With 4,000+ presses built a year, we are sure we can find the right one for you! SEYI builds Gap & Straight Side Presses to 2,400 tons. Let’s determine your best press-working solution today! more about the sponsor
Stamtec Mechanical Presses We’re all about YOU! So, to better serve you, our Tennessee facility is home to North America’s largest inventory of new presses, feedlines, and spare parts…and our most important asset—our people! Engineering, sales, service, and support personnel will assist you in the most timely and professional manner. So give us a call today—we’ll appreciate the chance to help you with any of your pressroom equipment requirements. more about the sponsor
We’re running millions of parts and our carbide tooling had a tendency to break…
Just-in-time Stamper switched from carbide to DC53 tooling with FortiPhy™ PVD Coating. "Other coatings didn’t give us the surface finish of the part we wanted." more about the sponsor
Feedline Space Limits? Check Out SpaceMaster
Save valuable floor space with COE Press Equipment’s SpaceMaster Compact Coil Line (unwinding, straightening, and feeding in a single footprint). Hands-free threading, pilot release, programmable servo precision, and many others. Choose from 3 models in a wide range of widths/coil weights. Contact COE 586/979-4400 or click here more about the sponsor
FUTURE ISSUES
October
Pressroom Safety
Hydraulic Presses
In-Die Fastening
November
High-Speed Stamping
Controls
Die Springs
December
Pressroom Automation/Robotics
Lubrication
Quick Die Change
Webinar: “Performance-Based Die Engineering Strategies”
On December 9, 2008, at 2:00 EST, renowned tooling expert Peter Ulintz, author of the Tooling by Design column in MetalForming magazine, offers a webinar titled, Performance-Based Die Engineering Strategies. Describing the purpose and scope of the webinar, Ulintz states:
“Nearly all tool and die standards are function-based design specifications. Design requirements for function-based die processes only consider operational function of the die. These types of designs often are responsible for inconsistent and undesirable results in the pressroom and in the die shop. The natural deficiencies of function-based die designs are greatly magnified when applied to advanced high-strength-steel stampings.
“Today, there is a growing need to replace function-based design methods with proven die-engineering strategies based on die performance,” Ulintz continues. “Performance-based strategies ensure robust tooling processes, economical stamping methods and adequate control of the forming process.”
Ulintz’s revolutionary approach to die design and construction will be presented during the webinar. Click here to register.
Note—all subscribers to our monthly e-mail newsletter, Tool & Die Authority, can attend Pete Ulintz’s webinar for just $25, a 75-percent discount. Subscribe to Tool & Die Authorityhere.
Offshoring Losing its Luster
A new article online at the website of The McKinsey Quarterly asks: Is it time to rethink offshoring? And, it presents a very clear picture of the changing global manufacturing environment affecting today’s supply chains. For example, in 2000 when oil prices sat near $20/barrel, costs related to shipping amounted to the equivalent of a 3-percent import tariff. Today, that figure has nearly tripled, to 11 percent, say the article’s authors. Over the same time period, annual wage inflation has averaged 19 percent in China, and only 3 percent in the United States. (Also consider that Chinese workers now earn only 1.15 times what their Mexican counterparts earn, where in 2003 Mexican-worker wages more than doubled those of Chinese workers).
Update on MTConnect—the Manufacturing-Connectivity Protocol
The buzz at this-week’s International Manfuacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago is all about the progress being made by the MTConnect Technical Advisory Group (MTAG), tasked with defining an open-communication protocol standard for manufacturing equipment. Prominently displayed and demonstrated for the first time ever at IMTS, MTConnect helps enable third-party solution providers develop software and hardware that allows the sharing of data from all types of machines operating in a typical manufacturing plant. This would then allow managers to track machine efficiency, process flow, energy usage, tool-path validation and other metrics—ensuring that not only the individual components of the factory but the entire factory as a whole operates at acceptable levels.
Get yourself up to date on this important project at the MTAG website.
4400-Ton Transfer Press Emits Heavy-Metal Vibes
Rockford Toolcraft proves bigger (and stronger) is better as it tools up a rebuilt and reengineered transfer press—built of two twin-ram 2200-ton presses—to process coil-fed steel to 1/2 in. thick. Surf to our video page to see the transfer press in action.
New Turret Press Keys Productivity Turnaround
Low-cost competition from China combined with outdated fabricating equipment and manufacturing techniques threatened this Seattle heater manufacturer. A new automated turret punch press allows use of advanced software and tooling to streamline the part-making process.
