Fixture to increase nitriding capacity
A surface-treatment fixture raised nitriding capacity from the original 115 parts to 432 parts per week.
Client
Manufacturing company
Industry
Defence
Timeline
8 weeks
Technologies
Fixture design · Surface treatment · Part placement optimisation
01 — Challenge
Increasing nitriding capacity
The original surface-treatment capacity was 115 parts per week. The goal was to design a fixture that would hold the parts more efficiently throughout the individual processes while meeting the required production capacity.
02 — Solution
Optimised part placement in the fixture
During the design we worked with several part-placement variants and with the requirements of each process. The deciding factor was nitriding, which takes about 18 hours. The final solution made it possible to process the required volume in three nitriding cycles and raise capacity to 432 parts per week.
03 — Approach
Process analysis
Evaluating the requirements of each surface-treatment process and the original processing capacity.
Design variants
Designing and comparing several part-placement options with regard to capacity, handling and protection of critical surfaces.
Final solution
The fixture design achieved a capacity of 432 parts per week in three nitriding cycles.
Technical specifications
Outcome
The new solution increased processing capacity from 115 to 432 parts per week. That is 317 more parts every week, or approximately 276% more than the original capacity.