In 2022 we began an aggressive capital equipment investment strategy that included long-term strategic planning with Trumpf to design a state-of-the-art smart factory. This long-term strategy was completed with our customers in mind, growing capacity, efficiency and reliability.
With our original vision now implemented and in operation, we operate with fully automated capability thanks to our collaboration with Trumpf. Our STOPA Automated Material Handling System along with our high-end Trumpf equipment is seamlessly integrated into our current production operations and offered numerous benefits including autonomous material handling, real-time inventory management, that truly unlocked unattended automated production. This project has resulted in a 52% increase in machine usage and a 48 hour up-time improvement on production start times adding efficiency and capacity for our growing customer base.
Take a closer look at our facility and capability through the spotlight video below. Want to learn more, or come see it for yourself? Contact Us.
In the competitive world of manufacturing, attention to quality matters. The discerning manufacturers who work with us place a high emphasis on delivering quality to their customers. (more…)
Dane Manufacturing was recently recognized for the 8th time on The Fabricator’s Fab 40 list. The Fabricator is a respected publication within the metal fabrication industry, providing valuable insights and information to professionals throughout the sector. (more…)
In today’s fast-paced manufacturing industry, embracing technology is essential for boosting productivity and achieving operational efficiency. At Dane, our innovative mindset naturally leads us to strategic technological advancement which allows us to better serve our customers.
One strategic investment, our STOPA automated storage and retrieval system signaled a significant shift forward in our capabilities and efficiency in serving our customers.
What is STOPA?
STOPA is the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced automated storage systems designed for storing raw materials, semi-finished goods and tools. Renowned for its accuracy, dependability and scalability, the STOPA system seamlessly integrates into our current production operations, offering numerous benefits including autonomous material handling, real-time inventory management, and unlocks 4th shift automated production.
Implementing STOPA was a complex and time-consuming task, and our implementation reflects years of expertise in manufacturing operations, combined with our innovative forward-looking mindset to leverage the new technology. The project began with the first piece of the system arriving at Dane Manufacturing in October 2022, and continued until April 2023, before becoming operational.
Unlocking 4th Shift Automated Production
STOPA is more than just a material handling and storage system. By integrating automation modules within the STOPA system, we are able to unlock fully automated processes expanding production capability and efficiency.
Currently, our STOPA system is integrated with the following equipment:
- Two Trumpf 5000 Punches
- Two Trumpf 3030 Fiber Lasers
- Trumpf 7030 Automated Panel Bender
“STOPA is more than just an automated storage tower and material handling system. It allows us to feed sheet metal through various processes without ever being touched by a human. Since integrating STOPA into our daily operations, we’ve seen performance improvements that have benefited our customers directly.”
Al Wenger — Production Manager
These performance improvements are evident in several key areas including efficiency, space optimization, inventory management and safety:
- Efficiency: Automating our storage and retrieval process has cut down on time and labor, resulting in faster processing times, fewer errors, higher productivity and shorter lead times.
- Space Optimization: By maximizing the use of vertical and horizontal space, we can handle more materials and products without needing additional floor space. This increase in operational efficiency supports higher production volumes and scalability for our customer’s future growth.
- Inventory Management: Enhanced inventory control with real-time tracking and precise counts helps us maintain optimal stock levels and improve order accuracy. This translates to timely updates and accurate deliveries for our customers.
- Safety: Automation has reduced the need for the manual handling of heavy materials, leading to less forklift traffic on our production floor. This creates a safer environment for our productions team and ensures more reliable, consistent service for our customers.
Improving the Customer Experience
Our STOPA system has resulted in a number of significant performance improvements enhancing the speed and accuracy of our customer’s manufacturing processes. In addition to increased capacity positioning us to handle our customer’s growth, we’ve tightened our inventory management processes resulting in increased efficiency, real-time reporting and reliable production lead times. Perhaps most notably, the overall efficiency that our STOPA system creates, allows Dane to initiate production starts more than 48 hours faster than was possible prior to its implementation. Additionally, we have been able to reduce cell-to-cell and process-to-process starts by 24 hours.
Looking to the future, our STOPA system, and the automation it provides, creates numerous growth possibilities for our customers. We are well-positioned to leverage technology as our customer’s needs continue to grow. Our inventory storage is tightly managed and kept at optimal levels, and we also have the capability to add additional state-of-the-art machinery to our STOPA system. As a result, we are positioned to scale rapidly and efficiently, while maintaining the efficiency gains we’ve realized, keeping costs favorable to our customers.
Innovation is part of our DNA. The implementation of STOPA represented a significant strategic leap forward for Dane. Many months of strategic planning culminated in one of Trumpf’s premier integrations of STOPA, which has subsequently been studied and reviewed by third parties as a model to be duplicated in future implementations. As a result, Dane is well positioned to leverage technological advancements to exceed our customer’s expectations well into the future.
Have questions about our automated STOPA system, or want to take a tour of our facility to see it in person?
