New supercharger puts industry on the fringe of cutting edge

Twenty-eight years ago, Roger Rehm started a little business out of spare bedroom of his home, sure that he had no secrets for success. Although today he still claims there is no magic formula, the Tring Corp., located at 8991 E. Lincoln Way East, has continued to grow in the last year as the national economy faltered, adding a second shift, eight new employees and a second supercharged laser. "We’ve worked hard to survive this recession, but I think because we work as a team and have highly skilled people, we’ve gotten through well," Rehm said.

Rehm’s commitment to his 38 employees, along with his eye for cost-effective business practices, has helped his fabrication company flourish over the past few months. The key to the growth has been the addition of the 2,000 –watt Mazak Supercharged laser purchased in June from Orrville Products Inc. that cost over $300,000.00 when new. Rehm said the benefits this second laser brings to Tring outweigh its cost. "It should definitely open up new opportunities for us, allow us to manufacture parts we weren’t able to before," he said. "We’ve stepped up about 1 years of technology. We’re not on the cutting edge, but we’re pretty close. We’ve more than doubled the capacity of the old machine because it provides more power to the metal we’re cutting through the (laser) beam delivery.

Sheets of steel, aluminum and other types of metals up to ¾-inch thick and 8 feet long are inserted into the side of the machine, which resembles a double bed filled with nails. A conveyor moves the metal underneath the laser, which is programmed to cut the metal in the pattern of the part being fabricated. With a surge of power that can go up to 3,000 watts, the laser cuts through the metal and begins an automated program, criss-crossing the sheet and cutting it into automotive, garage door and other parts. Despite the cost of the laser, Rehm is confident the purchase will bring great rewards.

"Time is money on a machine, since it costs so much an hour to run it. In order to be competitive, we have to be time and cost effective so we can provide our customers with good quality products. Since we will be running it a lot of hours on both shifts, it won’t cost that much in the long run," Rehm said.

Laser operator Chris Rood of Wooster has been fabricating for more than 15 years. "I’ve seen technology develop and these machines are a lot faster and smaller, plus they’re easier to load, have more wattage, cut a lot cleaner so they don’t leave a lot of dross or sharp edges on the metal," Rood said. "All in all, it makes our jobs here so much easier."

Rehm said the new laser has additional safety features that guard operators’ eyes and fingers. Before operators like Rood handle the products, programmer John Kaufman works with Autocad programming software to design the patterns and designs of the parts. "There’s been no big difference in the program from the first laser to the new one, there is just more capacity with the material they’re using," Kaufman said. "But that is the benefit of buying the same brand of equipment; there’s no additional learning." Both of Tring’s lasers were made in Japan by the Mazak Corp., one of the largest laser manufacturers in the world, according to Rehm. He said the company has a reputation for producing lasers that are easy to use, very accurate and very fast.

Kaufman did point out though, using sophisticated fabricating technology like this requires that he and the operators to continue to learn about the machine. "It’s still an ongoing process. We’re still learning, so when we have problems we run into, we talk to people and are constantly reading how to improve techniques," Kaufman said.

Rehm said the teamwork among his employees has helped the company flourish. "Without good employees, you don’t have much of a business," he said. "We have highly skilled people working here, mainly because Wayne County has a lot of other good fabrication businesses in the area." Based on recent business, Rehm said he is still looking to add an additional employee to his staff that works two different shifts, four days a week. "I want to keep growing at a controlled rate. I’ve been trying to be very proactive in our marketing approach, maintaining a reputation of high quality so that we can pick up new customers and retain the ones we have. With that business, we can have nice controlled growth," he said.

Reporter Jessica Parcher can be reached at (330)-287-1632 or jparcher@the-daily-record.com