AutoForm’s Gianfranco Ruggiero Visits Customer Fara Stampi
In this short article AutoForm Product Manager Gianfranco Ruggiero introduces the video below with a covering his in-house visit at Fara Stampi’s tool shop in Italy. See the video with English sub titles below for an engaging look at their stamping operations in practice.
Within the sheet metal forming industry the role of Product Manager plays the part of ensuring the generation of new requirements to improve and broaden the use of the products they are responsible for. If was for this reason (amongst others) that I recently visited FARA Stampi S.r.l in Nichelino, Italy, which is just outside Turin city southern edges. FARA Stampi produces and maintains all progressive dies used by FARA Industriale, located in Beinasco – Turin, supplying automotive parts like brackets, battery trays, reinforcements etc. to automotive companies including FCA, OPEL, Magna and PSA.
With the aim of exploring the use of our AutoForm applications, limitations and margin for improvements, specifically within the progressive die toolset simulation application, I had a really interesting talking with Mr. Sergio Siragusa, die designer at FARA Stampi and with Mr. Elio Falco who actually is the CEO of FARA Stampi (featured in the video below).Gathering meaningful information to improve a product is a process that involves many figures, surveys many users, and examines their role in the company and consequently the way in which they use the product. Many applications, many so called use-cases need to be explored and evaluated together with those persons who actually carry out those tasks. In my personal opinion, one of the most important aspects is the understanding of the point of view of the people who operate the product every day, understanding their goals and the difficulties they face to reach these goals; as only a complete analysis can generate useful ideas and effective ways to relieve the pains and make their everyday-job easier and more productive.
Fig. 2 Fara’s Use of AutoForm’s Tool Validation Process.
When and how AutoForm’s solution gets into the process design of progressive dies can really take different shades: starting from “part feasibility” where the strip concept is determined and how it affects the die set (number of stations and operation sequence) and the final cost of the part, to the simulation of the entire process (with the evaluation of the springback and the positioning of the trim lines) and the consequent tryout working-hour reduction that simulation ensures were the main topics.
Discussions became so interesting that we decided to make part of it available in the video here below: covering how the software is used and why from the very first tasks of the process; what important indications come from those first simulations and how these findings affect the final tryout of the real tool. These the main topics are explored in this video.
I would like personally thank Mr. Falco for his time and the technical details he shared with me allowing us to better understand the “behind the scene tasks” of this as difficult as fascinating job and lastly also for the valuable indications he provided on the use of the software.
Thank you Gianfranco for this great video!
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