Page 28 - MetalForming April 2014

Spearheading Batesville Tool and Die’s commitment to the area’s new co-op program with Ivy Technical College and Batesville High School are (L-to-R): BTD president Jody Fledderman, his brother Joel Fledderman (vice president of stamping) and HR manager Carla Enzinger.
workers a view of various perform- ance-measuring statistics from every corner of the plant.
In addition, most recently BTD pur- chased six new seats of die-design and development software (VISI, from Vero Software), “to recapture die-design knowledge and bring that core compe- tency back inhouse,” Fledderman says.
“Our growth spurts through the early to mid ’90s and even more recently led us to focus on stamping and to outsource our die development and manufacture,” says Fledderman. “Now we’ve come full circle and are concerned about regaining that ability. We’re doing some very specialized work and we want to protect that intellectual property.
“Further, nearly every member of our executive team came up through the technical side of the company. I’m afraid that by not being actively involved in die design we won’t teach the next generation of managers this important aspect of the business. Design is a critical function—any issues
of the new technology Fledderman so appreciates. In addition to three rela- tively new Aida servo presses churning out automotive stampings, there’s the huge pit under construction (seen on this issue’s cover) that soon will wel- come two more servo presses. Also spied: a large-capacity 3D printer (a ProJet model from 3D Systems) used to develop prototype stampings, and a laser scanner (a Romer Absolute arm) for reverse engineering of stamped
parts and die sections.
“On the books for 2014,” Fledder-
man adds: “Three new state-of-the-art wire-EDM machines and a waterjet- cutting machine.”
In addition to building technical muscle, BTD has been busy developing its software portfolio. Its ability to lever- age its Plex ERP software, for example, is evident throughout the shop via big- screen monitors. Strategically placed, these monitors provide managers and
Investing
26 MetalForming/April 2014
www.metalformingmagazine.com