Truck body makers rely on multiple manufacturing methods, materials, and suppliers for the components and parts they need to create functional truck bodies. Metal stamping is one of those manufacturing methods creating parts that play a supporting role in overall body design and application.
When truck body makers are facing difficulties with their current metal stamping solutions provider, with items like part variation, elongated lead times, and assembly challenges, it can slow down the overall body making process.
Winco Stamping offers key solutions for these difficulties that are aimed at moving manufacturing programs forward.
How Part Variation Impacts Truck Body Makers
Consistency and quality are two of the biggest targets contract manufacturers need to reach when producing components for customers. Working with truck body makers isn’t an exception.
The smallest part variation can make all the difference when performing the final assembly for a truck body and there is no room for error whether it’s for a pickup or a semi. Worn tooling, inconsistent manufacturing processes, material variation, or multiple vendors can all be causes for part variation.
The benefit of metal stamping is that variation is minimized through dedicated tooling and a repeatable manufacturing process. No matter if it’s for low to medium volume amounts, or more progressive operations, stamping follows a set pattern of steps where part variation is drastically reduced, creating consistent, high-quality components.
Shortening Lead Times
Truck body makers can experience elongated lead times from a few different sources. Multiple suppliers, international logistics delays, outsourced tooling, material shortages, and limited production capacity all are pain points toward extended lead times.
When your metal stamping supplier offers in-house tooling capabilities and expansive production capabilities such as progressive tooling and stamping, you’re more likely to experience shortened lead times and getting the metal stamped components delivered on time.
Offshoring projects also can shorten lead times for truck body makers. Domestic metal stampers don’t have to deal with the import licensing and long shipping distances that international suppliers face.
Simplifying Assembly Challenges
On the outside looking in, most would think that assembly issues of metal stamped for truck body makers stem from parts being incompatible or improper assembly. Truthfully, assembly challenges happen before any manufacturing takes place. It’s usually a result of improper design procedures with a failure to perform a design for manufacturability review.
Well-versed metal stamping manufacturers have the experience to perform DFM reviews with the customer during pre-manufacturing engineering. These reviews aim to simplify part geometry, improve feature placement, and reduce overall assembly complexity prior to costly tooling investments. One of the ways DFM supports easier assembly is by integrating features like tabs, slots, mounting points, and fastener locations. These features can reduce secondary operations and speed up assembly procedures.
The Value of a Turnkey Metal Stamping Manufacturer
Ultimately manufacturing challenges for truck body makers can largely be resolved or at least lessened by creating a partnership with a turnkey metal stamping manufacturer. A turnkey metal stamping manufacturer can perform engineering, manufacturing, and post-manufacturing operations all underneath one roof.
These aspects shrink lead times and the supply chain, address part variation as vendor handoffs are eliminated, and quality is vetted through rigorous testing and part validation operations.
Truck body makers directly impact from this partnership because of the cost-effectiveness associated with a turnkey manufacturing company. Rather than pay multiple companies various amounts, one manufacturer receives your business. Additionally, it reduces the need for supplier coordination and transportation between vendors is minimized for your parts.
Truck Body Makers, Contact Winco Stamping as Your Single Source Metal Stamping Supplier
Winco Stamping is one of the United States’ premier metal stamping manufacturers, specializing in OEM solutions in low to medium volume production runs. Since 1948, our team of operators, engineers, and executives have worked together to create long lasting metal stamped components that serve our customers how they should – reliably, accurately, and with high quality in every part.
Truck body makers are an area that Winco Stamping represents with our multitude of metal stamping solutions. Our process starts with design for manufacturability reviews with your team to ensure the stamped component is manufacturable and will be operational in its field of application. From there, we begin the stamping process and round out with any value-added services as needed.
Contact Winco Stamping for an initial consultation where we’ll review your design, volume amount, material and finish specs, and more as we create a long-lasting metal stamped solution.