Lessons Learned
How can these lessons be applied to material movement? Let's look at several strategies for two profiles. The first profile is a common hat; the second is a wide profile that consists of four hats.
Hat Profile. Three flower diagrams show three distinct strategies for producing a hat profile (see Figure 4).
Figure 4
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Analyzing three flower diagrams (A, B, and C) for a hat profile reveals that the C strategy is the optimal forming process.
- Figure 4A: The sides rotate around the bottom axis and the horizontal flanges move horizontally. These movements are disadvantages; both violate the guidelines for rotational and lateral movement.
- Figure 4B: The horizontal flanges move horizontally and the sides rotate around an axis near the middle of the side section. This is better than the strategy in 4A, but it is not optimum.
- Figure 4C: The sides rotate around an axis close to the middle of the side sections, and the flanges, which are horizontal, do not move horizontally. Theoretically, 4C has less resistance than the processes illustrated in 4A and 4B.
Wide Profiles. Making a profile with four hats uses the same principle but different forming steps than those used to make a single hat.
