Content tagged with "line"
Results: 45
Article
June 8, 2004
Advanced lubricant technology for high-strength steel
Figure 1 As if the recent rise in steel prices weren't enough, now automotive stamping suppliers are faced with the difficult task of getting high-strength steel (HSS) to form parts with tooling designed for mild steel. In an effort to reduce vehicle weight and improve gas mileage,... Read more...
Article
March 11, 2004
New Features in Coil-to-Coil Slitters
Productivity is at the forefront for equipment builders today because their customers demand it, and processing margins for users of coil processing equipment haven't changed from years ago. For a company to be profitable, its equipment has to produce more. It's that simple. To accommodate the... Read more...
Article
February 12, 2004
Cutting through five myths about modern lasers
The following five myths about modern laser cutting machines can help the experienced user stay on top of the game and give the prospective laser user a few things to keep in mind. Myth 1: Automated laser cutting systems are too complicated, expensive, and big for small and medium-sized... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2003
Filling in the blanks
Because of sluggish economies and uncertain markets, the need to hone a competitive edge is more sharply defined. Many stampers are doing this by taking control of their material inventory and production schedules by adding a cut-to-length blank shearing line. An in-house blank... Read more...
Article
November 20, 2003
Handling appliance steel
As appliance manufacturers strive to reduce costs and streamline production processes, additional pressure is placed on coil processing to produce high-quality, surface-sensitive materials. These materials include pre-painted steel products and decorative metals such as stainless steel,... Read more...
Article
October 9, 2003
Investing in lubricants
Raw materials and overhead account for 75 percent (see Figure 1) of an average metal forming company's total operating cost. Improving these two areas can make the biggest impact on your bottom line. But what if you've optimized your material costs by paying the lowest price for your... Read more...
Article
October 9, 2003
Controlling bend angles
Spring-back Analysis All metal has a certain amount of spring-back. Spring-back, also known as elastic recovery, is the tendency for the metal to want to return to its original flat blank shape after being bent. To fully understand why metal springs back, we first must understand that metal,... Read more...
Article
October 9, 2003
Predicting springback in air bending, straight flanging
Editor's Note: This column was prepared by the staff of the Engineering Research Center for Net Shape Manufacturing (ERC/ NSM), The Ohio State University, Professor Taylan Altan, director. Air bending and straight flanging are the most prevalent types of bending in sheet metal forming.... Read more...
Article
September 25, 2003
Making the most of hydroforming
Figure 1 To help ensure successful part development, it is necessary to establish a multitask project team. Designers, hydroforming technologists, and material specialists should be involved in the component stage. To achieve possible economic benefits from this process, it is... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Die geometry for embossing and stretching
Embossing usually refers to the stretching of metal into a shallow depression. Unlike drawing, embossing entails little or no inward metal flow. Some automobile hoods and parts are made using a stretching operation, while others use a combination of drawing and stretching (see Figure 1 ).... Read more...
Article
August 28, 2003
Article
August 14, 2003
Virtual tryout
In this era of global warp speed and virtual reality, calculating the deep draws of progressive dies or the springback of metal is performed by simulation software instead of the earlier trial-and-error method. These software programs essentially replace the artistic methods of diemaking... Read more...
Article
August 14, 2003
What's driving your press?
They no longer are dedicated to running one product for their entire life, and once dedicated lines now perform versatile tasks and provide flexibility from one job to the next. Whether it's for setup of a servo roll feed, an in-die transfer system, or a complex tandem line, flexibility... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Using inverter technology
Those familiar with inverters usually know they offer size, weight, and portability advantages. They also can improve reliability by overcoming primary power fluctuations, also known as dirty power. Question: Does the weight of the plasma cutter matter? Answer: Yes, because labor... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Taking the heat, keeping the current
A DaimlerChrysler powertrain control module cover/heat sink assembly needed to be thermally conductive yet electrically isolated. The populated circuit board—one with all components in place—had to be bonded to the heat sink and postcured in a vacuum laminating press. The... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Tier 1 supplier builds four-stage competitive strategy
F & P Manufacturing Inc., a Tier 1 automotive supplier, is no stranger to competitive and financial pressures. Unrelenting competitive pressures come from the many other Tier 1 suppliers looking for opportunities to increase their slice of the automotive pie. Financial pressures come from... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Maximizing a coil fed press
Modern Coil-fed Presses Stamping processes revolve around two basic styles of tooling, transfer and progressive dies. They both require feed-to-length systems but differ in many key areas. Blanking processes could be added but are progressive in nature. Transfer tooling requires material to be... Read more...
