Case Study
GWS Tooling Increases Throughput by 43%, Saving $1M Annually
Customer
Major Aerospace Fastener Manufacturer
Part and Material
High-volume aerospace titanium fastener
The Situation
A major aerospace fastener manufacturer needed to improve a high-volume process producing over 10 million parts annually.
The existing tooling produced 420 parts per hour, required five-hour setups, and relied on multiple inserts.
The customer turned to GWS to increase throughput, reduce labor and tooling costs, shorten setup time, extend tool life, and eliminate burrs.
Current Process Results
- 420 parts per hour
- 5-hour typical setup time
- Multiple inserts required
New GWS Solution
- 43% increase in throughput
- 20% reduction in setup time
- 29% reduction in labor requirements
- 28% lower tooling and labor cost per part
- Burr-free parts at faster feed rates
- Longer tool life with less tooling
- More than $1 million in annual cost savings
Conclusion
GWS developed an application-specific tooling and fixture solution. Optimized insert geometry enabled faster feed rates and burr-free
parts.
An application-specific carbide grade and coating extended tool life, while combining multiple operations into one insert reduced tooling requirements.
Throughput increased from 420 to 600 parts per hour, a 43% improvement. Setup time decreased 20%, while labor requirements per 30,000-part batch fell 29%.
The solution reduced combined tooling and labor costs per part by 28%. Across 10+ million parts, the customer saves more than $1 million annually.
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