Manufacturing
GEM Equipment's Manufacturing is moving into the computerized control. These machines are considerably more productive and much more accurate than the manually controlled operations they replaced. Currently, GEM has a CNC laser and four CNC vertical machining centers. Departments within manufacturing include Computer Programming, Plate Shop, Laser, Machine Shop, Fabrication and Metal Finishing.
Fabrication consists of fitting parts together, welding and final assembly. Fabricators have to be able to assemble the weldments, perform a wide variety of welding operations and do final assembly. To be a good fabricator, an employee has to be good at managing his project. An intermediate fabricator may be managing himself on a project such as a small conveyor. A journeyman fabricator might be job leader on a tote dumper or large conveyor. Fryers and blanchers are supervised by a leadman or senior leadman. A senior leadman may be responsible for fifteen or twenty fabricators, on two shifts, manufacturing a half a million-dollar piece of food processing equipment. The common denominator is that the people responsible for manufacturing food-processing equipment must have and use good management skills. The welding process is often highly technical. There is welding of dissimilar materials, such as stellite and stainless steel for blancher belt side chains or welding stainless steel to mild steel. People welding have to know when to preheat metal being welded and when a controlled cool down is required. They also have to know how to straighten weldments after welding and most important, the use of welding procedures that minimize the build up of heat induced stress. Quality fabrication is the backbone of GEM Equipment's equipment manufacturing.