Case Study - AMS Industries, Inc.
AMS Industries Headquarters - Woodridge, Illinois
AMS Industries, Inc. provides full-service industrial contracting. AMS has a reputation of over five decades of serving clients in multiple industries including HVAC, Industrial Refrigeration, Heavy Industrial Piping and Construction, Food and Process Piping, Electrical Power, Plumbing and more. Integrity and providing quality services is the primary goal. AMS aims to build a better, stronger and more durable company for the future, protect the AMS brand and meet our commitments to clients to help improve local communities.
Fabrication Building - Woodridge, IL
Beth Thullen
Fab Shop Superintendent
Beth Thullen has been with AMS Industries for 12 years after starting her career in 2007 as an apprentice in PipeFitters Local 597.
Beth joined AMS in 2011, becoming a foreman on the nuclear side starting in 2013. In 2017 she was part of the transition to the new fabrication shop, eventually being promoted to Piping Fabrication Shop Superintendent in 2020.
The Business Challenge:
"The last three years we have seen numerous changes and a substantial increase in shop fabrication for commercial and nuclear piping," said Beth Thullen, Fabrication Shop Superintendent. "Fortunately, we have stayed extremely busy, and despite having a great team, we are always looking for ways to be more efficient. Previously, we were mainly using a bandsaw, magnetic torch, and different types of pipe and prep machines. We were also renting equipment, doing repairs, and buying replacement parts."
"We pride ourselves on being competitive and finding ways to speed up our pipe fabrication flow," continued Thullen. "Accelerating the steady output of pipe was a priority. Each pipe cut was taking around 15 minutes, followed by an end prep machine. One of our largest projects was coming due in 2023 with more projects scheduled for 2024. Simply put," said Thullen, "we needed a more efficient way to cut pipe."
The Watts Solution:
"Our management team began discussions about purchasing a new CNC pipe cutting machine," continued Thullen. "The only company mentioned was Watts-Specialties. We lined up a trial period with a Watts machine at another fabrication shop in the spring of 2021. One of our machine operators worked in this facility for a month, cutting pipe for AMS projects on the Watts machine. We quickly realized an automated pipe cutting machine was the solution for our efficiency goals."
Our team contacted Watts and committed to a W-244 machine with a 25ft conveyor system. We are now cutting a lot more pipe from 6' to 14' OD with more efficiency."
AMS Industries Photo Gallery
The Watts Difference:
"We were hoping for an increase in productivity with a decrease in manhours," said Thullen matter of factly. "As we expected from our trial machine, we have definitely seen an increase in productivity. Pipe cuts that were previously taking one man 40 hours to complete are now being cut in 8 hours - including olets! The cut pipe leaves the machine with clean bevels. The welders are now more efficient, spending less time on layout and fit-up."
"We are mostly running pre-spooled fabrication with a lot of olet holes," continued Thullen. "We also get regular requests from the field for 'spur of the moment' piping needs. It is really nice to be able to quickly design a new spool by simply putting the dimensions in the machine...on the go, then load the spools on a truck and deliver the pipe to the field. This kind of swift flexibility was hard to accommodate prior to having the Watts machine."
3D-Profile Plus and Support
When asked about Watts 3D-Profile Plus Software, Thullen answered:
"The software is great. The majority of our larger jobs are scanned, modeled, spooled and moved to a shared file by the drafting department. My operator is able to make decisions about which jobs he uploads on a daily basis. Use of the software has been pretty smooth. Our machine operators, only two months into working with the Watts machine, are very comfortable. The benefit of the software is greatest on bigger jobs when we upload spools to be cut in multiple quantities. The software is also a game changer when we get requests for lateral, mitered or saddled pipe cuts. It only takes 5 minutes to design and cut a unique spool. Before we had the Watts machine it would take 1-2 hours calculating coordinates, laying out the project, and then cutting the pipe with a torch or a grinding/cutting wheel."
Has Watts support been there for AMS?
"We have not needed support yet. But I can tell you," said Thullen, "start-up and training with Jessie Scribner (the lead Support technician for Watts-Specialties) was super informative. He definitely set us up for success, so we are not
overly concerned about what might happen when we need support."
