Reference standard for Automotive Tier 1 and 2

A car consists of thousands of components. The automotive industry is therefore characterized by great complexity that occurs also in the different levels of the supply chain. In fact, the OEM (Original Equipement Manufacturer) is the last link in the production chain that goes from Tier 3, the nearest to raw materials, through Tier 2, suppliers of components, to Tier 1, suppliers of assembled parts.

IATF

To control this complexity and to ensure continuative quality to the components of the vehicles some regulations have been introduced, in order to standardize products and producers. The most important standard on the matter is IATF 16949:2016, developed by the International Automotive Task Force in 2016. This standard has replaced the previous ISO/TS 16949 and it stands alongside ISO 9001. IATF 16949:2016 has been created by the main OEM with the purpose of making it possible for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers to obtain reliable results for mass production, which are compliant with the high qualitative standards of the automotive industry.

IATF 16949:2016 is applied not only during production but also during the design phase and throughout the relationship with the customer. In fact the regulation contains, besides the parameters that have to be respected, also instructions on how to formulate offers, undertake feasibility studies and guarantee results from an economic, design and productive point of view, thus helping the customer to find appropriate solutions. In short, it makes it possible to work with every customer transversally, establishing rules that are universally valid in the automotive industry.

CSR

Even though IATF introduced uniformity among the requirements demanded to automotive suppliers, the complexity of the processes are still a typical trait of automotive industry. Just like Tier 1 works with different customers, on every level of the hierarchy, also Tier 2 and Tier 3 receive products from different suppliers and supply different customers. Every customer has its own particular requirements, called CSR, Customer Specific Requirements, that are, in short, a list of the specific needs of every customer. Hence, the skill of a Tier 2 or Tier 3, is to take CSR and IATF and to complement them with its own and with the customer’s productive process.

In order to meet CSR of different customers it is necessary to be compliant with their own standards and objectives. In the case of Tier 2 automotive supplier it means to have different control steps in every phase of the productive process, to monitor the development of the production from design to delivery and to verify norms and qualitative parameters compliance in every step.

Obviously, the compliance with the customer’s requirements must be incorporated to production in order to remain in a central position of the “time-scope-quality project triangle”:  depending on the characteristics of the customer the supplier must be able to move into the triangle without losing sight of what is priority.

Tier 2 automotive supplier: advantages of a SME

Not only industrial giants contribute to automotive production. Very different entities take part in the construction process of a car: they can be giant or big companies, such as OEM, or small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is exactly a SME, as Tier2 automotive supplier, that can prove to be more competitive than a bigger company. In fact a SME, thanks to its dimensions, is able to create a special relationship with its customer, which is expressed in terms of cooperation, flexibility, speed and trust.

Cooperation

Cooperation is not only about design and production but also about the intermediate phase of prototyping. The process that leads to the creation of a component is a development process that ends with the phase of ramp up, the phase in which volumes increase from pre-series to mass production. A SME that is structured to work with the automotive industry is able to cooperate with the customer in every phase of the productive process.

During the concept phase the supplier cooperates with the customer in devising the project for the component. In prototyping phase technical solutions are tested, evaluated and refined with short-run temporary tools.  With the pre-series stage the product is realized in short-run but with all the methods and  tools of mass production, in order to check the compliance of the production process of the component. Finally, in the last phase, the production one, the component is mass produced.

For further insights about simulation as a way to increase effectiveness and efficiency of production process in the automotive industry read the article Simulation for HPDC: surface aesthetical quality in automotive.

Flexibility, speed, trust 

A SME Tier 2 is able to guarantee to the customer great speed of response times. In the case of a corporate giant response times, due to the large size of the company can become longer. In the case of a SME, on the contrary, this does not happen. In fact, the moment the customer contacts the supplier, thanks to vertical and direct relationships, the SME Tier 2 is able to quickly react to requests.

Besides speed SME Tier 2 is also able to guarantee flexibility, both in terms of time and product. Even in the event of urgencies a SME is able to organize its production in order to meet the customer’s requests. It is also able to flexibly realize the different typologies of products, such as safety, functional or aesthetical products, meeting their own specific regulations.

