Page 30 - MetalForming May 2014

Designing for Dollars
software makes employees and processes, even quoting, much more accurate and efficient.”
That’s a compelling argument, and Proeber shares an experience high- lighting the value of a ‘hire’ like this.
“A metal stamper quoted a die to make a part complete in a progressive die, and when it tried to stamp the part it had major problems,” he relates. “The part could not be produced with the planned process in the die. Plans called for a draw station after material had already been cut away. But, in reality the material needed to be cut away after drawing. The tool builder had to rework and simplify the progressive die, and add a four-station secondary die to complete the part. More than $100,000 was lost by the tool-and-die builder, the stamper and the OEM cus- tomer. Meanwhile, a $5000 simulation- software package (equivalent to a part- time employee, or perhaps a summer intern) would have caught the problem upfront and enabled the designer to
This thickness map, provided by ETA, shows how software can predict the thickness of a stamped part—just one of many capabilities available in forming-simulation software.
develop an ideal process instead.” This employee also works well with
others, Proeber points out.
Work with Any File
Next on the list of software advance- ments: improved file management. In a manufacturing setting, file snags, or the requirement to adapt or recreate files for different formats, burn up dol- lars quickly.
“Many parametric products—those using a parametric tree—may require tool builders to redesign the part from the provided file in order to paramatize it for their own use,” explains Jack Thompson, sales engineer at TST Tool- ing Software Technology LLC, Clark- ston, MI. TST offers VISI software for tool, die and mold design and build. “Redrawing the part in order to proceed with the tooling side of the build can be
Time and Money Saving Solutions From Quoting to Delivery
28 MetalForming/May 2014
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