Fabrication & Assembly

"NBE build specs and materials of construction are so dominant within the market because NBE recognizes our responsibility to our customers."

We have no doubt about the ability of NBE projects to operate well beyond their application's specs for performance and longevity. It doesn't matter how harsh the project environment, how rigorous the duty-cycle requirements, or, even, how particular the hygienic design standards. NBE customers have that same assurance; project-after-project and year-after-year.

There are cute, little performance guarantees on the market; but, based on what standards? When they guarantee they'll exceed NBE standards for performance and longevity; then I'll be impressed. NBE build specs and materials of construction are so dominant within the market because NBE recognizes our responsibility to our customers. NBE is responsible to ensure process uptime, throughput, and product quality; and NBE is responsible to ensure reliable, repeatable, long-term operation. NBE build specs, materials of construction, and fabrication and assembly are key factors toward providing that assurance of performance and longevity.

NBE projects are engineered-to-application. That's an absolute necessity when projects have unique operational requirements and constraints, and very particular performance outputs. It doesn't matter if it's a standalone, input-to-output project; or a project where we are working in a multi-party integration. At pre-bid stages, the NBE applications group knows they can bring to their engineering the full extent of NBE fabrication and assembly capabilities. Those capabilities bring advantages to a project that are likely not even possible from a build-to-order, or even an engineer-to-order machine builder. BTO or ETO builders may not typically be giving thought to front-end process flow engineering, or on-site fabrication and assembly directives specific to the AHJ. But, for our processing customers, third-party integrators, and AEC firm partners, NBE engineered-to-application fab and assembly is the best way to ensure the project is engineered and built to the full context of the application. That is, upstream and downstream, between plants; even out into the supply chain.

Fabrication and assembly is where NBE mechanical engineering design becomes the reality of optimal process performance. Even before the mechanical engineering work is underway, the NBE fab and assembly project team works with the ME group, and our R&D center staff, to confirm and document the project's design performance metrics. Are customer process materials acting as expected? Are project design models performing to spec? Are materials of construction responding properly to FEA? The NBE fab and assembly project team is a strong first view into actual operator interaction. The assembly group interacts with the project build to confirm, ahead of the FAT, things such as: cleaning protocols, changeover time targets, and task-specific risk assessments. Of course, NBE fabrication and assembly procedures address relevant industry, regulatory, and global standards and certifications.

They may use different words for it, but every NBE staff member involved in the fabrication and assembly of an NBE project is mindful of their ultimate objective; to enable the accurate, reliable, and repeatable supply-to-market of the end-customer's product. The process-specific integration of NBE automation and NBE mechanical infrastructure is what brings this objective to fruition. The NBE fab and assembly project team is ready to manage the influences of industry 4.0 initiatives and the IIoT. Yet, no less important to the commercialization of our end-customer's product, is the delivery by NBE of a secure controls and automation infrastructure with a single programming standard across the project; all made possible by the NBE, on-site, UL certified panel build facility. Seeing our end-customers' products on the store shelves, and knowing the vital part the NBE assembly team had in making that happen, puts a new spin on a trip to the store.

The NBE fabrication and assembly group is structured with its own project management team that works within the manufacturing and construction process as the steel-toed project expert. The NBE assembly PM is the first line of to-the-minute production knowledge on a particular project. They provide essential data to the NBE PM responsible for the full breadth of the customer's project management portfolio. The NBE project management database gains power and influence with the addition of each new customer-centric data point. These customer-centric data points may contribute to a project's predictive risk assessment guidance, change order effect analysis, and identifying and preventing negative cost and scope events. For our PM colleagues on the customer-side, or at the AEC firms, these NBE methods; and the quality of reporting are valuable advantages. For integrators, OEMs, or NBE end-customers without their own PMs, these NBE PM methods are valuable benefits.

NBE makes on-going investment in the capital equipment, technology, training, and certifications necessary to ensure our capabilities will produce to the demanding specifications and requirements of an NBE processing project. From the perspective of the NBE assembly team, having no dependency on third-party fabricators, paint, or machine shops keeps costs in-line, lead times on schedule, and quality to our spec. Those things, together with the craft and care of the NBE assembly team, begin the after-sale experience our customers expect; even before the project leaves the NBE plant.