ESI understands the demands of our clients’ industries, and we are committed to helping them save money on their Stamped Metal Parts without sacrificing the quality of their products. We have been in business for over three decades, continuously offering new levels of engineering solutions and manufacturing services, including using the most advanced automated systems. Our experience largely comes from delivering safety-critical parts to automotive customers — an industry that requires quality, speed, and efficiency.
Here are three things you can review and optimize to reduce the costs of your Stamped Metal Parts.
Materials
Metal stamping costs can vary significantly with minor changes in the properties of the raw materials you use. For instance, harder materials take more effort and time to stamp, making them more expensive. But, you can save time and money by using a softer or less abrasive material that does not compromise the required quality standards of your part. Some materials have huge price differences, yet they can deliver similar properties.
Switching to a different material can save you money while maintaining the quality and structural requirements of the part depending on the current component requirements and price of materials in the market. For example, if you were using a certain material for the original component design due to its particular characteristics, but the minimum standards for the part have changed, you can safely switch to less costly materials.
Tooling Requirements
Another thing you need to evaluate when working with a metal stamping company is the tooling requirements of your part. A minor change in tooling can impact the costs and production time significantly. You also want to minimize repair and re-tooling frequency, as this can lead to unnecessary cost and production downtime. For instance, square holes in a component require more machining and tooling than round ones. Therefore, reviewing your tooling requirements can help you know the alterations you can make to reduce complexity while maintaining functionality.
Also, determining the features that cause downtime and reviewing your design to establish how you can simplify your components helps avoid unnecessary changes in tooling requirements. Excessive abrasive wear on a metal stamping die typically originates from complex features or notches. This can lead to fatigue cracking if the tool is not maintained properly. If these features are required, a more aggressive maintenance schedule is recommended.
Production Volume
Typically, when there is increased demand for your components, production volume orders are required. Increased volume allows for streamlining of the product designs to improve manufacturability and production timelines. For those using prototype designs, it’s time to identify the opportunities for changes that can help achieve the needed functionality from the component while lowering costs.
Raw material and finishing costs will vary significantly based on volume purchased. It is often beneficial to place blanket orders for your parts over a given time period with smaller weekly or monthly releases.
Reviewing complex features for revisions will improve the QC of your components and allow for longer runs between scheduled maintenance on your tooling.
Understanding the Estimated Annual Usage (EAU) of your parts is also important. Based on the volume and frequency of your production runs, there may be different options for tool material and coatings that can help save money while achieving the desired results including multiple cavity tooling.
Adjusting the material from your original design may also be an option. Reducing the thickness of your material or switching to a more malleable metal will extend the die life and can reduce your material cost.
Sometimes, the volume may exceed expectations, and the metal stamping provider must create another tool to accommodate the additional volume. Sharing the product volume upfront is crucial as it helps determine whether there will be the need for multiple dies to achieve the desired output.
Quality and Cost Effective Metal Stamping Services
You can effectively reduce your metal stamping costs by reviewing your materials, tooling requirements, and production volumes. ESI is an industry-leading engineering service and manufacturing solutions provider and can help you achieve that.
We help clients throughout the process to ensure a cost-effective metal stamping process that produces parts that still meet their needs and industry standards. Contact the ESI team today and request a quote.
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