It seems like everyone rushes to say “we need faster quote tools” or “we need faster simulation software” or “we need faster die design programs” and the like.

I counter with faster does not mean better. Better is usually accuracy. Believe me, they want accuracy too. But speed is the challenge.

At the heart of the speed challenge is usually not about the job of quoting, forming, or designing. Quite the contrary.

When I was doing die design, I spent more time seeking information to do the job than it took to do the design job itself. The same goes for when I did formability analysis. Hell, I would spend more time trying to find out what some bullshit proprietary commodity code for material really was than it took to set up and run the simulation.

So, let’s take quoting for a detailed breakdown of what I am talking about. To quote a job, you need a process. Once you have a process or die operational lineup, most companies use some form of semi-automated Excel spreadsheet for quoting.

To process and quote a job, for instance, this is typically what happens:

1. Search for CAD file. (5 minutes)

2. Launch one-step to get blank size. (5 minutes)

3. One-step needs IGS and you have a Catia file. Go get coffee. (10 minutes)

4. Launch Catia, open file, and save as IGS. (10 minutes)

5. Run one-step to get blank. (5 minutes)

6. Determine process (5 minutes)

7. Get files needed to create process and quote forms (5 minutes)

8. Export images of part and blank from one-step (5 minutes)

9. Import images into process sheet and crop so they look pretty (5 minutes)

10. Fill out process form by copying info from a BOM (9 minutes)

11. Use Ouija board quoting tool to get price (1 minute)

12. Put quote 10 folders deep on a server to make them hard to find (10 minutes)

13. Take the quotes out of the folder and send to 57 people for review (10 minutes)

14. Make necessary changes and put back in the folder (10 minutes)

15. Take a nap until the next job comes up (usually 5 minutes) 

As you can see, most of what needs to happen to get the job done is NOT time well spent. Instead, it is spent doing things that really do not, or should not, matter.

Bottom line in this example is the quote itself – the price – is only 1% of the effort. Getting the quote depends on the process and the process takes 9% of the effort. The other 90% is spent getting to the point of doing the meaningful work.

Let’s say you cut the time spent quoting and processing by 90%. This comes down to 1 minute. Everything else still takes 90 minutes (in this example anyway). So now instead of having 90% of non-value, we have 99% non-value to complete the task.

Why not focus on cutting down on the non-value like searching for CAD files and material specs and such? Keep the coffee and lose the folders I say.

If you want to go faster, focus on cutting out the steps that consume non-value added time, like finding and converting CAD files.

Commodity codes suck, and I will tell you why: they are completely useless.

Every company that needs sheet steel to manufacture products buys the same steel from the same material manufacturers. Commodity codes are a reference to an existing material that the company will purchase.

Die engineers need material properties to do their job effectively. It takes longer to cross-reference some bullshit commodity code to something meaningful than it does to do the job itself.

Here is an idea: create a universally-recognized generic smart code for each material. By smart I mean include the abbreviation for the material type and grade plus the tensile strength.

So, instead of a commodity code like SPX28975AFU, I would have S-DP-500 for Dual Phase Steel with a tensile strength of 500 MPa.

From there, I not only know generally what the material is, I can also get the material properties I need without guessing.

Case in point: I had a customer that was experiencing splitting on a stamping.

Certain coils would run fine. Others would have 90%+ failure.

I get their process data and run a formability simulation.

The result? A good stamping. No risk of failure.

I then ask for tool architecture data. They had a holding pad that did not really serve a purpose. But, I model it up anyway and re-run the simulation.

Good results.

I then ask for force and travel information off the actual tool. I wanted it down to individual spring locations.

I model that up and re-run.

Still, no failures.

I have the customer take a sample from a failing coil and have an independent laboratory give me engineering properties for the material.

I model that up. And after this iteration, the formability is just fine.

On a conference call with the customer, we brainstorm the root cause.

We come up with nothing.

At the end of the call, the press operator comes into the room.

“Hey Tim. This material feels like it is corrugated. And it is really gritty, just like sandpaper. The other coils we run fine are not like this. Thought I would mention it.”

Thought you would mention it? We just found the root cause.

Now, the formability analysis software on the market takes material texture, tool texture, lubrication, and heat and throws it all into one variable: coefficient of friction.

I tweak that variable from a standard 0.20 to 0.15.

Lo and behold, my model now fails EXACTLY like the production stamping.

Exactly.

The customer is ecstatic.

As engineers, we spend our lives trying to make something work.

In this case, I had to purposely make something break.

I write an article titled Make it Break: How to Make a Successful Simulation Fail for a confidential newsletter published by the formability software company.

The customer loved the article. I thought it was one of my best.

The point to the story was simple: the trials of tribulations of making the formability fail instead of making the formability pass.

It was that simple.

Now, I write for the average die guy. I am an average die guy. I like to keep it simple. My goal is to write in a clear, concise, and precise manner. Free from needlessly complex jargon and the theoretical analysis.

So, what happens next?

The software company has alot of PhDs. Alot.

One of them wants to run a statistical variation analysis to judge the sensitivity of the process to different variables.

Ok. We had already solved the problem. We identified the root cause, and developed corrective and preventative action plans.

The process is sensitive only to the surface texture of the material. Nothing else mattered.

But, the statistical analysis was done.

The results were wrong because the assumptions were wrong.

I go in and tweak the numbers to get the result to agree with what I already know.

This statistical thing was added to my article under protest.

The publisher initially refuses to publish the work because it was “missing” the equations, charts, and graphs.

I explain the intent of the article. It now gets published under their protest.

Then comes the phone calls and emails.

All these PhDs start asking for the model. The equations. The inputs.

They wanted to fix the problem and get the stamping to pass instead of failing.

The only purpose of the article – the message – was this was the one in a million jobs where success meant failure.

It was the complete opposite of how us engineers are supposed to think.

That’s it.

That was July 2009.

And I am still getting emails from those that have missed the point.

Oftentimes, the designer will have an IGES or STEP file of the product data at full material thickness.

We have to perform a step known as “skinning” to get just the inside of metal surface in order to setup and run a simulation.

For you AutoForm users, [Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with AutoForm but have used their products] here is a step-by-step simple way to skin your parts.

After importing the product data, with the Geometry Generator open on the Pre tab and look to the “Define objects” area:

1. Select “Face Grouping”
2. Select Angle
3. Click OK
4. Select all product data
5. Assign to Deleted
6. Click Display deleted
7. Hold the Ctrl key down and select a surface on the master side of material
8. Click Part
9. Uncheck the Display deleted box
10. Click Apply

You now have a skinned part!