Tag Archives: tooling design

Weld Tooling Design Company Introduces New Cost Saving Clamp Risers

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Lean Manufacturers Discover Time and Cost Savings in Their Product-Holding Fixtures With Clamp Risers by Rentapen

In the beginning of April, 2013 Rentapen Inc. launched new website pages for their line of clamp risers and spacers.  The clamp risers are made specifically for different brands of clamps including: Wolverine, Carr Lane, REID, De-Sta-Co, TE-CO, All American, and Jergens.   Each riser or spacer is tapped and drilled for mounting the designated clamp and uses counter bored holes for mounting the riser or spacer to the fixture or jig.

Rentapen’s design team has been designing and building weld fixtures for over 35 years. They realized they were designing the same clamp risers over and over again.  So Rentapen developed what is now called RAPid Risers™,  a line of tooling components that hold all of the finest brands of part holding clamps.  These standardized yet versatile risers save manufacturers time and money when it comes to the design and build process.

Wolverine Clamps3D CAD Models of the risers can be downloaded from Rentapen’s website along with informational PDFs that detail the design of the RAPid Riser™.

 “By focusing our processes and skilled talent on what we do well, we free-up our customers time, energy, and talent to be more powerful and productive with what they do well,” said Susan Straley,  President of Rentapen.  “That gives them peace of mind and contributes to their success.”

If a designer created a clamp riser from scratch, like Rentapen and all other machine tooling design companies used to do, they would have to go through a timely and expensive process that includes: designing the part; detailing; checking; ordering material; writing the CNC code; creating the part and finally inspecting the part.

This entire process takes about 77 minutes. Manufacturers are now able to download the 3D model from Rentapen’s website, save the model to their library, put the riser into their design, and order the block.   Once the model is in the company’s CAD library, the process approximately takes 4 minutes.  Rentapen’s RAPid Riser™ is saving the manufacturers as much as 73 minutes in design and build time.

 “The RAPid Risers™ are just another way for the fixture builder to save time and money on the design and build of weld fixtures or any other type of fixture,” said, Steve Pautz, Product manager at E.L. Simeth Co. a distributor of the clamp risers.  “The Clamp Risers is just one part of this unique design system that really works. E.L. Simeth Company, as the distributor for this line, has customers that use the complete line so we know that it works very well,”

RapidRisersRapid Tooling Components™ reduce the design cost of the fixture by eliminating the need to design, detail and check similar parts over and over again. Three dimensional computer models are provided by Rentapen Inc. that customers can use to incorporate into their designs.  These modular components are the new standard in weld jig and assembly fixture design.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.

Growing Weld Fixture Design and Build Company Takes Part In Efforts To Close Skills Gap In Wisconsin.

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Growing Weld Fixture Design and Build Company Takes Part In Efforts To Close Skills Gap In Wisconsin.

Rentapen Inc., of Waukesha, WI, a 3D Design Service Company and Tooling Components Manufacturer participating in the efforts to lessen the manufacturing and engineering skills gap.

On March 13, 2013 Governor Scott Walker signed the bill known as “Wisconsin Fast Forward”. This bill is designed to address the skills shortage in the state’s workforce and will better link employers and job seekers.

Rentapen Inc., a Machine Tool Design Company and Manufacturer of precision metal shims is just one of several manufactures helping with the effort to get the word out that jobs in manufacturing provide job security and require extensive skills. According to manufacturers, there is a large disconnect in Wisconsin between the workforce and the number of skilled workers ready to fill positions.

According to the panel of speakers at the New Faces of Manufacturing Summit hosted by Waukesha County Business Alliance, 68% of manufacturers reported a lack of talent or skills in the manufacturing industry.  High school students and college freshman, who have not determined a major, do not think about manufacturing.  When they do think of manufacturing, they think of it is dirty and made up of people who are low income and lower skilled.

Rentapen Inc. has been a member of the Waukesha County Business Alliance for almost two years and has been affected first hand by the skills gap.  Recently, Rentapen Inc. has joined the “Dream It Do It” Marketing Action Team.  This action team is made up of individuals around South-Eastern Wisconsin, and is dedicated to lessening the skills gap.

