Lean Product Design Tips For Steel Manufacturers
When you're manufacturing products with steel, it's important to have a lean design and manufacturing process to reduce the time and supplies that your products need. Here are some tips on designing a successful manufacturing process for steel products.
Choose the Right Steel Fabricator
Choosing the right steel fabrication services can make all the difference. Consider that steel has a varying amount of tensile strength, depending on the quality of the fabricator and the processes they used to create the steel. This means that the amount of steel that you'll need to make strong, high quality products will also vary based on the strength of the steel you receive. By searching for high quality fabrication services, you can cut down on the amount of product you need, and thus, the amount of handling it will require. Cost discounts don't always pay off in this arena.
Cut Down the Number of Steps
There are a number of potential processes that you can use in your steel manufacturing process. The steel fabricator may use techniques to cut, fold, or weld the materials on your behalf. It's a good idea to cut down the number of steps on your end. If you are ensured to have quality cut and folded steel directly from the fabricator, it simply reduces the load of work that your team is directly responsible for, making the process easier to manage.
Design for Error
You may be tempted to design your manufacturing process for the absolute best conditions. But there's a level of human or mechanical error that can occur, so sometimes it's best to design in a level of error. For instance, use scratch resistant materials whenever possible, since materials can be dropped or scuffed. Avoid any delicate operations that can be time consuming and potential sources of error or poor quality. Make sure that your designs don't incorporate patterns that could be easy to mix up and install backwards. And minimize the number of fasteners in your product; these are potential weak points in the product.
Set Up Good Quality Control
Quality control is important at each step of the manufacturing process; it can save you from wasting time on continuing to build a product that was flawed from the start. Each part needs to be evaluated before it passes to the next step, and communication should pass between each team in the supply chain to make sure things are on track.
To learn more, contact a company like Garelick Steel.
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