Page 21 - MetalForming February 2010

Tooling Technology
QDC ROI, PDQ
Follow these steps to successfully complete a quick-die-change return-on-investment analysis “pretty darn quickly”—
your competitive future might depend on it.
Industry sources I spoke with regard- ing how to successfully develop a quick-die-change (QDC) strategy— one that management will buy into and your financial folks will approve—agree: Include your accounting department in your production-flow and die-change procedure overview right from the start. This will ensure that any funds needed to implement your plan, included those for purchasing new equipment such as clamps and die carts, get approved in a timely manner and allow your QDC production team to implement your great ideas related to QDC. And, includ- ing financial folks on the planning team will ensure timely definition of an acceptable justification formula at the beginning of the project, eliminating any back and forth proposal iterations that will undoubtedly delay the process.
Where to Begin?
But where does the QDC team begin in its journey to reduce the time need- ed to transition a press line from last part off of an existing job to good first part off of the next project? Start with a detailed analysis of every single step required to transition the line from one job to the next.
“Start by building a QDC imple- mentation team comprised of people representing several departments with- in the company,” suggests Patrick Richardson, consultant for QDC Sys- tems and Engineering and Rico Equip- ment, Medina, OH, a manufacturer of
specialty lift trucks for die handling and other applications. “The team should include people from manage- ment, engineering, maintenance and production. And yes, accounting. Together the team should immediately define its goals for implementing QDC procedures and equipment, with clear- ly defined measurements—realistic and attainable—that define success.
“In addition to reducing changeover times,” Richardson continues, “goals might include reducing in-process inventory, increasing press uptime (to the point where capacity is increased enough to perhaps delay a pending new-press purchase), and improving workplace safety and ergonomics. In
fact, cost avoidance by improving oper- ator safety has been a huge ROI angle for many of our customers in the met- alforming industry.”
Whether focused on every press line in the plant or just a few where the team decides it can get the biggest return, based on part volumes and cur- rent production performance meas- ures, the process begins with a careful and detailed study of press-cell layout and material flow. Says Cliff Drake, president of EAS Mold & Die Change Systems, Menomonee Falls, WI, a man- ufacturer of clamping systems, die split- ters and turning units, die carts and other QDC equipment: “We recom- mend that for each press cell under
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
www.metalformingmagazine.com
METALFORMING / FEBRUARY 2010 19
Using a dedicated die-change table will avoid die-change delays caused by waiting for a multitasking fork truck or overhead crane to become available.