The Future is Forming

The Tool and Die Authority October 2009 Newsletter contained these articles:

Who’s Moving Along with the Winds of Change?: Joe Brown
Die-Setting Practice : Peter Ulintz
Transfer Systems—What Can They Do for You?: Bob Quinn
Detecting Feed in Thick Materials : Drew Stevens

and from Danny Schaeffler of Engineering Quality Solutions (EQS)...
Steel Mills are Heating Up (or, the Law of Unintended Consequences)

Last summer, the capacity-utilization rate for North American steelmakers was just about 90 percent. This meant that 90 percent of the sum total of all of the steelmaking capacity we have in North America was making steel. Then, as the economy tanked late last year, furnaces were shut off and allowed to go cold. Rather than flood the market with what would have been inexpensive steel, the capacity-utilization rate dropped to 32 percent at U.S. Steel; industry-wide, it fell to near 40 percent.

Recently, there’s been news of numerous furnaces coming back on line, due in part to the Cash-for-Clunkers program, as well as to the need for inventory restocking at the nation’s service centers. During the second week of September 2009, the steelmaking capacity-utilization rate in North America climbed to just short of 60 percent. What effect will this have on the price of steel? ...

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Labels: capacity utilization rate, steel mills

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 7:33 AM | Permalink |
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The Tool and Die Authority September 2009 Newsletter contained these articles:

Oakland University Creates an Open Forum …for Die Makers, their Customers and Other Key Stakeholders: Joe Brown
A Split Decision—Part 2: Peter Ulintz
How Does Tooling Price Impact Piece Price?: Bob Quinn
Creative Error Proofing: Drew Stevens

and from Danny Schaeffler of Engineering Quality Solutions (EQS)...
The Sound of One Hand Clapping (or, Are You Really an Author if No One Reads What You Write?)

For the year that Tool & Die Authority has been published, I’ve been writing about topics I thought would interest you. But if I’m talking about surface issues and you’re dealing with sourcing advanced high-strength steels, I’ve managed to waste your time, and mine.

So, here’s a proposal for an experiment. We are going to move you from the sidelines as a passive reader of Tool & Die Authority to an active participant in the article-writing process. Now you get to choose the topics of future articles. Just e-mail me with your ideas, and I’ll do my best to meet your expectations...

Visit the Precision Metalforming Association website to learn how to subscribe!

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 9:35 AM | Permalink |
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“Social media” is a generalized term that applies to how people interact online, and can include blogs, podcasts, and webinars. Traditional newspapers, magazines, and books do not allow for the audience to share their viewpoints (aside from a Letter to the Editor) and engage in a dialogue for real-time feedback. That’s what I’m hoping this site will evolve into (with your help of course!)

As I’m reading up on Web 2.0, a book by Paul Gillin called The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media was recommended to me. It’s a great read, and I recommend it to anyone, especially companies thinking about blogging. In there, Gillin provides a discussion on one of the original blogs on the sheet metal industry, The Tinbasher, run by Paul Woodhouse and Butler Sheetmetal in the UK. (Fantastic to see a mainstream shout-out to someone in the industry!)

In addition to The Tinbasher, I follow Steel Strip World run by Steve Sawford of BSS SteelStrip and Steel on the Net by Metals Consulting International for steel industry information. For tool & die blogs, I read Eric Kam’s Self Proclaimed Die Expert, Die Guy by Tim Stephens, and Tool and Dieing by Joe Brown of Lintrio.

These blogs all have a distinctive style and voice, and provide timely information and insight.

Labels: blog, Die Guy, Paul Gillin, Self Proclaimed Die Expert, Social Media, Steel, Steel on the Net, Steel Strip World, Tinbasher, Tool and Die, Tool and Dieing

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 3:51 PM | Permalink |
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The Tool and Die Authority August 2009 Newsletter contained these articles:

The Future Tooling-Talent Pool: Misperceptions Demand Attention: Joe Brown
A Split Decision: Peter Ulintz
Tooling Costs Compared—Offshore vs. On: Bob Quinn
Value-Added Operations, Part 1—Putting Stuff Together: Drew Stevens

and from Danny Schaeffler of Engineering Quality Solutions (EQS)...
Limitations of Hardness Testing for Deep-Drawing Applications (or, How to Make a Good Impression)

You’ve probably noticed that hardness is sometimes reported on your sheetmetal certs (and that if you see it, you likely are paying for it, probably a few dollars per ton). If you form mild-steel sheet in the range of 0.060-in. thick, hardness probably will fall near 75-78 HRB. But what does this really mean?

Simply put, hardness provides a measure of the material’s resistance to indentation. Of course, hardness will vary with the type of material being tested. But the test results also depend on the type of indenter being used (size/shape/material) and the amount of force used to push the indenter into the sheet. These two test parameters determine the scale used by the testing facility when reporting test results ...

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Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 9:19 PM | Permalink |
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Dual phase steel: The front and side frame rails, under-floor structural beams (“sled-runners”), side roof arches, and lateral floor reinforcements.

Martensitic steel: Roof pillars, door intrusion beams

Other Ford North America vehicles using ultra high strength steel:

• Ford Flex (A-pillar)

• Ford Taurus, F-Series Crew Cab and Lincoln MKS (B-pillar)

• Ford Focus and Mustang (bumper)

• Ford Transit Connect (front crossmember)

For more info:

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=30781

http://media.ford.com/images/10031/Boron.pdf

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 5:36 PM | Permalink |
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In 2008, Chinese steel production of 502 million metric tonnes was about the same as sum of the total production of the next 8 countries combined. Japan was second on the world producers list with 119 million metric tonnes, and the United States was third with 92 million metric tonnes.

Rank 2008	Rank 2007	Steel Company	Production 2008	Production 2007
1	1	ArcelorMittal	103.3	116.4
2	2	Nippon Steel	37.5	35.7
3	5	Baosteel Group	35.4	28.6
4	4	POSCO	34.7	31.1
5	-	Hebei Steel Group	33.3	31.1
6	3	JFE	33	34
7	11	Wuhan Steel Group	27.7	20.2
8	6	Tata Steel	24.4	26.5
9	8	Jiangsu Shagang Group	23.3	22.9
10	10	U.S. Steel	23.2	21.5
(production is in million metric tonnes)

Posted by Engineering Quality Solutions at 2:54 PM | Permalink |
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