Page 26 - MetalForming July 2013

25 Years of MetalForming
time. Metalformers began in a big way to use this data-collection software to track running and idle time automati- cally as it polls the controllers, and also to automatically collect any unplanned downtime events initiated by the con- trollers. These events include tonnage and sensor faults. Stampers began to keep detailed event logs that provide a time- and date-stamped account of every event at every machine.
Also, the software knows where and when every tool runs, and how many parts the tools make. Therefore, met- alformers now were able to keep an accurate total-hits count for each die— even as the die runs in multiple press- es—eliminating tedious and sometimes inaccurate manual recordkeeping.
The unplanned-downtime infor- mation not only identifies problem equipment, but also objectively quan- tifies the severity of problems to allow efficient prioritizing of corrective actions. With objective information on machine utilization, metalformers now were able to justify delaying or cancelling some planned equipment purchases, while fast-tracking others. Data became king—collecting it, analyzing it and putting it in a form that metalformers could use to make informed, sound decisions about their businesses.
On the Die-Design Front
During the mid to late part of the decade, many die shops, as well as stampers that built their own dies, began to take a close look at the rapid- ly advancing 3D design software. In fact, as detailed in a July 2008 Metal- Forming article on the move from 2D to 3D die design, we noted how the Applied Manufacturing Technology Center at Moraine Park Technical Col- lege (MPTC) ended its 2D die-design course in 2004, and replaced it with 3D design.
At the time, John Cawley, tool-design instructor at MPTC, told us that 3D design software allowed him to teach students more about die design in a shorter amount of time. One reason: It automates the mundane tasks of die designing, which speeds the overall
process. In addition, the process proved to be much more visual than with 2D design.
Late in 2008, PMA welcomed Wayne Boeckman as its 2009 chairman, who at the time served as president of Quick-Way Stamping Inc. of Texas. Boeckman’s theme as chairman was, “Expanding Opportunities...new Ideas, Products and Markets,” and it struck a particularly harmonic chord with MetalForming magazine and PMA. It truly shone the spotlight on a key trend of the time. That was, the need for metalformers to look beyond existing core competencies and expand into new processes and cus- tomer markets.
“You can’t continue to do things the same you’ve been doing them,” Boeck- man said. In his company’s case, that translated into acquisition of metal- fabrication equipment such as turret punch presses, press brakes and laser- cutting machines. Boeckman’s claim that “fabrication opens new doors for us,” became one oft-repeated by met- alformers over the next several years, and in fact is still commonly heard around the industry; I expect it will continue to resonate for some time.
One catalyst that brought tradition- al stampers to the table for CNC fabri- cating equipment—notably turret punch presses—was the growing abil- ity of these machines to perform form- ing operations, in addition to making holes and nibbling contours. This abil- ity, due primarily to tooling innova- tion, allowed stampers to develop pro- totype parts on a turret press, then decide, based on production volumes, whether it made sense to tool up a stamping press to enter production of a new part, or to just soft-tool a turret press to satisfy relatively low-volume production runs. Flexibility—in every sense of the term—became the mantra, and still is.
A New Era in Metalforming- Equipment Capabilities
Meanwhile, on the stamping front— particularly the automotive-stamping front—we continued to experience
An April 2009 article titled, “Forming Higher-Strength Steels,” notes that “stamping higher-strength steels can affect the size, strength, power and over- all configuration of every major piece of the press line, including coil-handling equipment, coil-feed systems, straighten- ing machines and presses.”
rapid advancement in advanced high- strength steels. This trend helped to usher in a new era of metalforming- technology advancements. Thanks to lightweighting initiatives, steelmakers poured even more research and devel- opment resources into devising new steel grades with tensile strengths as much as three times greater than tra- ditional mild steels, but also with sig- nificantly less formability. Forming AHSS grades in high volumes for the automotive industry now challenged the metalforming industry to develop new cleaner and more homogeneous tool steels, as well as beef-up presses and feed equipment.
As MetalForming columnists Stu Keeler and Pete Ulintz wrote in an April 2009 article titled, “Forming Higher- Strength Steels:”
“The increased forces needed to form, pierce and trim higher-strength steels creates significant problems for pressroom equipment and tooling, including excessive tooling defections, damaging tipping moments, and amplified vibrations and snapthrough forces that can shock and break dies—
24 MetalForming/July 2013
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