2010 Midland Creativity Challenge

Looking to apply your knowledge to a new and exciting pursuit?

The idea of engineering an innovative way to merchandise the latest fad doesn't light your fire anymore?

Let's shake it up a little and create our own fun!

Midland Metal Products is thrilled to announce the 2010 Midland Creativity Challenge.

We are looking for the most creative people in the industry to challenge our sophisticated CNC equipment and experienced engineers.

All ideas must be submitted via a Solidworks or IGES 3D model.

We will allow you to use 24" inches of 1" round tubing, a 24" x 24" piece of 18 gauge sheet metal, and 24" of 3 gauge wire(.243" diameter.)

Processes that can be utilized are laser cutting (sheet metal and tube), spot welding, wire forming, mig/tig welding, and powder coating.

Using these materials, we challenge you to create an innovative and fun item. Let your minds wander.

All submissions must be received by December 3rd. Submit your questions and models to creativity@midlandmetalproducts.com

We will judge all the submissions giving equal weight to form and function.

Only original ideas should be submitted.

We will select, based on our judgment, the top 3 submissions and post them to our web site.

Our sample shop will also fabricate each of the top 3 submissions.

We will allow everyone at this point to vote on their favorite between December 7th and 17th.

The item receiving the most votes of the three wins the 2010 Midland Creativity Challenge.

The winner of the 2010 Midland Creativity Challenge will win $1,000.00. The winner will be announced on December 22nd.

Hint: Spot welding, or mig welding are the common methods used to assemble individual pieces. There are other ways to "lock" your pieces together. Unique assembly will demonstrate your creativity.

Hint: Remember, our tube laser can miter, cut, notch, slot your tube. Anything you can imagine.

Be part of the excitement and enter your submission today. Pass this challenge on to others that you know that might come up with something fantastic. Click on this link later in the week for detailed contest rules.

Holiday Schedule

Midland will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on November 25th and November 26th.

Midland will be closed for the holidays, physical inventory, and plant maintenance from December 22nd through December 31st.

Second Laser to Deliver in December

Midland continues to invest in its productive capacity in order to better serve our growing customer base. We will take delivery of our second flat laser machine in December. This laser will be installed right next to the current laser machine and our existing material handling system will service both machines. This expansion will more than double our capacity for lights on and lights off manufacturing due to some technical advancements of the new machine. In an era of compressed lead-times it is important for our primary operations to start as quickly as possible. The addition of the new laser will continue to improve our quick lead times and stellar on-time performance metric. Look for new videos of the dual system in the January blog.

MIDLAND IS ON SKYPE

At Midland we are constantly looking for ways to strengthen our relationships with our customers. We have found a new way through the use of our recently installed Skype station in our conference room. This gives us the ability to video conference with our customers in the US and overseas.

For those who have a video camera and a Skype account, this is a free service. Our profile on Skype is MIDLANDMETAL.

We have been using this service with many of our customers to review prototypes and first off production pieces. For instance, this service enabled one of our customers to save a plane ticket and a day out of the office by reviewing his prototype on-line interactively.

If you have not tried the service yet, we urge you to purchase a video camera for your computer and create an account at Skype. When your account is set-up, search for our name in the directory and send us an invitation to Skype. You will enjoy this 21st century method of communication.

Skype you soon.

Midland to be Part of the Largest Laser Tour in America!

We are very excited to announce that Midland Metal Products has been chosen as a host location for the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association's (FMA) upcoming "LaserFab 2010" event. The event begins on September 21^st and runs through September 23^rd 2010.

Midland Metal Products is at the leading edge of metal fabricating technology. We will be demonstrating how our equipment, capabilities, and processes give us the unique ability to meet our customer's requirements. This includes areas such as compressed timelines and flexibility as well as the ability to deliver on shorter, more specialized, and longer run projects.

Midland Metal Products Adds New Technology to Press Brake Department

In a continuing effort to gain technological superiority and streamline the production process Midland Metal Products has recently added two brand new CNC-controlled precision hydraulic press brakes, and FOUR new CNC control upgrades to existing precision machinery.

The machines and new controls have a unique feature. Instead of a long-handed manual input of numeric dimensions and commands, the program is generated DIRECTLY from a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional CAD file sourced from our engineering department or, perhaps YOU, our customer.

This seamless integration of electronic part files eliminates translation errors generated by incorrect measurement of the physical part or paper print. In other words: the machine will bend the part EXACTLY as it is designed. Furthermore, the technology makes use of our extensive tooling library and makes suggestions for the most efficient method of part creation. We are also made instantly aware of any physical limitations or other errors that may come about during a production situation. This establishes accurate prototyping and part costs; the increased efficiency has reduced set-up time and increased capacity and throughput.

A Welcome and a Farewell

When a business is in operation for ninety years, it is likely to see its share of people come and go. While some of these events may stand out more than others, each carries some significance on the time line of an organization.

This past year saw two such events.

Ella Goodman, a 31-year veteran spot welder, retired from Midland in November. Ella showed dedication to her job as, year after year, she would get up each day before the sunrise and take public transportation to be at work by six o’clock. Ella will be missed.

2009 also saw an investment in new talent. Midland Metal Products hired Edward Cuomo to expand our East Coast sales market. Ed comes to Midland with solid experience in the areas of manufacturing management and sales and has already proven to be a solid addition to our team.

Bill Cox

Director of HR

Tube Laser Installation

You may have heard, we are pretty excited about our new tube laser. We have created this very short video to show you the installation process. Enjoy!