Shinn Mechanical, located in Kent, Washington is an industrial pipe fabrication shop and mechanical contractor, serving companies throughout the Pacific Northwest completing commercial, industrial and municipal projects.
The company delivers quality fabrications for Hydronic Piping, Steam and Condensate, Natural Gas and other Fuel Storage and Distribution, Compressed Air, Medical Gas Piping, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and more.
A few years ago Shinn Mechanical moved into a new 30,000 sq.ft. facility and wanted to increase the quality of their fabrication, improve lead times, and lower their production costs. Fabrication projects faced increased need for beveled holes which demanded a pipe cutting machine with multiple axes on the cutting head.
"With the projects we were landing, the types of pipe we are cutting, and how we needed to cut pipe-laterals, branches and everything else - it just made sense to purchase a CNC cutting machine," said Mike Shinn, President of Shinn Mechanical. Shinn purchased the Watts-Mueller W-364: a computerized, four-axis pipe cutter which handles up to 36 inch pipe. They also modified the W-364 with a 40 ft. table to accommodate larger projects, added a conveyor and lifting capabilities to keep pipe rolling in and out.
"In our old shop," continued Mike, "we would handle pipe anywhere from 14 to 16 times. The new automated system is cutting down handling pipe to four or five times. Anytime you handle the material, it takes longer and increases costs."
One project required two cuts for fitting a 12" pipe onto an 18" pipe. Using the Watts-Mueller W-364, Shinn fabricators were able to complete the cuts quickly and accurately. "There was no human error," said Mike. "There was no need for a worker to make measurements. All the commands were entered into the computer-generated cutting table and all cuts were made, end-to-end automatically with minimal cleanup. It took 10 to 12 minutes from start to finish - by the time we loaded the pipe on the table, clamped it and punched it in. Laying it out manually, cutting it and cleaning it up would have been a two-hour process."
Call us for a Quote: 253-848-9288