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ManageMent
www.us-
tech.com Avoiding Unscheduled Downtime By Ed Sullivan T
hose who’ve had a production line go down due to a lack of spare parts know how frustrat-
ing it can be to rely solely on equip- ment OEMs for replacement tools and parts. Since OEMs are primarily in
the business of designing and build- ing production equipment, they are often not in the best position to spend the time or capital required to pro- vide an adequate inventory of re- placement parts or assemblies. At the same time, manufacturing equip- ment users don’t always have the wherewithal to inventory sufficient spares of high-wearing tooling for as- sembly and stamping processes. In some manufacturing applica-
tions, such as assembly line opera- tions, processes change periodically. This can make it necessary, or at least desirable, to redesign or other- wise modify some equipment parts and thereby improve on equipment reliability or performance. In many instances, the best so-
lution to these problems is for the equipment owner to source spares or replacement parts from qualified tool and die makers or machine shops. In fact, those specialists may well have
been involved in the design, finishing or production of the original machine parts.
When sourcing MRO (Mainte-
nance, Repair and Operations) parts from a tool and die or machine shop, there are several qualifications and benefits that may usually deserve consideration.
Flexible Turnaround Turnaround time is usually a
primary concern, particularly when on-hand spare parts are few or non- existent. Assuming those parts are not readily available from the equip- ment OEM, sourcing from a tool or machine shop that has the flexibility to provide fast turnaround may be a deciding factor. “One of the advantages of deal-
ing with a tool and die or machine shop is that they are usually flexible enough to meet our turnaround time requirement,” says Joe Fischer, Shop Supervisor at Advanced Systems and Controls (ASC), Macomb, Michigan. ASC designs and builds custom ma- chines and systems for testing and assembly operations for products such as automotive axles. “Sometimes I don’t need a part
for 4-6 weeks, and other times I might need it in a couple of days,” Fischer explains. “Either way, I look for a machine shop or tool maker that can usually handle the delivery re- quirement.” Although price is a considera-
tion, turnaround time can be worth much more than the cost of produc- ing replacement parts quickly. If a part breaks and there is no spare available, that situation can become dire very quickly. “Unplanned downtimes for any
reason are often very serious, Fischer says. “If a worn or broken part causes a line to suddenly shut down and there are no spare parts, the manufacturer is going to want a replacement part ‘yesterday’ because they are losing valuable production time.” Although ASC often carries
some spares for the equipment it manufactures, the company also sources parts from outside tool and die shops such as Belding Tool & Ma- chine (BT&M). Although BT&M has plants in two locations (Belding, MI and Christiansburg, VA), proximity to a customer is considerably less critical today. because of the ready availability of overnight delivery services. Companies now source parts across the U.S. and even inter- nationally since many suppliers are able to provide shipment of replace- ment parts virtually anywhere by ex- press delivery. BT&M makes it a policy to be
very flexible with scheduling in order to provide rapid turnaround of emer- gency orders. “We can’t take on every hot or-
der, but we are often able to move our schedule around to fit our cus- tomers’ needs,” explains Jason Markham, BT&M president. “In fact, one of our customers recently emailed us about a piece of tooling they needed urgently, and we had it shipped to them the next day.”
Design Modifications Another important considera-
tion is the ability of the non-OEM supplier to provide design assistance. This is vital when the part needed has been damaged and no spare is available. In those cases, suppliers such as BT&M must have the re- sources available to reverse engineer the replacement part. In other situations, the equip-
ment owner may benefit substantial- ly by having equipment components redesigned or otherwise modified. The opportunity may be to either achieve longer wear life or improve performance of equipment operation, particularly if the application has changed over time. Jack Fuller, MRO Manager at
Ventra Automotive (Ionia, Michigan) says that making changes can also occur because of the way a part is mounted on some types of equip- ment. Ventra makes bumpers and grilles for GM, Ford and Chrysler,
and has the capability to produce re- placement parts using its own tool- ing, or goes outside to tool and ma- chine shops. “Sometimes we have a change
in equipment or a change in how a part mounts on a machine, Fuller ex- plains. In that case we occasionally need to change the product a bit, and we need to have a tool maker such as BT&M help to redesign it.” Fuller says an example of this is
the copper V-blocks used to support tanks used in Ventra’s bumper and grill plating operations. The V-blocks have to be milled and cut to precise dimensions. “There are times when you can
Sourcing replacement parts from tool & die makers or
machine shops can be
much more efficient than relying on equipment OEMs.
have a vendor analyze how a part broke in production, due to some sort of application or design flaw,” adds ASC’s Fischer. “With their tooling ex- perience they may make suggestions that the part be modified using a dif- ferent material or adding or sub- tracting different features in the tool in order to provide longer life or im- proved performance. Not many OEMs that I know of offer that kind of flexibility.” Fischer adds that even though
ASC designs and manufactures com- ponents, sometimes the company looks outside to tooling specialists such as BT&M for other ideas, even in original equipment design.
Relationships Count Most equipment manufacturers
or users agree that having a strong re- lationship with suppliers is more im- portant than ever. “Most industries are very competitive today, and I be- lieve it is important for companies such as ours to partner with our cus- tomers,” says Fischer. “We, in turn, ask our suppliers, such as BT&M, to partner with us — on a 24/7 basis, if that’s what is necessary.” It is particularly advantageous if
the supplier can handle all of the nec- essary fabrication processes in-house. That eliminates the need to go to an- other vendor to perform one or more aspects of the required parts manufac- turing processes, regardless of parts complexities. That capability gives them much greater control over every function from design through finish- ing, and also extends to improved cost
controls and delivery times. Contact: Belding Tool & Ma-
chine, 1114 S. Bridge Street, Beld- ing, MI 48809 % 616-794-0100 fax: 616-794-3320 E-mail:
btm@beldingtool.com Web:
www.beldingtool.com r
December, 2015
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