Page 26 - MetalForming January 2012

The Precision Metalforming Association’s
annual Awards of Excellence in Metalforming recognize the high standards of achievement set by the metalforming industry in the areas of design, safety, process control, quality, productivity, product development, and training and education.
2011 Award Winners
Higgins-Caditz Design Award
Eclipse Manufacturing Co. Sheboygan, WI
Link Systems Process Control Award
Anchor Manufacturing Group Cleveland, OH
Pitcher Insurance Agency Safety Award
Anchor Manufacturing Group Cleveland, OH
Ulbrich Award for Competitive Excellence in Product Development
Sulzer Friction Systems Dayton, OH
Waukesha Metal Products Excellence in Quality Award
Pridgeon & Clay, Inc. Grand Rapids, MI
Zierick Manufacturing Corporation Productivity Award
Waukesha Metal Products Sussex, WI
Clips & Clamps Industries Educational Institution Award
Southwestern Illinois College Granite City, IL
PMA honored the following com- panies with a special plaque, commemorative flag and $1500 cash prize on November 13, 2011, dur- ing the PMA Fall Leadership Confer- ence and Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. Here we describe this year’s winning entries, and congratulate these com- panies that have dedicated themselves to continuous improvement.
Excellence in Design
Eclipse Manufacturing Co.
Eclipse Manufacturing Co., She- boygan, WI, received the 2011 Higgins- Caditz Design Award for designing a thermostat assembly for a lawnmower engine, featuring a rolled stainless- steel shaft produced in a hydraulic pro- gressive press using the multistrip process. The original design for the thermostat assembly comprised three stamped parts—housing, lever and cap —plus a purchased bimetallic spring and solid brass shaft.
Eclipse developed the original
stamping and assembly process in a single hydraulic progressive press, simultaneously feeding two coils from the lead end of the press and one coil from the back of the press to produce the three stampings, and then in-press assembling the solid brass shaft and the bimetallic spring. Cycle time: 9 sec., with an annual production of 1.5 mil- lion assemblies.
In 2008, Eclipse developed a value- engineered, value-added design improvement to reduce assembly cost, by adding a rolled brass shaft stamped in the multistrip process as a fourth strip. The process enhancement reduced cost to the customer by 10 percent, and shaved a full second from the cycle time.
In 2010, the customer’s require- ments changed, as lawnmower oper- ating-temperature range increased by 200 deg. At this new operating condi- tion, the rolled brass shaft failed during system-development work. Eclipse engineers, having assumed design responsibility for the project, sought a new shaft material for the thermostat