Dec 8, 2018 3:48 pm

Sensors and Industry 4.0 Come to Sheet Metal Forming

By |2018-12-08T15:48:33-05:00Dec 8, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

Nice article about the use of sensors in stamping and relation to Industry 4.0.  If you don't think you can justify sensors, my recommendation is to track coil-by-coil performance [bad AND good] to see effect of metal props. You might find that success is a function of more than just YTE or hardness. Sensors like tonnage monitors will help focus corrective actions. https://www.thefabricator.com/article/stamping/r-d-update-industry-4-0-and-the-use-of-sensors-in-sheet-metal-forming -Danny Schaeffler, https://www.EQSgroup.com and https://www.Learning4M.com  ​

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Dec 5, 2018 9:46 pm

​Center for Automotive Research Report: ​​Impact of Overseas Tooling Sourcing

By |2019-01-06T16:22:11-05:00Dec 5, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

​​Abhay (Abe) Vadhavkar of CAR writes about the impact of sourcing tools overseas on the US tool & die sector.​  The report​​ ​states that new tooling sourced in Low Cost Countries such as China and Taiwan may cost 20 percent lower than US sourced tooling, with similar time-to-completion, even with shipping. ​ Among other things, the report highlights ​the​ advanced age of US tool & die workers and potential for US-based shops to become [...]

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Nov 30, 2018 10:54 am

The Aluminum-Steel Battle in Automotive Applications

By |2018-11-11T12:43:55-05:00Nov 30, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

Steel and aluminum alloys are looking to be the chosen metal in auto bodies. Why? There are 2 tons of sheetmetal purchased for 17MM vehicles sold each year in the US - there is no other industry with such high-volume sales opportunities. Read about strength, stiffness, and joining in my article in the May 2018 issue of MetalForming Magazine at www.metalformingmagazine.com/magazine/article/?/2018/5/1/The_Aluminum-Steel_Battle_in_Automotive_Applications

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Nov 13, 2018 12:22 pm

Nissan – Smyrna uses a LOT of Sheet Metal

By |2018-11-13T12:22:53-05:00Nov 13, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

​Nissan's plant in ​Smyrna, TN makes 640,000 vehicles a year, which is more than 1 per second.  The stamping plant goes through 15 tons of steel and over half a ton of aluminum EVERY HOUR. automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com/focus/stamp-of-approval

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Nov 8, 2018 10:21 am

February, March and April 2018 issues of MetalForming Magazine: Sheet Metal Terminology Parts 1, 2, and 3

By |2018-11-08T10:21:48-05:00Nov 8, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

The February issue (Part 1) discusses some of the general terms you’ll encounter.  Remember, it’s important that you and your supplier both use the same language to be sure you’ll get what you need. The March issue (Part 2) describes the limitations of ordering AISI 1008/1010, and why you might need to change to something like SAE J2329 for more consistent performance. The April issue (Part 3) highlights terms you’ll [...]

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Oct 26, 2018 9:59 am

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis in Sheet Metal Forming

By |2018-11-08T10:22:56-05:00Oct 26, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

Scrambling to fix production problems can lead to a host of other issues. FMEA, or failure modes and effects analysis, can help align your efforts with the issues that can cause the most headaches. Failures come in all degrees, with some more important than others. Preparing to work on your first FMEA may appear to be a daunting task. Many things can go wrong, including some that you had not [...]

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Oct 20, 2018 7:45 pm

The More You Know

By |2018-10-20T20:40:42-04:00Oct 20, 2018|Blog|0 Comments

I’ve had the great honor of writing for MetalForming Magazine for just about a year. My first column was published in December 2017, and gave you insight on my perspective of the MetalForming industry: With so many variables present in today’s forming system, the metalforming industry must move from trial-and-error to a science and engineering approach. Experience remains vital, but we must recognize when to incorporate new information into the [...]

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Jun 23, 2018 3:31 pm

Powertrain Architectures for 21st Century Trucks

By |2018-06-23T15:32:58-04:00Jun 23, 2018|Case Studies|0 Comments

Problem: Improved Materials and Powertrain Architectures for 21st Century Trucks / Forming and Bonding of Reduced Gauge Iron Carbon Alloys for Truck Engineering (IMPACT/FABRICATE) was an early research program looking at the feasibility of using Advanced High Strength Steels in passenger and military tactical trucks. The consortium included Ford Motor Company, the American Iron & Steel Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the United States Department of Defense and several universities. [...]

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Jun 23, 2018 3:29 pm

Stamping Tool Development

By |2018-06-23T15:29:47-04:00Jun 23, 2018|Case Studies|0 Comments

Problem: A major automaker sourced the stamping tool development and build for an entire vehicle with just one tooling supplier. In order for the tool build company to get paid, successful buyoff included passing strain analyses on over 100 critical stampings. Traditionally, the steel company sourced with the supply of each part was called upon for this analysis, but the automaker had not yet sourced production steel supply. What did [...]

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Dec 22, 2017 5:58 pm

Now Writing For MetalForming Magazine!

By |2018-06-27T20:45:40-04:00Dec 22, 2017|Blog|0 Comments

I’m now writing the monthly Science of Forming article for Metalforming Magazine – it’s a great honor to be taking over from Dr. Stuart Keeler. See my first article, The More You Know, on page 36 at http://metalformingmagazine.com/magazine/digital-issue/?/2017/Dec Optimizing sheetmetal flow to form a stamped part requires understanding the interaction between the sheetmetal, surface characteristics and tooling. Consider where we were in the 1970s. Back then, we could choose between seven grades [...]

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