The relationship of trust and transparency between customer and supplier is a further added value given by a SME. Business partners, in a SME, are people that know each other with whom it is possible to talk promptly about any possible difficulties in order to cooperate and to find solutions. The larger a company  gets, the easier it is for this relationship to get lost, together with the already mentioned speed, flexibility and trust.

A Tier 2 automotive supplier that is also a SME is thus an entity able to combine compliance to the strict productive and qualitative regulations of the automotive industry with flexibility, speed and trust. Moreover, as said, it is able to create a personal relationship with customers and to directly cooperate with them in order to define the most appropriate, safe and favorable solutions.

If you wish to deepen the topic advantages of zinc alloys for the automotive industry you can read the article The importance of zinc die casting in automotive industry.

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ZINC TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The large majority of die castings requires specific processes to meet aesthetic appearance requirements, to enhance wear resistance or provide a protective barrier against corrosion: most parts have to be improved with secondary operations before being shipped.

Some metals are more suitable for undergoing galvanic treatments, varnishing and painting than others: one such metal is zinc. Zinc is a quite dense metal, really durable and stronger when compared to different materials such as polymers. Die casted zinc also allows to create smaller draft angles, smaller and longer cored holes and thinner wall sections, thus conveying the possibility to develop innovative shapes. This, together with the possibility to use unconventional surface finishes offers a competitive advantage over competitors. By choosing to work with zinc, designers can choose between a wide range of surfaces treatments, giving different finishes and surface improvements.

Designers and project managers are always looking for new ways to improve products: a collaboration with a supplier could help them identify criticalities in design or solve pre-existing issue. In a co-design kind of collaboration, the supplier should suggest its client the best way to optimize the product for finishing, based on its expertise.

CHOICE OF MATERIAL & RELATIVE FINISHES

During the collaboration, the first step is selecting the right type of alloy and evaluating its performances while taking in account the final use of the component. The first point to be cleared is whether the component is going to be used indoor or outdoor:  in second case, a corrosion resistance treatment shall be considered. There are different types of corrosion depending on chosen metal and the surrounding environment. You can learn more about corrosion by reading this post.

Another issue to take in account is the necessity for a cosmetic finish: depending on the final application of the component, clients could request varnishing, painting, enamel, chroming or plating.

Once analyzed every technical aspect, it is important to study advantages of different kind of finishing such as zinc black, C&E conversion coatings, sprayed and baked liquid coatings, copper-tin-zinc electroplate, copper-nickel-chrome electroplate, mechanical plating, and epoxy and polyester powder coatings.

Zinc Black

In this process a thick black phosphate is conferred to the casting as an obstruction against humidity and corrosive environments. It is usually a pre-treatment where zinc plating is followed by a black chromate conversion coating.

C&E Conversion Coatings

These treatments are chemical immersions that give a protective film on the zinc surface. Their aim is to protect parts during storage or in indoor environments. Usually conversion coatings are followed by waterproofing substances or varnish to widen the range of their applications.

Sprayed & Baked Liquid Coatings

These types of coatings include different chemistries such as epoxies, polyesters, phenolic and urethanes.

Copper-Tin-Zinc Electroplate

The outcome of this process is a dull and silvery finish on the zinc surface. It gives zinc a correct protection but the finish turns to a black appearance.

Copper-Nickel-Chrome Electroplate

This finishing is one of the best against corrosion. It protects zinc surface against the acidity of subsequent baths, then is able to uniform the zinc surface finish and assure it a good electrical conductivity.

Mechanical Plating

This procedure regards placing parts in a drum with metal powders desired and a chemical activator, then tumbling these parts until the desired thickness of coating is reached. The coating is created thanks to a mechanical and chemical action. The advantage of this process is that it can be applied on all surfaces, also on inside corners. Final colorations depend on different metal combinations.

Epoxy and Polyester Powder Coatings

These coatings are used as powders in dry electrostatic process and then fused in an oven. Not using solvents during the process is an advantage, since it prevents the formation of solvent-caused defects

This list is not comprehensive of all the possible finishing, but it is just a selection of the most common zinc die casting finishing.

