jsreric roll forming machine

Six words that can ruin a business: “That’s how we’ve always done it.”

These six words have contributed to the decline of every great empire on earth. Although there is certainly value in honoring tradition, tradition can’t drive business growth. “That’s how we’ve always done it” isn’t what created the iPhone, the self-driving car, or the drone.

“That’s how we’ve always done it” leads to stagnation, when we should be aiming for innovation. Progress. Doing it better.

However, change for no reason can be just as disastrous. You need to have data that proves your new process is better - more efficient, more cost-effective, higher quality, all of the above.

When you transition to a new metal manufacturing process, the goal is optimizing your product, your supply chain, and your ROI. Here’s how to present the idea of a transition to your higher ups.

PROVING IT’S TIME FOR NEW METAL MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
1.  Your volumes are outgrowing the ROI of your current processes
Different metal manufacturing processes have their strengths and weaknesses. Some processes are more cost-effective at very small volumes; others are more cost-effective and efficient with very large volumes.

As your business grows and demand increases, you’re faced with producing more components using a process that may be optimized for smaller volumes. It was fine when you were finding your feet, but you've outgrown it.

Calculate: Take a walk through your plant and note choke points.

If work is stacking up, your process has become a constraint! It may even be limiting the number of shippable units you produce. If that’s the case, this seemingly minor obstruction is an exponential cost detriment.

2.  Amount of scrap/waste is exorbitant
Scrap is one of those unseen costs that can majorly impact your profits. Scrap and wastes are a physical manifestation of time, effort, and money. How much does it hurt your company to scrap an entire order due to a processing error? That’s an entire material order of revenue out the window.

Some metal manufacturing processes produce a large amount of scrap. Others, close to none. The less material you waste, the more cost-effective your supply chain will be overall.

Calculate: You can calculate the cost of scrap based on the percentage of material that doesn’t leave the manufacturing facility.

Your manufacturer’s standard cost should account for scrap, but again, a walk on the production floor and a talk with your operators will tell the real story. Is your scrap cost being calculated accurately?

3.  Current process is inefficient for your product
Complex parts require more precise processes. When forming sheet metal, a brake press is certainly cheap up to a point - but it lacks the delicacy to produce a high-quality complex part.

Calculate: How much money is wasted on extraneous forming processes, setup time, number of operators, number of process queues and stops, secondary operations?

4.  You want more control over processes and tooling
Some processes originate as soft, general tooling and universal general punching techniques. But as time goes on and volumes increase, dedicated higher volume tooling is a justified investment. You should also consider whether you’ll need tooling for other processes happening at the same time.

If you own the tooling exclusively, you can save thousands per year on manual process costs, setup, storage, etc.

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