10 Questions to Ask Your Metal Parts Manufacturer

Choosing the right partner for your metal project can be a perplexing process'unless you know the right questions to ask.

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Throughout the metal manufacturing process you'll come up against many choices, but the most important is choosing a reliable metal parts manufacturer. Deciding between prospective fabricators can feel overwhelming at times because you want to make the right choice the first time to avoid costly delays'and get to work developing a strong relationship that allows you to succeed together. 

Metal fabrication is essential in industries from construction and equipment manufacturing to agriculture and aerospace. The best manufacturing partner will offer not just the technical and engineering capabilities but also cost-effectiveness, high-quality production, professional systems, streamlined logistics, and excellent communication.

We've pulled together a list of 10 critical questions to ask as you're considering where to manufacture your metal parts.

What to Consider When Looking for Metal Parts Manufacturers

Innovative Metal Manufacturing Technologies

It's an exciting time to be in the business of manufacturing metals. We've seen great strides in automation and computer-aided manufacturing, including innovations like CNC machining. CNC (computer numerical control) is the automation of machine instruments through the use of computers which have been programmed to execute any number of commands. Integrating this type of manufacturing increases productivity and efficiency over the long run.

You Ask: What manufacturing technology does your company have access to? 

A Sustainable Approach to Metal Parts Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is experiencing a seismic shift thanks to artificial-intelligence-powered manufacturing systems. Part of this shift involves making metal manufacturing more sustainable, which reduces environmental impact. New processing methods eliminate the need for toxic solvents and materials, and consume far less energy than typical processing methods'along with improving efficiency. 

You Ask: What percentage of the product will be made with sustainable materials?

Experience in Metal Parts Manufacturing

A qualified metal fabricator will have plenty of experience in making the exact type of products you need. Look for a fabricator who has years'or, better, decades'of experience in your industry and an excellent track record with customers. 

You Ask: Which industries and clients have you worked with in the past? What examples or references can you provide?

Core Capabilities and Machinery List

Each metal part and product requires a different fabrication approach, process, and specialized equipment. For instance, sheet metal fabrication requires lathe, grinding, and drilling machines, while metal extrusions call for extruders. In metal stamping, which calls for raised (or sometimes flat) shapes in metal, a turret-like punching press is required. 

You Ask: How will your specialized metal fabrication equipment improve my final product?

Customization in Metal Manufacturing

One of the biggest decisions to make in metal manufacturing projects is whether to go with off-the-shelf components or custom metal fabrication solutions. Custom fabrication services allow you to go beyond the store-bought to create a customized, high-quality fit for your application, with optimized designs and tailor-made solutions. 

You Ask: What is the timeline for a custom metal fabricated product? What processes do you use to create custom metal parts?

Reputation for Quality in the Manufacturing Industry

You're dedicated to producing top-quality products, and that means you'll need to find a manufacturer with a reputation for quality standards to match your own. The first thing to look for are certifications that demonstrate quality processes and top-quality criteria'for instance, ISO certification, which indicates an internationally recognized seal of approval for the company's quality standards processes.

You Ask: How do you measure and track quality performance? 

Time-Sensitive Solutions

Does the manufacturer in question have the capability to handle your project size and complexity within the time frame you have designated? Most projects are time-sensitive, and the best partner will be committed to manufacturing high-quality, cost-effective, time-sensitive solutions.

Question to ask your manufacturer: What's the turnaround time for manufacturing projects similar in scope? 

In-House Expertise in Metal Manufacturing

Often, metal products producers will specialize in a particular type of fabrication. Look for companies with in-house expertise, engineers, and designers equipped to handle your specific metal manufacturing needs. 

You Ask: Take us through the production process'which parts of the process can be completed on site and which will need to be outsourced?

One-Stop Shop for Metal Parts Manufacturing

As you're likely discovering, the research process for finding the best metal parts manufacturer can be quite time consuming. What other services can the potential manufacturing partner provide so you can use them for more than one project, rather than starting from scratch with researching various new vendors?

Want more information on Industrial Metal Press? Feel free to contact us.

