Tag Archives: Milwaukee machine design service

Weld Fixture Tooling Executives Travel 1,166 Miles in Six Days to Meet Long-distance Customers.

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The President and Founder of Rentapen Inc., a small machine design and build services company and manufacturer of weld fixture tooling components, drove from Alabama to Michigan gathering feedback from Customers.

On April 26, 2013 Founder, George Straley and President, Susan Straley arrived in Waukesha, Wisconsin after traveling 1,166 miles in 6 days.  The husband and wife duo traveled from Florida to Wisconsin making five stops along the way.  They met with machine tooling design and build customers, a robot and automation systems company, a furniture manufacturer, and a manufacturer of forklifts.

Sue and George Straley - Owners of Rentapen Inc.

“Everyone was very friendly and gave us tours of their factories.  Most all of them reported being very busy, which is great for us,” Susan Straley said.  “I loved hearing how they are so glad they found us and like working with our team.”

One customer announced they were sending Rentapen 35 more fixtures to quote.

George Straley started Rentapen Inc. in 1976 and has been designing machines since.  In the 1980’s the Straley’s moved their business to Waukesha, Wisconsin, and became a provider of 2D Computer Aided Drafting (CAD).  They soon started designing in Pro/E 3D solid modeling and quickly became the experts.  They have helped several customers set up Pro/Engineer for Machine Design, automating the bills of materials.  Soon after that the introduced a major cost saving product in weld fixture design with their own line of RAPid Tooling Components™.  In the beginning of producing their product, George and Susan packed RAPid Shims™ from their dining room table.

“Each time we train someone to sand, oil, count, and pack our precision metal shims.  I tell them about the hours that our family spent counting and packing shims at our kitchen table in 2002,” said Susan Straley.

Rentapen Inc. provides 3D design and build of weld and assembly fixtures.  Though Rentapen provides machine design engineering services to manufacturers, Rentapen also is a manufacturer.  Producing their line of RAPid Tooling Components™ that are used on weld and assembly fixtures located on production floors throughout the United States.  The line consists of Blocks, Plates, Clamp Risers and Shims.

Rentapen’s RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, Clamp Risers and Shims precisely hold a company’s product in their Weld Fixture while it is being manually or robotically assembled or welded.  Rentapen Inc specializes in weld fixtures for manufacturers.  When a company is tooling up their factory to produce their new product and the product contains items that need to be welded together, that company will call Rentapen to design and build a machine tool that they can use to improve efficiency on the production floor.

“We were able to see the fixtures we designed and built being used in the Robotic Weld Cells,” said George Straley.  “We listen in these meetings for areas we can improve or problems that we can solve.”

Rapid Tooling Components™ reduce the design cost of the fixture by eliminating the need to design, detail and check similar parts over and over again. Three dimensional computer models are provided by Rentapen Inc. that customers can use to incorporate into their designs.  These modular components are the new standard in weld jig and assembly fixture design.

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.

 Power, Automation and Robots — Manufacturing from Alabama to Michigan

Weld Tooling Design Company Introduces New Cost Saving Clamp Risers

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Lean Manufacturers Discover Time and Cost Savings in Their Product-Holding Fixtures With Clamp Risers by Rentapen

In the beginning of April, 2013 Rentapen Inc. launched new website pages for their line of clamp risers and spacers.  The clamp risers are made specifically for different brands of clamps including: Wolverine, Carr Lane, REID, De-Sta-Co, TE-CO, All American, and Jergens.   Each riser or spacer is tapped and drilled for mounting the designated clamp and uses counter bored holes for mounting the riser or spacer to the fixture or jig.

Rentapen’s design team has been designing and building weld fixtures for over 35 years. They realized they were designing the same clamp risers over and over again.  So Rentapen developed what is now called RAPid Risers™,  a line of tooling components that hold all of the finest brands of part holding clamps.  These standardized yet versatile risers save manufacturers time and money when it comes to the design and build process.

Wolverine Clamps3D CAD Models of the risers can be downloaded from Rentapen’s website along with informational PDFs that detail the design of the RAPid Riser™.

