Press Capacity Opens Door to Assembly Work With a larger part-size capacity and flexibility to move quickly from transfer to progressive stamping, a new servo-transfer press at Midwest Stamping Company enables the stamper to provide complete assemblies to its customers in the automotive industry. idwest Stamping, Inc. first stepped into the automotive arena in 1952 with one plant and a commitment to meet customer needs. Forty-nine years later, Midwest Stamping has built a reputation as a worldclass first-, second- and third-tier supplier of stampings and assemblies to the automotive industry. Recently, the company took steps to expand its capabilities and grow its ability to produce larger stampings and bring in more complete assembly work, thanks to a new transfer press from Aida-Dayton Technologies Corp. Bigger is Better for Assembly Midwest Stamping, Inc. installed this 1200-metric-ton Aida TMX electronic-servo transfer press in February 1999, in space built on to the firm’s Edgerton, OH plant. Installed as a stand-alone work center, the press moved into high-volume production operating five days a week at 2.5 shifts and producing some 173,000 stampings per month. Headquartered in Maumee, OH, Midwest Stamping has sales and engineering facilities in Dearborn, MI, and a combined manufacturing space of 340,000 sq. ft. with its plants in Sumter, SC; Springfield, KY; and Edgerton, OH. A metal-stamping exwww.metalformingmagazine.com pert, Midwest Stamping also specializes in robotic gas-metal-arc welding, resistance welding and mechanical assembly. “One of the big trends we’re responding to,” says Ken Freeman, Midwest corporate tooling manager, “is the requirements of automotive companies for stampers to not only produce parts but to possess the capability to provide complete assemblies. In 1998, our company president, Mel Rachal, put a team together to evaluate how we would address that need, create ongoing op

The TMX press at Midwest Stamping, Inc. boasts a bed capable of handling material to 72 in. wide, accommodating large progressive dies. Freeman says. “Thanks to its 72-in. width capacity, an upgrade from our previous 60-in. capacity, we found we could produce a much wider range of parts and assemblies. Prior to installing the TMX we often were limited to stamping child parts for assemblies, so that the OEM would have to form the larger base stamping and then take our smaller parts and assemble them. Now, we can stamp the complete set of parts, base and child, and assemble them here.” As a result...