Consolidating inserts to lower costs

END USER: Hitachi Metals Automotive Components USA LLC, (570) 724-5191, www.hmacusa.com.
CHALLENGE: Reduce insert costs and simplify insert reordering and stocking.
SOLUTION: Consolidate the number of ISO-standard inserts applied.
SOLUTION PROVIDERS: DCT Industrial Supply Co., (217) 423-3639, www.dctisc.com; Tungaloy America Inc., (888) 554-8394, www.tungaloyamerica.com.

Regardless of the business climate, part manufacturers continually seek to lower costs and Hitachi Metals Automotive Components USA LLC is no exception. Management at its Wellsboro, Pa., manufacturing plant requires quarterly cost reductions and that includes tooling, noted Todd Heggenstaller, manufacturing engineer for HMAC, which machines mostly ductile cast iron parts for automotive OEMs. (The company also has a plant in Effingham, Ill., as well as a casting foundry in Lawrenceville, Pa.)

Courtesy of Tungaloy America

When consolidating its ISO-standards inserts, HMAC incorporated numerous inserts from Tungaloy, including T5100-grade inserts for machining ductile cast iron.

To reduce costs, Mike Moran, vice president of tooling integrator DCT Industrial Supply Co., Decatur, Ill., recommended HMAC consolidate its ISO-standard inserts. Heggenstaller explained that consolidation lowers the price per insert by allowing the company to buy larger quantities of each type of ISO-standard insert from one toolmaker rather than smaller quantities from multiple suppliers. The Wellsboro plant has a dozen production lines, managed by three manufacturing engineers. Numerous lines used the same type of insert but from different sources. For example, five lines applied SCMT inserts from four toolmakers.

In addition to saving money, insert consolidation streamlines the purchasing, inventory and distribution process. Inserts are dispensed from two DCT-owned AutoCrib vending machines. “It simplifies everything for team members in the toolroom and for the people on the shop floor,” said Jason McMullen, tooling coordinator for HMAC, noting Aaron Jacobus, account manager for DCT, is on-site 5 days a week to stock and maintain the vending machines.

To begin the consolidation effort, HMAC requested insert prices from current and potential suppliers based on usage. Heggenstaller noted HMAC tested the lowest-cost insert first but it needed to perform adequately before the company would purchase it.

Although HMAC previously hadn’t purchased inserts from Tungaloy America Inc., Arlington Heights, Ill., the toolmaker’s inserts that suit HMAC’s applications typically cost about 30 to 50 percent less than the competition. “Tungaloy won just about all those inserts on price,” Heggenstaller said, “and on all of the lines except one, they performed equal to or better than the inserts they replaced.”