 “By focusing our processes and skilled talent on what we do well, we free-up our customers time, energy, and talent to be more powerful and productive with what they do well,” said Susan Straley,  President of Rentapen.  “That gives them peace of mind and contributes to their success.”

If a designer created a clamp riser from scratch, like Rentapen and all other machine tooling design companies used to do, they would have to go through a timely and expensive process that includes: designing the part; detailing; checking; ordering material; writing the CNC code; creating the part and finally inspecting the part.

This entire process takes about 77 minutes. Manufacturers are now able to download the 3D model from Rentapen’s website, save the model to their library, put the riser into their design, and order the block.   Once the model is in the company’s CAD library, the process approximately takes 4 minutes.  Rentapen’s RAPid Riser™ is saving the manufacturers as much as 73 minutes in design and build time.

 “The RAPid Risers™ are just another way for the fixture builder to save time and money on the design and build of weld fixtures or any other type of fixture,” said, Steve Pautz, Product manager at E.L. Simeth Co. a distributor of the clamp risers.  “The Clamp Risers is just one part of this unique design system that really works. E.L. Simeth Company, as the distributor for this line, has customers that use the complete line so we know that it works very well,”

RapidRisersRapid Tooling Components™ reduce the design cost of the fixture by eliminating the need to design, detail and check similar parts over and over again. Three dimensional computer models are provided by Rentapen Inc. that customers can use to incorporate into their designs.  These modular components are the new standard in weld jig and assembly fixture design.

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.

Growing Weld Fixture Design and Build Company Takes Part In Efforts To Close Skills Gap In Wisconsin.

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Growing Weld Fixture Design and Build Company Takes Part In Efforts To Close Skills Gap In Wisconsin.

Rentapen Inc., of Waukesha, WI, a 3D Design Service Company and Tooling Components Manufacturer participating in the efforts to lessen the manufacturing and engineering skills gap.

On March 13, 2013 Governor Scott Walker signed the bill known as “Wisconsin Fast Forward”. This bill is designed to address the skills shortage in the state’s workforce and will better link employers and job seekers.

Rentapen Inc., a Machine Tool Design Company and Manufacturer of precision metal shims is just one of several manufactures helping with the effort to get the word out that jobs in manufacturing provide job security and require extensive skills. According to manufacturers, there is a large disconnect in Wisconsin between the workforce and the number of skilled workers ready to fill positions.

According to the panel of speakers at the New Faces of Manufacturing Summit hosted by Waukesha County Business Alliance, 68% of manufacturers reported a lack of talent or skills in the manufacturing industry.  High school students and college freshman, who have not determined a major, do not think about manufacturing.  When they do think of manufacturing, they think of it is dirty and made up of people who are low income and lower skilled.

Rentapen Inc. has been a member of the Waukesha County Business Alliance for almost two years and has been affected first hand by the skills gap.  Recently, Rentapen Inc. has joined the “Dream It Do It” Marketing Action Team.  This action team is made up of individuals around South-Eastern Wisconsin, and is dedicated to lessening the skills gap.

Rentapen Inc. has found that some of the most skilled workers are graduating from technical colleges.  Rentapen has hired over 5 individuals from Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) alone; these students have started as interns and have excelled and been retained.

PG3_9364“It’s exciting to be in manufacturing right now.  We are in a busy and growing industry.  Finding, training, and maintaining good talent is key to being competitive in the global marketplace,” said Susan Straley,  President of Rentapen.  “We are pleased to have the support of the College, and the State in helping manufacturers succeed in Wisconsin.”

The second part of the bill that Governor Walker signed creates a workforce training grant program at the Department of Workforce Development. This grant program will be used to leverage additional private dollars to help both new and current employees acquire additional job trainings skills.  The bill, coined “Wisconsin Fast Forward,” creates a website that uses real-time job data to match employers and potential workers, provides $15 million in state funds for worker training grants and creates an Office of Skills Development within the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development to help provide specific training for employers who need workers with specific skills.

Rentapen Inc. and many other manufacturing companies are struggling to find skilled workers to fill a variety of positions because the education that people are getting does not fit the skills needed in the actual working environment. Individuals are taking courses to receive a 4-year diploma but are not attaining the correct skills needed to excel in the work place.

