The move from small single-stage dies to large 1000-lb. progressive dies easily justified the investment in a new die cart, for safety and productivity reasons. The pressroom at the Price Industries manufacturing plant in Suwa-nee, GA, had grown accustomed to sharing a forklift with other plant departments every time it needed to change out its single-stage stamping dies. Press operators tending to the firm's 15 medium- to high-tonnage presses (45 to 500 tons) would call on two toolroom employees to leave their posts and head into the pressroom to change dies as needed, typically at least once per shift. If and when the die-change duo could even locate a forklift, die changes then would take at least 60 to 90 min.
展开▼
