Wyoming Fabricator Leverages CNC Robotics to Diversify, Grow
Bill Adler lives in fertile fabricating territory. Ranches, natural gas wells and farms surround his welding and metal shop, delivering a stream of business from sources as diverse as metal signs and trophies to large natural gas exploration and drilling equipment.
But just over a decade ago, Adler was building his business from the ground up, and welding and cutting metal by hand, or with the help of a Track Torch. It didn’t take too many long days in the shop cutting and welding to convince Adler that he needed to invest in equipment that would increase his shop’s productivity and open up his services to jobs that required more intricate and precise cutting and welding capabilities.
After viewing a friend’s Torchmate CNC table in action, he bought a Torchmate 2 of his own just as his business was celebrating its first year of business.
“The biggest reason we bought a Torchmate machine is that they are such a time saver,” said Adler. “And I wanted to be able to throw a 4-by-8 sheet of one-inch plate on there and not have it collapse. The biggest thing besides that was the price. They were very affordable and you could get into one very reasonably.”
Using the Torchmate table, Adler Welding and Fabrication increased its output of natural gas drilling platforms, custom metal hitches and ranching and farm equipment. The shop has shipped natural gas platforms as far away as Indonesia.
But soon, Adler started seeing another metal-cutting business opportunity develop. The CNC machine’s tight tolerances and precision allowed the shop to build metal signs, trophies and detailed metal art with ease. In Wyoming, metalwork was in high demand from ranches, cabins, lodges and farms. So Adler bought a second Torchmate 2 and outfitted it with a Hypertherm Powermax 45 plasma cutter to cut intricate designs into thinner metals. The move proved to be a prescient one. Today the majority of Alder Welding and Fabricating comes from metal signs, art and trophies.
Perhaps the shop’s most delicate job is to cut 400 metal ornaments out of 16-ounce copper that a local dude ranch gives as gifts to each of its guests each year. The new Torchmate machine cuts the delicate metal without damaging, melting or mutilating the fine edges of the ornaments.
Today, rodeo trophies, ranch signs, and Western metal art keep one of Adler’s CNC machines busy year-round, while the other Torchmate rig is still set up to cut thicker metal for industrial jobs.
Adler has continued to invest in the machinery, upgrading the driver box and torch-height controls for an even more precise and smooth cut.
The robotic automation of his CNC machine still amazes some of the ranchers and farmers who come to him for fabricating help and are surprised to find that he designs and fabricates their projects completely in-house.
And although he has fabricated thousands of metal structures, trophies, signs and pieces of art over the last decade, Adler still appreciates the automation, precision and technical support backing of the CNC company that has helped him grow a successful small business.
“Our business certainly would not be where it is today without our Torchmate machines,” said Adler.
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