Rentapen Inc. has found that some of the most skilled workers are graduating from technical colleges.  Rentapen has hired over 5 individuals from Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) alone; these students have started as interns and have excelled and been retained.

PG3_9364“It’s exciting to be in manufacturing right now.  We are in a busy and growing industry.  Finding, training, and maintaining good talent is key to being competitive in the global marketplace,” said Susan Straley,  President of Rentapen.  “We are pleased to have the support of the College, and the State in helping manufacturers succeed in Wisconsin.”

The second part of the bill that Governor Walker signed creates a workforce training grant program at the Department of Workforce Development. This grant program will be used to leverage additional private dollars to help both new and current employees acquire additional job trainings skills.  The bill, coined “Wisconsin Fast Forward,” creates a website that uses real-time job data to match employers and potential workers, provides $15 million in state funds for worker training grants and creates an Office of Skills Development within the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development to help provide specific training for employers who need workers with specific skills.

Rentapen Inc. and many other manufacturing companies are struggling to find skilled workers to fill a variety of positions because the education that people are getting does not fit the skills needed in the actual working environment. Individuals are taking courses to receive a 4-year diploma but are not attaining the correct skills needed to excel in the work place.

234a658 “The problem is parents and adults are pushing students to get degrees in subjects that do not necessarily prepare them for jobs that actually exist in the market,” said Thies.  “There is a large amount of history majors, political scientists and lawyers than is needed in the workforce.  At the same time, the average high schools do not have a manufacturing class or a program designed to teach about a CNC operator. There is also need for machinists and welders; these courses are not offered or encouraged in a lot of high schools throughout the state and the nation.”

 

Manufacturing is one of the fastest growing industries like nursing, retail and food service. The manufacturing sector is aging. Within the next five years a new generation of workers will need to have the skills and experience to take over for the generation that is leaving. Companies are trying to deal with the hundreds of years of experience that will be walking out the door in the next five to ten years. There may not be thousands of new jobs, but there will be thousands of openings, and Wisconsin does not have the skill sets to fill in.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.

Please visit Rentapen’s Youtube channel to watch a variety of educational and entertaining videos!

 

 

3D Models of Tooling Components Assists in Growth of Weld Fixture Design Company As New Part-Holding Tooling Pieces are Added.

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Rentapen Inc., of Waukesha, WI, Continues to Expand the Number of Components and Product Parts Available for 3D-Model Download.

In January and March 2013, Rentapen Inc., a 3D CAD Design Company added several new components to its 3D-Model download web page, www.WeldFixtureComponents.com.

Rentapen Inc., offers a large custom line of RAPid Tooling Components™ that can be downloaded for free to help manufactures save time and money while designing and building their weld and assembly jigs and fixtures.  RAPid Tooling Components™ are a new American standard for the machine design Industry.

An alternative to NAAMS, Rentapen’s components along with the 3D models have changed how Machine Design Engineers and CAD Drafters design their weld fixtures.

 “In 2001 we discovered we, as weld fixture and assembly fixture designers, were designing the same parts over and over again.  So we realized if we standardized on those parts we could save our customers lots of time and costs.  So we created RAPid Tooling Components™,” said George Straley, Founder of Rentapen.

Rentapen Inc., has a total of 9 different types of RAPid Blocks™ that can be ordered to fit different tooling fixture needs.  In the beginning, customers would buy the RAPid Block™ and then if the block needed to be altered, they would place the part in their CNC or take it to another vendor. RAPid Blocks are often altered to add a hole in it to hold a locating pin or a rest pad or to chamfer a corner.   In 2011, Rentapen Inc., began to offer customized alterations to their RAPid Blocks™.

Rentapen Inc., manufactures each block as it is ordered.  This allows them to keep inventory low and provide a valuable service to their customers.  Rentapen Inc., will customize the RAPid Block™ per the customer’s specifications. “Need a chamfer? No Problem.  Need a hole for a locating pin?  No problem,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.

