Production

Helicoil Wire Inserts for Modern Manufacturing

image of a Helicoil insert

In the dynamic world of manufacturing and engineering, fasteners play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and longevity of assembled components. When it comes to threaded connections, issues like thread damage, wear, and stripped threads can pose significant challenges. This is where Helicoil inserts come to the rescue, offering a reliable and effective solution for thread reinforcement.

While widely known for its use in stripped thread repair for bolted joints, threaded inserts also allow for a strengthened threaded hole in softer materials like wood, plastic, composite sandwich panels, and softer metals such as aluminum. This attribute gives helicoil inserts an important role in today’s modern manufacturing with 3-D printed parts, lightweighting, composites, and increased use of plastics.

What are Helicoil Inserts?

Helicoil inserts are precision-engineered coils of wire with a diamond-shaped cross-section. These inserts are designed to be installed into a tapped hole, providing a stronger and more durable threaded connection. This is especially useful where you need to have a durable, reusable thread that is stronger than the surrounding material or in softer metals prone to galling.

Helicoil and 3-D Printed Manufacturing

3-D printed parts require post-processing before they are ready for assembly. In addition to the usual finishing techniques of sanding and smoothing, metal inserts should be used where bolted joints are required. This adds durability to your threaded hole to allow for repeat assembly and disassembly as well as providing clean engineered threads.

Helicoil and Composite Panels

Core Blocking allows Helicoil inserts to be used to create a solid mounting point in composite honeycomb and skinned core panels by installing a solid block of material into the panel core to accommodate a drilled hole and helicoil insert.

Suitable for high-volume production

Helicoil offers power tools and strip feed options to speed up assembly with precision in production environments. These tools can be configured for hand-held operation or mounted for repeat accuracy during assembly.

Threaded inserts have evolved from their humble beginnings in the aerospace industry and their utility has far outstripped their reputation in thread repair. With a wide range of inserts and coated options available, Helicoil has an insert for your application. The Assembly Technology Experts at Bossard are more than happy to discuss threaded inserts in greater detail. Contact us to find the right fasteners for your application at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

 

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December 20, 2023
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5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Fasteners for Your Manufacturing Project

Hardware Assortment

It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to overlook the importance of incorporating high-quality fasteners within their product designs. Whether it’s choosing nuts, bolts, screws, washers, anchors, or rivets, these hardware devices are critical for affixing two or more parts, materials, or objects. Here are five common mistakes to avoid when choosing fasteners.

1. Choosing Price Over Quality

It’s easy to get enamored by the potential savings of using low-priced fasteners. Reducing the costs of new product designs increases profit. Unfortunately, the savings on low-cost fasteners are quickly eroded with longer assembly cycle times in production. Even if the fasteners pass the final QC inspection, it’s more than likely they’ll fail in the field once the customer uses the product.

2. Using the Wrong Fastener for Your Design

Using the right fastener in design is critical to ensuring the integrity, strength, rigidity, and durability of your finished part. That selection must be based on the types of materials you’re using and the types of parts or sub-assemblies you’re joining or connecting. In many instances, it’s a question of product safety. Using the wrong fastener or wrong fastener material can make your joints susceptible to cracking, bending, or buckling.

3. Dissimilar Metals in Your Bolted Joint (Galvanic Corrosion)

Galvanic corrosion occurs when two different metals are exposed to water. One metal becomes the reducing electrode (anode), while the other becomes the positive electrode (cathode). These two create an electrochemical reaction that eventually leads to galvanic corrosion. This is a common occurrence for finished goods exposed to elements like moisture and humidity where the fastener material is different from the base material.

4. Incorrect Torque

In layman’s terms, incorrect torque refers to either over-tightening or under-tightening fasteners. The goal is to find the ideal amount of clamping force to ensure the joints or parts remain secured without breaking, cracking, or failing. When the tension is too high the fasteners become stressed and can tear, rip, or break. When the tension is too low, excessive vibration leads to the fasteners becoming dislodged or loose.

5. Wrong Grade of Material

Fasteners can be made of plastic, composites, brass, steel, titanium, aluminum, chrome, carbon steel, etc. However, choosing the wrong grade of material can lead to your product’s premature failure. When choosing your fastener’s grade, think about the grade’s mechanical properties in terms of its tensile, fatigue, and shear strength.