Now we will present a selection of case studies where these technologies have been implemented with a tailor made cut, thanks to the collaboration between client and supplier.

CASE HISTORIES

The use of Zamak in die casting processes allows a series of finishes, which would be impossible to obtain with other alloys, leading to products with both high technical coefficient and important aesthetic value.

Bruschi has a 70 years-experience with clients among several industries, which include automotive, lightning engineering, household electrical appliance, doors and windows locks. Having an extensive know-how that covers different fields allows the designer to provide alternative solutions borrowed from other industries and always ensuring top quality in material, processes, manufacturing and products durability.

CASE STUDY 1 – New finishing to avoid blistering

An important automotive player asked to Bruschi to produce a component already produced by other suppliers. Client wanted new solution to develop this particular component, because it had a scrap rate of over 25% due to blisters appearing after treatment of galvanic coating.

Bruschi worked focusing its efforts, involving its supplier network, to avoid blistering. The solution has been achieved by changing the finishing: turning from galvanic coating to passivation. This means a great saving in terms of scrap rate caused by blistering, that has decreased from 25% to only a few parts per million.

CASE STUDY 2 – New finishing to improve SST resistance

An important automotive player asked Bruschi a solution to improve the salt spray test resistance of an existing component that was already made in Bruschi to be assembled on subcompact cars. For the new project, the component should receive better treatments in order to meet requirements of luxury cars. In general, regarding surface of the component, the SST resistance is given by a particular kind of finishing.

For subcompact cars the resistance guaranteed was 120 hours, thanks to a surface treatment called Fe/Zn: however, this treatment was not suitable for luxury cars. To reach the new goal Bruschi had to push the resistance to 1000 hours.

Thanks to Bruschi expertise and supplier network, the client reached its goal by implementing a special galvanic treatment, which allowed SST resistance for over 1000 hours to salt spray test.

CASE STUDY 3 – Special painting instead of mat chrome treatment

For an important client in locks sector Bruschi developed a different process in order to decrease the scrap rate. In details, client required a mat chrome surface treatment on its components but, due to their complex geometry characterized by a high number of angles, it was impossible to guarantee the requirements requested and the scrap rate was out of control.

In collaboration with its suppliers network, particularly with the painter and a chemical company, Bruschi developed special paint to assure the same characteristics to components without the mat chrome treatment. By changing the technology the client had the same components, but less scrap rate.

These case studies prove the importance of surface finishing and how a collaboration with suppliers can help with reducing scrap rate by finding alternative solutions or creating tailor made surface treatments to obtain the best performances out of a component.

If you are interested in the topic of metal finishing, you can read our other posts on the topic:

1- Focus on Surface Finishing

2- Processing techniques for metal finishing

And to always be up-to-date with die casting industry, subscribe to our blog.

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Supplier’s impact on VA/VE

An increasingly important part of procurement strategy is to involve suppliers and strengthen collaboration in product development, cost reduction and enhancement activities.

Joint Value Analysis/Value Engineering is one of the best ways to pursue long-term goals and to establish good business relationships with suppliers: trust and open-share of information and ideas are the basis of commercial collaborations.

Informing and involving suppliers in VA/VE activities can help to clarify the process definition and to encourage alternative proposals, resulting in more competitive price and/or better product.

The benefits of cost saving, process improvement, and transparent communication are shared between suppliers and customers. The former is able to determine a calculated cost reduction, to show potential quality improvement or scrap reduction with supporting data; the latter can benefit from open communication, cost reduction and/or better quality.

A supplier involved in VA/VE analysis can make proposals for:

Component design changes

These modifications are usually proposed by a dedicated engineering department and studied using simulation and analysis tools to support customers since the beginning of a project. These changes can help to reduce scrap production and component’s weight, to improve structural and mechanical qualities of the piece and to prevent future issues. All these activities lead to improved functionality of the components, therefore increasing their value.

