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Focus on Being Productive Instead of Busy
Helping our customers do more in less time is what we are all about at TCI Precision Metals, but sometimes even we need to be reminded that without efficiency, busy is not always better. The old adage of ‘we’ve always done it that way’ no longer applies. Today we...
Rethink Production Machining
'Those who cannot change their mind cannot change anything' Today, many shops believe the only way to increase throughput is to invest in more capital equipment, and the resources to run it all, which further increases overhead. Not so fast; shops that consider all...
GRIND.
To perform repetitive actions until your goal is achieved. Until now, I never considered the fact that we had such a great metaphor for hard work and achieving goals right here in our own shop. Grinding seems like such a harsh term, but by providing repetitive...
Shallow Trepanning™ Using Plate Stock
When people think about trepanning they typically envision large, deep, round holes or hollowing of bar stock, but at TCI Precision Metals we provide a variation of trepanning, using plate stock, that we call Shallow Trepanning™. Typical trepanning is the process of...
How to Start a Job Flat and Keep it That Way
Many of the close tolerance Machine-Ready Blanks we produce at TCI Precision Metals are flat and designed to stay that way. Demand for flat material that resists movement during machining is high for two reasons, one, part movement can turn parts into scrap, and two,...
Be careful when you blindly follow the masses
Media Preference Survey Results In December we conducted a survey among our customers to better understand their preferences for gathering information about new products and services. The results were interesting and some of the data proved to be...
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR THROUGHPUT
Without Adding Equipment or More Overhead - When business is good the challenge becomes how to move more work through your shop, while maintaining profitability. So before you run out and buy more equipment or hire additional help you should first make sure your...
What is a Machine-Ready Metals Distributor?
TCI Precision Metals is a mill-direct Machine-Ready Metals Distributor, proving 6061, 2024 or 7075 aluminum plate and sheet, stainless steel plate, and several other alloys; stocking over 500,000 lbs. of material for quick turn-around on customer requirements. TCI...
Part Movement During Final Machining Can be Frustrating – TCI Precision Metals Can Help!
As most shops know, battling residual stress while trying to nail down tight machining tolerances can be very frustrating. Many metals, and especially aluminum and stainless alloys, have residual stress that can cause material to move during machining. Sometimes...
Machine-Ready
TCI Precision Metals was built based on providing value to our customers by reducing or eliminating material prep, which significantly increases a shop’s throughput and efficiency. We talk a lot about Machine-Ready Blanks, which is at the core of what we do. Custom...
