Page 39 - MetalForming November 2009

Are you getting
Are you getting
your e-news?
your e-news?
MetalForming magazine publishes a bi-weekly e-mail newsletter for the metalforming industry. Stay informed of the latest occurrences within our industry, and keep tabs on the near-term plans of MetalForming and the Precision Metalforming Association. With each issue you’ll find unique articles describing metalforming in action, as well as links to industry articles. We’ll also fill you in on the magazine’s current- and future-issue content.
You can get it delivered but you need to request it. Just go to www.metalformingmagazine.com
and click on “Subscribe to our e-newsletter.”
It’s just that simple.
Magazine
Newsletter
their attendant trainers, jockeys, investors and owners, it is extremely difficult to talk about mules. It is the same with tooling and assembly- machine design. In a world of seemingly never-ending high-volume orders for automotive, appliance, hardware, elec- trical, medical and aerospace parts, a certain type of group think evolved within our engineering, design and automation experts. It was good and perfect for its time. But now, with lower- volume orders, it is paramount that all engineering functions be brought into the new reality.
Lower volumes actually mean more
Lower-volume orders actually require more sensor use than most in management realize.
uses for electronic sensors as the re- thought mechanisms of the high-vol- ume era are redesigned to better con- form to shorter-run scenarios. Your company’s management must take this very seriously. Lower-volume orders actually require more sensor use than most in management realize as the sim- plified tooling and near-zero inventories of short runs simply cannot tolerate mechanical failures or human errors in setups and production runs. Where an order for a million pieces has some financial cushion for mistakes, even within good lean practices an order for 1250 parts simply has very little room for errors of any kind.
Rethink it all. I will be available in person, at booth 17109 at METAL- FORM, November 15-18 at McCormick Place in Chicago, to visit with anyone who may want to discuss the above or any other mistake-proofing issues. MF
www.metalformingmagazine.com
METALFORMING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 37