Infastech® engineers’ leveraged their stamping expertise, the performance of our Strux® fasteners and the flexibility of two of our Autoriv® 100 automation systems to provide a global manufacturer of seat tracks and seat attachments with an alternative to weld nut fasteners. Weld nut fasteners present inherent welding drawbacks, including splatter, quality consistency and floor space requirements.
Working closely with the customer’s die design team, we proposed:
- in-die solutions that placed fasteners from a variety of different angles
- in-die solutions in progressive and transfer die environments
- off-line pedestal systems that included automatic feeding capabilities
The pedestal systems provided the solution for the customer’s lower volume applications feeding capabilities and enabled better utilization of floor space, higher quality and reduced costs.
Fastener and Joint Design
We work with you to define performance and envelope requirements to find the optimal joining solution for your application — from fasteners to components and engineered assemblies. If we find that our existing styles do not meet your needs, we will employ our extensive engineering experience and manufacturing abilities to design the best solution.
Applications Testing
Infastech® has the most extensive fastener testing capabilities in the industry. We regularly conduct mechanical and performance testing of prototypes and existing applications, perform field failure analyses, and offer our recommendations for testing equipment and test methods.
Fastener Consolidation
Infastech® will analyze your parts inventory to help you create a “preferred parts list” by identifying and combining similar fasteners and deleting those that are obsolete or not required. We are often able to help our customers consolidate over 40% of their part numbers and reduce bill of material complexity.
On-site Assembly Evaluations
Infastech® engineers have developed a structured “line walk” process to physically review your assembly line to evaluate joint designs and assembly methods. On-site teams analyze areas of awkward assembly, high labor content, high scrap rate and identify bottlenecks and other opportunities for improving throughput and reliability.
Joint Analysis
Whether you call with questions or request an in-depth analysis, your Infastech™ engineering team will analyze your joints and technology selections and offer recommendations for improving the integrity of your designs.
High Return Supply Chain
Infastech® offers a full range of global supply chain and logistics programs to keep your assembly line running with an assured line of supply at considerable bottom-line savings. Infastech® currently provides programs to several major automotive, non-automotive, transportation and electronics manufacturers with locations around the world.
Product Teardowns
Infastech® undertakes comprehensive product teardowns that generate multiple solutions with impressive cost-savings for our customers. We leverage the principles of Design for Assembly and Design for Manufacturing in our process of disassembling a product to evaluate joint designs and other assembly cost drivers. One recent such teardown resulted in 139 different solutions for our European customer — a cost savings of 5.3 million (euro).
Fastening & Assembly Seminars
Infastech® engineers facilitate a variety of seminars at your facility to keep your team current on new products and application strategies. Seminar topics include:
- Types of fasteners, including finishes and manufacturing processes
- Bolted joint behavior
- Tightening/seating/installation and drive strategies
- Fatigue, hydrogen-assisted cracking and other failure modes