Productuon Part Holding MachineryAll of Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™ are made in the U.S.A. This is in line with Rentapen’s vision as the U.S. Leader in machine design and tooling components.  Rentapen is dedicated to reducing costs for manufacturers. And their free 3D service is greatly help manufacturers on their lean journey.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Component™s. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891 or visit http://www.rentapen.com.

 

Weld Fixture Design Company Engineering Manager Seeks to Grow With the Company.

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Rentapen Inc.’s, Design Engineering Manager, Blake Peterson, Continues His Education To Improve Productivity.

On January 7, 2013 Blake Peterson started another fast paced group of classes toward his Bachelor of Science Degree majoring in Business Management. Peterson joined Rentapen, the Weld Fixture Specialists, in November, 2011 as Engineering Manager. Rentapen designs machine tools for companies that manufacture a product. Rentapen specializes in Weld Jigs and Shims.

The company also manufactures a line to weld tooling components called RAPid Tooling Components™. These RAPid Tooling Components™ consists of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, Clamp Risers and Shims.

Lindsey Frick, Associated Editor for MachineDesign.com, found information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which projects a need for 17,830 additional engineers each year for the next 10 years. Lindsey also wrote in her article that Community colleges are an untapped resource for potential engineering students.

Currently, Peterson is conducting interviews for an Engineering Project Manager that will quickly grow as Peterson grows. The Machine Designer position will involve the conception and design of weld fixtures and guiding and teaching CAD Drafters and interns as they learn.

Peterson, Engineering Manager, is expected to graduate in 2014 from Cardinal Stritch, located in the greater Milwaukee, WI area. Peterson is taking the necessary actions to get ahead in his engineering and management career. He is taking advantage of accelerated on-line classes to improve his ability to lead and expand his knowledge base. Some of the classes Peterson is looking forward to taking are Management of Leadership, Business Ethics, and Strategic Organizational Leadership.

At Rentapen Inc., Peterson is already seeking responsibilities outside the Engineering Manager title that he currently holds. He works closely with the shop to solve issues and evaluate scheduling needs. He works with the Leadership Team to expand Rentapen’s capacity to build small to medium weld jigs.

Peterson already has an extensive background of engineering management experience; however, Peterson decided to further his education in business management to understand more of the financial side of the business. The role that Peterson plays in the company, he hopes will transition from Engineering Management to more of the total Operations Management. Since joining Rentapen he has had to learn Pro/E CAD software. He has also learned each of the customers’ engineering standards to help him as he guides and checks the work of the machine designers.

Teach and Guide CAD Drafters and Interns

For the past three months Peterson has been guiding the Design Engineering Team as it focuses on reducing costs for manufacturers through lean weld fixture design. He has also been working with the Leadership Team to enhance Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™. RAPid Tooling Components™ are an extension to Rentapen’s mission to save manufacturers time.

The role that Peterson is aiming for is to oversee the operational side of the business. He wants to move into leading the managers and participating in the planning. His new education will help him to know what to do to increase profits, increase cash, and reduce costs.

Rentapen’s Culture includes an emphasis of constant learning and self- improvement. The machine tool company’s culture statement says, “Rentapen is only as good as its team members. We aim to hire and retain the best … We are flexible. We are constantly improving ourselves and our processes. We delight in learning new skills, improving ways of doing things….”

Growing Weld Fixture Design Company Enhances Their Web Presence.

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Rentapen Inc., the Weld Fixture Specialists, has been using a variety of social media sites to increase sales and educate the manufacturing industry.

Since April, 2011 when Susan Straley took over as President of Rentapen Inc., the use of social media has taken off in a positive direction. A new version of Rentapen’s website was also created in 2011 to help the company introduce CAD Drafters and Engineers about Rentapen’s time-saving RAPid Tooling Component™ line; increase brand recognition as the Weld Fixture Specialist; and educate beginning machine tool designers in the manufacturing industry through Susan Straley’s Blog – Weld Fixture Design 101.

