This is part 3 of a 5-part series.

Last week’s blog talked about the second step to a successful equipment relocation: Dismantling. This week, we are focusing on the third step: Servicing.

Servicing

When your press is being dismantled, this provides a great opportunity to inspect, repair, and make modifications to enhance the press system. Taking this time to inspect the press can save time and money on the receiving end of a relocation project. Oftentimes, this may be the first time certain areas of the equipment are accessible since it went into production. A large part of the expense of equipment repairs or modifications is the labor associated with teardown and inspection.

Components targeted for replacement or repair can be dealt with while the rest of the machinery is being moved to its new location. Another reason this is a suitable time for repair or upgrades is that production downtime has been planned. In many cases, components can be repaired and reinstalled with the other equipment as a seamless process.

For example, during the dismantle inspection, it may be revealed that the drive shaft or the ram needs to be rebuilt. Discovering the issues now and having them rebuilt during this already scheduled downtime will save time and money in the long run. If the components are not rebuilt during the relocation process, the components will need to be fixed in the future which could cause disruption to production schedules. This would also be costlier due to having to dismantle the press twice to reach and rebuild the components.

Lee Contracting has its own in-house maintenance and repair department. Our highly-skilled machine repair, industrial maintenance and machinist teams can maintain, troubleshoot, repair and rebuild your machinery. We offer on-site machine repair or we can take your equipment to our fully equipped facility to perform the repairs.

Our machining team uses state-of-the-art precision manufacturing equipment for reliable accuracy and consistency. We also offer portable machining services that enable us to keep your downtime to a minimum as well as save thousands of dollars by not having to completely disassemble large machinery.

Servicing your press is an important step in having a successful equipment relocation. Taking the time to inspect your press during the relocation process can save you time and money in the future.

For a free quote on relocating a press or servicing yours, call us today at 888.833.8776 or click here.

Interested in joining our maintenance and repair team? We have several open positions. Apply online today.

This is part 2 of a 5-part series.

Last week’s blog covered the first step to a successful equipment relocation: Planning. This week, we are focusing on the second step for a successful equipment move: Dismantling.

Dismantling

While it might be more cost-effective to ship equipment in one piece, there are typically some physical restrictions that don’t allow for this to be a viable option. These restrictions can include the weight capacity of the facility floors and loading area. When determining the weight capacity of the floor and loading area, the weight of the portable lifting equipment and the components combined needs to be taken into consideration. The combinations of the equipment and the components can cause a lot of stress on facility floors.

Some other physical restrictions include the equipment’s center of gravity and lifting points. A miscalculation of the tipping point of a machine or hookups can damage the equipment and create a very unsafe situation. To ensure safest relocation process, it is imperative that these restrictions are known before the project begins.

Dismantling the equipment needs to be done prior to relocation. Dismantling involves everything from removing and unhooking power and air connections, to loosening all the components the riggers will be moving. If the dismantling isn’t done before the riggers show up, this can lead to project delays. Lee Contracting handles every stage of the equipment relocation with our in-house crews who work together to get the job done. This ensures we aren’t waiting for another contractor to finish the dismantling before we can come in and relocate the equipment.

Dismantling a piece of equipment is a very important part of a successful equipment relocation. With over 25 years’ experience in equipment relocation, Lee Contracting has the in-house departments to execute the full relocation process. Call us today for an RFQ at 888.833.8776 or request one here.

This is part 1 of a 5-part series.

Moving heavy equipment is an important decision for many manufacturing facilities. There are five key stages will help to plan a successful machinery move. The first of these is planning.

Planning

Whether the machinery is being moved from one side of the floor to another, or from across the country, there are many factors to take in to account when planning to relocate equipment.

