Page 34 - MetalForming-Jun-2018-issue

FABRICATION
Tackling
Tool
Wear
Automatic Spring Products does this successfully through matching tool and part materials to the application, and working closely with tool-component suppliers.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
“We make things move better.” That succinct description, from Patrick DeShaw, executive vice president of Automatic Spring Products Corp., Grand Haven, MI, accurately sums up the company’s product line. Formed in 1950 and on its third generation of private-family ownership, Automatic Spring Products and its 450 associates in three plants (two in Grand Haven and one in Monterrey, Mexico) ship more than 700 million parts annu- ally. Ninety-five percent go to automotive customers, either OEMs or Tier Ones, for powertrain applications or as interior components for seats, consoles, and door and instrument
panels.
The company, humming along on three shifts, five to six
days/week, produces custom-designed compression, exten- sion and torsion springs; wire forms; flat springs; stampings; spring and shim washers; and assemblies. To do so, it brings to bear a formidable array of inhouse processes and capa- bilities, allowing for control of the entire part-creation process from engineering concept and prototyping to tool build and maintenance, manufacturing, heattreating, burr removal, and phosphating.
At its 105,000-sq.-ft. main plant in Grand Haven, Auto- matic Spring Products houses fourslide, tooling, assembly and stamping operations. It was here that MetalForming learned how the company leverages its extensive expertise and experience to best match press tooling to the variety of
Automatic Spring Products has devised a tool-rack system to assist in high-volume work for a major automotive OEM. Drawers are organized to hold all manner of tool components, with a component-supplier representative arriving on a biweekly basis to assess component quality and quantity, and present a detailed spreadsheet of inventory.
32 MetalForming/June 2018
www.metalformingmagazine.com
At its 105,000-sq.-ft. main plant in Grand Haven, MI, Automatic Spring Products houses fourslide, tooling, assembly and stamping operations. Note fourslide machines in the foreground with recently installed servo-mechanical presses operating at the rear left.
part materials.
The company’s stable of presses includes mechanical
units to 200 tons as well as two new Aida servo-mechanical machines and a new, high-speed Bruderer line. Sensor- laden compound and progressive dies punch and form, with ShopFloorConnect software from Wintriss Controls providing real-time production tracking and OEE for press operations.