234a658 “The problem is parents and adults are pushing students to get degrees in subjects that do not necessarily prepare them for jobs that actually exist in the market,” said Thies.  “There is a large amount of history majors, political scientists and lawyers than is needed in the workforce.  At the same time, the average high schools do not have a manufacturing class or a program designed to teach about a CNC operator. There is also need for machinists and welders; these courses are not offered or encouraged in a lot of high schools throughout the state and the nation.”

 

Manufacturing is one of the fastest growing industries like nursing, retail and food service. The manufacturing sector is aging. Within the next five years a new generation of workers will need to have the skills and experience to take over for the generation that is leaving. Companies are trying to deal with the hundreds of years of experience that will be walking out the door in the next five to ten years. There may not be thousands of new jobs, but there will be thousands of openings, and Wisconsin does not have the skill sets to fill in.

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.

Please visit Rentapen’s Youtube channel to watch a variety of educational and entertaining videos!

 

 

3D Models of Tooling Components Assists in Growth of Weld Fixture Design Company As New Part-Holding Tooling Pieces are Added.

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Rentapen Inc., of Waukesha, WI, Continues to Expand the Number of Components and Product Parts Available for 3D-Model Download.

In January and March 2013, Rentapen Inc., a 3D CAD Design Company added several new components to its 3D-Model download web page, www.WeldFixtureComponents.com.

Rentapen Inc., offers a large custom line of RAPid Tooling Components™ that can be downloaded for free to help manufactures save time and money while designing and building their weld and assembly jigs and fixtures.  RAPid Tooling Components™ are a new American standard for the machine design Industry.

An alternative to NAAMS, Rentapen’s components along with the 3D models have changed how Machine Design Engineers and CAD Drafters design their weld fixtures.

 “In 2001 we discovered we, as weld fixture and assembly fixture designers, were designing the same parts over and over again.  So we realized if we standardized on those parts we could save our customers lots of time and costs.  So we created RAPid Tooling Components™,” said George Straley, Founder of Rentapen.

Rentapen Inc., has a total of 9 different types of RAPid Blocks™ that can be ordered to fit different tooling fixture needs.  In the beginning, customers would buy the RAPid Block™ and then if the block needed to be altered, they would place the part in their CNC or take it to another vendor. RAPid Blocks are often altered to add a hole in it to hold a locating pin or a rest pad or to chamfer a corner.   In 2011, Rentapen Inc., began to offer customized alterations to their RAPid Blocks™.

Rentapen Inc., manufactures each block as it is ordered.  This allows them to keep inventory low and provide a valuable service to their customers.  Rentapen Inc., will customize the RAPid Block™ per the customer’s specifications. “Need a chamfer? No Problem.  Need a hole for a locating pin?  No problem,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.

Productuon Part Holding MachineryAll of Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™ are made in the U.S.A. This is in line with Rentapen’s vision as the U.S. Leader in machine design and tooling components.  Rentapen is dedicated to reducing costs for manufacturers. And their free 3D service is greatly help manufacturers on their lean journey.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Component™s. 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 Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891 or visit http://www.rentapen.com.

 

Weld Fixture Tooling Company Filled A CAD Drafter Internship

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Rentapen Inc., Located In Waukesha, WI Is Dedicated To Hiring CAD Drafters, Weld Fixture Machinist and Employees of All Ages.

On January 29, 2013 Rentapen Inc. filled a CAD Drafter Internship position with a young and experienced  student from Waukesha County Technical College. He is joining a CAD Drafting team made up of men and women of all ages.  Christopher Doll, has been a part of Rentapen Inc.’s, team since 2005 and is the Engineering Lead Designer and has a Masters of Science in Engineering from University-Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Design Fixtures and Jigs using Pro/E and Solidworks

According to The Social Liberian “There are eight different age generation categories.”  Rentapen Inc. the Weld Fixture Specialist, is currently employing four different age generations.

This local Waukesha, WI, company is employing generations as young as Generation Y (Born: 1977-1994) and as experienced as the Baby Boomer I Generation (Born: 1946-1954).