We’d love to talk. Contact Us.
Our clients are always looking for top notch results. In many cases, laser cutting is the ideal manufacturing process. Laser cutting provides an efficient method for creating complex shapes, higher sheet utilization and gives us a great deal of capability.
We are always looking to innovate through the use of leading technology. Our approach to laser cutting is no exception. Through a combination of premium equipment, and refined quality processes, we provide our customers with excellent results.
Laser cutting technology has a unique history that is marked by innovation and continual improvement, two staples in Dane Manufacturing’s culture. Let’s take a quick look.
History of Laser Cutting
The first concept of laser cutting was originally conceived in 1917 by Albert Einstein who created the original scientific concept behind the modern laser. What proceeded was a rapid period of innovation and growth that would shape the use of laser cutting in manufacturing.
1960: The first ever working laser is created by Theodore Maiman. His design using a synthetic ruby laser was met with skepticism.
1964: Scientists at Bell Labs saw potentional in Maiman’s invention and set out to improve on it. They developed thermal cutting techniques by inventing a gas laser using CO2 mixture.
1965: Western Engineering Research Center becomes the first to apply the concept of laser cutting to manufacturing.
1969: Boeing company becomes the first commercial user of gas laser cutting equipment, who applied the technology to its production lines in an effort to create a more efficient manufacturing process.
1979: Prima Industrie out of Italy invented 3D laser cutting technique that expanded its capabilities and potential uses in manufacturing.
1980s: After 20 years of development, the first commercial fiber lasers hit the market, further expanding the capabilities and applications suitable for laser cutting.
Laser Cutting Technology at Dane Manufacturing
Here at Dane Manufacturing, we prioritize innovation and strive to continually provide our customers with the best metal solutions around. Doing that requires us to regularly invest in premium caliber equipment, and to train our teams to use them effectively and efficiently. Our laser cutting equipment is no exception.
Our partner, Trumpf, is one of the world leaders in laser cutting technology. We run multiple Trumpf 3030 machines with reliable TruFlow lasers that produce extremely high cut quality. The Trumpf programming software that guides our lasers to cut to exceptionally tight tolerances and parameters, is second to none. Combined with our automated STOPA storage system that allows us to run automated production schedules 24 hours a day, we have the perfect laser process for the production of your laser-cut parts.
At Dane Manufacturing, we pride ourselves in delivering premium performance end-to-end metal fabrication services to our customers. But for us, its about more than the metal. It’s about our customer’s experiences, our ability to serve them and being a partner they can trust.
We embed this into our culture but delivering on this commitment starts with our people. We believe that our strongest asset is our employees, who impact every interaction, experience and the outgoing product that our customers receive.
Building a workforce that creates such a strong advantage starts with selecting the right employees. We look for energetic, hard workers and believe that the quality of our employees, and their continued development, is the key to our success. We look for specific characteristics in our employees and then invest in them regularly. The payoff? Efficient processes and an innovative and energetic workforce ready to meet our customers needs and do whatever it takes.
Finding the Right People
Finding the right people can sometimes be a challenge. Fortunately, our community and the surrounding areas provide us a good supply of candidates. We look for the candidates who will value and appreciate our culture and mission and look for these 10 characteristics.
- Honesty
Honesty is a non-negotiable for us. In fact, one of our core values is acting with integrity. We look for employees who uphold this core value and know that it is critical to being a company our customers can trust. - Accountability
We hold each other accountable and do what we say we are going to do. This is a reflection of our culture at Dane Manufacturing and we constantly do our best to live up to this standard with each other, and with our customers. - Energy
Things can sometimes move quickly around here! We look for employees who are energetic and eager to be part of our team so that we can adapt, change and improve rapidly. - Drive
At Dane Manufacturing, we’re chasing big goals. Whether it is one of our growth strategies, or an investment into our current capabilities, we never stop chasing improvement. We need employees who are driven and highly motivated to succeed. - Ambition
We have high expectations and look for employees who are eager and not afraid of taking on new challenges. - Heart
We believe that the people around us have value. Whether it is a customer, a coworker or a member of our Waunakee community, we expect our employees to be respectful and considerate to all. - Grit
We value employees with a solution-oriented mindset and expect our people to overcome challenging situations and obstacles. - Productivity
In a fast-paced environment our employees are asked to work diligently and prioritize each day so that we are effective and efficient at getting the right things done well. - Fearlessness
Our team members need to be ready for the challenge and confident in themselves. - Crazy
Yep. Slightly crazy is ok. Crazy enough to believe that we can accomplish impossible things through hard work and teamwork.
That may seem like quite a list, but each one is important. When employees possess these qualities, they are more likely to go above and beyond in their work, consistently delivering high-quality results, and they’ll be dedicated to getting things done on-time.
