Case Histories - FASTCO

(Courtsey of FASTCO Industries, Inc.Grand Rapids, MI)

• To cut development time, FASTCO uses NAGFORM to give different alternative designs.Then based on their experience, they select/modify one or two sequence designs and finally simulate those in NAGSIM.2D to make the final selection. Where possible, they do all this upfront before building the tooling. An example is the part shown on right that required a large amount of material to be upset. NAGFORM was used to help arrive at a progression.The tooling was then designed and the process was simulated using NAGSIM.2D software.Changes in design were made based on the simulation. The initial setup on the header went incredibly well. No tooling revisions were required. Manufacturing from sample run to production went very smoothly. Additionally, it took less than half of the time normally required to manufacture an acceptable part.

• The picture on right shows a part that had a quality concern. The part was not filling properly at the corner. After the machine operators claimed that it could not be filled, the forming operation was simulated using NAGSIM.2D. The simulation clearly showed where the problem was, and allowed an informed decision as to how to remove it. The tooling changes were made and the part was formed with the revised tooling. Picture on right shows the part filled better at the corner. This verified the improvement as predicted by the simulation shown.