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As we close out 2023, I find myself, yet again, compelled to pause and reflect on another year’s journey. This year’s canvas was painted with a myriad of challenges and experiences for our manufacturing community but also splashed with more world news and topics that we couldn’t have foreseen.
A very smart man (my dad) once said, “Ben, don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.” Over the years, I have come to fully understand and appreciate what he meant. Especially in these times of selective narratives, AI-driven news, and manipulated reality, you often cannot trust what you hear or see. People are being driven apart by their beliefs or opinions on many levels.
It is startling, at least to me, that in 2023 all-out wars are being waged as you read this. I know what the news says and what floats to the top of social media, but I also know what I believe. I believe in human kindness and compassion for others, whether in business or my personal life. I believe that right will always overcome wrong, even if wrong can’t be fully stopped. I hope these conflicts get resolved quickly and that the right side of history will again prevail. The power of good lies in its ability to inspire and transform on all levels, geo-political, business, and personal. Ultimately, right over wrong and good over evil will always prevail.
While I don’t influence world conflict, I do influence my business and employees. I stress the importance of our core values, and I live and die by them. Does your workplace have core values? What do those core values say about your organization? In our case, it means integrity, excellence, and goodwill for those around us.
On the more tangible side of things, in 2024, I recommit myself and our company to providing efficient solutions to your material challenges, backed with a promise of high quality and excellent support. I want our relationship with you to serve as an example of how people and companies should interact.
Efficiency and productivity are some of the top challenges shops face today. A common theme is how to get more out of current resources and only invest in new equipment if it can provide better, faster results than the equipment being replaced. This is where we need to work together to effectively manage expectations. Our job is to understand your job (production run or short run) and provide efficient materials designed to increase machining throughput, reduce scrap, and improve quality without adding additional equipment or personnel.
Our ability to do this consistently is what keeps us in business. We appreciate the opportunity and trust every one of our customers places in us. We will always do what is right.
I would like to personally wish you a Happy Holiday and Productive New Year.
Thanks for reading –
Ben
TEC Precision Metals announced its successful attainment of ITAR registration. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration signifies TCI Precision Metals' dedication to national security and adherence to rigorous compliance standards.
Gardena, Calif.-based TCI Precision Metals has announced that its ready-to-ship A36 carbon steel blanks are now available from OnlineMetals.com, an e-commerce metal and plastics supplier.
The blanks eliminate the need for in-house sawing, grinding, flattening, and squaring operations and outside processing. They are available in sizes from 0.250 to 2 in. thick, 6 to 36 in. wide, and 12 to 48 in. long. Each blank is deburred, cleaned, and individually packaged to avoid damage during shipping. According to the manufacturer, they arrive square, flat, and parallel within ± 0.002 in. of specified thickness and +0.125 to 0 in. of specified length and width.
TCI Precision Metals has increased its waterjet cutting services to meet the growing demand for its Machine-Ready Blanks. The variety of shapes, sizes, and quantities of pre-machined metal plates cut from full sheet material requires maximum utilization, creating as little scrap as possible. Using computer-controlled material layouts and cutting guidance, TCI can simultaneously cut materials for multiple orders, shortening lead times and passing the savings on to customers.
Machine-Ready Blanks are close-tolerance materials that go directly from the customer’s receiving dock to finish machining or fabrication. TCI originally started providing waterjet cutting to customers as a service, using customer-supplied materials or materials sourced mill-direct, aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys. “As our blanks business continued to grow, we realized the value of cutting shaped blanks (other than square) using waterjet, which has proven a win/win for our customers and the environment, as we have reduced scrap by as much as 90% on shaped blanks,” said Ben Belzer, President, and CEO of TCI Precision Metals.
The Company continues investing in additional waterjet machines using the most advanced equipment. The OMAX 80X series waterjet, with its patented Tilt-A-Jet cutting head, ensures high precision, square, and finished edge cuts. Precision waterjet cut blanks continue to secondary operations, making them close tolerance and machine-ready to meet customer specifications.
With several grades of aluminum and stainless steel sheet and plate stock and other alloys, in-house turnaround times are short, and TCI Precision Metals ships coast-to-coast. TCI sources materials mill-direct, then precision cuts and mills two or six sides to close tolerance customer specifications.