Aside from the grade’s mechanical properties, it’s also important to understand how that material reacts under different environmental and operating conditions. Industrial finished goods are often exposed to corrosive environments. Without the proper coating, fasteners can easily corrode. Galvanized, nickel-plated, brass, and zinc-plated are just some of the coating options that help to protect fasteners from corrosion.

Making the Right Choice

Don’t make the all-too-common mistake of glossing over fasteners in your design. Use low-quality hardware or assume that all fixtures are the same, and a failure is more than likely. The right hardware ensures your non-permanent joints remain intact. In the end, it’s about the integrity of your finished good and your company’s reputation.

 

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September 22, 2023
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Importance of Choosing The Right Fastener for Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA)

The Next Big Thing in the Product Design Process

Selecting the best fastener for your application can be tough. To make matters worse, not all fasteners are created equally. Choosing the correct fastener design, finish or material type can make all the difference in assembling a quality product.  As such, it’s imperative to choose the right fastener as early on in the design process as possible and this sentiment outlines the notion of Design for Manufacturing (DFM). Let’s take a closer look at the importance of choosing the right fastener and why DFM principles can serve as a guiding light in the journey. 

What Is Design for Manufacturing?

Design for Manufacturing or Design for Manufacturing and Assembly involves optimizing the design of a product for efficiency in assembly, cost and quality.  To embrace DFM, you must engineer or design in a component or bolted joint with these principles in mind during the product’s design stage.

The alternative is to design the product and then choose the fastener. This less efficient practice can lead to inefficient assembly, weak joints or the necessity of special fasteners, which are not readily available or common. Using special fasteners can also:

  • Greatly increase the cost of production
  • Reduce the lifespan of the product
  • Cause product malfunctions
  • Lead to product performance issues

Implementing Design for Manufacturing and Assembly Principles in Fastener Selection

Design for Manufacturing and Assembly should occur early in the development of a product during the design phase. When using this discipline, manufacturing will become efficient and cost effective, since choosing the right fasteners can later define the assembly process and reduce tooling.   While the exact DFM workflow can be tailored to the unique application and part being designed, a few general DFM principles are:

  • Design fasteners and objects for fast and efficient assembly.
  • Work to standardize components and materials to save money.
  • Achieve design simplicity by reducing the number of parts and complications.
  • Minimize the number of manufacturing operations required on fasteners during assembly.

Why Are DFM Principles Important in Fastener Selection?

Design For Manufacturing represents the evolution of product design and can be leveraged to produce products more economically and at higher quality.  No other component in the assembly process can have as broad of an impact on your DFM as choosing the right fastener.  A few key benefits and reasons why fastener selection should be a core focus of your DFM planning:

  • More cost-effective production.
  • Faster time-to-market.
  • Reduction of the product development process.
  • Production will be up to speed quicker.
  • Components can be combined to reduce assembly steps and the number of parts.
  • It detects and removes faults or mistakes.
  • Delivers a higher quality of the product because the design can be enhanced and refined at each stage.
  • It can create a safer working environment.

Contact Bossard for Fastener Selection Assistance 

Fasteners are engineered to hold two parts together. With this in mind, it’s best to avoid adding “higher responsibilities” to simple fasteners and work to achieve design simplicity. A few additional basic rules for choosing the best fasteners are:

  • Fasteners must always be equal to, or better than, the assembled parts.
  • Bolted joints may never be points of weakness.
  • Assembled fasteners should always be controllable as well as exchangeable.

In the end, making fasteners a top priority in the design process by embracing Design for Manufacturing and Assembly principles can unlock all of the aforementioned benefits and more.  Want to implement DFM for your assembly and don’t know where to start?  Bossard’s Assembly Technology Expert Services and Engineers are available to help.

For help with choosing the right fastener for you or if you have other questions about fastener technology, contact us at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com.

