Page 18 - MetalForming magazine • December 2022

Looking to boost its ability to develop prototypes for its surgical-device OEM customers, engineers in the Weiss-Aug Surgical Products division knew that servo presses had the capabilities to help speed time to market. Ultimately the firm invested in two Komatsu 60-ton models (one shown here) and developed a modular tooling platform that allows it to separate a progressive tool into several individual stations. It then can perform each of several metal forming processes independently, to isolate the process variables.
field in order to efficiently iterate new design features. Suppliers then need the prototyping tools in place to pro- vide quick turnaround of engineering change orders.
That serves as the perfect backdrop to the evolution of the Weiss-Aug Sur- gical Products division’s prototyping department, which took a giant leap forward in 2018 when it acquired the first of its two Komatsu servo presses.
“In 2018 we embarked on a mission to address a growing need of our cus- tomers, to reduce time to market with their new instruments,” explains Bill Verwys, director of advanced product quality and modular stamping for the Weiss-Aug Surgical Products division. “That led us to invest in our prototyp- ing capabilities, so that we could react more quickly to new product designs, and to engineering changes.”
Previously the firm would use sin- gle-hit and hand-staged tooling to pro- duce prototypes, and then fabricate full progressive dies for its high-speed production presses (mainly Bruderer models) to support prototype devel-
opment. However, Verwys and his team knew that the unique capabilities of servomechanical presses could speed development time, while adding process flexibility.
Small Servomechanical Presses at the Heart
of Rapid Prototyping
“The move to servo was not cus- tomer-driven,” Verwys continues. “It was engineering-driven internally. We knew that servo presses had the capa- bilities to help us accomplish certain tasks used in developing prototypes. For example—the general concept of the prototyping that we sought to address, to quicken time to market for our customers, was based on stage- form tooling. When we brought our first servo press into the Surgical Prod- ucts division, we developed a modular tooling platform that allows us to sep- arate a progressive tool into several individual stations. This setup, along with the ability of the servo press to provide a specified tonnage anywhere in the stroke and at any press speed,
lets us isolate key process variables during development.”
In a normal stamping progression during the development of a new sur- gical instrument, the typical operations include coining, forming and blanking (beyond the initial laser blanking oper- ation). Using its modular tooling plat- form on the servo press allows Verwys and his engineering team to perform each of these metal forming processes independently, so that they can isolate the variables.
“The engineers that we work with across all of the programs, but specif- ically in medical, constantly look to tweak and adjust the design of their parts and assemblies—maybe making the part longer, shorter or a different shape,” Verwys says. “This platform allows us to make those changes very efficiently because we can isolate the individual adjustments as needed.”
Before, to make a change in a blank in a progressive die, the prototyping team often would need to adjust several die stations. Much of that time-con- suming work now is eliminated, start-
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