The latest trends and news on protecting your facilities and enclosures from a devastating fire. Stay up to date with Firetrace. Subscribe today!
January 24, 2020
Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, builds parts through a CAD generated 3D model by adding single layers of material and fusing the layers together. AM first emerged in 1987 and has been steadily growing ever since, with more leaps and bounds in recent years. We identify the seven AM processes and their advantages and disadvantages.
January 7, 2020
The key to having an optimal finished part starts with choosing the right material. By narrowing down the types of machining materials that are best suited for the part will lead to the selection of the most appropriate and cost-effective material. Here are a few things to consider when selecting materials.
January 3, 2020
As we launched our new blog in early 2019, we posted topics focusing on information relevant to a variety of industries. As we venture into the new decade, we will continue on this path and provide insights on topics that are important to the industries we serve. We are pleased to share the top Blog Posts from 2019.
December 31, 2019
More and more machine shops are moving to unattended or lights out machining to stay competitive. Having more production hours means higher output and additional revenue. At the Top Shops Conference, we learned that the top 25 percent of machine shops are running 14 hours a day, while the bottom 25 percent are only running 8 hours a day. On average, profit margins in machine shops running lights out were 3 percent higher than those who were not.
December 2, 2019
Eventually, even with the best coolant management plan in place, coolant will go bad and requires removal and replacement. Once the coolant reaches its useful life, it needs to be disposed of appropriately. With stricter environmental regulations, the burden is put on the machine shop to determine if the coolant and other materials are considered hazardous or nonhazardous waste. The machine shop must test the waste materials or have the necessary information about the waste to assess its status.
November 26, 2019
Many machine shops never recover after a fire while others, even those that incur significant fire damage, get up and running successfully. What sets these two types of shops apart? Recovery and disaster planning are contributing factors. Having a fire recovery plan in place is crucial to ensuring the survival of your shop. If fire strikes, damage to equipment and property are not the only losses.
November 19, 2019
Between $100M-$500M worth of machine value is lost each year due to improper machine coolant management. Coolant management mistakes can decrease the working life of a machine up to 10% per year. Having a robust coolant management plan keeps your coolant from going bad and significantly reduces lost value and downtime of machines.
November 15, 2019
Coolants are an instrumental part of machining, including grinding, milling, and turning. They help extend tool life and provide an improved surface finish of the parts being machined. Understanding the role and types of coolant help you select a coolant that is the right fit for your machine and operation. By properly maintaining the concentration levels of your coolant, you extend not only the life of the coolant but also your tools and machine.
August 29, 2019
If a piece of ground support equipment catches on fire, it has an immediate impact on operations and can have devastating and costly consequences. A fire can put the ground crew, flight crew, and passengers in danger and cause severe damage to equipment or the airplane. It is important to understand the fire risks and prevention.
August 29, 2019
If a piece of ground support equipment catches fire, the operator or ground crew can try to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher or contact the aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) team. Learn about additional fire protection for equipment by installing an automatic fire suppression system.
August 23, 2019
Following the investigation of a fatal bus fire, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a recommendation to equip all current and new school buses with automatic fire suppression systems. With over 26 million students riding school buses each day in the U.S., it is crucial to keep them safe.
August 23, 2019
With buses carrying millions of people each day, passenger and operator safety is critical. Each day 4-5 bus fires occur. It is important to understand how extra safety measures like a bus fire suppression system protect passengers and bus operators.