 “I knew we needed to grow in sales and customers in order to become a stronger company. I asked for help from the SBDC. They sent a consultant to help us with our marketing strategy that includes social media marketing” said Susan Straley, Owner and President of Rentapen.

Merriam-Webster, defines social media as forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro-blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). Rentapen Inc. is utilizing social media to find and connect with Machine Designers, Manufacturing Engineers and others. Through social media Rentapen can announce the launch of new products and educate CAD Drafters and Machine Tool Designers about how to save time with Rentapen’s products and services.

Rentapen Inc. created RAPid Tooling Components™, consisting of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, RAPid Clamp Risers™ and RAPid Shims™, to help save time for manufacturers. Rentapen’s website makes it easier for CAD Drafters and Engineers to download the right Block, Plate, Riser, or Shim for their product part holding tool design. Rentapen’s website also makes it easy to connect with Rentapen and its President on various social media platforms. One of the largest social media sites that Rentapen Inc. uses is Linkedin. Via Linkedin, Susan Straley, has been able to interact with targeted customers, Engineering and Mechanical Design Instructors, and CAD Drafting students. She keeps in touch with key targets by posting updates to her profile with educational blogs and industry news.

Rentapen Inc., as the weld fixture specialist uses the blog and internships to educate students in CAD Drafting, Weld Tooling Design, and building Weld Fixtures. Another, large social media platform that Rentapen Inc., has been using since June, 2011 is Youtube. According to Youtube this site has been designed to allow billions of people to discover watch and share originally-created videos. Rentapen’s youtube channel attempts to educate and entertain machine designers and followers. The company created a video that has been seen by over 3,000 viewers.

“I am very grateful to the help we received from the SBDC. Before they met with me, I didn’t know what a blog or a tweet was. Now I am using this medium to attract customers and help mechanical design students learn some of the practical machine design tips they can’t learn in the class room,” said Straley

Social media sites that you can find and follow Rentapen Inc. on are Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and Google +. These are great ways to stay connected and to gather valuable information about Weld Jigs and Assembly Fixtures and an innovative company, Rentapen Inc.

Another Big Year for Weld Fixture Tooling Components Company

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Rentapen Inc. Sees Increase In Sales For Their Weld and Assembly Fixture Tooling Components in 2012

President, Susan Straley Featured With Weld Fixture

In January, 2013 Rentapen’s President Susan Straley sat down and calculated the numbers from 2011 to 2012.  The growth is a reflection of both an
interest in lean manufacturing and the increased speed at which manufacturers are trying to go from product development to production.

“Our components save time in the design, build and testing of weld jigs and assembly fixtures,” said Straley.  “That is what manufacturers are looking for, lean and fast.”

The year 2012 is over, but the increase and growth of Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™ that are used in weld jigs and assembly fixtures is still something worth talking about.

“I knew we were busy, but with December’s numbers in, I was happy to see a growth of approximately 40 percent in the sales of RAPid Tooling Components™,” said Straley.

Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Component collection is made up of Standard and Custom RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, Clamp Risers, and Shims.
These products precisely hold a customer’s product in their weld fixtures while it is being manually or robotically assembled or welded.

Rentapen introduced a new website feature in March, 2012 that has played a large role in the increase of sales for their RAPid Tooling Components.  3D Models of their components are available for
machine design engineers and CAD drafters to download and use in their 3D designs. Rentapen’s 3D model download process insures the customer’s order is as accurate as possible.
This ordering system is free to use, convenient, and time saving.

 

 

Finding the Right Vendor for Your Weld Fixtures

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Seven questions to consider when investigating a new vendor for your weld fixtures.

If you are a the Manufacturing Engineering Manager, a Project Manager or a small business owner, you may find yourself looking for someone to design and build a weld fixture for you.  It is often cheaper than hiring and training someone to do the design internally.

Now with digital media, it is easier than ever to work with companies that are thousands of miles away from you.  Through email, and Skype, and web conferencing it is easier than ever to keep tabs on a vendors progress and communicate concerns and requirements.

But, you probably aren’t going to ask your competitors who they use.  How do you know who is good?

