Knowing the medical industry is concerned with highly-cosmetic parts, Tempco Manufacturing Co., Inc. recently revamped its finishing department along with other advancements to help serve customers with greater efficiency and quality. Tempco (www.tempcomfg.com), based in St. Paul, Minn., brought in about six different pieces of time-saving equipment for its finishing department to do some sanding, grinding, and polishing to make the grain go in one direction and make the parts look better. "These parts are going to be seen," said Travis Riesselman, marketing coordinator for Tempco, during an interview.

Aesthetics is important to the medical industry customers, and Tempco has also brought in new multi-head tapping equipment, surface grinders, new punch presses that are more automated, and CNC press brakes that can be used to set up multiple tools at once. The new equipment has allowed Tempco to operate much more economically and efficiently. "It's faster equipment and more automated technology," Riesselman said, adding that the new robotic welder has two turn tables. "Working with robotics and automation is better, rather than trying to throw manpower at it. We're a little more efficient and competitive because we don't need as much manpower. A robotic welder isn't going to take coffee breaks," he said.

The company's engineers have been working to build fixtures and devices to help unload parts faster, so that the company can run more parts per hour. Work cells have also been set up that help increase parts per hour and help get the base price down. "We even have nesting programs on our lasers and turrets so we get the most parts," Riesselman said. "And if we quote a package, there might be several different parts, but all out of the same material and same thickness. You can nest them all together and run them all together on the same machine, and this eliminates scrap and waste."

For the medical industry, many of Tempco's customers are interested in enclosures and carts. For these applications, the company uses stainless steels that are more durable and won't rust. To get rid of the tool marks, Tempco runs the parts through the new time saver and it puts a nice finish on it. "Little things like that help the products look better," Riesselman said. "We also have parts washers. They don't want greasy parts, so we will wash the parts and get the grease and oil off and deliver a nice part for them." He also noted that some of the company's CNC turret presses have brush tables that protect the finish and won't scratch the part.

The ISO 9001:2008 certified company operates primarily as a low- to medium-volume metal stamping manufacturer, producing precision stampings, tooling, sheet metal fabrications, and assemblies. "We just try to be a one-stop shop for everything from little miniature components to larger components," Riesselman said. "Our waterjet cutter is very versatile and we don't just do metal parts; we can do a lot of rubber, polyurethane, and plastics. We can even stamp some plastics and polyurethane."

Tempco has completed metal stampings for the highly complex aerospace and medical industries. The company also serves the heating, air conditioning, lighting, vending machine, and assorted high-tech industries. With its 150,000 square feet of facility space, Tempco is constantly upgrading its equipment to meet the current demands of the precision stamping industry, as well as continually training employees in the latest manufacturing technologies.

"In order to grow, we want to reinvest in the company and bring in new equipment, faster equipment, more efficient equipment, and train the employees to get certified at welding and different technologies based on what our customers are demanding or what they're forecasting," Riesselman said. "We try to work closely with our customers [to determine what next week will look like]. What does two or three years down the road look like? We try and stay ahead of the curve."