Capabilities

We are continuously acquiring additional fabrication resources to stay current with the latest technologies, and to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs. The following is a sample of Futura Industries in-house capabilities:

•  Precision sawing/cutting, miter-cutting
•  Punching/Piercing/Coining/Notching/Stamping/Forming
•  CNC machining centers (long-bed, high-speed, vertical, horizontal, tapping centers)
•  lathes
•  Drilling
•  Tapping
•  Countersink/counterbore
•  Milling
•  Deburring - profile end
•  Bending/Forming
•  Press brakes 15-90 ton
•  Hardware Insertion (studs & nuts)
•  Riveters

Value-Added Benefits To You, The Customer

We realize that our customers are continuously looking for increased VALUE. By sourcing with Futura Industries and our vast array of in-house fabrication capabilities, we go beyond by:

•  Single-source for yourextrusion, fabrication, anodizing and assembly needs
•  Fewer activities for you to manage, schedule, and coordinate
•  Value Engineering assistance provided in the design stage of your product.
•  Incorporate lean manufacturing principles with your overall production cycle
•  Inventory level reduction
•  Lessens your need to hire & train skilled workers (full-time, part-time, seasonal)
•  Quality improvement through material handling reduction and product knowledge
•  Lead-time reduction
•  Freight cost reduction
•  Provide you with a ready-to-assemble product

Lean Operations

We continually strive to minimize waste, maximize efficiencies, and reduce lead-times throughout the manufacturing cycle. All of our team members are trained in lean manufacturing principles and continuous improvement techniques, no matter what their job responsibilities are. We can apply this knowledge to real-life situations by participating in our regularly scheduled Kaizen events.

Everyone is continuously looking for ways to combine operations, balance the workflow, simplify tasks to utilize labor as efficiently as possible, and minimize material handling. Subsequently, material handling reductions normally result in quality improvements and scrap reduction.

We design flexibility into all of our fabrication equipment. Whether it’s making equipment portable, standardizing setups, allowing for multiple extrusion lengths and configurations, or improving ergonomics, flexibility is critical being competitive in manufacturing.

At the initial request for quote, our engineers are already looking for creative ways of minimizing waste and maximizing throughput. By understanding your product and how it is used, we can quote a fabrication process that provides the most value to you.

Deburring / Brush / Polishing

Deburring
Even with well-maintained tooling, many fabrication operations will generate some degree of a burr from the metal-cutting action. For some applications, such as painted product, or hidden components, a burr will not present a problem, and the customer can save costs. For other applications that require certain burrs to be minimized, or require a burr-free part, this will usually require additional labor or special equipment. Futura has a large selection of special aluminum extrusions deburring equipment to address your specific needs.

For smaller-sized product, we have equipment to “tumble deburr” a batch of parts in a vibrating bowl containing ceramic deburring media. The vibratory action will knock down all burrs from the sawing, drilling, machining operations in a single batch process. The resulting finish will be completely smooth and will have a slightly “galvanized” appearance. For longer parts, we have a large assortment of deburring equipment, methods, and tools to handle a wide variety of applications.

If your part also requires a cleaning or anodizing operation, we may be able to reap one of the side benefits from our etch-clean process. The etch-clean process is used as a pre-treatment prior to anodizing which chemically attacks the surface of the metal for a desired appearance. In the process, any small brittle burrs that are present will be removed. This is often a cost-effective alternative to manual deburring operations.

The etch-clean portion of our anodizing process can produce an attractive satin or matte finish. If your product already requires anodizing, then this may be a cost-effective alternative to mechanical finishing and giving you a unique appearance.

Considerations

Holes can be put into extrusions in many ways: punched, extruded, CNC circle-milled, or drilled. Futura Industries has a wide selection of automatic and manual drilling equipment/methods, such as: multi-head/multi-spindle drill presses, single-head drill presses, multiple-axis drill machines, CNC machining centers, special air drill units, manual mills, and manual drill presses.

It is possible to combine multiple operations into one single operation with special tooling, such as:

•  Drill & Countersink
•  Drill & Counterbore
•  Drill & Ream
•  Drill & Tap
•  Drill & Deburr
•  Counterbore & Countersink
•  Tap & Deburr

The method of drilling, as well as the equipment used, depends on many factors:

•  Order sizes
•  Number of holes
•  Size of holes
•  Dimensional tolerance
•  Length of extrusion
•  Other fabrication work req'd
•  Other value-added services

Design Considerations

You may want to consider using self-tapping screws instead of specifying tapped holes in the end of the extrusion, to eliminate a tapping operation.

You may also want to consider designing a “screwboss” into the extrusion profile, to eliminate drilling & tapping operations on the ends of a part, which can be costly.

If you have specific thread requirements (roll-form tap, cutting-tap, etc.), make sure you specify them on the drawing.