Stamper Boosts Die Life by 10X

Increasing die life from 10,000 hits to 100,000 using a thermal diffusion coating process has helped Fisher Corp. (Troy, MI) dramatically boost stamped part productivity and up time. Fisher Company builds metal components for seats such as recliner mechanisms for the automotive industry.

A vast majority of their parts are stamped from steel that can be up to 0.090” thick and from 1 to 24” in length. Their goal is to get at least 50 strokes per minute from each press with some parts being produced at 30,000 pieces per week.

Currently the company uses a number of presses such as a 1200-ton Minster that does progressive stamping, along with 300, 200, 100, and 75-ton presses. To get this type of production speed without crashing a progressive die set was tricky. Tool Room Supervisor Terry Sechler, said, “To get 50 strokes a minute with some of our dies without special surface preparation is just about impossible.”

For one job the company started producing in 1998, they purchased a new press and new tooling, but couldn’t get high production for these parts because of problems with the die set. This component was a GM pickup truck seat recliner that Fisher made for Fisher Dynamics. The part had to be wrapped around a tight radius at the same point where the material, a highstrength steel 0.090” thick, flanges down.

“Four dies in a 14-station, 11’ long progressive die set were used to produce inner and outer recliner seat parts on our 1200-ton Minster press. These parts measured 16” long and exited two off. The dies were fed with a 22”-wide coil stock using servo feeders. Running at these speeds and with the complexity of the part, we needed our dies protected. There’s only one process that we knew of that could hold up to our production, and that’s thermal diffusion from the TD Center.”

Metal Form 2004

The annual Metal Form tradeshow hosted by the Precision Metalforming
Association was held at the newly renovated Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville.

PMA claims attendance of over 2,000 with 277 booths creating a sold out show. The TD Center booth was prominently located on the main aisle and our attendance was very good. The smaller format allowed customers ample time to stop and visit us. The mood of the attendee’s was noticeably more upbeat than recent industry events. Companies appear to have larger
budgets for production improvements this year and many people were looking for new suppliers or partners.

This is first of a series of “Regional” shows planned by PMA to offer alternate locations for exhibitors and attendees.

In 2005, METALFORM will return to Rosemont, IL from March 20-23 for the biennial “big-show” at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. The next METALFORM-Regional event will be in Nashville, TN, in March 2006.

Once again our nation is calling on men and women to make great sacrifices in the name of freedom, justice and liberty. We would like to salute the brave Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who make up the greatest armed services in the world, and thank you for you duty and your sacrifices. Our hearts and our prayers are with you and your families.

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.” John F. Kennedy

"The One That Works"™

Certification Changes

The TD Center has successfully transitioned from QS-9000 to ISO 9001:2000 certification. Our certification audit was conducted on March 11th. Previously, the TD Center was certified QS compliant in 2001 and has been re-certified ever since.

The ISO 9001:2000 certificate proves that our Quality Management System has been certified against a best practice standard and found compliant. The certificate lets customers and suppliers know that we have implemented the necessary internal processes to meet our obligations.

ISO 9001:2000 is the latest version of the standard, issued December 15, 2000. The new edition has combined 1994 editions of ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003.

What is different?
The new standard places more emphasis on continual improvement and customer satisfaction than the 1994 versions. It applies to the processes of an organization that influence quality.

By adhering to the standard, the TD Center is committed to improving our operations in terms of reduced costs and improved operational efficiency. There is evidence that the certification process can substantially improve the bottom line by reducing costs. It also often reduces cycle times and improves efficiency - helping our company to be more competitive in terms of pricing and delivery.

For a copy of our latest certificate, email Aimee East.

Lead-Time Update

Reducing lead-time continues to be our major emphasis. Because we understand the challenges of taking a die out of commission or having to meet die delivery deadlines for production runs.

On non-post hardened tool steels, our lead-time performance in the month of January shows an increase in our average lead-time. Since we include all holidays and weekends in our lead-time metric, the 4-day shutdown for the New Year's Eve holiday weekend especially affected our numbers for January. We showed significant improvement entering into February but due to very strong demand during the month of March, we showed an increase in our average lead-time.

On post hardened product we have seen a decline in the average lead-time, even during periods with strong demand. This is due to changes we have made in our post hardening cycles. We have increased the number of days that we post harden to 5 days a week, so we can now harden many tools in 24 hours. There is a cost associated with running smaller batches, but the benefit of improved lead-time outweighs the cost. Due to the nature of our business, production planning is especially challenging.

Imagine planning your production based on how much UPS delivers that day! However, we are up to the challenge. The TD Center is focused on reducing your lead-time and we will continue to strive for improvement.

TD Center
2020 15th Street, Columbus, IN 47201
Ph: 877-832-3687 • Fax: 812-378-1591