Vol. 86, Issue 12, December 2007, pp.1785-1787

Putting Sensors to Work: The Untapped Advantage for Tool and Die Stamping

Thomas Horstman

U.S. Automation, Arlington Heights, IL

Tel.: 847-506-1800

E-mail: thorstman@usautomation.biz

Received: 5 November 2007   /Accepted: 20 December 2007   /Published: 26 December 2007

Short Message

Adding sensors to their machines can help North American tool and die stampers increase product quality and gain a competitive edge. The most dramatic economic reality impacting the tool and die stamping industry today is the availability of cheap labor in China and India. By using sensors to enhance the dies, North American manufacturers can lower their costs and negate some of the effects of lower labor rates in other world markets where manual sorting for defects is more common. So it’s somewhat surprising that 85% of U.S. die stampers have no formal program for integrating sensors of any type into their dies even though leading manufacturers of press controls, such as Honeywell Wintriss, are continuing to advance the capability of their systems to use sensor inputs. This article looks at how sensors—photoelectric sensors in particular—are helping them compete.

First, let’s look at the evolution of sensor use in tool and die applications. In the beginning, the first sensor used in the stamping industry was human; the operator acted as die protector. However, no matter how well trained, observant, or dependable the operator, errors occurred ... Read more

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