{"id":11797,"date":"2021-02-17T12:56:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T12:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/?p=11797"},"modified":"2022-07-22T12:59:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T12:59:09","slug":"the-value-of-insourcing-and-standardizing-component-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/the-value-of-insourcing-and-standardizing-component-work\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Insourcing and Standardizing Component Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a time when everyone seems to be trying to look at outsourcing as a way to stay competitive, Oldcastle, Ontario-based Aalbers Tool &amp; Mold has gone against the grain, and it has paid off.<br \/>\nIf you walk through this company\u2019s crib, you will see the usual rows upon rows of components waiting to be installed into jobs. Screws, springs, pins, and bushings line the shelves. Look a little closer, however, and you will start to notice some components that similar manufacturers don\u2019t typically keep in stock. That\u2019s because Aalbers has a components division that builds a growing selection of its own components.<\/p>\n<p>Aalbers Tool &amp; Mold was founded in 1982 by CEO Gary Aalbers to design and manufacture large plastic injection molds for the automotive and consumer goods industries. (The company also has expertise in fabric insert tooling.) Traditionally, these molds are made from raw blocks of steel machined to shape, combined with about 80 percent purchased components (screws, pins bushings, etc.) and 20 percent components custom-made for a particular job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA few years ago we<a href=\"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17569 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM-1024x596.jpeg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM-1024x596.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM-300x175.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM-768x447.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2021-02-17-at-5.01.55-PM.jpeg 1087w\" alt=\"\" width=\"227\" height=\"132\" \/><\/a>\u00a0looked at all the custom components we were making for each job, and we soon realized that we needed more standardization,\u201d explains Toni Hansen, president. \u201cFor instance, we noticed that designers put in wear plates based on the size of the slide. The size of the wear plate differed from designer to designer. Even screw sizes and placement would vary. These custom plates were expensive and time-consuming to manufacture, so we set out to standardize them.\u201d<br \/>\nIn developing standards, the Aalbers team decided on the proper screw spacing and size, as well as proper clearance and critical dimensions. Once the team developed the standards, it could then make the components in advance and stock them in various sizes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reaping the Benefits<br \/>\n<\/strong>Aalbers Tool &amp; Mold has experienced numerous benefits from the standardization and in-house manufacturing of its mold components, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fewer opportunities for error. \u201cOur designers are aware of the sizes in stock, and they use those sizes whenever possible,\u201d notes Engineering Manager Don Stockwell. \u201cEach plate is part of our CAD library in TopSolid. The models contain everything: wear plates, pockets, screws, and screw holes\u2014all finished. In addition, we keep all manufacturing information on file for each size. This reuse of information saves us time with each design and also reduces the opportunity for error.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Decreased manufacturing time. \u201cIn the past, a custom component would take a fair amount of time to produce,\u201d Hansen points out. \u201cWe now manufacture them in batches using an automated process. It takes less time and has reduced the chance of errors. One custom component could take 30 minutes to produce, but now we can produce 10 of them in the same amount of time\u2014a 90-percent saving in labor.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Reduced lead times. As a result, lead times at Aalbers\u00a0have been significantly impacted. \u201cWe can produce molds faster because no one is waiting for a custom part to be manufactured. We always have our own components in stock,\u201d Hansen says.\u00a0Aalbers still purchases a few standard components from other suppliers, but if there is ever a problem with lead time on these orders, its component division can quickly manufacture the part to order.<\/li>\n<li>Improved customer service. Standardization has truly benefited Aalbers customers, according to Doug Thompson, who is in the company\u2019s technical sales department. \u201cIf a part gets damaged or worn, we can quickly take one off the shelf and send it along to the customer. No more waiting for a custom part to be manufactured,\u201d he says. \u201cIf our customer isn\u2019t local, he doesn\u2019t have to look for a local tool shop to repair the tool or pay expensive shipping costs; we can ship him the part and he can be back up and running in no time.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Hidden cost savings. Other cost savings are harder to measure but are very evident to Aalbers. For example, parametric CAD systems enable designers to design parts to any size they desire, but this flexibility can also be a big problem, according to Hansen. \u201cNot all designers have the same experience, and all are prone to typing in the occasional wrong value. The more we standardize, the more we reduce these potential errors.\u201d\u00a0In addition to the increased potential for actual engineering errors, allowing a designer to pick any size he wants can have drastic cost implications that may not be caught until it\u2019s too late.\u00a0\u201cDesigners are not purchasers, and purchasers are not designers,\u201d Hansen says. \u201cA designer may not know that the size he picked is much more expensive than the next size up or down. A purchaser has no way of knowing if the designer considered a cheaper size. This type of situation occurs all the time, so by taking control of standards, we can lessen the chance of this happening.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Continuous improvement. Standardization also has helped foster a culture of continuous improvement at Aalbers. The company now holds monthly meetings to discuss ideas for improving the component design. Team leaders from design, manufacturing, and sales meet to ensure everyone is looking at improvements from all aspects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The goal is simple, Hansen says. \u201cIt has to improve time and quality and help lower costs. We still purchase some components from suppliers, but what started with a few components has now grown to a large library of our own standard components.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are moldmakers not just mold assemblers. We know how each part functions within our tools. We know what works. Having our own components manufacturing division in-house allows us to think outside the box. When in the past we may have just purchased a standard component, today we consider each component\u2019s purpose and design. We have added many improvements to our own components that are not offered by industry catalogs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Component standardization also enables Aalbers to better judge an item\u2019s long-term durability. \u201cPreviously, when parts were designed one up, we had zero repeatability with no control over the long-term quality of our products,\u201d Hansen explains. \u201cNow if we see a problem arise, we can fix it in the standards and know that this fix will carry on to each new build, improving our overall quality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opportunity Keeps on Knocking<br \/>\n<\/strong>CEO Gary Aalbers says it\u2019s not uncommon for his company to receive requests from other mold manufacturers wishing to purchase components. \u201cWith our recent expansion\u2014coinciding with our 30-year anniversary\u2014we now have over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and we are currently investigating the potential of offering a line of specialty components from our patent-pending designs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a time when everyone seems to be trying to look at outsourcing as a way to stay competitive, Oldcastle, Ontario-based Aalbers Tool &amp; Mold has gone against the grain, and it has paid off. If you walk through this company\u2019s crib, you will see the usual rows upon rows of components waiting to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1517],"class_list":["post-11797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aalbers-tool-mold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11799,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11797\/revisions\/11799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}