Page 5 - MetalForming September 2010

Contents September 2010 • Volume 44 — Number 9
Cover Story
14 The Art and Science of In-Die Tapping
Features
20 Whirlpool Pressroom Goes Green
22 Die Shop Automates to Wrangle Work Back from
Overseas Competition
24 IMTS 2010 Loaded with Metalforming Technology
Tooling Technology
30 Punch Performance Earns Applause
Commentaries
Editorial ........................2
It’s a Whole New World for Auto Suppliers
Brad F. Kuvin
TheScienceofForming ............28
A Different Look at Friction
Stuart Keeler
Tooling by Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A Single Punch and Shave Tool
Peter Ulintz
Metalforming Electronics. . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Focus, Reflection and Refraction—Part 4
George Keremedjiev
The Business of Metalforming . . . . . . . . . 38
B2B Websites in 10 Steps—Part 2
Michael Bleau
Blackman on Taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The Estate-Tax Trap Most High-Net-Worth Owners Fall Into—Don’t Become a Victim Irving L. Blackman
YouandTheLaw .................44
Third-Party Inquiries About Workplace Accidents Douglas B. M. Ehlke
Departments
News Fronts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 TechUpdate .....................8 Materials & Coatings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Tooling Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Products .......................40 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Serving those who create precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes.
Do you know your company’s carbon footprint?
EDITORIAL BRAD F. KUVIN
It’s a Whole New World for Auto Suppliers
Steel companies remain committed to expanding their research and development efforts to fulfill a promise to the automotive industry to bring new alloys to market with improved manufacturability (formability, weld- ability, etc.). That’s one of several key takeaways gleaned from my recent inter- view with a handful of leading auto- steel representatives from the Steel Mar- ket Development Institute (SMDI). I caught up with SMDI execs during the Center for Automotive Research Man- agement Briefing Seminars held August 2-5, 2010, in Traverse City, MI.
I’ll report fully on my conversations with SMDI’s top brass in a future issue of MetalForming. In the meantime, here are three additional takeaways:
• Advanced high-strength steels not only are here to stay, but their use is pre- dicted to triple over the next few years, according to OEMs surveyed by Duck- er Worldwide. As reported during the meetings in Traverse City, this move is driven by the escalation of fuel-econo- my standards. Fuel efficiency of U.S. light vehicles must climb from 26.8 miles/gal. in 2008 to 35 miles/gal. by 2020; some OEMs have set goals well beyond that threshold, such as Hyundai’s CAFE goal of 50 miles/gal. by 2025. As a result, use of dual-phase steels in vehicles is expected to rise from 75 lb./vehicle in 2009 to 275 lb./vehicle in 2020. The biggest increase will come from dual-phase steels, but TRIP steels also will become a major player. Prepare your pressrooms accordingly.
• The move to hybrid and all-electric vehicles provides automotive OEMs a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to approach vehicle design from a “Green-
field perspective,” not hampered by hav- ing to repurpose parts and assemblies from pre-existing programs. This pres- ents a bevy of opportunities to metal- formers to come to the table with unique solutions for manufacturing critical-load-path parts from alternative processes—rollforming and hydro- forming for example. This could be a huge development that could result in a complete supply-chain makeover.
• And, along with the move to electric vehicles come OEM directives for a greener supply chain. Leading the pack is Ford, which recently asked 35 of its top global suppliers for energy-use and greenhouse-gas emissions data. Again, steel suppliers have stepped up in a big way—data presented in Traverse City shows that U.S. steelmakers have reduced energy consumption per ton of steel shipped by 33 percent since 1990. Odds are that someday soon the green- ing of the supply chain will impact lower Tier suppliers. Do you know your company’s carbon footprint? Better get ready to answer that question!
(Should you be interested in learning how carbon footprint is measured, there are several online calculators, including one at www.carbonfootprint.com/cor- porate.html. The site supports small and medium-sized companies, as well as large corporations.)
Editor
bkuvin@pma.org www.pma.org/blog
2 METALFORMING / SEPTEMBER 2010
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