Donahue Industries, Inc. | A full service international metal components manufacturer
  • Grinding Wheel Industry
    • Abrasive Wheel Inserts
    • Cup Wheel (Spider) Bushings
    • Disc Wheel Inserts
    • Reducing Adapter Bushings
    • Reusable Adapter Kits
    • Safety Backs
    • Throw-away Mounting Flanges
    • Threaded Hex Inserts
  • Wire Rope Industry
    • Fractional Wire Rope Gauges
    • Metric Wire Rope Gauges
    • How To Use A Wire Rope Gauge
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In 3 years, it will be cheaper to manufacture in the U.S. than in China

6/29/2015

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In Fortune magazine's "U.S. Manufacturing costs are almost as low as China's, and that's a very big deal," reporter Brian Dumaine attributes U.S.'s increase in manufacturing competitiveness to cheaper oil and gas and faster productivity in the U.S. and rising wages in China. 
"The average cost to manufacture goods in the U.S. is now only 5% higher than in China and is actually 10% to 20% lower than in major European economies. Even more striking: BCG [a Boston consultancy] projects that by 2018, it will be 2% to 3% cheaper to make stuff here than in China."
According to BCG’s David Gee, risks of delayed shipping from China, port strikes, and local investment requirements of international companies in China can outweigh the 5% higher cost of manufacturing in the U.S.. 

Read the full article.
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Local defines the new American manufacturing industry

6/23/2015

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It's time to rethink American manufacturing according to The New York Times opinionator Allison Arieff. In her piece "The Future of Manufacturing Is Local," 
Arieff positions the new American manufacturing model as one that goes back to longevity instead of planned obsolescence. It's about community-building as a way to reach that longevity and sustainability. 

SFMade is a San Francisco collaborative whose members embrace the idea of local sourcing as a means of community-building. "
The group allows that community [San Fransisco business owners] to reconnect, share resources, receive education and assistance on everything from zoning to sourcing to taxes. In the last year, 128 companies have joined in the belief that they’re better together."
“For decades we have developed a culture of disposability — from consumer goods to medical instruments and machine tools. To fuel economic growth, marketers replaced longevity with planned obsolescence — and our mastery of technology has given birth to ever-accelerating unplanned obsolescence. I think there is increasing awareness that this is no longer sustainable on the scale we have developed.”

- Mark Dwight, SFMade founder
While going green isn't part of SFMade's mission, its members naturally embrace sustainability in production processes and supply chain. A similar NYC group joined forces with LEED builders as a resource for local procurement.

But it's not just about ethics. It's about local pride. 
“I grew up in the ‘70s in Buffalo and saw the mass exodus. I saw people lose the ability to support themselves. I saw my peers run far from manufacturing. Now I see people coming out of elite schools who want to go into manufacturing," explained SFMade executive director Kate Sofis.

Read the full blog posting.
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Deconstructing Beats By Dre

6/18/2015

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In its "How It's Made" series, hardware and software startup venture capital firm Bolt reveals tricks from manufacturers on how to optimize hardware design. One trick: using metal to make the weight of Beats By Dre headphones more substantial - making the headphones seem more valuable and durable. Says Bolt, "30% of the weight comes from four tiny metal parts that are there for the sole purpose of adding weight."

The author explains:
"The two larger parts [the ear covers] are cast zinc. Cast parts are similar to injection molded parts in that there is a tooling cost and a per-part cost. Compared to injection molding, the tool is marginally more expensive, but the per-part costs are higher, and the tools do not last as long.

"The brilliant thing here is that the two large metal parts are not mirror images of each other - they are actually the same part! This means that only one tool would need to be made to produce both parts, which saves money in tool design and number of tools. It also makes the headphones easier to assemble, since there are fewer unique parts."
Check out the entire article for more tricks on hardware design.
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A cheat sheet of terms the engineer you work with will know - so you don't have to

6/10/2015

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When designing your parts with an engineer (Walt is ours on staff), he or she may use some of the following terms:

Assembly: Component or end item comprising of a number of parts (subassemblies) put together to perform a specific function. 

Blanking: Process of cutting or punching of a piece of metal into a desired shape.

Brazing: Method of joining pieces of metal by heating them with a flame. Similar to soldering but requires much higher temperature.

Extruding: Method in which a softened blank of a metal material is forced through a shaped metal piece or die to produce a continuous ribbon of the formed product.

Finishing: Treating a surface with machining or polishing. Finish includes brightness, color, and texture.

Heat treating: Heating metal to a certain temperature and then cooling in a particular manner to alter its internal structure for obtaining desired degree of brittleness, hardness, or softness.

Plating: Process in which metal is deposited on a metallic surface.

Rust proofing: Coating with a substance that prevents rusting.

Stamping: Forming metal coils or strips into shapes (blanks, embosses, and bends, for example) using a press (a single operation or a series of stages).

Swaging: Altering the dimensions of an item using dies into which the item is forced.

Welding: Joining together metal pieces or parts by heating the surfaces to the point of melting using a blowtorch, electric arc, or other means, and uniting them by pressing or hammering, for example.

Source: BusinessDictionary.com
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​Grinding Wheel Industry
   Abrasive wheel inserts
   Cup wheel (spider) bushings
   Disc wheel inserts
   Reducing adapter bushings
   Reusable adapter kits
   Safety backs
   Throw-away mounting flanges
   Threaded hex inserts

Wire Rope Industry
   Fractional sheave gauges
   Metric sheave gauges
   How to use a sheave gauge
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Donahue Industries



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Donahue Industries, Inc. is a full service international metal stamping manufacturer in Massachusetts specializing in parts for the grinding wheel and wire rope industries. 

Donahue Industries, Inc.
5 Industrial Drive
Shrewsbury, MA  01545-5835

Phone: (001) 508-845-6501
Fax: (001) 508-842-7665
sales@donahueindustries.com