The initial manufacturing process for the electric hand tool component employed die casting, a fitting choice for its high-volume production requirements. However, the inherent nature of die casting, coupled with efforts to optimize material flow in the mold, led to persistent porosity issues. Consequently, significant cracking in the teeth area emerged, contributing to a substantial failure rate of 15 to 25% during field assembly.

Solution:

Acknowledging the imperative for improved structural integrity in the teeth area, GreatLight proposed a shift to Investment Casting (I.C.). Despite initial skepticism from the customer, given the high-volume and cost-sensitive nature of the part, we conducted a thorough cost analysis utilizing our robotic line, ensuring 100% automation from wax mold creation to mold breaking for part extraction. The calculated price presented a 7% reduction compared to the customer’s existing cost, leading to the successful awarding of the project to GreatLight.

Results:

The shift to Investment Casting effectively resolved the challenge by eliminating cracking in the teeth area and concurrently enhancing the overall strength of the component. This notable improvement was accomplished with a 7% cost reduction, eliminating the need to discard 15 to 25% of rejected parts.

Conclusion:

GreatLight’s proficiency in advocating and implementing Investment Casting proved transformative for the electric hand tool component, mitigating stress-induced cracking and fortifying structural integrity without adding unnecessary weight and accomplished with a 7% cost reduction and eliminating the money wasted in rejected parts.

The customer initially manufactured the electric door part using bar stock, involving intricate Gang milling process  resulting in escalated production costs as well as down town to load and unload fixtures. 

The tolerance of the slot were very tight. We had a  zoom meeting with customer and our focus was to explore if the tolerance of the slots can be 0.004 inches . Customer was not open to do so due the  mating parts was also a close tolerance cylinder.

Solution:

 Our enginerring team visited customer to understand how the complete mechanism operated. Finally we made the subject parts as well the mating cylinder via investment casting so the tolerance stack was functioning better then parts made machining methods.

Results:

The shift to Investment Casting realized a notable 30% cost savings. The intricate slots required for the electric door part were efficiently produced, significantly enhancing the overall efficiency of the manufacturing process.

Conclusion:

GreatLight’s strategic pivot to Investment Casting not only substantively reduced production costs but also streamlined the manufacturing process for the electric door part, showcasing our commitment to innovative and cost-effective solutions.

The Challenge:

This constitutes a segment of an intricate hydraulic valve featuring a sophisticated head and intricate oil passages. The existing production process involves forging the component followed by an elaborate machining procedure on a Four-axis machine, rendering the part excessively costly. Subsequently, the parts must undergo tumbling to eliminate any sharp edges.

The Solution:

We conducted a visit to the customer’s site to comprehend the pump application and determine the necessary hydraulic pressure. Gathering all parameters related to the mating parts, we returned to our drawing board to redesign the component using investment casting. After creating a 3D model, we supplied it to the customer for validation. Upon receiving approval from the customer, we confirmed that we were on the right track. Subsequently, we crafted the investment casting mold and produced 50 samples with Level 3 Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), delivering them to the customer within 45 days.

The Result:

Our innovative solution not only resulted in a monthly machining cost reduction of $73,000 for the prominent automotive company on this particular part but also culminated in an impressive total savings of $876,000 within a single year. Beyond the financial advantages, the customer disassembled the cell. Six months later, they sold the DMG Mori DMU 50 machine, utilizing the freed-up floor space to enhance the assembly operation of the pump.

Conclusion:

GreatLight’s initiative to encourage the customer to adopt Investment Casting not only resulted in substantial cost reductions and capital savings but also reaffirms our commitment to providing the best manufacturing solutions to our customers.

GreatLight’s manufacturing solution to reduce product cost

The original design of the shafts was a single piece spline shaft, with the splines cut via a pinion cutting process. GreatLight suggested a two-piece design, with the front end splined by broaching, a less expensive process than pinion cutting. One key factor to help reduce production costs.

Broaching is especially good for odd shapes like keyways, non-circular holes and in this case splines. Because broaching is performed in a single pass it is extremely efficient and is ideal for high volume applications. Secondly, rather than using press fit or threading to fasten the mating parts of the shaft, we suggested using the shrink-fitting process to achieve the same result at a lower cost.  The enveloping female part was heated in a furnace and the enveloped male part was cooled by freezing.

A robotic fixture then assembled the two parts into position immediately, and the shaft was allowed to cool to room temperature, resulting in a strong locked interference of both parts. The shrink-fitting process has many benefits: process control, consistency, accuracy and speed. These benefits are what make this operation repeatable and accurate for high volume applications.

Final Result – Reduce Product Cost Significantly

GreatLight’s team was able to draw on more than 15 years of design and engineering experience to deliver an improved shaft design that yields a 35 percent cost reduction for the entire assembly. While still meeting drawing specifications and providing a consistent product in high volume production runs.