Today's industry demands an ever-increasing complexity of shapes with tighter and tighter tolerances, and the demands of tube end forming are no exception. The motor industry specifies that concentricity of tube end forms must be within 150 microns (0.006 in), effectively giving a mid-range target of 0.003 in to meet SPC. Bob Greaves, works manager of precision end forming equipment manufacturer Roborough Engineering, has viewed the growing technical requirement of the tube industry during his 14 years at both Tortubes and Roborough and describes Roborough's approach to keeping up with demands as follows: "The process of tube end forming involves holding a piece of tube while punches are forced against the tube, in sequence, to cold form a shape on the tube end. The accuracy of the finished end form depends very much on how consistently the punches are delivered to the tube.
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