You probably already know that the equipment dimensions are important to the move, but there are several other measurements that need to be considered to ensure a successful move. These include:

• Door Size- During relocation, does your equipment need to pass through a doorway? You want to make sure the doorway is large enough. If your equipment can’t fit through the door you may need to enlarge the doorway. If this isn’t an option, you may need to disassemble the equipment to move it.
• Floor rating- Can the facility floor support the weight of the equipment and the rigging equipment during relocation? Is the floor where the new equipment will sit rated to support its weight?
• Obstacles- Are there any pits or floor openings that need to be covered during relocation?
• Open Access- Is there open access around the equipment to maneuver the rigging equipment around the area to remove the equipment and/or its components.
• Weights/Dimensions- What are the weights and dimensions of the equipment and its components being relocated? This will help to plan for the use of appropriate rigging and transportation equipment.

Knowing the accurate measurements and weights of equipment will ensure the proper trailers, trucks and load counts are utilized for proper transportation/relocation. Not having the correct measurements can add thousands of dollars and delay your relocation project.

Lee Contracting has over 25 years’ experience relocating equipment for hundreds of companies. We know that these measurements are very important for every project and we take care to ensure that we have a very detailed plan in place to relocate your equipment efficiently and safely.

Call us today for a free RFQ at 888.833.8776 or request one here.

Pipefitting has been under the radar as a skilled trade for far too long. This rapidly growing area of work has one of the shortest training times on record for skilled trades. Demand for industrial pipefitting, especially in Michigan, has been steadily increasing for quite some time.

Growing Industry

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the pipefitting and plumbing field will see a 21% increase from 2012 to 2022! They go on to further point out that the industry will outgrow the labor supply on every single year during that period. For example of demand, Lee Contracting is currently looking for a pipefitting estimator as well as a pipefitting foreman.

Short Training Time

The only thing required to start an apprenticeship in pipefitting is a high school diploma. You can start making money right away with no delay. Some technical schools do offer programs to get you started but most apprentice programs do not require previous educational experience besides a high school diploma.

Great Pay

On average pipefitters make over $50,000 a year! This isn’t even calculating in the fact that this is one of those skill sets where overtime is almost guaranteed. Potentially you can make as much as you’re willing to work.

Give Lee Industrial Contracting a look if you are looking to start a career in the exciting field of pipefitting! Positions are open in Pontiac, MI. We pride ourselves on the highest quality design and implementation Services.

Lee Contracting aims to be a single-source contractor for our customers. We already offer our customers the best in rigging, electrical, mechanical, foundations, fabrication, and maintenance & repair services. Now we’re offering the best in industrial storage capabilities.

In the past, we’ve offered our customers limited storage space for their assets. However, with the purchase of Pontiac Central High School on West Huron Road, we can now offer over 300,000 square feet of safe and secure storage space.

Our expanded space allows us to store your assets.  We can accommodate any type, size or shape of equipment including:

• Press components
• Robots
• Molds and dies
• Conveyor systems
• Automation components
• Spare parts
• Electrical cabinets
• Recalled parts

We offer off-loading and loading capabilities along with transportation of your items to our storage facility.

In addition to storage, customers can take advantage of our facility space for:

• Sample System Demonstrations
• Light production of spare parts
• Satellite Office Space

Whether you are looking for short or long-term storage of heavy or light industrial items, Lee can provide you with a complete industrial storage solution.

Call us today at 888.833.8776 to receive a free quote or you can request a free quote here.

Running a manufacturing facility comes with risks and a chance of an emergency. With the proper preparedness, most risks can be avoided. A power outage is one of those emergencies that, with a plan, can be managed to avoid excessive down production time. Lee Contracting can be your emergency power provider when disaster strikes.

Michigan companies face several risk factors that can cause a power outage. With our proximity to the Great Lakes, floods, hail, tornadoes and other natural disasters are more likely to happen. The National Climatic Data Center predicts that weather emergencies will continue to affect Michigan in the near future with increased frequency due to climate change.

When one of these natural disasters strikes and the power goes out, your facility faces a loss of material, a breakdown of machinery and more importantly decreased production time. Like any risk, power loss can be mitigated by having the proper emergency plan in place.

