Building a Profile

Perry Tepel and his partner Rick Rempel had been working in the custom fabrication market for many years when opportunity knocked, or more accurately, phoned.

With nearly 30 years’ experience in machine fabrication, Tepel had just left his last management position when a telephone call from a potential customer led to the establishment of a new business and Remtek Industries was formed. The customer wanted to purchase a custom machine, and Tepel accepted the challenge.

Growing organically by word-of-mouth, Remtek’s beginnings were not all that glamorous.

“We were essentially fabricators that had been working in the trades for decades building machinery and equipment for other businesses,” explained Tepel. “We decided that if we started working as hard for ourselves as we had been for other people, we would be successful.”

In 2000, following the telephone call that started it all, Remtek started producing custom-fabricated equipment from a 500-sq.-ft. warehouse that didn’t have an office or even a bathroom. Nine years later the company is housed in a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility in Aldergrove, B.C.

“Once we had a goal of being a custom fab shop, we knew that we needed to buy some equipment,” he said. “After the early days we knew that we wanted to build this business and have done so by reinvesting profits back into the business.”

The company serves a range of customers from many industry segments. It is a true custom fabrication shop.

“We don’t necessarily serve the needs of any one market segment,” said Tepel. “We are a custom fabrication shop, meaning we will build anything and everything that a customer wants.”

Past projects include creating components for a concrete plant including all of the equipment that goes into that type of facility, such as mixers, palletizers, conveyors, and the storage area.

“We are also certified as structural fabricators so we were able to build part of the facility itself too,” he added.

Perry Tepel uses a 4-kW flying-optics laser in his shop to create custom fabricated parts.

Among the range of unique and custom equipment Remtek makes are assemblies for navigational buoys, truck trailers, and even storage and containment tanks for offshore drill rigs. Working from a customer’s drawing, the company is able to produce the custom component thanks to both the on-floor expertise of ownership and staff and to the equipment.

The company has robotic welding stations, press brakes, shears, and most recently, a laser cutting system.

“We have done pretty well over these last seven or eight years, and we have reinvested profits back into the business to strengthen it from a fabrication and production standpoint,” said Tepel.

2-D Laser Cutting

While it’s true that in most instances the most effective way to cut plate is by processing it on a shear, this method is limited to straight-line cutting. The moment a nonlinear profile cut, holes, or rounded corners must be created, a different method must be chosen.

“Waterjet, plasma cutting, high-definition plasma, and oxyacetylene flame cutting all have their purpose, but laser is the most effective and efficient process that I have seen when it is carbon steel cutting,” said Tepel.

That is one reason for the company’s jump into the laser cutting market. One of its most recent additions is a 4-kW, flying-optics laser cutting system from PRIMA North America, the PLATINO 1530.

“At the time we had been looking at a couple of different options,” said Tepel. “PRIMA came in at the 11th hour, after we had practically made up our mind, and blew us away with their presentation. And since we purchased the laser table two years ago, it has literally changed our business.”

Before purchasing the laser cutting system, the company outsourced its complex profiling work. This came at a large expense, and Remtek couldn’t control the entire production schedule as it often had to wait for these parts to come in from a supplier.

At the time, outsourcing of unique cuts was a necessary evil, but it went against the philosophy that Tepel and his partners had developed over the years.

“We don’t want our suppliers dictating our production schedule,” he said.

Remtek’s staff used to create holes in plate with an ironworker, on a milling machine, or with a flame cutting process. That is no longer the case.

“Adding the laser definitely increased our output. The workers that used to do those manual processes are now used elsewhere in the business,” said Tepel. “Essentially, we have doubled our manpower.”

Before the company purchased the laser cutting system it would do 200 jobs per year, but this number has now jumped to approximately 600 as parts can be created much faster and as new work enters the shop.

“Some of these jobs may be profiling jobs only, but our volume of work has tripled. We don’t go after profiling work, but it does come to us,” he said.

The parts that come off the laser are much easier to work with as well, according to Tepel. Fit-up and welding are easier and less time-consuming because of the accuracy of the laser cut.

“Our staff is excited to see the parts come off the laser,” he said, “our customers too. This is how significant the change in our business has been. I think that there is the feeling out there that laser cutting has to be expensive. A laser can create a part faster than you can pull the material out the rack; and it doesn’t have to be expensive.”

Tepel and his partner added the laser cutting system to be able to control their production schedule more closely and create parts themselves that they previously outsourced. What they didn’t know, according to Tepel, is how it would affect every part of their business.

“Every part is now a ‘nonevent.’ You just program it and in 10 minutes you can have the laser cutting your part,” said Tepel. “It’s a good way to eliminate production headaches.”

For more information, visit www.remtekind.com and www.prima-na.com.