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December 09, 2022
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3 Undeniable Ways Bossard’s Kitting Increases Manufacturing Efficiency

Bossard Kitting

Implementing kitting services can open the door to a vast range of benefits for warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Kitting — also referred to as bundling — is a process of combining finished goods or inventory items into individual stock keeping units (SKUs). There are two broad categories of kitting:

  • Product kitting is where finished goods that make up a new product are bundled together.
  • Material kitting explains when items used in the manufacturing process are bundled together. 

In either case, kitting can help streamline processes, simplify inventory management, optimize floor production, and help your warehouse move closer toward lean manufacturing. Let’s take a closer look at some of the top efficiency gains our clients experience with our kitting services. 

Maximize Limited Warehouse Floor Space

No matter the size of your warehouse, one thing is for certain — space is at a premium. And when you implement Bossard’s kitting services in your lean manufacturing environment, saving space is one of the most prevalent benefits. By strategically moving component inventory, kitting allows you to dedicate more space to production. 

As a part of the kitting process, Bossard — a leading third-party logistics provider — takes responsibility for storing the manufacturer’s parts. This immediately allows more space for production, granting your workers more space and improving safety. Kitting also mitigates expensive manufacturing storage space that was previously necessary for storing different components. And when manufacturers save on storage space, they will refrain from utilizing unnecessary packaging and generating trash, which are each the antithesis to lean manufacturing. 

Improve Productivity with Kitting

Anytime parts are not kitted, assemblers will have to waste time searching through your inventory, request to pull parts, and then log their usage. Whether off-site or on-site, curated and pre-sorted kits can lead to time savings and reduced labor costs by ensuring the right parts are easily accessible when needed. When the kitting is combined with managed inventory, these two processes allow suppliers to make sure products are readily available to support daily production. More so, it allows suppliers to retain ownership of inventory until it is required. As a bonus, when items are shipped in a kit, they are less likely to experience order fulfillment errors.

Increase Volume and Improve Assembly Speed

Kitting allows parts and components to be bulk processed vs individually when every order arrives. And when manufacturers outsource this functionality, it will almost immediately equate to savings in money and time. While the outbound side of the inventory is where most inventory-based companies generate the most profit, it’s most likely the most labor-intensive. Kitting can lead to increased volume and faster assembly by ensuring parts are delivered to the point of use, which saves manufacturers time on the line. 

Contact Bossard for Expert Kitting Services

At Bossard, our experienced logistics and warehouse staff are equipped with state-of-the-art tools and unrivaled expertise to efficiently handle all of your warehouse C-part kitting and assembly needs. We offer decades of experience helping facilities unlock the countless benefits of kitting. And when you partner with Bossard, we will work to unlock all of the benefits that kitting services can offer your facility. 

Contact Bossard today for expert kitting services. 

 

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July 22, 2022
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3 Smart Ways to Achieve Smarter Manufacturing Profitability

SmartBin

No matter the product being produced, it’s imperative to find ways to streamline production and manufacturing processes. Doing so can lead to improved speed of production, faster speed to market, increased cost savings, improved product quality, as well as higher customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. Simply put, it makes dollars and sense to seek out continuous improvement throughout your manufacturing processes. Let’s take a closer look at three smart ways to achieve smarter manufacturing. 

Make a SMART Analysis of Your Current Workflows

It’s impossible to move from A to B — unless you know where A is. This means all improvements toward achieving smarter manufacturing begins with benchmarking and analyzing your current workflows. Here are general steps you can use to get started:

  1. People. Do you have the right people with the right skills in the right place? More so, have you defined Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-Related (SMART) goals? 
  2. Process. How long has it been since you’ve mapped out and evaluated your processes? Where did you identify obstacles and bottlenecks?
  3. Technology and Tools. How well maintained is your equipment? Do you utilize the most relevant tech to meet business-critical applications? And how easy is it for you to modify these processes? 

Implement a Smart Factory Logistics System

In the age of smartphones, smart TVs, smart doorbells, and everything else, now is the perfect time to optimize your warehouse and supply chain with Smart Factory Logistics. Empowered by the Internet of Things, Smart Factory Logistics enables your computers and machines to communicate in real-time. At Bossard, we offer both software and physical systems to automate your C-parts supply chain to help you work smarter. Our Smart Factory Logistics system is comprised of the following core components.