Lee Contracting’s emergency power service is available 24/7, 365 days a year. We are able to respond to your sudden power loss quickly. On average, we can have your facility up and running again within 3 hours. We have a wide range of generators to provide power to your facility. We can cover power needs up to 3MW.

For those companies with reoccurring power issues, we can set and install a permanent transfer switch with leads for instant generator hook-up in case of emergencies.

Give us a call at 888-833-8776 or request a quote to see how Lee can meet your emergency power needs.

Lee Contracting continues to develop our capabilities as our customer’s needs expand. In an effort to better serve our customers, in 2015, we added our machine repair department. In two years’ time, we are ready to grow and rebrand the department as Maintenance and Repair. This department handles all aspects of machine repair, industrial maintenance, and machining. These teams can maintain, troubleshoot, repair and rebuild most to all of your machinery.

Our Maintenance and Repair department offers our customers several benefits such as: our experienced staff, large clean facility, state-of-the-art capabilities, emergency response capabilities, and mobile machining services are the best in the business and allow our customers minimum downtime.

Machine Repair

Lee’s machine repair team can rebuild and refurbish machinery, which offers our customers a cost-effective alternative to buying new. Our team can complete jobs on-site or at our fully equipped facility. Our machine repair capabilities include:

• Mechanical inspections
• Mechanical press rebuilds
• Hydraulic press rebuilds
• Major maintenance
• Complete machining, manufacturing and reverse engineering of components
• Preventative maintenance programs

Industrial Maintenance

Our industrial maintenance team can help you maintain your production schedules with our full range of services. Our team offers the following capabilities:

• 24/7 emergency service
• Plant maintenance assistance
• Predictive, preventative, and corrective maintenance
• General maintenance
• Equipment maintenance
  • Conveyor rebuilds
  • Cylinder rebuilds
  • Pump rebuilds
  • Component replacements

Machining

Our state-of-the-art precision manufacturing equipment ensures accuracy and consistency on every job. We use a FARO Ion Laser tracker and portable milling equipment to serve our customers with a wide range of capabilities. The portability allows us to keep downtime to a minimum and save you money. Our machining capabilities include:

• Metrology
• Mobile machining services
  • Portable machine services
  • Milling
  • Line boring
  • Welding
• In-house machining
  • Milling
  • Turning
  • Grinding
• Reverse engineering of damaged components

With the best equipment in the industry, our maintenance and repair department is ready to tackle all your needs when it comes to your machinery. Call us today at 888.833.8776 to receive a free quote or you can request a free quote here.

We are hiring for several open positions in the maintenance and repair department. You can view our current openings and apply for a position on our careers page.

For the fourth year in a row, Lee Contracting will be exhibiting at FABTECH 2017, November 6^th through 9^th in Chicago, IL at the McCormick Place. You can visit us at booth number A5648 in hall A. This year we have almost doubled our previous booth space to 750 square feet. This extra space allows us to bring you a more immersive experience of the different services we offer our customers. The extra space and a redesigned booth makes this is a booth you do not want to pass up.

FABTECH allows companies an opportunity to network with industry leaders from across the country and the globe. Having an onsite booth has been beneficial for spreading the word about Lee Contracting’s unique capabilities. It allows us to make connections with companies that may have otherwise never heard about Lee Contracting and our turn-key services.

Our turn-key services not only benefit companies that call Michigan home but also companies who are based in other states and those who may have multiple locations throughout the country.  We are specially geared to make your new equipment installation process seamless. Our teams have experience handling every aspect of the installation process. This includes rigging, electrical, mechanical, foundations, fabrication and maintenance and repair. We also have teams who have experience in controls and robotics, roof-raising, building and emergency power. We are your single-source contractor.

Lee Contracting is excited to be attending FABTECH this year and to showcase our services to companies from all over. Make sure to stop by and see us at our new booth: A5648 in Hall A.

