FN Manufacturing Tolerance Analysis Case Study
CETOL 6 Sigma Accelerates Schedule by over 250%
This case study involves a product made by FN Manufacturing, part of the Belgium-based Herstal Group. FN Manufacturing is a precision manufacturing company that supplies small arms for military applications. The contract bid required 230 unique tolerance studies to be conducted. These analyses included 1D, 2D, and 3D tolerance models that included worst case and statistical results. Reports needed to be self-explanatory. The time frame to complete the project was 7 months. Prior to employing CETOL 6σ, tolerance analysis was done manually.
CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS
- 230 required tolerance studies
- 1D, 2D, and 3D tolerance models
- Worst case and statistical results needed
- Reports must be self-explanatory
In order to validate CETOL 6σ for use in the FN Manufacturing product development and concurrent engineering process and meet the company’s ROI (return on investment) requirement, the software had to meet several criteria. For the ROI, the key metric was productivity. CETOL 6σ was compared to a previous, very similar contract bid effort. After taking just basic training and minimal coaching from Sigmetrix, FN Manufacturing engineers effectively conducted the required analyses. The results from the productivity comparison showed a 250% reduction in schedule time and over a 500% reduction in total effort.
Customer Comments
“The products of FN manufacturing, Inc. typically experience a long market life cycle. By employing CETOL 6σ, we can analyze our mature product lines to allow optimization of the existing tolerances. This facilitates the implementation of new manufacturing processes that provide opportunities for reducing the overall cost. At the same time, we maintain our rigorous product standards and are able to further develop a competitive advantage.”
“One further advantage of CETOL 6σ is ease-of use. With minimal training, our operators became efficient in a short period of time. The CETOL 6σ interface lends itself to the casual as well as the continuous user. The attraction of this characteristic is that it makes it unnecessary to dedicate a full-time analyst to this product.”
“We can confidently state that the integration of CETOL 6σ within our CAD environment has significantly contributed to formulating a true concurrent engineering process, enabling us to provide our customers with products that continue to exceed their expectations.”
About FN Manufacturing
FN Manufacturing is a precision manufacturing facility with a rich military heritage as a small arms supplier to the U.S. Military and ninety other countries around the world. They offer services to aerospace, firearms and other industries requiring exacting tolerances and tight quality control. Capable of taking a design from concept through distribution, the quality and reliability expected of military applications carries over into everything they build.
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