Rentapen Inc., has been in business since August 20, 1976 and has been able to stay in business through many different generations, but there is one key piece that holds this company together; they are excepting of all ages and are willing to teach their employees.  Have you ever heard the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” in the case with Rentapen Inc. you can.  Every day the younger and older generations work side by side to reach a common goal; to build, design, and create the best weld fixture components in the manufacturing industry.

“I am in the Baby-Boom Generation and I am learning new things from the other team members all the time,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.  “Just last week our staff was teaching me about our website and social media.”

 

Teach and Guide CAD Drafters and Interns

There are many conflicts in the manufacturing industry when it comes to generation differences.  Like any business today, conflicts can come from recruiting, building teams, the many different changes in a company, and different styles of management.  However, Rentapen Inc., is embracing the generations and changes; in their industry change is a good thing because it allows for growth, efficiencies, and cost savings.

The weld fixture specialist is excited for the growth of their line of RAPid Tooling Components™. With the different generations working together there has been an increase in the orders for RAPid Shims™ and the CAD Drafters in the office are busier than ever.

Rentapen Inc., is a Waukesha, Wisconsin based company that provides Weld Fixtures and 3D CAD models to manufacturers.  Since 1976, Rentapen Inc has consistently saved customers time and money.  Rentapen Inc., is a Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™.  For more information Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891 or visit www.rentapen.com.

 

 

Weld Fixture Design 101 Posts A New Blog To Educate Manufactures and Engineers

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Rentapen Inc.’s President, Susan Straley, Educates The
Engineering Industry With Her Weld Fixture Design Blogs.

On February 25, 2013, Susan Straley posted her latest blog educating the engineering industry about an easy and practical way to determine fastener length. Susan Straley, known as the Queen of Lean Machine Design and President of Rentapen Inc., has been educating the manufacturing and engineering industry about weld fixture designs since October 2011. Her blog is called Weld Fixture Design 101. The lessons are being published as often as every two weeks.

The Weld Fixture Design Blog informs the audience on how to design a simple weld fixture, the use of their RAPid Tooling Components™, and trends in the many different outlets in the manufacturing industry.  The Blog is also designed to help Rentapen Inc., gain knowledge from their readers about what is important to them.  This helps Straley connect to her audience and potential customers.

 “I enjoy posting the blogs in machine design groups on Linkedin because there are both experienced designers and new students of engineering who participate in discussions and add their experiences and viewpoints to the mix,” said Straley.  “Then I also get ideas for future lessons.”

Rentapen Inc., has been active in the hiring and training of interns from many different colleges in the Greater Milwaukee, WI area.  Along with the Weld Fixture Design 101 Blog Rentapen Inc., has created a series of videos and instructions that have incorporated what Straley has written about in her blogs.

Design Fixtures and Jigs using Pro/E and Solidworks

 “I remember when I was just starting out as a CAD Drafter.  There was so much of the practical stuff that wasn’t taught in the classroom at school,” said Straley.  “And when I learned that 40% of the Engineers in the U.S. are going to retire within 7 years, I knew I had to start sharing some of the knowledge that comes from years of doing the work.”

The Weld Fixture Design 101 Blog demonstrates how to use Rentapen’s standardized yet versatile RAPid Tooling Components™. Rentapen’s precision weld fixture components are made up of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Shims™, Clamp Risers, RAPid Plates™, and standard shims that precisely hold your product in your weld fixture while it is being manually or robotically assembled or welded.

Subscribers to the Weld Fixture Design 101 Blog are sent notices directly to their email when a new lesson is posted.  However, the blog can also be found on the various social media sites that Straley participates.  There has been 47 different Blogs published and they cover a variety of topics from creating a tapped hole to steps to design a product-holding jig or fixture.  You can connect to Straley and Rentapen Inc., via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin,YouTube, and many other social media platforms.

Click the link to view the latest YouTube video: Easy and Practical Guide to Length of Fasteners in Machine Tool Design

Three Ways to Detail a V-Block – Jig or Weld Fixture Design 101

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The Art and Science of Detailing a V-block

Now that we have talked about how to hold a round tube with a V-Block and how to create a V-Block in Pro/E 4.0 (Pro/Engineer), now it is time to talk about detailing. How do you make a drawing of a V-Block so that the machinist can understand it, and create it as quickly and accurately as possible.