FABTECH is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event. With over 750,000 square feet of floor space, 1,700 exhibitors and 50,000 attendees, FABTECH aims to connect you with world-class suppliers, the latest industry products, and the tools to improve productivity. The show opens Monday, November 6^th and closes Thursday, November 9^th.

Skilled trades jobs account for nearly 5 percent of employment in the state of Michigan. In a 2015 report by the state of Michigan, they estimate that by 2022, skilled trades jobs will grow by almost 14 percent. While this is great news, the report also points out the gap in the number of skilled trades workers to fill these future job openings. A majority of the current skilled trades workers today are baby boomers, who are on the cusp of retiring. The graduation rate of workers from vocational education programs is not enough to support the growing need.

Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship Programs

There are several programs that are trying to interest more people in a skilled trades career. One of the biggest draws for apprenticeships is the fact that students can “learn and earn”. This type of training allows for students to come out of these programs debt-free. Below are some programs that are helping close the skilled trades gap.

• Michigan State University offers a 4-year apprentice program. This online program allows students to study on the road while working under a foreman and gain field training and knowledge. At the end of 4 years, the apprentice will be ready to take the electrical journeyman exam. All of Lee Contracting’s electrical apprentices are enrolled in this program.
• Focus:HOPE offers an advanced manufacturing training program. In this 20-week program, students will learn how to operate manual lathes and mills, learn shop math and blueprint reading. Upon graduation from this program, the graduates will have technical training and be OSHA safety certified. The skills learned in this program lead to careers as a machine operator, CNC machinist or a production worker.
• The Workforce of the Future & Career Readiness Coalition was started by Operating Engineers 324 and several other local organizations. It is a 16-week program for Detroit public school high school juniors and seniors. The program teaches skills and tools they can use in a skilled trades career. They graduated their first class in August 2017.
• The Detroit Job Alliance started a program called Access for All. It is a public-private community-union-management collaborative partnership that has been created to address the increased need for skilled journeypersons. This is a 9-week program for Detroiters who are over 18 with training and employment opportunities. This allows for a pathway into an apprenticeship or employment in the skilled trades.

“By 2024, professional trades will account for more than 500,000 jobs in the Michigan economy, with 15,000 new job openings added each year during that time,” writes Roger Curtis, director of the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development and Brian Whiston, Michigan’s state superintendent. Companies will be struggling to fill these open positions if people don’t start reconsidering a job in the skilled trades. These apprenticeship programs and others will help prepare Michigan for jobs now and into the future.

If you are interested in employment at Lee Contracting, you can fill out an online application here.

Energy conservation isn’t something that should just be practiced in a residential setting. There are ways manufacturing facilities can conserve energy and lower their overall energy costs. The Manufacturing Innovation Blog shows us some ways you can save energy and reduce your facility costs:

1. Complete an Energy Audit

During this audit, your systems and equipment will be inspected and evaluated. This helps you to determine where your facility is consuming energy and at what rate. Your HVAC, lighting, compressed air and production systems might be included in this audit.

System leaks can be a source of wasted energy. If a leak is discovered during the audit, sometimes the fix can be as simple as tightening fittings or replacing minor parts. These small repairs can save you energy, time and money in the long run.

2. Upgrade your Equipment

Brian Lagas of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, reminds us this doesn’t just mean manufacturing equipment. This can include ceiling fans, computer monitors, and other small electronics. Just like your major equipment on the shop floor, these small machines can become inefficient as they age. Replacing this equipment may be more budget friendly than replacing your entire HVAC system or replacing an outdated stamping press.

3. Install Energy-Efficient Lighting

Having a well-lit manufacturing facility is important and the type of lighting used can help conserve energy. Using industrial compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) help to reduce energy usage. Another way to conserve energy is to install automatic switches to turn the lights off after no movement has been detected for a certain amount of time.

These are just three suggestions on how to conserve energy and reduce costs at your facility. While these changes may seem small, they can have a big impact in the long run.

If you are looking to do a facility lighting upgrade, call Lee Contracting at 888.833.8776 or you can request a free quote here.