"Can't make a good part? No problem, just hit it harder!" In the past few months I must have heard this a dozen times. Stop blocks are mushroomed into the plate, sections are detonated, strippers warped and presses damaged, but boy, we got a good part out! What's going on? What's with the "hit it harder" plague? It appears that several simultaneous forces converge on the shop floor. Many of our experienced die setters and operators are retiring with no equally welltrained replacements. In addition, the extreme pressures of just-in-time deliveries have decimated backup inventories, forcing many, in their hurry to meet the shipment deadline, to crank up the presses and ship with minimal setup considerations. These two pressure points have met with a mad rush toward a lean environment where, due to vacations, holidays and sick days, knowledgeable setup people simply are not in the building. It all adds up to an unwise strategy: hit it harder. The tonnage is cranked up in a desperate attempt to meet the part specs.
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