Page 24 - MetalForming September 2015

Servo Transfers Add Speed at Ford Flat Rock
Replacing aging, maintenance-intensive mechanical transfers with new electronic servo systems keeps Ford’s production humming.
A transfer-retrofit project at Ford’s Flat Rock (MI) assembly plant has replaced aging mechanical systems with new elec- tronic floor-mounted servos on existing presses. Besides cutting maintenance, the new transfers have significantly boosted speed.
wearing out,” says Steve Sparkes, proj- ect manager-press equipment engi- neering in the stamping business unit at Ford. “Joints start to wear out, and you start to get a little slop, which can cause interference conditions. Once that hap- pens, maintenance time and costs start to rise. We regularly fix and maintain the transfers with performed maintenance, but at the end of the day they were tir- ing out.”
The old transfers at Ford Flat Rock, dating from the late-1980s, utilized large shafts driving down from top por- tions of single- and dual-ram presses to mechanical cam boxes. Over time, Ford would rebuild the cams and other mechanical components, but down-
With the gettin’ good, the auto- motive industry has no time for downtime. Even running at full tilt, automotive OEMs have to maximize press performance. That’s Ford’s thinking, and with worn press- line components slowing production and requiring more and more mainte- nance, a change was in order. That’s why the Dearborn, MI-based automak- er decided to embark on a program to switch out its aging mechanical trans- fer systems with state-of-the art servo- driven systems on its 2000-ton Komat- su presses at Flat Rock (MI) Assembly. Half a decade in, five lines have under-
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
gone retrofits, leading to a big boost in big-part production.
Challenging Combination: Old Transfers on Old Presses
Churning out Ford Fusions and Mustangs, the 3,000-plus employees at Flat Rock hustle and bustle through- out the nearly 3-million-sq.-ft. plant. The problem: original transfer systems on the quarter-century-old presses, the mainstays in producing body panels, had seen better days.
“Most of the presses that we have are 20 to 25 years old, so after 15 to 20 years, the mechanical transfers were
22 MetalForming/September 2015
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