Page 22 - MetalForming July 2013

25 Years of MetalForming The Internet
parts as value-added and everything else as nonvalue-added. We won’t tell our value-added people to work hard- er. We will look at nonvalue-added and see how we can save there.
“The biggest nonvalue operation is setup time,” Newmark continued. “To reduce setup times, we invested in extra capital. We have two or three times as many presses as press operators. We looked at how we can eliminate setup time and take advantage of a progres- sive tool developed for quick setup, couple it with the economy of the short-run stamping tooling and come up with something that works.”
New Steels, and the Metalforming Technology Needed to Process Them
Steel products evolved dramatical- ly through the early part of the centu- ry (and continue to do so today), as pointed out in “Advanced High- Strength Steels for Stamped Automotive Parts,” an article MetalForming pub- lished in March 2005.
“Since 2000, the global automotive industry has seen rapid improvements in automotive steels, especially with the application of advanced high- strength steels (AHSS) including dual- phase (DP) alloys and transformation- induced-plasticity ( TRIP) steels,” the article read. “Predictions by major OEMs throughout the world suggest that AHSS products will replace, in large percentages, the conventional mild and HSLA steels applied through- out body and chassis structures.
“When presented with making an AHSS part from DP or TRIP steel,” the article continued, “what should the metalformer know? The short answer is that whatever you know about high- strength steels compared to mild steels still applies when forming AHSS. AHSS materials usually will have higher yield strengths and much higher ultimate tensile strengths, so the metalformer must anticipate higher press loads and greater springback and die wear. Form- ing, as well as welding, is proportionally affected by higher material strength and different microstructures.”
Computers and consumer elec- tronics infiltrated society in the 1990s, with North American metalformers supplying cases, disk drives and various hardware. But by the end of the decade much of this part production had moved south and overseas.
Here to stay, however, are computers themselves, with the ’90s witnessing the “Internet Revolution,” dramatical- ly increased computing power and huge software advancements. All of that meant instant communication worldwide, better machine control, nearly real-time management of met- alforming operations, and the ability to quickly design stamped and fabricated parts and tooling and simulate the pro- duction process.
The 2000s
Challenges confront the industry from all sides.
How to compete? That’s what met- alformers and fabricators asked them- selves at the start of the new century. Customers demanded price givebacks while metalformers paid more for raw materials, energy, health care, etc., fur- ther eroding already thin profit mar- gins. Competition from Asia, primari- ly China, essentially eliminated “commodity” tool and part producers in North America. And growing mar- kets, especially in Asia, demanded that metalformers find ways to stay close to customers serving those markets.
On the political scene, steel tariffs in the early 2000s tightened supply and helped push prices to record levels. Lawmakers heard from metalformers concerned with Chinese currency val- uation, labor, taxes and other issues stressing the industry.
So where did that leave us? All of this forced the metalforming commu- nity to become leaner and meaner than ever before. Toward that end, Metal- Forming in the 2000s focused editorial coverage on providing methods for producing high-quality parts as quick- ly as possible, and delivering just what the customer wanted. That meant get- ting the most out of existing equip-
“The Small-Lot Scenario,” an article pub- lished in our November 2001 issue, examined the trend toward just-in-time supply of smaller part runs and how short-run specialists made that happen. “More and more companies are trying to drive stampings down to a commodity where they are looking at price,” said Jeff Newmark, president of WLS Stamping Co. “We look to reduce our costs...work toward lean manufacturing and attack waste...The biggest non-value operation is setup time.”
ment or upgrading to get the job done; adding value within the line; employing sensors and controls so that machines and tooling worked optimally; and ensuring that shop-floor employees had the tools they needed, and the knowhow to get the most out of them.
Shorter Part Runs a Trend
“The Small-Lot Scenario,” an article published in our November 2001 issue of MetalForming, examined the trend toward just-in-time supply of smaller part runs and how short-run specialists made that happen.
“More and more companies are try- ing to drive stampings down to a com- modity where they are looking at price,” said Jeff Newmark, president of WLS Stamping Co., Cleveland, OH. “We look to reduce our costs. One way to do this is to tell people to work harder. The other is to make a change—work toward lean manufacturing and attack waste. We view the people making the
20 MetalForming/July 2013
www.metalformingmagazine.com