Stamping cost calculator: 22 Ways Reduce Metal Stamping Costs

Stamping cost calculator: 22 Ways Reduce Metal Stamping Costs

Metal stamping is a commonly used processing technology in today’s metal processing. It uses pressure to separate and shape metal raw materials to process the workpiece shape desired by customers. There is a lot of common sense in metal stamping processing. Today, Xiaobian has sorted out some of the little knowledge points that are conducive to reducing costs.
First, the main measures to reduce manufacturing costs:

1. Improve the rationalization level of the process.
2. Improve the level of mold design, reduce the process, and improve the life of the mold.
3. Reduce costs by improving the automation and high-speed level of the stamping process.
4. Design molds for simultaneous processing of each workpiece.
5. Take the method of improving the utilization rate of materials to reduce the cost.

These five points are some measures that are conducive to reducing costs.

Do you know How to save the cost of stamping parts?

First, the quotation content of metal stamping parts

The quotation of stamping parts mainly involves the following aspects: material fee, profile die fee, stamping die fee, fixture fee, stamping fee, processing fee (such as CNC machining, etc.), surface treatment (such as oxidation, coating, silk screen, spraying, surface Galvanized, etc.)

Second, the sub-item quotation of metal stamping parts

1. Material cost: expand the part, calculate the length of the part, and then use the formula L(mm)*W(mm)*H(mm)*G/cm) * unit price (yuan/kg)*1.1-1.2)/10 to calculate the material cost .
2. Stamping die fee: According to the shape of the part, estimate the die area, place 5cm on one side and 3-5cm in height. The standard of the mold frame is inspected according to the mold size.
3. Printing costs: calculated by tonnage. (0.8≤1) yuan/60 tons, 1.2 yuan/80 tons.
4. Fixture fee.
5. Machining costs.
6. Surface treatment cost: oxidation 0.6 yuan/dm; painting; screen printing; spraying; surface galvanizing.
7. Gross profit: controlled between 20-30%.

Third, the processing fee quotation of metal stamping

• 1 Confirm the product blank price. The weight of the blank can be obtained by the width, step and thickness of the group blank. According to the selling price of this material in the market, we can get the material price of this product.
• 2 Confirmation of pulse charge, a product is composed of multiple processes, and each process can use a different tonnage press. The prices of beer machines of different tonnages are roughly 16T-0.06, 25T-0.08, 35T-0.1 yuan, 45t-0.12 yuan, 60t-0.15 yuan, 80t-0.2 yuan, 110t-0.25 yuan, 160t-0.30 yuan, 200t- 0.50 yuan, 200t (dual axis)-0.60 yuan, 250t (dual axis)-0.90 yuan.
• 3 Total price = stamping cost per ton of material, but please note that the scrap rate in production is high, and post-processing, electroplating, brushing and screws should also be paid attention to after production. Studs need to be considered.

This guide will walk you through 22 key points on how to reduce stamping costs, to examine the important points that may save money for your metal stampings.

Material

プレス加工
Have you considered all options when choosing metal stamping materials for your parts? With the current volatility in metal prices, you may find cost savings from alternative materials that you haven’t considered before. Does it work, 1050 annealed spring steel can be substituted for high strength low alloy steel with minor design modifications. When durability is a concern, 4130 alloy steel can be used for original stamping designs. Requirements have since changed and durability is no longer an issue. To reduce the cost of stamped parts, we recommend cold rolled steel as an alternative. Based on current material prices and stamping requirements, making material changes can allow you to realize some quick savings while maintaining stamping structural requirements.

Mold life

プレス加工
How often are your current molds repaired and reworked? If your current design requires frequent downline for mold repairs, can you be sure of the cost of this downtime and extended lead time? Examine your design to determine the possibility of changing these features to simplify stamping and eliminate unnecessary wear on dies and tooling. The automotive industry spends about $700 million a year to design, test and revise new stamping dies for the latest car models. About half of the total cost is spent on repairing unexpected errors that manifest as wrinkles, cracks, excessive thinning, or other imperfections.

mold

stamping die
Review your current mold requirements for parts and determine if changes can be made to reduce complexity and maintain functionality. For example, changing a square hole to a round hole greatly simplifies machining and tooling requirements. This will reduce your production time and your overall part cost. Review your design and outline the number of machines and processes required. Can changes be made to use the same machine or process?

Control Plan

Your parts have been stamped for some time, and you have a wealth of reliable performance data. Can you reduce the load or cycle time requirements and achieve the same functionality? By analyzing current design performance, you may be able to identify areas of design modification that can reduce costs.

tolerance

When first designing a stamping, did you only use the default +/-0.05 on the title block? Examine your design to determine the feasibility of increasing tolerance requirements without compromising design functionality. It is possible that changes have been made throughout the prototyping and production run of the assembly, and you can adjust these requirements. Relaxing tolerances on stamped parts can lead to significant cost savings.

Specifications

If your stampings are designed to conform to existing codes or standards, you should review the latest version to identify any changes that may benefit your design or production process. If a standard or specification no longer applies to your design, make acceptable changes to reduce costs and increase productivity.