These changes may regard:

• Materials or specifications
• Dimension or tolerances
• Components substitutions

Manufacturing or assembly process changes

With simulation software, it is possible to try out a number of process variations to obtain the best optimization possible without wasting any material. These tools make it easier to spot critical points and to apply correction where needed, especially in those situations in which the root cause may not be clear just by analyzing the casted component.

Modifying the process and the technologies involved before creating a prototype or casting a trial batch grants a great saving in terms of material used and less machine time wasted. In other words, during a VA/VE analysis the simulation of manufacturing process can increase the value of the product by reducing costs.

Some of these changes may regard:

• Tests reduction
• New process technology
• Part reliability

Logistics

A better communication between parts is crucial to achieve a functional supplier network. Sometimes the supplier can take care of shipments costs, adjust schedules to meet urgent needs, or even arrange shipments to make the most FLT (Full Load Transport) possible, thus cutting costs.

Some area of Logistics in which suppliers can help are:

• Reduced freight costs
• Packaging improvements
• Inventory management

Once the customer’s procurement receives proposals, a team composed of experts from different departments will review them to determine feasibility and eventually merge the new obtained result in their procurement strategy.

How a Die Caster can support VA/VE activities

Product engineers are always trying to reduce production and material costs, maintaining at the same time the quality of products. Value Analysis / Value Engineering is fundamental to reach that goal.

We can classify manufacturing costs into:

• Raw materials
• Labor
• Process

Let’s see each point in details.

Raw materials

As every procurement strategy specialist knows, raw materials prices depend on a wide range of factors, from widespread availability to fluctuation of the market.

Sometimes a change in material can be necessary to keep the production costs under control, or to cut unnecessary costs and increase the revenue for a product. For example, choosing to use zinc instead of aluminum, stainless steel or any other material could help to cut costs.

But even when using the same material, there may be differences in price and quality: for example, zinc alloys come in wide varieties and in different price sets. Choosing the right kind of alloy is important not only for the final product, but it could also help saving. To be sure to choose the best material both in terms of technical quality and cost-wise,  it is advisable to ask your supplier for advices by involving its team in your VA/VE analysis.

Labor

The manufacturing process necessarily includes labor costs: some of these may be avoided by speeding up the operations, for example through the use of automations, or by carefully designing components to reduce after-production operations and make the assembly easier.

Process

Process requirements can vary greatly depending on the industry. When considering die casting industry, the typical cycle time is composed of the following phases:

• Injection time;
• Die casting technical time;
• Mold shifting/lubrication time;
• Control time;

There are different ways of optimizing these processes, but in many cases automations and IT can help. Some programs can simulate the entire production cycle: based on data acquired from the analysis, it is possible to anticipate any issues and minimize risks, finding the most suitable solution for each project.

To conclude, we have seen how involving die casting suppliers in a jointed VA/VE analysis can help improving different phases of the production: from product design to process optimization, almost every area can benefit from an expert suggestion. Therefore, contacting suppliers while developing a new procurement strategy could increase the value of a product, either by improving component’s functionality or by reducing production costs.

To learn more about die casting industry, VA/VE analysis and production optimization, subscribe to our blog.

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The supply chain department is a fundamental part of a company to save on die casting components. In this blog post, we are going to look at:

• The key points of an efficient supply chain
• The concept of supply chain
• How to cut logistic cost
• How to implement the solution
• The future of supply chain

Supply chain is the process of planning and controlling the efficacy of flows and storage of raw materials, products and information to reach consumers’ needs which includes activities such as customer service, forecasting demand, communication management, stockpile management, suppliers planning, material handling, packaging, transports and storage.

It is an extension of the main theme of logistic; while traditional logistic is regarding flows optimization inside the company, an efficient Supply Chain department recognizes that integration inside the company is not sufficient, but it is necessary to integrate a system with suppliers, clients and the company itself.

This approach leads to implement activities to reach the requested level in term of cost, working on saving, focusing on the customer needs to develop a supply chain as a network of involved organizations, that produce value in terms of products and services to consumers.

The key points of an efficient supply chains

The most important point in an excellent supply chain is to ensure that products and services meet customers’ expectations.

