EoW May 2011

Drawing dies & cones

The benefits of in-house die shops

The economic pressure on wire mills has resulted in reviewing all non-production overhead costs, including in-house die shops. There are many issues to consider when looking at outsourcing the re-working of dies. Reduction of overhead is often the motivating reason to close an internal die shop. It is not possible to get rid of all the personnel, since someone will need to keep track of inventory to prevent running out of dies. An inspection programme must be implemented to ensure the quality being supplied to prevent premature failures, inconsistent results and to be able to qualify different suppliers. This will require at least one operator in the die shop or added to the quality department. Since few wire mills inspect incoming dies, there can be inconsistencies with the dies’ internal geometry, complete non-conformance to specified die angles and bearing lengths and poor surface finishes. With outsourced or throw away dies usage is increased since operators rarely inspect dies that have limited wire drawn through them for wear; they are just discarded with worn dies. Shipping costs increase since every die must be shipped to the mill, and when there is an emergency, next day air charges add up quickly. An internal shop can quickly produce dies to meet a customer’s demand for a new size, reduce lead-time by not waiting for a supplier, and provide the ability to adjust die geometry to solve drawing problems. These abilities will reduce scrap and make the mill more efficient.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY By a big wire ropes industry, at the center of Europe A partner for installing wire drawing project is sought PO BOX 0302 Wire & Cable ASIA magazine and EuroWire magazine, 46 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 4HY

▲ ▲ Equipment from Die Quip

The key to operating a successful internal die shop is equipment that makes it easy and accurate to set the geometry of the die the same every time without operator influence, proper training to understand the correct procedures for reworking worn dies into high quality dies and die designs to match the reductions, material and equipment. Die Quip can supply machines, training programmes and design knowledge to make in-house die shops a production tool, rather than an overhead expense. Die Quip Corporation – USA Fax : +1 412 835 6474

Email : diequip@diequip.com Website : www.diequip.com

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EuroWire – May 2011