SmartLabel

As the name suggests, SmartLabels are intelligent, connected modular labels that can be affixed to your existing storage units designed to hold stock. Once programmed, a plethora of information can be seamlessly communicated to other components via the SmartLable Cloud:

  • Name
  • ID numbers
  • Delivery date
  • Real-time order status
  • And more

 Each label uses an e-paper display and can last up to five years. In addition, an easy-to-use button on the label triggers ordering.  

SmartBin

The SmartBin is a stand-alone container that features integrated weight sensors. These sensors are responsible for continuously monitoring stock levels through the SmartBin cloud. If inventory drops to the point of reordering, it will automatically send the order through to Bossard. All order items will be consolidated into a single shipment and sent to the point of use or dock. 

SmartLocker

If you have valuable or restricted inventory, the SmartLocker restricts access to those who have the proper RFID card. With the SmartLocker, ordering is also automatic .

Use Smarter Analytics

ARIMS is a cloud-based, digital, interactive platform that links all Bossard Smart Factory Logistics systems together to improve lean management and increase supply chain transparency. It allows you to access the platform via computer or through the mobile app from your personal smartphone or tablet. And once access is gained, you’ll have the ability to perform and manage an array of functions — whether you’re on the factory floor or at your desk.

ARIMS places volumes of data and accessibility at your fingertips. You can analyze your deliveries, orders, locations, and articles in real-time by leveraging easy-to-understand: 

  • Tables,
  • Graphs
  • Reports

In addition, ARIMS allows you to customize system options, submit change requests, view previous and current changes.

Ready to learn more? Contact the assembly technology experts at Bossard. 

 

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June 03, 2022
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Smart Factory Logistics to Know Your Parts Usage and Not be Caught Unprepared

ARIMS

Your Kanban system may have worked adequately so far. However, it does involve constant attention from your suppliers, shippers, and warehouse staff so that products enter and leave your warehouse in a timely manner. You also have to juggle inventory levels and fulfillment requests to ensure that you process orders promptly and with the correct quantities.

How does your current Kanban system stack up when challenged with unforeseen events?  When headlines forecast supply chain interruption or material shortages, do you have the usage data on hand to ensure your assembly line won’t be stopped in the days ahead?  Despite your vigilance, you’re sometimes caught unprepared when stock levels don’t match what’s on record or you don’t have enough information to predict what to stockpile when JIT replenishment is not viable anymore. This can cause you to delay shipments as your staff scrounge for the needed products.  Bossard helps you avoid these pitfalls by implementing Smart Factory Logistics to automate your B- and C-parts management and providing real-time data from your work cells and supermarket using the Internet of Things.

Starting with Systems

We can start the transformation of your facility with these productivity boosts:

·         Bossard Code works with your existing logistics system by putting barcodes or QR codes on your existing bins and containers. When you need to reorder, you can scan the code through the ARIMS Mobile App on your smartphone and place a replenishment order. Real-time order status appears on the app.

·         SmartCard puts RFID cards to work with your existing logistical systems. When a product is out of stock, you throw the RFID card into an electronic mailbox, which triggers a reorder.

·         SmartBin uses a container that is attached to a weight sensor. When the stock level falls below a specified weight, the SmartBin sends a replenishment order automatically.

·         SmartLabel Cloud consists of the modular SmartLabel, which sits on any of your bins and containers. The easy-to-read e-paper display shows all relevant product information, such as the name and ID number. When the quantity runs low, push a button to place an order. The display then shows the delivery date, order quantity, and order status, which are updated in real-time.

·         SmartBin Cloud integrates the two previous technologies into one encompassing system. The SmartBin automates ordering when the weight sensor detects that the stock level has fallen. The SmartLabel, which is attached to the bin, displays all relevant product and ordering information.

·         SmartLocker secures your high-value items in an intelligent cabinet. It allows access only if you’re authorized by an RFID card. It automatically transmits all inventory and ordering information to the ARIMS dashboard.

Putting It Together

The ARIMS platform streamlines your supplier base by integrating all your suppliers.  It helps you coordinate both the material and information flow from a single point of contact. You benefit from a more efficient workflow, full transparency, and improved predictability. Make better decisions about your supply chain by analyzing big data in real-time.

