“Close Enough” shouldn't be good enough when it comes to precision metal forming
Are you settling for less from your product? Is your precision metal forming not as precise as you’d like? Is your product design process hampered by the limitations of legacy metal forming methods like traditional hydroforming, metal spinning, or die stamping? Has your research and development team hit a “this can’t be formed from metal” wall?
Could your metal formed components and products look sharper, be stronger, perform better, and last longer? Are you using plastics where you should be using metal?
More to the point, are your parts and products merely “good enough” or “close enough?”
If that rings any bells, you’re reading the right article.
You’d think that after several years as the CEO of FluidForming Americas, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear, “You guys can really make this?”
Surprised or not, my answer is still a small shake of the head and a “You betcha. Yup. We really can FluidForm that with Six Sigma precision and repeatability. Yes, we can achieve those tolerances. Yes, we are that accurate. Yes, we can metal form those parts perfectly, every time.”
How FluidForming achieves perfection and precision in metal forming
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: FluidForming is a better, faster, smarter version of hydroforming. It’s also the first significant advancement in metal forming since the 1930s.
The FluidForming machine, the FormBalancer, is a self-contained, variably controlled, four-in-one sheet metal and tube forming machine. Here’s how it achieves Six Sigma accuracy and repeatability:
- Incredibly high forming pressures of up 400 mPA/60,000 psi (that’s up to 4 times higher than legacy hydroforming) result in 99.996% first-pass yield rate.
- Uniform clamping pressure and force distribution minimizes metal thinning.
- Innovative, bladder-free water-based technology reduces maintenance costs and improves precision and finish quality.
- Pre-painted, pre-finished, and textured metals are not damaged by forming force.
- By integrating low-cost 3D printed tooling, FluidForming slashes tooling costs and improves time-to-market.
- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) minimizes trial-and-error and maximizes efficiency.
- Nested tooling capabilities facilitate undercuts, logos, and sharp angles while reducing production time and further minimizing tooling costs.
FluidForming Client Testimonials
We’re grateful to our customers who care about precision and quality and we’re thankful for their support.
Here’s what a few of our manufacturing partners have to say about our process:
“We handmade these parts for years and now we have them manufactured by FFA with Six Sigma quality. Thanks to the flexibility of the FFA process, we were able to increase the tank content volume by 34.5% giving our customers a much-improved life cycle between refills — which is a huge competitive advantage for us.”
— Title: Project Manager | Industry: Instrumentation | Product: Liquid Nitrogen Tank
“Part accuracy has gone from no-two-parts-are-alike to Six Sigma conformance and repeatability with 0% non-conforming product.”
— Title: Vice President | Industry: Communications | Product: Precision Satellite Dish
“We have never seen such high quality and such part-to-part consistency before.”
— Title: Director | Industry: Appliance Manufacturing | Product: Prototype Cooktop
“The consistent quality and repeatability of FluidFormed parts have reduced our secondary labor costs in fit-up and reduced workers’ compensation claims by substantially reducing on-the-job injuries.”
— Title: Engineering Manager | Industry: Agriculture | Product: Exhaust Fitting
Meet the FluidForming team At FABTECH and see what we mean by precision metal forming
So, now you’ve heard it from me and you’ve heard it from our customers: FluidForming is the solution to your toughest precision metal forming challenges. Come see it for yourself.
Consider this an open invitation to every engineer, product developer, research and development executive, product designer, and CEO to stop by Booth D46352 at FABTECH 2019. We’ll be there, in Chicago, November 11-14, showing off our Six Sigma satellite dish, microchannel heat exchanger, and so much more.
Learn more about our precision metal forming and find out if FluidForming technology is right for your next project. Contact FluidForming Americas today at (800) 497-3545 or email us at info@ffamericas.com.