Tag Archives: steel shims

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

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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 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.

 

 

Long Live the Shim King

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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.

The Preliminary Review – Weld Splatter

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It’s a jig, it’s a fixture, whatever you call it, it holds the product together while it is being welded or assembled. In this lesson we are going to look at weld splatter and what to do to keep your fixture ( or jig ) functional.

In tip #5 of the previous blog we talked about looking over the fixture design to review efficiency and functionality of the design. You might want to develop a check off list of items you should explore at this stage.

#1 Can you get your part out after it is welded. Remember the splatter!
#2 Can you eliminate any parts?
#3 Can you make any parts with less machining?
#4 To maintain adjustability, what do you need to protect from weld splatter?

Let’s take a look at our simple weld fixture and see if we can improve upon it.

In the short time we have together I tried to be brief and may have skipped over some important stuff. So be sure to sign up for future updates and education on the form at the right. =============>>>

There it is. Now for a bit of light-hearted fun, check out the song video we recently added to our Shims page!

Please feel free to comment or add suggestions for future topics.   I’d love to hear from you!

 

[author][author_info]Susan Straley, aka, Queen of Lean Machine Design, is the President of Rentapen Inc. in Waukesha, WI. She helps manufacturers reduce costs through excellence in 3D Machine Design Services, RAPid Tooling Components(TM), and Just-in-Time Laser Cutting Services(TM). Susan can be reached at 262-542-8891.[/author_info] [/author]