 

Access your data on the go.  Get real-time data anywhere with the ARIMS Mobile app on tablet or smartphone. Manage your inventory, check orders, and analyze intelligent analytics on the factory floor, in the warehouse, or wherever else you are.

 

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May 20, 2022
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How to Outsmart Your Competitors in New Product Development

#5 How to Outsmart Your Competitors in New Product Development

New product development (NPD) rewards you with an advantage when you introduce a new product or service to market or introduce an existing product to a new target market. Bossard helps you get the jump on your competitors with two offerings: Expert Design and Expert Assortment Analysis.

Expert Design

Bossard’s fastener know-how ranges from assembly methods to technical resources based on over 180 years of firsthand experience. Though these components may seem to have minor functions, they require demanding specifications. Our Expert Design can deliver the best product for your application and grant the following benefits.

  • Better in-place cost when you choose the right fastening solutions.
  • Lower production cost due to faster assembly processes.
  • Lower life-cycle cost by using a fastener of the right quality.

To achieve these goals, Expert Design provides a wide array of tools and knowledge:

  • Fastening Joint Design. Because we understand how the behavior and materials of your fastener can affect safety, lifespan, and costs, we can help you design a joint that meets your stringent requirements.
  • Calculation of Bolted Joint. By using advanced software for optimizing bolt connections, we rely on systematic steps to calculate bolted joints and create a design that makes full use of the bolt’s load-bearing capacity.
  • Joint Failure Analysis. A joint can fail because of the wrong design, incorrect preload, or wrong fastener. Analyzing the failed joint can determine the cause and eliminate it by implementing the right measures.
  • Online Calculators and Converters for fasteners that can be used by anyone involved in developing and assembling the bolted joints.
  • CAD Online Portal that supports your product design with static and animated 2D and 3D views.
  • Technical Information that includes standards, mechanical properties, tables, tolerances, and more.

Expert Assortment Analysis

Only 15 percent of the cost of using a fastener comes from the fastener itself. The other 85 percent covers logistics, procurement, assembly prep, and other activities. By reducing the number of different fasteners required in one product, you can streamline the Bill of Materials (BOM). Our Expert Assortment Analysis achieves this to provide the following benefits:

  • Eliminate unnecessary elements by looking for similar products that encourage substitution and make your production leaner.
  • Reduce the complexity of purchasing, storage, and assembly by defining the assortment you can pick from.
  • Increase productivity.

At Bossard, we offer different service packages:

  • BOM Analysis looks at your entire production line, especially the assembly technology that includes fastening elements, tooling, and assembly processes. Value Analysis estimates cost savings based on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
  • Advanced includes basic services plus the following verifications. Technical Verification develops proposals for new and proven solutions and delivers a technical report that details possible technical improvements. Presentation of Proposals reveals the results in a presentation that includes a report and physical samples,
  • Superior includes basic and advanced services plus implementation. During onsite or off-site implementations, we lead the R&D engineering team, set up the project team, and arrange the stacks.

 

 

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Bossard Online Calculators

Learn How to Design Your Best Product with Bossard Expert Design

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November 05, 2021
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Become a Product Design Engineering Expert by Watching These 4 Videos

Become a Product Design Expert by Watching These 4 Videos

As a mechanical engineer, you strive to design and create a safe and effective product at the lowest possible cost. To help you do just that, Bossard offers several innovative solutions and technical resources. In addition to offering tailored fastening solutions, we also provide our clients with in-depth education and learning opportunities. Let’s take a closer look at four educational videos designed to help you become a better product design engineer and expert.

Expert Education

At Bossard, we are proud to share our extensive knowledge about product engineering and fasteners in our Expert Education courses and seminars.

These tailor-made training sessions are designed to answer a range of questions, such as:

  • Can you answer with certainty that the right tightening torque is currently being applied to your application’s bolts?
  • Is the preload in the fastening joints enough to withstand external forces?
  • Will the fastening joint be secure over the lifetime of the product?
  • How many times will an existing bolt be reused while maintaining the application?