Investing In Our Employees
Of course, it’s about more than just hiring the right employees. We focus on taking good care of them once they are here. We want our employees to continue to develop, grow and be challenged. We offer continuing education programs, in-house learning programs and regularly invest in employee perks and incentives, appreciation events and more. Why does it matter? We believe that the success of our business and our ability to treat our customers to the service and products they deserve depend on the satisfaction, well-being and enrichment of our employees.
Our commitment to selecting the right employees and investing in them regularly is part of our vision to be the premier metal fabricator in the region and to continue providing premium products with over 98% on-time delivery. We want our customers to know that they are highly valued, and we aim to be a trusted member of their team.
We are pleased to share that Dane Manufacturing has been listed once again in The Fabricator’s Fab 40 for 2023.
Each year, in collaboration with manufacturers around the country, The Fabricator reviews company performance and identifies the 40 most successful metal fabrication operations based on revenue. We are pleased to be included amongst this list of our outstanding peers.
At Dane Manufacturing we are constantly calibrating our company vision to consistently operate as the premier metal manufacturer in the Midwest. We continually adapt and grow our processes, innovate through the use of new technology and strive to expand our capabilities. In an effort to continue serving our growing customer base with excellence, in 2021 we consolidated all operations into our new manufacturing facility increasing our manufacturing space to over 400,000 square feet. Shortly after, we recertified our company to ISO 9001:2015 standards ensuring quality processes and continual improvement. Importantly, while we pursue these new initiatives, we aim to grow without losing focus on our mission to enrich the lives of our employees and deliver personalized, customer focused service.
Most importantly, we express our appreciation for our customers, whose trust allows us to continue pursuing our goals. To our many customers: Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your team.
To learn more and review the Fab 40, visit: The Fabricator Fab 40.
Each year, the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year (MOTY) award program honors exceptional businesses around the state, recognizing them for their commitment to excellence in manufacturing. We are pleased to announce that Dane Manufacturing has been awarded a Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year award for Exceptional Entrepreneurialism.
This award is a representation of what we value at Dane Manufacturing. Operating with an entrepreneurial spirit requires a unique mindset which we want to impact all our teams. We encourage our staff to be solution oriented and resourceful and we work together to constantly pursue new technologies, expansion of our capabilities, and continual process refinements. As a result, our capabilities and the ways in which we can serve our customers are constantly growing. We are confident that our continued investment in these areas, and in our employees will continue to grow our business and will push the envelope in supporting our customers with exceptional end-to-end metal manufacturing services.
“Entrepreneurism is the embodiment of the idea that America is still the best place to own and run a business. You instill that spirit into your people, and they make great things happen every day.”
Troy Berg – CEO
Want to learn more about the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Awards? Visit their website or watch this years awards ceremony video.
In November 2022, Dane Manufacturing CEO Troy Berg joined the Axial.net’s Masters in Small Business M&A Podcast to discuss Dane Manufacturing’s history and rapid growth story as a metal solutions provider.
In the early 2000s, Troy and his family acquired Dane Manufacturing, an 85 year old manufacturing company with a good reputation for quality products. Through an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to innovate and grow, Troy and Dane Manufacturing experienced several years of rapid change. Now, after moving into a new facility with over 400,000 square feet of space and acquiring new cutting edge technology, Troy looks forward to future opportunities to grow, to continue investing in his employees, and to bring Dane Manufacturing’s metal solutions to new customers.
In this podcast Troy joins Peter Lehrman at Axial.net for a candid conversation looking at Dane Manufacturing’s growth story.
Highlights:
- Hear Dane Manufacturing’s origin story including how Troy’s Mom gave him her life savings to help him buy the company
- Starting fast: Solving customer’s problems and growing from $1M to $6M in the first 5 years
- Hear Troy reveal lessons he learned as a leader that were limiting Dane Manufacturing’s potential
- Goal Setting in 2015: A 3X growth plan in 3 years (Read More Here)
- Dealing with the pandemic while still growing a business
- The outlook for the future – after increasing capacity and facility space, Dane Manufacturing is free to explore opportunities in organic growth and through M&A.
This podcast was conducted by Peter Lehrman at Axial.net. If you’d like to see the original article and podcast, you can find it here: The Making of Dane Manufacturing, a 21st Century American Manufacturing Growth Story
Metal part leveling is an essential capability provided by Dane Manufacturing. When steel manufacturers form and cut metal, the final result is not always perfectly flat due to stresses and tension within the material. But customers need their parts and finished metal goods to be produced with precision. The process of part leveling can create and maintain flatness by passing the sheet metal through a series of closely arranged rolls, it is leveled out and stresses are relieved. As a result, our precision at the beginning creates flat parts that improves our downstream processes helping to ensure a quality finished part. You can learn more about why this process is so critical here.
Precision Levelers from Kohler
Our Kohler Peak Performer machinery produces precision leveled parts that are high quality, improve downstream processes and meet flatness requirements.
Want to learn more about part leveling?
The Importance of Part Leveling in Metal Fabrication
Learn More at Kohler