A Word About Detail Standards

I keep saying that Machine Design is both Science and Art.

When you work for an existing company, they most likely have standards that you will follow for dimensioning.

If you don’t have standards or are confused about how to dimension a part, it is helpful to spend some time getting to know how your parts will be made. When you take a break from the computer, if you can go out and visit the shop and talk to the people who make the parts that you design, it will be time well spent. A helpful CNC operator, or an angry one, can teach you a lot about designing and detailing.

When your company is reviewing their detail standards, be sure to invite some machine operators onto the standards committee. They will bring a perspective that could save the company time and improve the quality of the parts that are made. A couple things you have to keep in mind is that this part might be made again in the future. If so, you want to detail it so not just your current machinists can read it, but future machinists as well.

So. enough about that!

I have detailed the V-Block in three different ways. Let’s take a look.

So there you have it, three ways to detail a V-Block. I am sure there are other ways that I have not covered here.

Do you do it differently? Please tell me by adding your comments below. This is our chance to learn from each other.
To follow this ongoing conversation on Jig or Weld Fixture Design, just sign up for future Education and Updates on the right of this page.

Keep learning,

The Queen

Five Pin Pointers

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Weld Fixture 101  – Locating Pins

To recap what was said in the video:

Pointer #1 

You can buy your pins from a catalog or you can make your own.  But don’t use the lock screw design for mounting your pin.  We have found they don’t hold up to the hard use they experience in a weld fixture.

Pointer #2

Harden your pins.  This makes it “harder” for the weld splatter to stick to the pin and easier, then, for you to get the part out of the fixture.  In fact, it is good practice to always harden those components that touch the product parts.  You can surface harden, called “case” harden, or you can full harden, which hardens the part all the way through.  Purchased pins are already hardened.

Pointer #3 

If possible, mount  the pin from the bottom with a screw.   If you can’t mount from the bottom, another best practice is to cut a whistle cut (an angle cut) into the base of the pin.  Then use a set screw to hold it in place.

Pointer #4

When using locating pins in two holes in a product part, use a round pin in the first hole and a diamond pin in the second hole.   The diamond pin will allow for some tolerance variations between the holes in the product.

When I say, round pin, it doesn’t mean that you can’t cut off some surfaces of that round pin as discussed in pointer  #5.

Pointer #5

Other cuts in the pin make it easier to remove the product parts from the fixture.  Square cuts or triangular cuts work well and still have sufficient pin surface to locate the product.

That’s it!  If you haven’t already, sign up to be notified when the next blog on Weld Fixture Design is released!

Now for fun, check out the new video we have from Lashy7 singing our shim king song.

Seven Tips for Lean and Efficient Weld Fixture Design.

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This is my FIRST Blog!!!  Yep!  And I am excited because we are going to go over how to design a simple weld fixture.  Then, with each new post we are going to delve deeper.  This is going to be like Weld Fixture Design 101, and then 201 and then 301!  So you may notice that some things may be not quite right in this weld fixture.  In future blogs we will address that.  So sign up to get notified regarding future education and updates.

 Weld Fixture Design is both an art and a science.  We won’t all agree on what is the right way.  I invite you to comment.  This way we can learn together.

So lets get started!

Tip #1  Ask the right questions before beginning.

Tip #2 Start w/ those items that touch the product parts.

Tip #3 Use purchased components where possible reducing time, costs, and errors.

Tip #4 Design in adjustability with shims.

The right combinations of shims will give the ability to fine tune the location of your product parts to .005” accuracy before mass production begins.

Tip #5 Review the design for weld access, efficiency and functionality.

Can you eliminate any parts?  Is there room for the weld gun?  Will you be able to get the parts out after they are welded?

Tip #6  Have the customer or production team review the design.

Make any changes they recommend and get their approval before putting in the holes, shims, fasteners and creating drawings.

Tip #7 Always have someone else check your work.

Get someone else to look over your design and drawings. 

In future posts we will go further into the design, address more complex issues, and continue learning together.

This list of tips is not all encompassing.  Let me know what you think.  What would YOU add?  Which of these tips would you like me to explore deeper first?