February 2018 Vol. 73 No. 2
Business
New Fabrication Center for Felling Trailers
A new, state-of-the-art, 29,000-square-foot Fabrication Center takes streamlining the production process to new levels for Felling Trailers.
The layout design of the Fabrication Center was based on the equipment used to complete the processing of fabricated parts with the goals of reducing non-value time inefficiencies, limiting the number of times material is handled, enhancing safety and increasing work environment comfort.
“It’s really about machine relation. The shorter the distance a part has to be moved during the process equals less time and movement that is required of the worker to complete the job. Flow is everything. A lot of the material handling solutions and concepts have been custom designed and made by our internal people. We are very lucky to have such a talented staff of custom fabricators,” said Chris Berg, Felling Trailers project manager.
New technology includes the Mitsubishi 6000-watt Fiber Laser with a tower automation set-up to run the cell. The fiber laser operates on shop air (shop air is run through a four-stage filtration system, then compressed to 225 psi), to cut material up to 0.25 inches thick. For thicker materials, the laser operates on oxygen.
Equipped with tower automation, Felling Trailers can have up to eight shelves loaded with up to 6,000 pounds of material that can be pulled by the job. Knowing exactly what the tower can hold also allows for added efficiencies when ordering materials. The sheet steel for the laser is ordered in pre-bundled stacks to match the capacity of the tower, eliminating room for error in the loading process.
Central Minnesota, family-owned and -operated Felling Trailers has provided innovative solutions to the transportation industry for over 40 years, currently manufacturing over 5,000 trailers a year from its 240-model standard line and customized products.
Felling Trailers
felling.com
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