The Biggest Misconceptions Facing Precision Metal Stamping Industries
The Biggest Misconceptions Facing Precision Metal Stamping Industries
April 7, 2015
In the manufacturing world, there are always many different paths to the same outcome. Several machining processes are capable of producing very similar, if not exact, parts for many different industries and products. The company developing the product is faced with the decisions regarding what type of process would provide the best quality at the lowest cost.
Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about each of the possibilities, making the final decision difficult.
The precision metal stampings industry faces many of these misconceptions, and can sometimes be overlooked as the right option.
Here then is a list of a few top misconceptions and the realities surrounding each.
The tooling used in precision metal stampings is very expensive.
Cost is an issue for everyone. There isn’t a company still running that doesn’t focus on the bottom line in every decision they make. Precision metal stamping is performed using press dies that can be complex, and therefore the notion has come about that the process is high cost. Simply not true. In fact, because the tooling has a long lifespan and is capable of producing parts in high volume, the cost per part is one of the lowest of all manufacturing processes.
The lead times are very long.
This misconception goes along with the first. The thought is that development of complex tooling requires a long time; therefore the customer will suffer an extended wait before the product is delivered. This is simply incorrect. With CNC machines, modern machining methods are capable of creating custom tooling quickly, and accurately.
Inventory programs cannot be set up using blanket orders.
Many customers have developed the misconception that precision metal stamping suppliers are not capable of developing inventory programs based on blanket orders. The advent of new inventory control programs have made this problem a thing of the past. The majority of metal stamping suppliers now have the ability to manage orders, control inventory and scheduling, and provide a host of logistics options for the customer. New technological systems link the manufacturing floor to the supply chain in ways that were never possible in the past.
Systems such as Material Resource Planning (MRP), which allows the manufacturer to precisely manage materials usage and availability based on data directly from the production line, and the Computer Integrated Manufacturing System (CIMS), which provides real time linked communication between all production processes. Using this new and innovative technology the manufacturer has complete control over resource and production, creating products that are high quality and low cost.
The precision metal stampings industry has evolved dramatically over the last decade. What was once fact is now fiction, and many old misconceptions are long overdue for overhaul. With every new innovation the metal stamping industry becomes more capable, more accurate, and a higher value than ever before.