Page 10 - MetalForming April 2011

Tech Update
Low-EAU Part Better Off Fabricated than Stamped
Claiming the project to be the “first fruits of its new fabrication department,” Ultra Tool & Manufacturing, Menomonee Falls, WI, recently saved a customer more than $120,000 in up-front tooling costs to produce a low-EAU (estimated annual usage) part. The part in question:
a hydraulic pump-bracket assem- bly for the Nissan Murano con- vertible. Progressive dies needed to stamp the assembly’s three parts would have cost $138,000, a hefty up-front investment for an EAU of only 6000.
Instead,
Ultra Tool man- ufactured the
parts in its new fabrication department, boasting a Salvagnini L1Ce fiber-laser cutting machine and a Durma 150-ton CNC press brake.
“Typically we look for a maximum 2-yr. payback to justify pro- gressive tooling,” says Matt Schemelin, an
Ultra Tool sales engineer. “With such a low EAU, payback for the progressive tool- ing for this job would have taken more than 8 yr.”
Ultra Tool added its fabrication department during the summer of 2010 to accommodate lower volume orders. Its Salvagnini laser-cutting machine (left) boasts a 60- by 120-in. work- table, 3000-W laser and positioning tol- erance of ±0.0004 in. Cutting capacity
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8 MetalForming/April 2011
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