DeHowe Machine & Tool, Inc.
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
DeHowe Machine & Tool, Inc., Delaware, Ohio |
| PRODUCT: |
General machine shop |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
17 |
| EMPLOYEES: |
15 |
| SITUATION: |
DeHowe Machine & Tool was producing six labor-intensive parts for
a customer. While machining the H-13 steel part, DeHowe encountered
a problem, and each of the six parts had the same machining flaw.
The company had two choices: start from scratch or weld the part
with another piece of H-13 steel to correct the machining error.
The new welded part had to perform up to the customer's standards or all
six parts had to be remachined. |
| PROJECT: |
The company wanted to ensure that the welding of the H-13 steel part
was done correctly. Through Questline, a project run by Edison Welding
Institute, DeHowe contacted the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology
(ORCMT). Through numerous phone calls and faxes, Ron Noland, operations
manager for DeHowe, received assurance from Cecil Yearwood, principal investigator
for ORCMT, that the company was doing everything correctly and should proceed
as planned. The weld fixed the flaw in each of the six parts |
| RESULTS: |
DeHowe's customer was satisfied with the performance of the corrected
part. Without ORCMT's help, the parts would have been reproduced, costing
the company and its client time and money. The help ORCMT provided
cut material cost by 30 percent, and retained one job at DeHowe.
Cecil Yearwood was a great help. He gave us the information and
procedures to weld H-13. We had never welded H-13 in the past,
so Cecil gave us a wealth of information on the TIG welding process.
We faxed each other back and forth and made phone calls. He assured
us that we were doing the job correctly," said Noland. "Thanks for
the help. ORCMT saved us the cost of the H-13 material and labor
if we were to remachine the six parts from start to finish.
"The best thing about the project was that everyone involved was very
helpful and considerate of our problem," he concluded. |
  
Technical assistances provided to the private sector
by the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing
extension partners throughout the United States. |