You can ask vendors and other networking contacts, you can search the net.  But once you locate a company you need to investigate further.

What do you do?

ASK QUESTIONS!

1) What is their history?  How long have they been designing weld fixtures?  More importantly, do they have customers who keep coming back for more weld fixtures?  How long have they been designing fixtures for that/those companies?

2) Who in their company will be working on your fixture? What is their experience in designing weld fixtures?  The person over-seeing or checking the project should have a history of working on fixtures.  Experience means they have learned over time what works and what doesn’t work.

3) Does the company you are about to hire ask lots of questions of you?  They should be asking lots of questions that will help them do a better job for you, such as your standards and particular needs on this job.  They shouldn’t be afraid to call you up with a list of questions once they have dug into a project.

4) What CAD system do they use and is that important to your needs?  Do you want CAD files or just the finished fixture?

5) Do they produce good and complete drawings? If you want 3D CAD files of the fixture, ask to see a sample of their drawings to see how complete they are.  If you wanted to make another of the same fixture but not use that vendor again, could you do it from drawings like that?

6) Can you communicate easily with them? Is there a language or other communication barrier?  Some companies figure a long term relationship and lower prices will help them recover a language and culture barrier over time.  Just know it takes time and money up front to develop good communication.  And will the people you are teaching and working with still be with that company three years down the road?

7) Will they provide you updates as the design moves along?  How often do you want to be updated?  How often do you want digital images of their progress?  Many of our customers like to get images of the rough concept, then when the design is complete except for holes, fasteners, and shims.  In a large project they like to see when sections of the project are completed.

If you still feel nervous, meet with them in person, see their shop, touch the machines they have on the floor.  Ask yourself if you would be comfortable working with these people.  Does the project manager appear organized?  Who else is working with them?

If this is your first project to outsource, you may be nervous all the way through because it is new territory for you.  That’s often the case when you try something new.  It’s like learning to drive a car.  Once you do it a few times it becomes easier and very beneficial to you.

Once you have asked your questions and answered their questions and you get a good quote from them, remember that $5 dollars does not make a winner.  If their quote is slightly higher or their delivery time is slightly longer than the next guy, call them up and let them know and see if they can meet the competition.  More often than not, they will be willing to do what it takes to get your business.   But, with that said, if it is a reputable company that has done work for other reputable companies, it probably is worth the extra $5 to get your project done right and on time.

‘Til next time,

The Queen

PS

Did you see that Rentapen was voted BizTimes Top 10 Small Business of 2012?  Thank you to our Customers, Team Members and Vendors for contributing to our success!

 

 

 

 

6 Benefits to using Sub Assemblies in Machine Design

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Discover How Sub Assemblies Save a Ton of Time and Money in Machine Design.

Sub Assemblies in machine design are fun and easy and the really help save time and money in a lot of ways.  Once you learn how to use them efficiently you will see all kinds of places that they can be used.  Then, you can be the CAD wizard at your company!

A sub assembly is just a 3D CAD Assembly that is inserted into the Main 3D CAD Assembly in machine design.  If that sentence doesn’t make sense, keep reading and watch the video below to get a good idea of how Sub Assemblies are super tools for Machine Designers.

For example these Jergens Jig Feet along with RAPid Shims and manufactured risers are used several times in a fixture.  As sub-assemblies they save time, and unclutter the assembly drawing.

 

 

 

 

This configuration of RAPid Blocks and RAPid Shims is used in several places on a weld fixture.  Only the pin changes.

 

 

 

So this configuration, without the pin, is a good candidate for a sub assembly.
It will save engineering time to create it once in a Sub Assembly and then insert the Sub Assembly into the Main Assembly several times.

 

This goal post is part of a change over fixture.  A change over means that more than one product is welded within this fixture.  To “change over” the fixture to hold a different product, one sub assembly can be removed, and another sub assembly (or cover plate) can be put in its place.

In a fixture with lots of parts, it is easier for the machine assemblers to read the assembly drawing and assemble a machine when the drawing is less cluttered.