In the end, the Expert Education e-learning module can help slash your total cost of production by up to 40%. This robust learning portal will help you develop in-depth knowledge about engineering principles, applications, fasteners, and assembly technology, and more. Through Expert Education, you’ll be empowered to quickly make fastener design decisions and expedite the mechanical design and production process in your organization.

Watch the initial Expert Education video to learn more.

Expert Assortment Analysis

The Expert Assortment Analysis is a cutting-edge process designed to save your firm time and money. This innovative solution is designed to create efficiencies by addressing concerns, such as:

  • Do you suspect you’re utilizing countless C-parts and have lost the overview?
  • Do you believe that your collection of fasteners includes unnecessary or redundant variations and elements?
  • Are you wondering about the potential cost and time savings that could’ve been gained if your C-parts would’ve been streamlined?

Through our Expert Assortment Analysis, we’ll help you eliminate unnecessary elements. We’ll look for similarities where substitutions are possible. We’ll reduce complexities in purchasing, warehouses, and assembly. We’ll define your assortment to pick from and show you how significant your savings can be.

Ready to learn more? Watch the foundational Expert Assortment Analysis video for more on how it works.

Hydrogen Embrittlement of Fasteners

Have you ever experienced a broken screw in one of your products? Unexpected failures of fasteners cause damages and high costs. One of the top reasons is hydrogen embrittlement.

Also known as hydrogen attack, hydrogen embrittlement is a process where the metal becomes brittle or fractures over the exposure of and diffusion of hydrogen through the metal. As you can imagine, hydrogen embrittlement is a very serious matter and can pose monumental problems to your product if overlooked. Fortunately, the team at Bossard Can help.

Watch our recent video that explains the ins and outs of hydrogen embrittlement of fasteners.

Expert Teardown

Sometimes you must work backward to see a product in a new light. And at Bossard, we offer an exceptional Expert Teardown service where will strategically disassemble your product into its single fasteners and parts. Carefully analyzing the interface complexity, our product engineers will examine every square inch to best find cost-saving potential, understand functionality, and discover reliability improvements.

Learn more about Bossard’s Expert Tear down and how it works.

 

 

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Where to Find Hidden Cost Savings in Your Design and Assembly

How to Cost Efficiently Design a Bolted Joint

Smart Factory Logistics – Last Mile Management

October 22, 2021
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4 Go-To Technical Resources for Product Design

4 Go-To Technical Resources For Product Design

At Bossard, one of our core goals is to help improve the productivity of our customers. As a result, we have an unwavering focus on service development while investing in new processes that expand the supply of product solutions and expedite product delivery. To that end, we’ve compiled a robust suite of technical resources for product design and development. Read on to learn more and don’t hesitate to reach out to Bossard for more tailored solutions.

Product Design White Papers & Resources

Whether you’re looking for best practices in selecting a fastener finish, ways to prevent material fatigue, or other related topics, our library of white papers is a good place to start. These technical resources are ideal for product design engineers, product developers, mechanical engineers, students, and more:

  1. 7 tips to select your fastener finish is a white paper that discusses the six most-used coatings by exploring seven criteria.
  2. The importance of surface finish in stainless steel explains the importance of surface profile, polishing medium, and passivation on the corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
  3. Lightweight and the daily challenges of product design engineers is a technical resource that explains proven solutions for the challenge associated with additional hole requirements in lightweight construction.
  4. 7 criteria to prevent material fatigue is a technical white paper that explains how product design engineers should decide when dynamic loads are expected as well as the criteria fasteners should meet.
  5. Which fasteners need a heat treatment is a white paper that explains the important facts associated with the heat treatment of steels, aluminum, and non-ferrous alloys.

Read all Bossard white papers.

