Rennline: Continuing Expansion

Here at Rennline we are lucky enough to have a devoted customer base that understands our commitment to quality parts and dedication to customer service. This relationship has grown in size and breadth over the years; it saw us expand from a small industrial space in downtown Winooski, Vermont into our current building, and now it is allowing us to build on that foundation. Both literally and metaphorically. But none of this would be possible without each and every customer, so again, we would like to thank everyone, from the smallest order to the largest, for their support of Rennline Inc. and the parts we manufacture for your Porsche, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Mini and more!

 

The entrance to the addition

The entrance to the addition

 

The addition getting close to finished!

Getting close to finished!

 

 

The left side of our new space

The left side looking from the door from the existing building

 

The right side of our new space

The right side looking from the door from the existing building

 

One of the most important aspects of this new space was what to name it. After a few days of deep contemplation, waterjet operator John Bombard emerged with the answer: his ‘office’ would henceforth be known as “The Jet Hanger.” Of course, despite completion of the naming process there was still much to do to finish the transformation of our addition. Plumbing and wiring needed to be run, drains, grates and filters installed in the floor to catch overflow water and filter our the garnet which is a super-fine abrasive that gets injected in small amounts to aid in water jet cutting.

Running the requisite fire suppression systems.

Running the requisite fire suppression systems.

 

Grates with filters for waterjet overflow

Grates with filters for waterjet overflow

 

Preparing the sprinkler system for installation

Not quite as aesthetically pleasing as our own extinguisher mounts!

 

Beginning to move the jets meant a lot of muscle was needed. These things keep about 10,000lbs of abrasive sand in the tank and about 8,000lbs of water (128 cubic feet)- PER JET! We had two that needed to be cleaned out, disassembled, moved and reassembled in the Jet Hanger. This was an all-hands-on-deck kind of day, but luckily we are a hearty folk up here in Vermont and the entire operation went smoothly and relatively quickly considering the shear volume of material that needed to move.

 

Welder Connor and Fabricator Jeremy getting the job done

Welder Connor and Fabricator Jeremy getting the job done

 

Manufacturing Team Leader Buck getting into the trenches himself

Manufacturing Team Leader Buck getting into the trenches himself

 

Clearing out space in the existing shop

Making moves!

 

A HUGE increase in space

A HUGE increase in space- the majority of the open area you see here was taken up by waterjets

 

Getting the first waterjet situated in its new home

Getting the first waterjet situated in its new home

 

The first of the water jets to get back up and running

And we are back in business! Or… at least partially. 1/3 jets back up and running!

 

We took this expansion as an opportunity for us to add some machining capability since we are going to have sufficient additional space. We have had great luck with Flow Waterjet, so we contacted them again for one of their newer units. This was delivered in a timely manner and we began setting up our newest toy… er… machine! This puts us up to 3 waterjets in house, two CNC mills and a CNC lathe along with a couple manual mills, two huge press/brakes, a CNC Time Saver and plenty of other odds and ends to makes sure we can tackle any challenge from any job that might present itself.

 

New waterjet incoming

New waterjet incoming!

 

We had Flow's technicians and engineers come up to Vermont to do the final assembly and calibration

New arm for the new jet! Of course, we had Flow’s technicians and engineers come up to Vermont to do the final assembly and calibration

 

General Manager Tom, Engineer Dave and Owner Paul set up the new garnet abrasive hoppers

From left-right General Manager Tom, Engineer Dave and Owner Paul set up the new garnet abrasive hoppers

 

Flow Waterjet #3 for the Rennline shop

The eagle has landed. Flow Waterjet #3 for the Rennline shop

Things have progressed even a bit further than since these most recent pictures; we are almost back to fully operational waterjet status and the moving/reorganizing process has begun in the existing shop. This will be a lengthy one as we add additional storage racks and finalize the overall layout to maximize space and work flow. Although this operation has already been a huge amount of time and effort and there is still plenty of work to be done, seeing it all start to come together is bolstering us for the final push in getting it done!

 

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