Safety factor

What is your safety factor for the original design? Was this setting too high in the original design? If the design loads change or end up falling below the original design requirements, there is an opportunity to modify the existing design to reduce costs.

Safety factor = material strength + design load

Operational Requirements
Are there parts of your designs that currently require human intervention? If so, see if these areas can use automation. Manual machining operations are costly and time-consuming. Anything you can do to reduce this will have a direct impact on your component costs. The 3D ug deep drawing fluid simulation system can help determine the design for automatically creating features for your parts.

Product Design Changes

Has there been any recent design changes to the overall product using your stampings? Review these changes to determine how other component changes affect your original stamping design and functionality. Alternatively, you can slightly alter your design to provide advantages in other areas while maintaining the functionality and integrity of the part. Some changes will allow you to ship more parts together and in each shipment

Deliver more parts.

Similar stampings/near repeat designs

Do you have very similar stampings? It may be possible to modify existing stampings to achieve both. Large companies often maintain their vast databases of custom stampings to identify this opportunity. Pay attention to the work you’ve already done and use it to your advantage. By combining these two stamping designs, you can meet both needs and reduce overall costs.

government regulations

If you are using government-regulated processes or materials, review requirements and investigate alternatives. If the laws or regulations surrounding materials or processes are subject to fluctuations or changes, this can cause instability in your production process and lead to changes in costs. Do your best to eliminate these unknowns.

Outsourcing Supplier

If your stamping parts currently require multiple outsourcing services, please find a reliable outsourcing supplier, such as welding, surface treatment, turning and so on. Shipping costs need to be considered.

automation

View machines from your current metal stamping partners. Are there opportunities for them to increase the automation of component production? Different machines may allow you to compress your production run by combining feature creation. The cost of components can be reduced by reducing the number of passes, tooling/fixtures and manual machining.

project management

If you have difficulty getting in touch with your metal stamping partner, or if they don’t respond to your calls reliably, your project will incur additional costs. Review the reliability, convenience, quality and accuracy of the project information and feedback provided to you. If you don’t have strong metal stamping component project management, you’ll lose time managing projects yourself. Find a strong partner to lead this for you.

market familiarity

Make sure your current metal stamping partner has an in-depth knowledge of your area of ​​expertise. Different vertical markets often require different production steps or documentation. You don’t want to get caught up in the process of educating your partner how to get the job done for you. Find a partner who is familiar with the needs of your vertical industry and use their knowledge to analyze your design and make cost-effective changes.

Yield

Has your production increased without reviewing your original design? Demand for more components is usually met with a substantial increase in production orders. When production volumes increase, there is an opportunity to simplify your product design to improve manufacturability and production schedules. If you are still working with your basic prototyping, now is the time to analyze what changes can be made to still achieve the desired functionality from the components while reducing costs. Is your metal stamping partner capable of high volume production with you? Unfortunately, some partners were unable to transition to high-volume operations. You may still be paying “low-volume” or “short-term” pricing for high-volume runs. Determine if your metal stamping partner has the capability to meet your needs while delivering the cost savings you need on your larger orders. When choosing a metal stamping partner, make sure they have the capability to move from prototyping, short run production and eventual migration to high volume hard tooling.

delivery date

How does your current lead time affect your productivity and costs? Does your current metal stamping partner offer emergency or emergency production services? Check the average lead times over the past year and determine how the reduction will affect your productivity and bottom line.

Ship

See how your parts are currently scheduled for delivery. Does your current metal stamping partner provide warehousing services for your parts? Do you know if your current carrier or delivery service is the most cost effective? Consider how alternative delivery schedules or carriers can affect the profitability of each of your components. Businesses should regularly review each workflow in detail to recoup the time it takes to realize these savings.

Reduce scrap rate

Do you know what your current scrap rate is? Have you organized components to reduce overall scrapping costs? If not, you should investigate the possibility of relocating your design and fabrication drawings to maximize the use of materials used in metal stamping. By changing the layout of components, you can produce more parts with less material. If your original layout had 10 parts in your design and you can only install one more, you can now get 10% off the same material price! Depending on the volume of your production run, this can save a lot of money very quickly.

Shipping method

How does the geographic location of your metal stamping partner affect your shipping costs? Depending on the shipping weight of your components, it may be advantageous to find a metal stamping partner in your local area or closer to where the final product is assembled. If you are using a metal stamping partner overseas, you should review any duties or taxes currently affecting your bottom line. With annual shipping rates increasing, fuel costs and accessory fees skyrocketing, potentially increasing by 30% or more each year, finding ways to reduce shipping costs can have serious consequences for the overall balance sheet.

Package

When your stampings were originally designed, did you determine the maximum volume that could be shipped in a single package? By making subtle design changes without compromising performance, you can offer more favorable packaging options that increase the volume per package. Additionally, you should review your current packaging materials and carriers to determine if any changes can be made to reduce costs.

Summarize

Do you have a third-party expert in stamping your component type to review your design and provide feedback? Two eyes are better than one. Find experts in metal stamping, progressive die stamping and deep drawing to analyze your current designs. Their years of expertise will allow them to spot cost-saving opportunities very quickly, saving you even more time to save the cost of every part you produce.