The key features of an efficient supply chains are:

– Delivery according to customer’s request date

– Speed of response to changes

– Costs management
– Inventory on hand
– Maximizing cost saving
– Working capital efficiency

To reach the above mentioned goals Bruschi has developed a tailor made supply chain.

The concept of supply chain

In Bruschi the focus is on the product and on the customer. Once the order of the client has been loaded into the management system, the delivery date has been defined, the program is settled  and machines have been planned , in this moment the casting process is clear to all the members of the production.

Read more on the topic in our post “How the right die casting supplier can help your company’s VAVE”

When the order has been loaded into the system, the logistic specialist organizes the external manufacturing. Bruschi products are die casting components manufactured as raw parts, and stored directly in our warehouse, or sent to suppliers to be finished.

Bruschi does not only track the delivery to clients but also to suppliers to organize the entire process. When the finished product returns to Bruschi, the customer service and warehouse’s operators organize the delivery to the customer.

These activities allow to cut logistic cost, thanks to a good management of supply chain.

How to cut logistic cost

As it is described these processes seem easy to be realized, but these activities, with the related flows, have been developed to cut the customer’s cost. To plant processes like these is necessary to start with a bit of theory.

It’s possible to divide logistic costs into 5 groups:

– Storage costs
– Transports costs
– IT systems costs
– Costs of handling orders
– Timing

Storage costs
Bruschi to operate in a cost reduction way has avoided overproduction and has implemented lean production philosophy in its plant. In this way the storage layout has been reorganized, in production and logistic terms: giving the goods the right space, dividing it into finished material – die casting components – and supplier material nearer to the exit of the storage facility. All these activities are organized in a cost saving approach.

Transports costs
To optimize the organization and have a simpler process, Bruschi has implemented smart flows to deliver products to suppliers. Bruschi manages transport network organized by a daily planning to optimize the savings without losing quality and time.

IT systems costs
Ensuring a better service for customers is the key point for Bruschi: to allow savings for clients software are integrated to the company one to organize better all the deliveries. In some cases Bruschi, to reach costumers needs, organizes storage facilities close to the client’s productive plant: a service allowed thanks to Bruschi’s IT that enables a more availability of the products for customers.

Costs of handling orders
In the last few years Bruschi has implemented a system of radiofrequency that aims to cut costs and simplify the process and, in some cases, Bruschi uses a Kanban system, a Japanese system that avoids overproduction and waste of materials.

Timing
Bruschi idea of reaction is a core skill in processes and in the relationship with the customer. Timing and the ability to meet a deadline are closely related to the schedules and the production plan in order to meet the customer’s needs: this idea of reaction boosts these features over the ordinary. The key point of Bruschi is that all these processes are really quick because all the parts involved collaborate and are coordinate; in this way the reaction time is immediate.

How to implement this solution

Implementing this solution is not simple, but is helping because works directly on cost in process and flows.

However, to develop a system like that, supply chain professionals need to expand their understanding of business functions. In particular they need to have a better knowledge of purchases, of production planning, of marketing initiatives, of sales and promotional plans and of the Information Technology that is the key element, the bond that links components to supply chain partners in an integrated system.

In fact supply chain regards every aspect that is needed to reach the client’s request such as product development, marketing, distribution, finance and customer service.

The aims of supply chain in Bruschi are maximizing value creation, that value in supply chain is the difference among the final product and the costs to create it: this value is linked to profitability of supply chain.

The future of supply chain

However this process can only get better. For this reasons in Bruschi are planned innovations to be implemented  in the next future to improve supply chain in order to reach and anticipate customer’s needs.

For this reason in Bruschi are implementing new tools and new software, thanks to the growing dynamism of advanced IT solutions, able to support of a multi channel sourcing of data, to secure speed to market and to reduce the risks of delays using alternative transport modes and routes and to be more flexible in adapting easily to unexpected changes and circumstances.

Bruschi engineers are able to monitor and optimize each die casting process phase, to ensure the quality and conformity of the final product and to support your designers’ inventiveness to develop innovative and creative solutions together.

If you want to discover more about cost reduction strategies in zinc die casting click here.

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