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


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

Growing Weld Fixture Design Company Enhances Their Web Presence.


Rentapen Inc., the Weld Fixture Specialists, has been using a variety of social media sites to increase sales and educate the manufacturing industry.

Since April, 2011 when Susan Straley took over as President of Rentapen Inc., the use of social media has taken off in a positive direction. A new version of Rentapen’s website was also created in 2011 to help the company introduce CAD Drafters and Engineers about Rentapen’s time-saving RAPid Tooling Component™ line; increase brand recognition as the Weld Fixture Specialist; and educate beginning machine tool designers in the manufacturing industry through Susan Straley’s Blog – Weld Fixture Design 101.

 “I knew we needed to grow in sales and customers in order to become a stronger company. I asked for help from the SBDC. They sent a consultant to help us with our marketing strategy that includes social media marketing” said Susan Straley, Owner and President of Rentapen.

Merriam-Webster, defines social media as forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro-blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Rentapen Inc. is utilizing social media to find and connect with Machine Designers, Manufacturing Engineers and others. Through social media Rentapen can announce the launch of new products and educate CAD Drafters and Machine Tool Designers about how to save time with Rentapen’s products and services.

Rentapen Inc. created RAPid Tooling Components™, consisting of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, RAPid Clamp Risers™ and RAPid Shims™, to help save time for manufacturers. Rentapen’s website makes it easier for CAD Drafters and Engineers to download the right Block, Plate, Riser, or Shim for their product part holding tool design. Rentapen’s website also makes it easy to connect with Rentapen and its President on various social media platforms. One of the largest social media sites that Rentapen Inc. uses is Linkedin. Via Linkedin, Susan Straley, has been able to interact with targeted customers, Engineering and Mechanical Design Instructors, and CAD Drafting students. She keeps in touch with key targets by posting updates to her profile with educational blogs and industry news.

Rentapen Inc., as the weld fixture specialist uses the blog and internships to educate students in CAD Drafting, Weld Tooling Design, and building Weld Fixtures. Another, large social media platform that Rentapen Inc., has been using since June, 2011 is Youtube. According to Youtube this site has been designed to allow billions of people to discover watch and share originally-created videos. Rentapen’s youtube channel attempts to educate and entertain machine designers and followers. The company created a video that has been seen by over 3,000 viewers.

“I am very grateful to the help we received from the SBDC. Before they met with me, I didn’t know what a blog or a tweet was. Now I am using this medium to attract customers and help mechanical design students learn some of the practical machine design tips they can’t learn in the class room,” said Straley

Social media sites that you can find and follow Rentapen Inc. on are Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and Google +. These are great ways to stay connected and to gather valuable information about Weld Jigs and Assembly Fixtures and an innovative company, Rentapen Inc.