You Ask: What are your metal manufacturing specialties outside the scope of this particular project?

Impeccable Customer Service

Even the highest-tech equipment can't make up for disappointing customer service. The best metal parts manufacturing partners will have well-trained, experienced engineers and project managers ready to answer your questions and guide you through the process. 

You Ask: Will I have a dedicated point of contact to keep me updated on project timelines and other milestones on my project? 

Looking for the best metal parts manufacturers?

As your metal parts experts, The Federal Group specializes in metal fabrication. The best products start with the best parts'and the best parts start with engineers at the top of their fields. Our expert team is knowledgeable about the latest materials, manufacturing capabilities, and processes. If you're looking for a reliable metal parts manufacturer, we just might be a perfect fit.

Contact us to get started on a free quote for your metal fabrication project today.

The FABRICATOR is a U.S. publication, but thanks to the Internet, it's a global one too. Over the years I've received many reader questions, and a lot of them come from elsewhere in the world. This month I thought I would share a few of them, with a final question from the U.S. thrown in for good measure.

Thanks to all for the continued feedback, and keep the questions coming!

Bending Thick in Australia

Question: I read your great article, Calculating bend allowance, outside setback, and bend deductions, from November . Can these calculations be applied to the bending of mild steel plates 10 to 20 mm (0.394 to 0.787 in.) thick, or does it apply only to sheet metal? I'm bending steel plates for pump bases and have to work out the flat pattern. Typically, the bends are 90 degrees.

Answer: Mathematically and practically, the formulas apply. The real trick is knowing what the inside radius is going to be; get that correct and the math works.

Specifically, you need to correctly estimate what the inside radius is going to be and use that value in the calculations. If you are air forming, the radius is produced as a percentage of the die opening. The results you attain are affected greatly by the punch nose radius.

A perfect bend is one in which the radius and material thickness are one and the same. If the punch nose radius is significantly less than the material thickness, the force the punch exerts may be so great that it creates a crease along the bend line, creating a sharp bend. You will need to have a good understanding of what makes a bend sharp.

To ensure you always work within the tonnage limits of your press brake and tooling, first calculate how much tonnage you need. Second, identify your tooling load limits. Third, calculate the sinking tonnage limit, which, if exceeded, can embed tooling into the ram or bed. Fourth, determine your press brake's centerline load limits.

For complete information on this topic, check out several articles archived on thefabricator.com: The four pillars of press brake tonnage limits (April ); How an air bend turns sharp (May ); and Forming aluminum on a press brake: Bending soft, not sharp (June ).

I also invite you to review the four-part series, 'A grand unifying theory of bending,' which ran in September, October, November, and December . It's a new theory of bending, altering some long-held labels and definitions and introducing new formulas. The traditional definitions worked well, but these new definitions and formulas may help a press brake technician be even more accurate when predicting how a part will form.

For this new theory, we keep our definition of a sharp bend, which on average has a radius that's 63 percent or less of the material thickness. We then add two new terms. A perfect bend starts at an inside radius larger than 63 percent of the material thickness and extends up to 125 percent. At the median, the perfect bend has the ideal 1-to-1 inside bend radius-to-material thickness ratio. That is, the material thickness and inside bend radius are the same.

A radius bend is defined as any bend with an inside radius greater than 125 percent of the material thickness. It requires careful calculation, not only because of significant springback, but also because of the tooling it requires. This includes the use of relieved dies.

Tonnage Considerations in India

Question: While searching on the net for information on press brakes, I came across your article on bending radius and force calculations.

We are considering the purchase of a 300-ton press brake, and I am not clear about the tonnage requirement for a bending job that involves ST46 grade, 10-mm-thick HR material with a bend that's 2,760 mm (109 in.) long. We need to form 90-degree bends with a V-die width of 80 mm (3.15 in.).

As per the bending force calculations given by the machine supplier, the pressure requirement works out to be 277 tons, which gets us close to the machine's capacity. For most jobs, however, this machine will be processing material that's only 1.5 mm (0.059 in.) thick.

