Automotive: crankshafts

The problem

"We were not reaching the production we needed" Roberto Ortega, current head of the crankshaft workshop.

Our customer is a European manufacturer of high-production crankshafts with several hardening and tempering lines for crankshafts. In one of them they had serious water leakage prob lems in the inductors of other manufacturer.

Almost every day they had to perform cutting tests (destructive checks) with excessive demineralised water consumption and continuous internal complaints from other departments. This resulted in an induction machine availability of only 78% and not reaching the required production.

The challenge

They needed to increase production and control the inductor changeover process.

The solution

A team was set up between the customer and GH to identify the problem. Using their experience, tests were carried out with additive manufacturing inductors (3D inductors) which improved the process until the parameters required by the customer were achieved.

The benefits

Increased machine availability by a further 20% to 95%.

The customer highlighted the following benefits:

• "Coils always identical. Total repeatability".
• "Spectacular increase in service life. Triples the current ones".
• "Safer stocks. Simpler process that provides more security in the supply of inductors".
• "Flexibility in design to introduce improvements. Continuous improvement. Not dependent on the human factor".

"With inductor changes you didn't know if it was going to work. Now it always works. You can plan your work and follow up and get control of the situation. It has allowed us to standardise the adjustment process and create a protocol so that any operator can adjust the inductor with guarantees. A modification of the coil was unthinkable, the manufacturer didn't give us any solution", says Roberto Ortega.

Key factors

The experience and specialization of the GH team.
Total commitment and collaboration with the client.