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Manufacturing cost includes the cost of labor plus the cost of purchasing, maintaining and operating the required machinery and material handling equipment. A portion of these costs is charged to each forging produced. In most cases it also includes the cost of maintaining and replacing the forging tools. Machinery typically includes saws, shears, furnaces, preforming equipment, the forging press or hammer with its associated controls and trim presses. Material handling equipment typically includes cranes, lift trucks, conveyors, etc.

Manufacturing cost is driven by the number of operations required to produce the forging and the cost of each cost center. Each cost center is assigned an hourly operating cost, which is divided by the number of pieces produced per hour to arrive at the cost charged to the forging. For example, when forging microalloyed steels, which are used to eliminate heat treating, the cost of using special cooling conveyors will be included. The total manufacturing cost is the sum of the costs of the individual operations.

Design simplifications that reduce the number of operations, or reduce the size or complexity of the required forging machines drive toward minimum processing cost. For example, an impression die forging may require several preforming operations, a blocker operation, a finish operation and a trimming operation. The total processing cost is the sum of the costs for each operation. If the design can be modified to reduce the number of operations, processing cost is sometimes reduced significantly.

Processing cost can be reduced by designing the forging to facilitate metal flow in the die and reduce forging pressures. This usually involves modifying sharp details to provide larger radii. In some cases it may be possible to use a smaller forging press with a lower hourly operating cost that produces more parts per hour. Lower forging pressures also tend to reduce tool maintenance and replacement cost, which is usually a part of the quoted piece price.

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Manufacturing cost includes the cost of labor plus the cost of purchasing, maintaining and operating the required machinery and material handling equipment. A portion of these costs is charged to each forging produced. In most cases it also includes the cost of maintaining and replacing the forging tools. Machinery typically includes saws, shears, furnaces, preforming equipment, the forging press or hammer with its associated controls and trim presses. Material handling equipment typically includes cranes, lift trucks, conveyors, etc.

Manufacturing cost is driven by the number of operations required to produce the forging and the cost of each cost center. Each cost center is assigned an hourly operating cost, which is divided by the number of pieces produced per hour to arrive at the cost charged to the forging. For example, when forging microalloyed steels, which are used to eliminate heat treating, the cost of using special cooling conveyors will be included. The total manufacturing cost is the sum of the costs of the individual operations.

Design simplifications that reduce the number of operations, or reduce the size or complexity of the required forging machines drive toward minimum processing cost. For example, an impression die forging may require several preforming operations, a blocker operation, a finish operation and a trimming operation. The total processing cost is the sum of the costs for each operation. If the design can be modified to reduce the number of operations, processing cost is sometimes reduced significantly.

Processing cost can be reduced by designing the forging to facilitate metal flow in the die and reduce forging pressures. This usually involves modifying sharp details to provide larger radii. In some cases it may be possible to use a smaller forging press with a lower hourly operating cost that produces more parts per hour. Lower forging pressures also tend to reduce tool maintenance and replacement cost, which is usually a part of the quoted piece price.

Return to Table of Contents

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