Will the machine's 300-ton capacity suffice for our application, and how will such a machine perform over the long term? If we go for a 400-ton machine, will it affect the bending accuracy of thinner components, such as the 1.5-mm-thick material? Also, do you recommend hydraulic dynamic crowning of the lower beam, and is it really effective compared to motorized crowning?

Answer: First, I recommend you consider a 400-ton machine. The 277 tons of required force would seriously approach the limits of the 300-ton machine. Plus, having the extra tonnage gives you the ability to increase the tonnage load if needed. You never want to run any machine near, at, or over the rated tonnage.

I would also seriously consider the dynamic crowning feature if the parts you are producing are greater than 60 percent of the distance between the side frames.

Make sure whichever brand of machine you purchase that the tonnage requirements do not exceed the rated centerline load limit of the ram. If you exceed that limit, you will permanently bend the ram and bed; this ram upset will ruin your new press brake.

In summary, I would recommend the 400-ton machine with dynamic crowning.

Forming Offsets in Mexico

Question: I'm from Torreon City in Mexico, and I just finished reading the article 'Strategies for forming offsets.' We manufacture a part with a forming offset, but we don't know how to calculate the force. We have a 350-ton press brake. Are the force calculations the same as they are for air bending, or are there different calculations to consider?

Answer: Required tonnages for offsets vary greatly when using offset tools, mainly because they can involve either air forming or bottoming. Bottoming produces the best results but requires a lot of tonnage. Air forming requires much less tonnage, but the final bend will take on more of a Z shape rather than a true 90-degree offset. Especially when bottoming with offset tools, your tonnage calculations need to take extra force requirements into account.

Start by calculating for a single bend in mild cold-rolled steel like A36, with a 60-KSI tensile strength. Factor that value by material type'for example, 1.4 for 304 stainless. Determine the material factor by comparing your material's tensile strength with the 60,000-PSI tensile strength of the baseline material. If the material has a 120,000-PSI tensile strength, your material factor would be 2.

Next comes the method factor. If you're air bending, you don't need to incorporate a method factor. If you are bottoming with your offset tool, you need to multiply by a factor of 5.

Next comes the multiple-bend-tooling factor. If your material is less than 0.250 in., multiply the tonnage calculations by 5; if thicker, multiply by a factor of 10.

You need the die opening value to calculate the tonnage; this is not the size of the offset'that is, its depth. For the tonnage calculations, it's the width of the opening that matters, and you measure it the same as you would any other die opening, from one top corner to the other.

All this gives us the variables we need to plug into the following formula (all dimension measurements are in inches):

[575 × (Material thickness2) / Die width /12] ×

Length of bend × Material factor × Method factor × Multiple-bend-tooling factor

A point of note, in the formula above, the material thickness must be squared before multiplying it by the 575 constant if you want the answer to be correct. Also note that this tonnage calculation produces only an estimate of the tonnage that may be required.

With and Against the Grain in the U.S.

Question: I have been reading some of your articles on metal bending, and I was wondering about your expert recommendation on bending relative to the grain direction. From what I read, it is recommended to bend perpendicular to the grain for material 0.25 in. and thicker. I just need a good technical explanation of when to bend against the grain direction, when it's not necessary, and why.

Answer: The answer to your question is ' there is no absolute answer. It's more of a general rule. When bending plate 0.25 in. or thicker, grain direction is an issue particularly in low-quality steels in which you need to form a small inside bend radius. The tighter the radius, the greater the stress on the outside surface, which in turn pulls the grains in the material apart and causes cracking on the surface.

The grain direction issue is more of a poor-quality material issue. Generally, you will not have such problems when bending materials like stainless and high-quality steels. Still, even with high-quality materials, grain direction can be an issue at the press brake if it varies from part to part'that is, if you form the same flanges but each has a different grain direction, which in turn changes your bend angle from part to part.

On thin material and aluminums, grain splitting on the outside of the bend can be the result of the finish grain. If it's deep, the grains tend to pull apart.

My advice: Do not bend with the grain in low-quality steels. Instead, try to bend across or diagonal to the grain, and try to keep the grain direction consistent across the run of parts.

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