Precision Machine-Ready blanks eliminate the need for in-house sawing, grinding, flattening, and squaring operations. Each blank arrives deburred, clean, and individually packaged to avoid damage during shipping. Blanks are available in two ways: Ready-to-ship blanks can be ordered online for same-day or next-day shipping and arrive square, flat, and parallel within ± .002” of specified dimensions all around; custom-made-to-order blanks are made to customer specifications and are guaranteed as close as +/- .0005” dimensionally and as close as .002” flatness, squareness, and parallelism.
Gardena, Calif. (October 24, 2023). TCI Precision Metals announces that its A36 Carbon Steel, Ready-to-Ship blanks are now available from OnlineMetals.com, the World’s leading e-commerce metal and plastics supplier. The pre-machined blanks allow customers to order flat, square, and parallel materials to close tolerance specifications.
ASTM A36 steel plate is a grade of steel commonly used in structural applications. This mild steel contains alloys that give it properties such as machinability, ductility, and strength that are ideal for building applications. Due to its high strength, many bridges and other structures are made with A36 steel. It is also used for components in automotive, heavy equipment, and oil and gas applications, including frames, bearing plates, tanks, gears, and base plates.
“A36 Ready to Ship Blanks help shops shorten setup time, reduce scrap, and increase overall throughput up to 25% or more by eliminating material prep. Blanks arrive machine-ready for production,” said Ben Belzer, President and CEO of TCI Precision Metals.
Precision blanks eliminate the need for in-house sawing, grinding, flattening, squaring operations, and outside processing. Blanks are consistent, part-to-part, which reduces setup time. In the case of flat blanks, the production process alleviates the material's residual stress, resulting in reduced part movement during finish machining. A36 Ready-to-Ship blanks are available in sizes ranging from .250”-2” thickness, 6” – 36” width, and 12” – 48” in length. Each blank is deburred, cleaned, and individually packaged to avoid damage during shipping. Ready-to-Ship Blanks arrive square, flat, and parallel within ± .002” of specified thickness and +.125-0 of specified length and width.
“At OnlineMetals.com, we specialize in cut-to-size, small to medium quantity orders shipped direct to any location. Pre-machined A36 carbon steel blanks that are Ready-to-Ship provide that extra processing value that lets customers order materials that arrive ready to go directly from receiving to machining. Customers can use the time they previously spent in setup and prep for more productive use of CNC machining centers,” said Matt Holzhauer, Marketplace Manager at OnlineMetals.com
Founded in 1956, TCI Precision Metals is a family-owned manufacturer producing precision Machine-Ready Blanks from aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys. The company also provides Sawing, Grinding, Milling, and Finishing operations on customer-supplied materials.
OnlineMetals.com is the world’s leading eCommerce metal and plastics supplier, specializing in cut-to-size, small to medium quantity orders shipped directly to any location. Online Metals was a garage start-up founded in Seattle in 1998. The company has grown over the years and expanded to six facilities across the U.S., offering over 55,000 products.
TCI Precision Metals has expanded its precision sawing services to satisfy the needs of customers seeking greater material processing options. Customers can now be serviced with needs ranging from precision sawing to six-sided machine-ready blanks. TCI sources aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys mill-direct to help customers who require value-added materials, but the company also works with materials supplied by customers. TCI has invested in high-production materials processing equipment in order to...
TCI Precision Metals, Gardena, Calif., has expanded its sawing services to accommodate customers with needs from precision sawing to six-sided precision machine-ready blanks. The company sources aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys mill-direct and also works with customer-supplied materials.
TCI Precision Metals has expanded its precision sawing services to meet the demands of customers wanting more flexibility in materials processing. Customers with needs ranging from precision sawing to six-sided precision machine-ready blanks can now be accommodated. TCI sources aluminum, stainless steel and other alloys mill-direct, which supports customers needing value-added materials, but the company also works with customer-supplied materials.
TCI Precision Metals announced the expansion of its precision sawing services to meet the demands of customers wanting more flexibility in materials processing. Customers with needs ranging from precision sawing to six-sided precision machine-ready blanks can now be accommodated. Computerized precision sawing helps TCI to serve more of the customer’s materials needs. TCI sources aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys mill-direct, which supports customers needing value-added materials, but the Company also works with customer-supplied materials.
TCI Precision Metals, Gardena, Calif., has expanded its sawing services to accommodate customers with needs from precision sawing to six-sided precision machine-ready blanks. The company sources aluminum, stainless steel, and other alloys mill-direct and also works with customer-supplied materials.