

By | |
Leave a comment

What, Where, and How of Shims and Shim Packs

I am excited about our new Free 3D CAD Models ordering service on Rentapen’s web site.  I know I promised to talk more about the simple weld fixture (weld jig), this week,  however I am delaying that because this is (I think) so COOL!!

Our line of tooling components are now even easier to use.   I invite you to play with this new 3d model downloading service.  These files are Free!  Since we are still discovering kinks, be sure to let us know if you find any problems.

The videos I have for you today are about how to use this service.  But there is so much more to learn. These videos aren’t polished, but you will get the idea.

First, I talk about shims and show how they are placed in a real fixture. You might want to turn the volume down a bit, I start in the shop…

I know I go on and on about shims at times. I am a big advocate for shimming in weld fixtures.

With so many variables involved in how much heat will be created during welding and therefore, how much distorting will occur on the product being welded, shims and shim packs are essential. They help the production group set up the fixture before full production begins. So that when the weld jig or fixture goes into full production it is putting out a product that works.

In this next video I  show you how to download a file for a RAPid Block(TM) and a RAPid Riser(TM).

And in THIS video, our team member, Kory, tells you how to get your Pro/E parameters into your STEP file.

 

I hope you have fun trying out the new 3d models and seeing how you can use them. I’d love to see what you come up with! Didn’t you like playing with legos??

Send images of your designs using RAPid Tooling Components to news@rentapen.com

The Queen of Lean Machine Design

 

Long Live the Shim King

By | |
Leave a comment

Rentapen Inc. Earns the Title, Shim King, for Their High Growth in Metal Shim Production

Rentapen Inc.’s shim business experienced a ten percent growth in sales in this past year.

Rentapen, located in Waukesha, WI sells hundreds of thousands of shims each year. Their shims are used in work holding fixtures and weld fixtures.

Metal shims are used to finely adjust the location of how the fixture holds the product so that it is welded together within the dimensions set for the product to work well.

A pack of thin metal shim is placed between two components in the fixture. The first component is fixed in place and the second component is attached to the first component with the pack of shims in between. Removing one shim or adding one shim slightly adjusts the location of the second component. This is important to manufacturers who want to have their product’s parts assemble easily after being welded.

When George, Founder and Sue Straley, President of Rentapen, first started selling shims they had someone else cut them with a water jet.

“We cleaned, counted, and packed the Rapid Shims on our kitchen table,” said Susan Straley.

Then, eight years ago George and Susan Straley moved Rentapen into an office and purchased Rentapen’s first laser cutting machine. “We got a 150 watt Kern Laser that cuts up to 1/8 inch steel and can run at night without an operator present,” said George Straley.

Rentapen’s Shim business continues to grow today, making them the Shim King.

“And that make me the Queen of Lean Machine Design,” said Susan Straley.

Rentapen offers steel shims, stainless steel shims, metal shims, NAAMS shim shapes, Bridge shims, Adjustment shims, custom sizes and shapes of shims, Reid Tool Supply shim shapes, and Douglas shims.

Rentapen also makes die sharpening shims.

“One customer requested we paint a couple of the thickness so that the guys in the shop can tell the difference without pulling out the calipers. And we did that for them. We are here to meet our customers’ needs. We are in the business of satisfying our customers,” said Susan Straley.