A One-Stop-Shop for Parts Puts Company Ahead
by Kathryn Tomiello, Staff Editor
Friday, October 05, 2007
As with many companies, TOX Pressotechnik found it was spending too much time getting its parts. The culprit? Multi-sourcing parts to standard catalog houses, local machine shops, or even sometimes making them in-house. They were often routine parts or simple components that required minor modifications from standard catalog items. TOX, an international supplier of hydraulic presses, work holding, and fastening devices for custom manufacturing operations, needed a solution–a one-stop-shop to provide components. But it wasn’t that simple. It also needed a supplier that met several other needs.
The company chose a supplier that offered a variety of components and configurations and that could respond to its one-of-a-kind requirements quickly. This way, it wouldn’t have to pick-and-choose from multiple sources. Its team now uses standard catalog items from one supplier and sometimes modifies the parts to suit its designs. What they get are often custom components.
On TOX hydraulic press, Misumi USA, Inc., supplied all of the mechanical components between the top and bottom plates (except the small sensor brackets). This included the linear shafts and collars, linear shaft supports, linear bushings, blocks, plates, locating bushings, stoppers, screws, and bolts.
The hydraulic press functions as a 50-ton staking machine. Staking is a process of deforming material, either by rolling a flange or compressing it into an undercut, to secure one component to another.
To make the staking tools at the top, engineers modified an existing Misumi component. The company saved 20% in materials and inside shop time by using one supplier. This approach also saved on the overall component costs; and conserved time in the engineering, part sourcing, in-house machining, and multi-vendor paperwork areas.
For demanding designs that might require extra machining, engineers purchase a configured or standard component from Misumi and further modify it in the TOX shop to serve a particular purpose. TOX then assigns its own part number to the newly created component for its customer’s reference.
The company knew what to look for in its supplier: an outfit that could deliver quality parts at a good price and on time. Many suppliers are often inconsistent from part to part. According to Mike Mishler, product development manager for TOX, it really shows up on the configured components. Mishler noted that the tolerance, finish, and material quality should match what is stated in the catalog. “We have no problem further machining a configured or standard component to create a custom piece for a specific application,” said Mishler.
Mishler’s job is to identify and manage all constituent elements of a project. This starts with the customer interface and moves to the design concept, creating initial drawings, estimating process, sourcing of components, customer approval supervision, integration of design/machine shop departments as well as the delivery of all components, final assembly, test, delivery, and start-up.
Partnering with a competent single supplier reduces tooling costs and time; and gives companies like TOX the security they need to machine custom parts from standard catalog components.
Catalogs must include all the engineering detail, pricing, and delivery information so that engineers can go directly from their drawings to the order process. This reduces project costs and turnaround time even on complex designs. TOX almost always references the Misumi paper catalogs. They also use the CAD configurator tool on the company’s Website. Engineers can configure a part, download the native CAD file, modify it, and then insert it into the CAD assembly.
Additionally, TOX has subsidiaries and joint ventures in many countries around the world, so it was important for the company to have an international supplier. Misumi can respond when TOX needs local support on multiple continents.
“This is probably the best scenario — when we combine our expertise with that of a competent vendor and everyone wins,” said Mishler.
Misumi USA, Inc.
www.misumiusa.com
:: Design World ::