Page 48 - MetalForming November 2016

Tooling by Design
By Peter Ulintz
Emerging Technologies
and Workforce Development
Back in February 2012, I wrote here that I was not surprised to see that we were in the midst of an amazing 3-yr. economic recovery. What was surprising, however, was that the recovery was not about job growth; it was about automation, productivity, process optimization and quality improvement. Our factories have now been streamlined to the point where they are among the most efficient in the world.
Today, growth in the metalforming industry reflects the rapid development and expansion of new technologies. And, faced with the retirement of an aging workforce, metalformers must reassess how they train and develop the next-generation workforce charged with implementing these new tech- nologies.
Spending more money on training will not alone solve the problem of educating future metalforming profes- sionals. As an industry, we must define how to properly prepare the emerging workforce and, more importantly, what it is we should actually be teaching. High-school students preparing to enter college or technical schools likely will work at jobs that do not exist today, requiring us to somehow prepare these
Peter Ulintz has worked in the metal stamping and tool and die industry since 1978. His back- ground includes tool and die making, tool engi- neering, process design, engineering manage- ment and advanced product development. As an educator and technical
presenter, Peter speaks at PMA national seminars, regional roundtables, international conferences, and college and university programs. He also pro- vides onsite training and consultations to the met- alforming industry.
Peter Ulintz
Technical Director, PMA pulintz@pma.org
students to use technologies that have not yet been developed or implement- ed. They’ll be required to solve prob- lems that we do not yet recognize.
For example: Will tool and die shops continue to cut and machine their tool- ing, or will they employ 3D metal-print- ing processes such as net-shape metal- lic spray deposition to deposit the exact metallurgy required for each die com- ponent? CNC machining requires con- siderable programming and cutting time, con-
facturing products.
For many readers, most of this may
sound unimaginable. But consider this: Modern die-engineering practices now make use of computer-aided engineer- ing (CAE) tools that employ finite-ele- ment methods to help design and val- idate metalformed products and their tools. These computer programs have been scientifically derived to analyze and optimize the metalforming process. Not long ago, this technology
sumes consid-
erable energy,
and it wastes
material. Sure-
ly, convention-
al subtractive
processes will
in many cases
be replaced by
more efficient net-shape manufacturing technologies.
Also, consider new and emerging metalforming process developments, such as double-sided incremental met- alforming. This novel manufacturing process utilizes two generic tools to manipulate sheetmetal in an effort to produce free-form parts without the need for dies. The process can poten- tially achieve a design-to-product cycle time of just a few hours or days, as compared to the typical cycle for con- ventional metalforming processes measured in weeks or months.
What about talent at the shopfloor level? Most companies no longer can afford to pay top dollar for workers whose skill sets do not extend beyond the ability to bend and spot-weld a piece of sheetmetal. Today’s lean met- alforming companies require skilled workers who think like engineers and whose skills are essential to the process of designing, prototyping and manu-
was limited to highly skilled CAE analysts with master’s or doctorate degrees, work- ing at large OEMs, steel research cen- ters or univer- sities. The complexity
and long learning curve to implement this technology was deemed by many to be unfeasible for commercial use. Today, however, these software prod- ucts are so extensively developed and user-friendly that they are widely used by tool and die engineers, process engi- neers, estimating personnel and tool and die makers. Twenty years ago the widespread use and acceptance of this technology was unimaginable.
So, how can metalformers and tool and shops keep pace? Attend PMA’s Metal Stamping Technology and Tool & Die Conference in Chicago, on December 6-7, 2016. Also, consider joining me at the stamping technical tracks being offered at FABTECH, November 16-18, 2016, in Las Vegas. Receive a 30-percent discount on your FABTECH stamping-track sessions by registering online to attend at www.fabtech.expo.com, and using the discount code SPK30. MF
“Also, consider new and emerging metalforming process developments, such as double-sided incremental metalforming.”
46 MetalForming/November 2016
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