Access Bossard Technical Resources

At Bossard, we are committed to customized engineering solutions, excellence in all we do, and process-oriented consulting. All three of these attributes are key hallmarks of our services and products. And to highlight our commitment to you, we’ve compiled a generous list of helpful technical resources, including:

  1. Fastening Technology White Papers
  2. General Tolerances, Tables, Standards
  3. SI Units Systems
  4. Conversion Tables
  5. Designations of Different National Standards-Based on ISO
  6. Basic Tolerances and Tolerance Fields
  7. Definition of Mechanical Properties for Screws
  8. Screw Property Class 4.6 to 12.9
  9. Nuts Property Classes 04 to 12
  10. Set Screws Property Classes 14 H to 45 H
  11. Screws, Bolts, Nuts
  12. And much more

You can also find additional technical resources for:

  1. Electrical Engineering Product Design
  2. Operating and Control Elements
  3. Sealing and Flow Control Technology

Online Calculators & Converters

Bossard offers an array of converters and calculators for product design engineers, industrial designers, technicians, as well as students. Our key converters and calculators can be used in the development and assembly of bolted joints and fasteners. To meet a diverse range of needs, we’ve grouped our calculators and converters into specific categories:

  1. Online Converters are perfect for converting different units of measure, such as pressure, hardness, length, and more.
  2. Online Calculators for Production and Design are utilized for dimensioning and implementation in joint technology
  3. Online Calculators for Technical Design are used for designing and dimensioning in the joining technology.

The Mobile App

The Bossard mobile app features a host of tools in one, neat interface. You’ll have access to Geometric Calculators, Converters, and Mechanical Calculators.

  1. Visit iOS App Store
  2. Visit Google Play Store

CAD Online Portal

In addition to the previously mentioned technical resources, Bossard also offers a cutting-edge CAD (computer-aided design) Online Portal. This advanced design tool supports your product and a host of mechanical design choices with 2D and 3D views as well as animated solutions and extra smart features.

Visit our CAD Online Portal today.

 

 

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The Benefits of Understanding Basic Fastener Finish Requirements

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October 15, 2021
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What Is the PPAP Process & What Are the Core Goals?

What Is the PPAP Process

As the international standards for quality in the manufacturing industry continue to increase, a growing number of industrial organizations are requiring suppliers to utilize the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP). Originating in the automotive industry, PPAP is a robust risk mitigation and identification procedure designed to demonstrate the ability to create a part or component via a reliable and repeatable process. PPAP helps improve communication between suppliers and customers with the goal of fewer revisions and turnbacks to the process or product. Continue reading to learn more about PPAP. 

What Is PPAP Process?

The PPAP (production part approval process) is used across aerospace and automotive industries. This process helps suppliers and manufacturers approve and communicate production designs as well as processes. The actual approval can occur before, during, as well as after manufacturing. 

As an output of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), PPAP was created to promote a clearer understanding of the requirements of suppliers and manufacturers. This standard helps make sure all processes utilized to create parts can be replicated to reproduce subsequent parts at a stated rate of production during routine runs. The automotive industry’s PPAP process flow is governed by the manual produced by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG).

What Is the PPAP Package?

PPAP is a collection of documents strategically collected in a single location. These documents can be stored digitally or in a binder and is usually called the “PPAP Package.” The PPAP package does require formal sign-off or certification by the supplier as well as sign-off or approval by the customer. This collection of documents usually includes:

  1. Design Records
  2. Authorized Engineering Change Documentation
  3. Engineering Approval from Customer
  4. Design-FMEA
  5. Flowchart of the Process
  6. Process-FMEA
  7. Control Plan
  8. Measurement System Analysis
  9. Dimensional Results
  10. Records of Material/Performance Tests
  11. Initial Process Studies
  12. Qualified Laboratory Documentation
  13. Appearance Approval Report
  14. Sample Production Parts
  15. Master Sample
  16. Checking Aids
  17. Customer Specific Requirements
  18. Part Submission Warrant (PSW)

 

What Are the Goals of the Production Part Approval Process?

To instill confidence in suppliers and their production processes, the measurements of the components are documented and utilized to complete different sheets of the PPAP. While each manufacturer can have its own PPAP requirements, the AIAG encourages the use of standard forms and common language to document the status of projects. The overarching goal of any Production Part Approval Process is to:

  1. Make sure the supplier has the capabilities to meet the quality and manufacturing requirements of the components provided to the customer.
  2. Deliver evidence the customer’s engineering design record and specification requirements are understood as well as fulfilled by the supplier. 
  3. Demonstrate the current manufacturing processes can consistently create the part that meets every requirement during the actual production run at the quoted rate of production of the manufacturing process. 

Contact the team at Bossard today at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com to learn how we can best support your PPAP process flow. 

 

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