In January 2018, Hermanson opened a 10,000 square foot pipe shop in the SODO area of Seattle.
This new location doubles Hermanson’s pipe fabrication space and puts us just minutes from projects in Seattle and Bellevue.
In the latest GoPro for a Day installment, Fitting Forman Ken Flores and the Pipe Shop team take viewers on a virtual tour of the Shop’s copper pipe cutting and assembly of pre-fabricated heated/chilled water racks. The TigerStop™ automated pipe cutting machine cuts pipe faster and more efficiently than traditional pipe cutting methods and assures accuracy down to 0.004”.
“Having the pipe cutting machine has quadrupled our fabrication output,” says Shop Forman Scott Connors. “By eliminating cut errors and optimizing cut length, we have seen a significant reduction in copper pipe waste.” Having a fabrication space that includes a dedicated CAD detailer onsite and inventory storage creates an ideal manufacturing environment.
The Pipe Shop is located at the confluence of Seattle’s major freeway system. By having an onsite flatbed truck to handle deliveries for downtown and eastside jobs, Hermanson is working to reduce vehicle emissions and time on the road. (Scott Connors continues to tinker with the idea of hooking up pipe racks to e-bikes for deliveries within the Seattle corridor.) The Shop is also working toward an almost paperless fabrication process through point of use computer imaging.
With the right skilled labor and equipment, Hermanson’s SODO Pipe Shop is putting out as many as 20 pre-fabricated pipe racks each day. Racks that are heading out to job sites across the Seattle metro area.
