Process Development

At the heart of the ADF business culture is process development. Machines are machines, assemblies of metal and electronic components that work in unison to do something. Today machines are capable of producing parts to very close tolerances time after time for years and years. What a machine produces is the result of a “process”. The process incorporates everything, from the raw material, positioning, cutting, lubricating and time, that goes together to produce a finished part.

Advanced Deburring & Finishing Corp. is proud to represent manufacturers of quality machines – leaders in their respective industry.  Each OEM is in their third generation or fourth decade of stable ownership. They have won industry advantages by their commitment to maintaining “process development activities” that support ADF’s “process development laboratory”.

The ADF process development laboratory, consisting of 18 production machines, tests and develops manufacturing processes that solve their customer’s most challenging deburring and/ or cleaning problems.

Process development begins when ADF sales engineers visit a customer’s facility to conduct an onsite survey to see firsthand the customer’s manufacturing process and requirement. Next, a “sample process request form” is completed detailing information regarding the customer’s requirements, expectations and objectives for the project.

Once the initial assessment is complete, ADF requests sample parts, that are representative of the raw part that will be deburred and/ or cleaned, for testing. The parts are used to develop a process that will satisfy the customer’s needs and requirements. In cases where custom machines, different chemistries or media are required to meet a customer’s needs, ADF utilizes its longstanding OEM relationships to support its process development efforts and results.

After testing, the customer is provided a detailed process report including return of the sample parts and ADF’s process solution machine recommendation. Details of the report contain hourly or daily production rate projections, costs per part or per hour using the “process development” information obtained by the testing, i.e. chemical type, cost, media type cost, attrition or usage rates along with costs for each of item.

Before shipping a customer’s machine(s) they are installed at ADF or the OEM for testing and process verification. The customer is encouraged to take part in this testing (Run-off) process by sending processing and/or maintenance personal for training prior to receiving the machinery in their plant. To ensure successful onsite installation and start-up, ADF sales engineers are on site for assistance and training. Depending on the project this service may or may not be provided on a no charge basis. ADF has and will provide total turnkey proposals at customer request.

The process outlined above serves two purposes. One, when the customer orders they know the machine specifications, processing information and all the costs associated with the operation of the process. But the second and possibly the most important purpose of the “process development” phase, is the customer guarantee offered by ADF!

If ADF does all of the above and production and parts do not meet the test results, ADF guarantees to re-produce the sample parts in the customer’s plant, or ADF will take the machine back.

This guarantee is ADF’s pledge to each customer that it’s recommendations will deliver the desired results they need.

On occasion, ADF has purchased and installed the recommended machine(s) in its own facility to produce the customer’s parts on a contract basis until a new plant, addition or financing becomes available. When the customer is ready the production system, cell or line is moved into their plant.

To learn more about the ADF process development component call 800-553-7060 today.