General Information

According to a recent McKinley article, digital collaboration tools are poised to play an incredibly important role in enabling workers to tap into the collective knowledge and experience of the organization, effectively solve problems with experts remotely. Naturally, the ability to do these things translates to the effective use of internal resources to work more effectively both internally with each other and externally with customers.

At ACE, our mission is to make cutting effortless for our customers. In order

The purchase of industrial knives and blades is typically made based on price. End-users know what knife or blade is required for the machine, they look up the correct item number, compare prices and then buy the product that has the best competitive price. Many decision makers are unaware that changing the material of a knife can influence the performance of the blade including better wear resistance, improved cutting performance, and superior slit quality. As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, metallurgy matters when considering the right material for your cutting application.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

ACE's accounting department plays an important role in our organization. Their work touches every single aspect of our business from sales and supply chain management to human resources and marketing and everything in between.

Most people typically think about accounting during this time of year in relation to accounts receivable and tax returns, the accounting department plays a much more central role in our industrial blade and knife manufacturing business than most realize.

Accounting is involved in all the major business decisions we make. They provide information that's vital to the decision making process. Without them, we wouldn't have the details required to accurately analyze which direction we should take, whether we should hire a new person, venture into a new product line, reduce inventory, go with a new supplier, buy a new piece of equipment, and the list goes on and

The critical importance of reducing the amount of waste in landfills is more prevalent than ever. As environmental concerns increase, granulating operations globally are growing in number and looking for ways to maximize efficiency by increasing output and reducing costs.

How granulator knives fit and how sharp they are have a significant impact on the efficiency of any granulating operation. Well-maintained knives reduce dust and fine-free, uniform regrinds. Dull blades do the opposite and produce regrinds of various sizes with dust and fines. Granulator blades that are not well-maintained can cause premature wearing of the knives and can make setting the desired gap impossible.

The Gap

The gap between

This week we're taking a deeper dive with ACE's director of supply chain management, Dan Brownfield, who will walk us through the basics of supply chain management. With over 35-years of supply chain experience, Dan brings a wealth of knowledge and business experience to ACE. We're glad he's part of our team and appreciate his expertise.

Breaking down the definition of supply chain management, it's the planning, sourcing, securing, and delivery of products for customers. While that certainly sounds simple enough, there's a lot to it. And, it has a significant impact on the ACE customer experience including pricing and delivery of products.

During his tenure in the field of supply chain management, he's seen a lot of changes including going from manually tracking of shipments and information using spreadsheets to full supply chain software programs that automate reporting.

There's lot of talk about supply chain management (SCM) and how it's critically important to success of a business. Touching every aspect of business operations from logistics and purchasing to information technology, an organization's supply chain and how it's managed can make or break a company.

What exactly is a supply chain and what's so critical about the role it plays in business? Most importantly, why should you care about your vendor's supply chain?

The simple definition of SCM is that it is the handling of the entire production flow of a good or service ” starting from the raw components all the way to delivering the final product to the consumer. Much more than a purchasing and negotiation function, SCM is the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the goal of creating net value.

Understanding the many supply chain options available for procuring industrial knives allows businesses to recognize suppliers that are eager and able to provide the best option for their cutting application.

The blade material, tolerances, size, and volume all play a role in determining the most efficient and effective supply chain. Industrial knife suppliers that investigate the needs of their customers and take the time to understand how the knife will be used, inventory demands, and budgetary constraints can leverage this information, their long-standing relationships, and experience to create a supply chain that best meets the needs of the customer.

For industrial cutting applications, optimal sourcing can be just as critical optimizing the design of the blade. From in-house manufacturing to overseas

Many industrial knife customers prefer to order blades that are made in the United States. For most, this distinction connotes quality and provides a sense of patriotism in that American jobs are supported by the order. But, where are your American made knives really from?

However, understanding the origin of your blades is not as simple as a Made in America stamp. True understanding requires taking a deeper dive into each step of the procurement and manufacturing process.

5 Questions to Ask About the Origin of Your Industrial Knives

1. What is the country of origin for your tool steel?

Tool and High-Speed steels are the raw material used to manufacture many industrial blades. Most of this is produced outside the United States. It is only available from within

In the past six decades, since the mass production of plastics began, the global production of plastics has increased rapidly resulting in the development of 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics. Since plastics take more than 400 years to degrade, plastics recycling programs are essential to ensure both the health of our planet and the health of the plastics industry.

Recycling plastics keeps the product out of landfills and oceans; however, we need to recycle more. According to Science Advances, 79 percent of the plastic produced in the previous 60 years is accumulating in landfills or resting as litter.

Why is recycling plastics so important?

At some point,the United

When was the last time you spoke to your industrial knife supplier or sent out an email to ask a quick question about knife performance? If you can't remember, it has been too long. If you can remember and the response you received was a recorded line or a generic check out our website