Benefits

1)      The Machine Assemblers will love it!  The drawings are easier to read.  There are less Balloons on the Main Assembly Drawing.

2)      It is easier to job out parts of the fixture to be made by contractors or machine shops.

3)      If sub assemblies are contracted out to be made, more people can be working to create the machine at the same time, moving the machine into production faster.

4)      Faster CAD design because the same sub assembly can be inserted several times into the main assembly.

5)      Assembly model checking time is reduced because each sub assembly only has to be checked once.

6)      The MAIN BOM can contain all the parts for the whole machine, just like always.

Numbering

It depends on your numbering system.  All parts in a sub assembly get normal part numbers.  Even the sub assembly gets a normal part number.  If a 3/8” jam nut is part 103, you can use part 103 inside a sub assembly and also elsewhere in the main assembly and it won’t be a problem.  The main Bill of Material will reflect the total quantity of parts both inside and outside the sub assembly.  And the Sub Assembly Bill of Material will contain only the quantity of part number 103 used in the Sub Assembly.

We find it helpful to use the words “sub assembly” in the name or description of the sub assemblies.  That way they are easy to identify in the BOMs.  Your company may use a special group of numbers for your sub assemblies.

Now discover how to get the Bill of Material (BOM) to show all the parts but balloon only the parts not in the sub assemblies!  Watch this short video.  (The demonstration is using Pro/E Wildfire 4.0. )

So the instructions for flattening  the Bill of Materials for the purpose of ballooning only those parts not included in the sub assembly is as follows.

Steps

  • Select Table from Top Menu
  • Select Repeat Region
  • Select Flat/Rec Item from the pop-up window
  • Select the Bill of Material (Table)
  • Select Default or Flat (to flatten the Bill of Material)
  • OR Select Recursive (to expand the BOM show the parts that are in the Sub Assemblies)
  • Select the sub assemblies in the BOM
  • Click OK or “Done”

Be sure to sign up to receive Education and Updates!  All people who sign up in April 2012 will receive RENTAPEN’s DOWEL HOLE GUIDE.

Give me a Recommendation on Linked in!

View Susan Straley's profile on LinkedIn

Leave a comment below… tell me, do you use sub assemblies?  Why or why not?

‘Til next time…

The Queen

To Drive or Not To Drive Holes in Machine Design

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When do YOU Drive or Not Drive Holes in Machine Design? 

When designing a fixture it is very helpful to drive the hole in part B by using the axis of a hole in part A that is fastened to part B.  And when is “Un-driving” that hole a good idea?

 

 

 

 

 

When should holes be “un-driven”?

There are two times that I can think of right off the bat where a driven hole should be un-driven.  I mean “un-driven” so that the hole in Part B is no longer dependent on Part A.

1)      The machine is already built and you are making revisions.

2)      The customer requests that holes be independent of any other parts in the assembly.

 Revisions

In revisions to a machine that is already built, it is important that the CAD Drafter keep the existing holes in the same locations.  This reflects reality and if there are future revisions to the machine, the designer knows where the existing holes are.

Sometimes it turns out that those existing holes can be used in the new revision, saving machining time and costs.   But certainly the designer needs to know where existing holes are so that they don’t design in a hole that overlaps an existing hole.

When making a revision to an existing machine, if I am going to delete Part A (the driving part), I “hard-code” or “un-drive” the hole in part B first.  In this video I show how I drive and un-drive holes in Wildfire 4.0.

Please keep in mind that Rentapen has customized the process of making holes in Pro/E.  This means that your screen and hole making steps may be different than what you see in this video.

 

Per Customer Request

 Besides revisions, some Customers can often request that holes not be driven.  They might have had a bad experience in the past or with a different program.  In really large machine designs, the large number of driven holes can slow the CAD program down.

I feel it is a risk to not drive the holes.  If the holes are not driven and a CAD Designer makes a change to a CAD design, for example:  The Designer moves Part B but forgets to move the holes in the Part A.  The result is  a costly and time-consuming mistake.   We all know that humans are not perfect and even we CAD Drafters and Designers make mistakes sometimes.  Even if the CAD Designer remembers to move the corresponding mounting holes in Part A, if there is a typing mistake, the holes won’t match up.

