High Volume Production of Piston

Prototype Cost Material cost 80mmof 39 mm diameter aluminium bars and a single rubber O-ring was used in the making of the prototype. This came to a total cost of $8.43 for the aluminium and $0.50 for the rubber ring for a total of $8.93. Labour Cost The piston was finished in approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes (estimated time). The piston itself can be assembled in under half a minute, as the only process is to attach the O-ring to the piston head. This means at a labour cost of $30 an hour, the total labour cost comes to $50. Giving a total cost of $58.93, this is expensive for just one part of the pump. High Volume Process design & planning Only minor changes needed to be made to the design of the piston in order to make it suitable for high volume manufacture. The main change is the removal of sharp edges of both the piston head and the shaft ends. Cost comparison The project brief states that for the high volume manufacture, 24,000 units will be produced each year. This equates to 2000 a month, 100 a day (assuming the plan is only open on weekdays), 12.5 an hour (assuming 8 working hours). Two of the common casting processes are Sand Casting and Die casting which have their own advantages and disadvantages. The Economics of Casting Each different casting processes has different requirement. Some may require more labour than others such as investment casting, but some may require expensive dies and machinery, such as die casting. Each of these individual requirements has effect to the overall cost of a casting operation.

The cost of casting a product includes the costs of materials (materials for making die and mould), labour, tooling and equipment. Besides, the time and effort needed for casting also greatly influence the total production cost. In order to have a better view of the cost characteristics of each different casting processes, a simple table is shown below:

Process Sand Casting Shell-Mould Casting Plaster-Mould Casting Investment Casting Permanent-Mould Casting Die Casting Centrifugal Casting

Die/Mould Cost L L-M L-M M-H M H M

Equipment Cost L M-H M L-M M H H

Labour Cost L-M L-M M-H H L-M L-M L-M

Production Rate (unit/hour)

<20 <50 <10 <1000 <60 <200 <50

* Note: L (low), M (medium), H (high)

Table 1. General cost characteristics of casting processes.

As shown on table 1, relatively small cost involved in making moulds for sand casting, but on the other hand, die casting has the highest cost, which requires expensive materials and a great deal of machining and preparation for die making. Sand casting can cast almost any pattern without the limitation of size, shape and weight. The cost of sand casting is low because there isnt any special tool or equipment required. In addition, the sand used for mould making can be reused. However, some finishing such as machining and quality inspection are required for sand casting. It is noted that the cost of equipment per casting will decrease as the production rate increase. In another words, sustained high production rates can help to justify the high cost of die and equipment. However, if the demand is relatively small, the cost per casting will increase rapidly due to too much of supply. Hence, it becomes more economical to cast the part with sand casting process, which uses cheap material and equipment and has lower production rate.

Sand Casting Quantity Required 24,000 / year Product Special Tooling Sand mould (cope and drag) Fixturing Nil Process Equipment $100,000 ($10,000/year) Direct Labour (DL) 2 persons at ($30per person / hr) Direct Material (DM) Aluminium Mass per unit: 0.03075kg Current market price: $2971.44 AUD per tonne Price Per unit: $0.12 $6.60/piece <20 / hr / shift Rent + electricity $150,000 Equipment $10,000 labour

Die Casting 24,000 / year Die cost = $100,000 Nil $500,000 ($50,000/year) 1 person at ($30 / hr) Aluminium Mass per unit: 0.03075kg Current market price: $2971.44 AUD per tonne Price Per unit: $0.12 $5.10/ piece <200 / hr / shift Rent + electricity $150,000 Equipment $50,000 $54,600 $2971.44 $257,571.44

Overhead Cost Production Capacity Production Cost

labour $109,200 Aluminium (1 tonne) Aluminium (1 tonne) $2971.44 Total Total $272,171.44 Production Cost / unit $11.34 $10.73

Dimensions ( x 15mm x 15mm x 10mm) + ( x 5mm x 5mm x 55mm) Volume 11388mm / 11.388cm / 0.000011388m Mass Density x Volume =Mass Density of aluminium = 2.7g/cm Mass = 30.75g / 0.03075kg 0.03075kg * 24,000 = 738kg= 1 tonnes (extra) Market Price of Aluminium $1,976USD per tonne http://www.metalmarkets.org.uk/ 22/10/08 =2971.44 AUD xe.com

Total = $2971.44 Cost Per unit: 2971.44/24000 = $0.12 Overhead costs $6.48 + $0.12 = $6.60/unit Labour Cost $30 x 2 personal = $60 per hour $60 x 7 hours = $420 per day $420 x 5 days = $2100 per week $2100 x 52 weeks = $109,200 per year Yearly costs: Rent + electricity Equipment Labour Raw materials 1 tonnes aluminium Total = $150,000 = $10,000 = $109,200 = $2971.44 = $272,171.44

Implications for design: Avoid sharp corners, angles, and fillets Act as stress raisers and cause cracking and tearing of the metal during solidification. Fillet radii should be 2mm to 25mm To reduce stress concentrations To ensure proper liquid flow Use of metal padding eliminates/minimize hot spots Act as an external chills Increase cost of production Shrinkage allowances: Aluminum alloys 1.3 Patternmakers shrinkage allowances 10mm/m to 20mm/m

Routing sheet

Oper. # 1 2 3 4

Description Sand Cast Surface Mill File Inspection

Machine/Tool ? ? Fine filer Vernier Calliper

Time ? ? 15 mins 3 mins

Sand casting - aluminium is cast into the rough shape of the piston. Surface Milling aluminium cast is placed into a CNC metal lathe were the surface is milled down to the correct dimensions and the O-ring grove is cut. File file the edges of the piston.