Welcome to the new VDS website!

Hello and welcome to the new VDS website! A long time coming, we hope it provides an up-to-date and valuable resource for the curious mind. The goal will be to mix a bit of story telling with information gathering. We hear rumor there are some six, no nearly seven billion colleagues out there, and we are keen to learn from as many of you as possible. 

A day at the forge (by Erika Bildsten)

Yesterday, we visited the 2nd largest forging company in the world! They make large steel components, mainly for automobiles, including crankshafts. 1 in 3 trucks in the world use one of their crankshafts, as do a huge number of cars.

Before leaving to see any of the factory buildings, we had to get suited up! This consisted of white coats, hard hats, face masks, and safety glasses. We then hopped into a big golf cart to visit the many large workshops in the complex.

We first visited the die shop, where they make all the dies necessary for their products. There were rows upon rows of large mills (though I can happily report none as big as LCOs). The amazing thing is that each die only lasts for a day, or a half. This means they make roughly 400 dies every day, where each is easily at least a couple of tons. In order to make each die, they CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled -- a program runs the machine) mill the part, and then finish it. Our guess was that each die lasted for so little time, because it was in near-constant contact with molten steel in high pressure, so sharp details were lost quickly. In the die shop, because the work was so automated, the workers (called "process owners") usually just watched to make sure that nothing went wrong.

I should roughly describe the forging process. The steel for the part is made molten, so that it can be pressed and formed more easily. It is then rolled, so that it is shaped to fit in the die, and to distribute the material appropriately, to minimize excess. The prepared steel is then placed in a press, and molded. Often, this happens numerous times, in different dies, each time moving closer to the final part. At the end, there is a bit of excess material squished out around the edges (called flash), which in another step is trimmed off. The piece is then cooled, and finished, which includes machining, smoothing edges, drilling holes, etc. (see following video). Finally, parts of the piece are heat hardened, by spinning them by very hot tools, and then cooling them.

Once we saw how the dies were made, we headed to the engineering center, where people worked on optimizing processes, and designing the necessary dies and steel parts. People use software to determine the exact amount and shape of steel to be used in the dies for it to fill in all of the gaps, but not have too much excess. They used a very neat tool that simulated the steel pressing, marked on the piece where the flash was, and then reversed the process, to see where the flash material was on the original piece.

After seeing the software center, we went went to the workshop where they rolled and pressed the steel. Huge machines (at least 30 feet tall) were chugging away, which 10-foot gears turning, and molten steel pieces in every direction. When we stood near the machines, we could feel the heat rolling off. All of the processes were mainly automated, with people spraying coolant, and sometimes moving a piece between machines. In this workshop, they were making crankshafts, from the heating to pressing stages, as in this picture of a model of the shop (unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures in this building).

We then went to another workshop, where they were working with even bigger pieces of steel! This huge cylindrical piece was turned and maneuvered by one robot, while a press came up and down, pressing it. Then, the press pushed in a large rod, which made a shaft hole part of the way through. There were final parts lying around, about 20 feet long, and 2-3 feet in diameter! As we left this building, they opened "the gates of hell" to the huge furnace where the steel was preheated.

The last shop was where they did the final machining on the pieces, post-forging. This included a lot more automated mill work, and then heat hardening, which was achieved by a large machine that had a heated tool to harden specific parts of the final piece. All of final products are then shipped all around the world to different car manufacturers, and then finally to a vehicle that you have driven!

Metal Pressings

Ever wondered how steel car panels are made? A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to find out! (I was pretty excited -- I am studying engineering after all!)

A group of us visited a local steel pressings plant. We were first welcomed by a long row of huge machines each about 30 feet tall, and the deafening noise of every one coming down with extreme force to blank, form, draw, pierce and trim steel, which they appeared to do with ease. Men loaded each machine with flat sheet metal, or a partially-made part, and, appearing like magic, a huge piece of the machine fell and rose, leaving an entirely different piece. The new parts were immediately removed from the machine, and the workers reloaded each in seconds. Man and machine worked like one, in fluid motion. Pieces moved down the row of machines, each making it's own mark until there were tall piles of completed stampings with beautiful finishes.

We asked about worker turnover, and were interested to learn that most of the factory employees only work there for about 6 months. The reason is that this is the length of their initial contract. Once their contracts come up for renewal, most workers expect a raise, which the company is hesitant to offer, unless their work is of the highest quality, because they know there are plenty of new people they can hire. (Another company, which I'll write about later, has a very different approach to hiring)

After pressings, the pieces -- car door panels, hoods, etc. -- moved to the welding area, which was again done by hand. Here in India, labor is easy to find and inexpensive, so it is used extensively in manufacturing. The factory had rack upon rack of completed car side panels, which are for cars by Indian, Italian, and U.S. car companies.

There was also a very neat robot that bent the hood sheet over a structural piece. With perfect automation, it ran over the edges of the seam multiple times, each at a different angle, until there was a perfect fold. The clamps holding the entire piece down also lifted in time for the robot arm to work under each, which led to a rippling wave effect.

 

City of Bandits (by Erika Bildsten)

Sorry for the recent lack of blog posts -- it's certainly not for a lack of stories! I'll try to catch up on the many happenings over the next few days and weeks.

In the last few days, swine flue (H1N1) has hit India, and in particular, Pune, quite hard. The city of Pune (where I live) has logged about half of the cases in the entire country, and today suffered three casualties, bringing the city-wide total to 14. About 300 city residents have contracted the disease so far.

In response, the city has in many ways shut down. All colleges and universities are closed for a week, as are every theater and shopping center. Throughout the city, there are now eerily dark and uninhabited large buildings and stores.

Some level of fear has also certainly swept the population. Nearly everyone now wears face masks when they go out, or at least wrap their scarves or saris over their nose and mouths. From the young boy at the grocery store with his bandana slipping down from the crest of his nose, to the woman on the back of a motorcycle with her scarf wrapped multiple times around her mouth, everyone has joined masked crowd.

Now, as we go out, instead of people soliciting wooden tiki vases and toys, they sell face masks, and Indian flags, as August 15th is Indian Independence Day.

Hopefully the disease will soon pass, and the population of 3 million will be able to go back to their day-to-day lives without living in constant fear of contracting swine flu.

In The Dark (by Erika Bildsten)

The power is currently out -- and has been for at least an hour so far.

Apparently, there isn't enough electricity available to power everyone, all the the time, so there are rolling blackouts. Usually they last anywhere from half an hour to a couple of hours. We've gotten used to them, as they probably occur here 2 or 3 times a week. During the day it isn't much of a nuisance at all, since everything is well-lit by the ample sunlight. Now, though, that the sun has gone down, the neighborhood is dark in all directions, and I can hear children playing in the street, since there isn't much to do in a dark house. Somehow, however, the construction upstairs is still able to continue, as though nothing has changed...