Category Archives: Manufacturing Reliability

​Made it to the “Top 5 in 365” list at TheFabricator.com!

Posted on December 18, 2018 by

The “Top 5 in 365” list of the five most-popular stamping related articles on http://www.thefabricator.com is out, and 4M is on it! From Bill Frahm’s article, Statistics and Probability for Better Decisions in Manufacturing, “If you manage the manufacture of high-volume … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry Outlook, Management, Manufacturing Reliability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Industry 4.0: Sensors Come to Sheet Metal Forming

Posted on December 13, 2018 by

Ohio State University article about Industry 4.0 the use of sensors in stamping: https://www.thefabricator.com/article/stamping/r-d-update-industry-4-0-and-the-use-of-sensors-in-sheet-metal-forming If you don’t think you can justify sensors, my recommendation is to track coil-by-coil performance [bad AND good] to see effect of metal props. You might … Continue reading →

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Sharp Edges Lead to Cracks? Who Knew?

Posted on October 7, 2018 by

“Cracks found in the Transbay Terminal superstructure appear to have started at the sharp corners of holes cut into vital steel beams during construction.” The San Francisco transit center opened in late August after 10 years of construction, costing $2.2 … Continue reading →

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“Quality is in the eye of the customer for most in the metal fabricating world”

Posted on September 1, 2018 by

What works for a 250-person metal forming company that primarily serves the automotive industry likely will not work for the 25-person job shop with 70 customers in 15 industry segments. Continue reading →

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FMEA Failure Modes & Effects Analysis in Sheet Metal Forming

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

Dimensional variability. Random splits. Surface waves. Any of these can cause big production headaches. Scrambling to fix the problems can lead to a host of other issues.  See my article on FMEA Failure Modes & Effects Analysis in the January … Continue reading →

Posted in Manufacturing Process, Manufacturing Reliability, Materials, Metal Forming | Leave a comment