Though we can hope that the person checking the changes would catch the error, it is better to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen in the first place.

 

Single Fastener Parts, do you drive the hole or insert the part?

Some of our customers prefer that a flat foot or anything with a single fastener not drive the hole in the part it is mounted to.  Instead they prefer that the part be located by a hard-coded hole.  They find it easier if a change needs to be made, to change the dimensions locating the hole than it is changing how the part is defined in the assembly.

For example, should this Jergens Flat Foot be located by the hole in the gold block?  Or should the Flat Foot be located in the assembly and the mounting hole be “driven” into the gold block?

Since I am a proponent of beginning with the parts that touch the product when designing, I would put the flat foot in first, complete my design, and drive the hole in the gold RAPid Block.  Then, if I am working for a customer that prefers the flat foot be located by the hole, I would un-drive the hole, re-order the parts in the model tree, and re-define the flat foot according to the customer’s desires.

 

So tell me, does your company have a standard on whether to drive a hole from a single fastener part?  If so, what is the standard?  Do you know the reasoning behind the standard?  I would appreciate learning what you think and what your company likes.

‘Til next time!

Susan Straley
Queen of Lean Machine Design

Remember!  Sign up for Education and Updates on the Rentapen website in April 2012 and receive a free Dowel Hole Guide for your desk top!

 

 

Manufacturer Saves Money, By Making A Phone Call

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Rentapen Inc., a small weld tooling business exemplifies quick response to customer’s request.

In February 2012, a customer that wishes to remain anonymous called Rentapen, a weld tooling components supplier, and wanted to know if Rentapen would add a new style of clamp risers to fit the kind of clamps they use. Rentapen’s team quickly mobilized to create a riser to fit his needs.

The customer located in New Berlin, WI did not have a RAPid Riser™ that worked with his type of clamp, so Rentapen created one for him.

It took only one week for Rentapen to deliver a riser that worked for that customer. This is what US Manufacturers need to strive for, quick product innovation and customer needs fulfillment. The clamp he used by the New Berlin manufacturer is a De-Sta-Co 8021. The manufacturer was so impressed by the RAPid Riser™ that he decided to order 11 more.

“Manufacturers and those who serve them need to move rapidly in response to customers needs in order to compete in the global market place,” said Susan Straley President and Queen of Lean Machine Design at Rentapen Inc.

Rentapen’s RAPid Risers™ are part of their RAPid Tooling Components™ Line. Rentapen’s design team realized they were designing the same clamp risers, blocks and plates over and over again. So Rentapen developed their standardized yet versatile line of weld fixture tooling components.

The mounting holes in the clamp risers are able to fit a wide variety of brands and sizes of clamps including: Carr Lane, REID, De-Sta-Co, TE-CO, All American, and Jergens. A catalog of choices can be found on Rentapen’s website.

If a designer created a clamp riser from scratch, like Rentapen and all other machine tooling design companies used to do, they would have to go through a timely and expensive process that includes: designing the part; detailing; checking; ordering material; writing the CNC code; creating the part and finally inspecting the part.

The whole process takes about 77 minutes. Manufacturers will soon be able to download the 3D model from Rentapen’s website, save the model to their library, put the riser into their design, and order the block. This approximately takes 4 minutes. Rentapen’s RAPid Riser™ is saving the manufacturers as much as 73 minutes in design and build time.

Rapid Tooling Components™ reduce the design cost of the fixture by eliminating the need to design, detail and check similar parts over and over again. Three dimensional computer models are provided by Rentapen that customers can use to incorporate into their designs.

Clamp Risers come in .5 inch increments and in aluminum to reduce weight in the fixture.

Manufacturing engineers have known that purchased components save time and money. Manufactures have been buying their clamps that hold their product parts in position while they are being welded or assembled. Now they can buy their risers that sit under those clamps from Rentapen and reduce their costs.