TuBro Company 40th Anniversary
TuBro Company in the 1990’s
The 90’s were years of expansion and innovation for the TuBro Company Inc. In the early 90’s an addition was constructed to our existing building increasing our manufacturing space by 25 percent. The additional space allowed us to enlarge our welding department and provide a room for a CNC router.
The acquisition of the CNC router substantially changed the way products were made as well as the variety of products that could be made. Hand held routers were used in the seventies and eighties to cut a profile on a plastic piece or shape the edge of a plastic piece. This required the piece to be hand routed by an operator using a fixture to create the profile. This worked well, however, in the case of intricate shapes or multiple fixtures, the set up charges could be cost prohibitive. The CNC router’s accuracy and repeatability along with the ability to quickly change from one job to the next greatly lowered set up charges. The CNC router also had an impact on the welding departments. The welding process didn’t change, however the CNC router could add location slots for more precise weld locations. All departments were positively affected by the addition of the CNC router.
The 90’s continued the use of computers and computer programs but at a much more accelerated pace. Computer programs to operate the CNC routers were installed. A CAD/CAM engineer was hired to program the CNC router.
Additional software was added to the accounting, human resources, sales and manufacturing departments providing upgrades in efficiency and accuracy. The upgrades increased our manufacturing capacity allowing us to add an additional salesperson to fill that capacity.
The late 90’s continued as it started with expansion in all areas. In order to meet acceptable delivery times, another CNC router was added. This gave us a good foundation for the upcoming and uncertain millennial years.
In closing out the nineties we would like to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of our founder, Harrison Gift, in 1994. Without Harry there would be no TuBro Company. His vision and hard work started the ball rolling and his mentoring and leadership allowed us to continue once he passed. We all owe a great debt to this outstanding man.