Article
June 26, 2003
The little-known life of the scarfing tool
Just kidding, but I'm sure you get my point. Scarfing tools are pretty boring compared to the greater issues we face since 9/11. I pray for world peace right there with anybody who will listen. But then again, I've been asked many times why tools don't last or why they break after only a short... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Inline process auditing
Sound familiar? What are the options? Today's Audit Today the most widely accepted practice for checking part or process quality is random or, at best, controlled sampling. With these types of sampling, you hope those four parts you checked from 70 are enough to catch a major disaster.... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Using technology to implement lean manufacturing
Lean manufacturing meshes today's information technology with Toyota's much-lauded just-in-time (JIT) approach, which has been adopted by many manufacturers. The Toyota Production System assembly line manufacturing methodology, developed in the 1950s, professed the importance of "getting the... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
What's that material?
An XRF system can be integrated at a detector station before final packaging. The tubes are held in place by a pneumatic clamp while the XRF detector is raised to make contact with the tube and perform the measurement. This process confirms the alloy grade of the material typically in two... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Looking to the future
The decision to produce cut-to-length steel and blanks at the new plant arose from regional stampers' and other manufacturers' need for these products. Designing a Custom Facility Once committed to building a new plant in the Southeast, Thompson's management began planning the... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Getting it Straight
Before coiled material can pass through a die to produce an acceptable part, it must be straightened. Coil straightening is accomplished by bending a strip of material around sets of rollers that alternately stretch and compress the upper and lower surfaces so that the material's yield... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2003
Examining slit coil handling and packaging
Figure 1 A turret recoiler with two rewind drums and two overarm separators mounted on a 180–degree rotating base can save time by allowing coil tails to be taped or banded while the slitter is running. Today slit coil packaging systems are available for almost every operation,... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Applying and handling die lubricants
Effective application of die lubricants typically is overlooked in many stamping facilities. Many companies try to get by with applying as little lubricant as possible, just so they don't have to deal with the mess. However, metal stampers need to move away from thinking of in-die... Read more...
Article
April 24, 2003
Truckin' along through a stamping plant
The earlier cab models were built in a facility that was converted in 1921 to produce the model S truck line, a truck with a 1.5-ton load capacity and a top speed of 30 MPH. The company determined that it could not competitively launch a new line of vehicles without building a new... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Establishing a die setup recipe for progressive dies
To reduce the number of mistakes, it is important to have a good die setup recipe for each progressive tool. The special setup sheet should contain numerous items in checklist form. Setup Checklist All of the following items are crucial to your die-setup recipe. Although some of these items... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2003
Superior Service—Why you need it
Industrial customers value good service even more than retail customers do. They depend on their suppliers to deliver goods on time, just in time, so that they can meet their own customers' needs. And they can measure a supplier's substandard service in terms of lost sales and profits.... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2001
Pairing a servo feed with a pull-through straightener
Servo feeds have been in use for many years now. People have become comfortable with this technology and it is becoming commonplace. What is not commonplace is the knowledge that servo feeds can be used with pull-through straighteners as opposed to a conventional feed line that uses a... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Gettin' down with downtime
The pressures of increased competition and the need for stampers to stay competitive affect every aspect of their operations. One of the key ways stampers can create an efficient and cost-effective operation is to reduce downtime on the shop floor. One of the principal causes of downtime... Read more...
Article
November 15, 2001
Adaptive bending
In conventional press brake bending, the bend angle obtained often differs from the programmed angle even though it is produced on a CNC machine. To overcome this problem, the bend angle can be measured during the forming process and this information fed to the numerical control. This process... Read more...
Article
August 16, 2001
Article
August 16, 2001
Solving problems on the tube mill
Tube mill operators face a variety of challenges every day in their effort to produce high-quality tubing in a cost-effective and productive way. This article examines some of the typical problems producers encounter, some common causes of these problems, and some ideas for how to solve these... Read more...
Article
August 16, 2001
Article
July 26, 2001
Achieving faster, more efficient tube mill changeovers
A changeover on a tube mill does not mean just changing the tooling. It means changing from running good tube of one size to running good tube of another size. Many machine configurations can speed up a changeover, such as rafted sections, quick-change fasteners, etc. However, fast changeover... Read more...
Article
July 26, 2001
Article
June 15, 2001
Gas-shielded cored wires find their niche
Object Gas-shielded flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) and metal-cored arc welding (MCAW) are growing in popularity for many applications. To determine if these wires should be used, shop managers should understand how formulations of cored wires do or do not fit their quality requirements for... Read more...
Article
June 13, 2001
Article
June 6, 2001
Protecting surface-sensitive materials in coil processing
In today's world of metal fabricating, reducing the number of steps in the production process is an ever-increasing trend. Fabricators are becoming more efficient by: Feeding production lines with materials that have been slit to the proper finished dimension. Feeding production lines with... Read more...
Article
May 30, 2001
Article
May 15, 2001
Article
April 24, 2001
Examining electric resistance weld nuggets in tube and pipe
An in-depth examination of electric resistance welding (ERW) weld nuggets as a quality control step in the manufacturing of high-strength tube and pipe used for pressure applications has been a proprietary procedure for some manufacturers for several years. Types of pressure-application tube... Read more...
Article
March 5, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
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