At Axis Fab, our focus is on helping customers build better parts and supporting their needs. Drawing on decades of experience, our team partners with manufacturers to identify opportunities for efficiency, reliability, and cost reduction, always keeping the customer’s goals at the forefront.
Whenever possible, we provide advice on process and material choice to ensure customers are getting the best solution possible while achieving their project goals. Here is how we helped an Axis Fab partner save almost $45,000 and 3 weeks of lead time with one simple suggestion.
Open Communication Leads To Smart Solutions
In a recent transmission manufacturing project with one of our customers, the initial plan was to use A2 tool steel for the part. Although A2 tool steel provided the necessary wear resistance, achieving this performance required through-hardening. This heat-treating process enhances wear properties but introduces dimensional growth, often requiring parts to be remachined post-treatment.
Before moving forward, we clarified the customer’s goals by asking thoughtful questions and focusing on their priorities. Through our conversations, we learned that wear resistance was the primary concern, allowing us to identify a more cost-effective solution.
The Material Choice That Made All The Difference
Our extensive material experience at Axis Fab allowed us to recommend a different material that would provide the necessary wear resistance while simplifying processing and reducing cost. The new material, 8620, did not require through-hardening, eliminating a time-consuming step.
While through-hardening provides the necessary hardness and strength, the rapid temperature changes during treatment can cause dimensional changes that affect tolerances, requiring post-process machining. Case hardening achieves the same wear resistance by hardening a thin outer layer, leaving the part’s core dimensions unaffected. This process checked all the boxes for our customer, yielding no dimensional growth issues and no post-processing work. As a result, the case-hardened parts were ready to ship following heat treatment.
This collaborative approach reduced total lead time by a whopping 3 weeks and saved $44,939 in processing costs. The customer’s engineering team later applied this insight to other projects, which we consider the true measure of success.
Material Choice Matters
Engineers and manufacturers understand that the cost of a material goes beyond its price per pound. For instance, while carbon steel may seem economical at first, downstream processes such as chromating or powder coating can quickly add cost. In some cases, stainless steel, though more expensive upfront, can eliminate secondary operations and ultimately prove more cost-effective.
By talking through different materials and processes together, we’re often able to find solutions that improve performance and reduce cost.
At Axis Fab, We Know Every Dollar and Day Counts
Every dollar and day saved on this project came from eliminating the need to remachine parts after processing. By collaborating closely with the customer and recommending an alternative material, we helped them avoid nearly $45,000 in additional costs. At our precision machine shop, we partner with our customers, sharing insights built from decades of machining and fabrication experience.
Whether you’re deciding between laser cutting or punch press, evaluating material options or looking to save time and money by leveraging 5-axis machining, our Knoxville machine shop can help identify the most efficient, cost-effective approach for your project.
Ready to collaborate on a project? Request a quote from Axis Fab today.