Does ACF offer a turnkey project?
Can tool designs be purchased separately from ACF?
What is involved in the part development phase that is quoted separately?
Are your engineering services expensive?
Does ACF offer a turnkey project?
Yes. This approach offers our customers the shortest road to success and the best return on their investment. We supply the drawings, the tools, and work with your operator either onsite and by telephone to develop your part. We can also help you locate a used machine and have it refurbished.
Can ACF review our new part quotations on a continuing basis and tell us if they can be made on our machine?
Yes. This is a consulting service that we do offer to customers. A charge is invoiced at the end of each month for each part reviewed. It always helps to get a second opinion before pricing a part. Many times we may see something that another set of eyes missed.
Can tool design packages be purchased separate from ACF?
Yes. We do sell tool design packages separately to customers. The customer is saying they will furnish their own tools and part development and assume full responsibility for making it all work. Telephone support will be available from ACF.
What is involved in the part development phase that is quoted separately?
ACF does occasionally quote a technician to come on-site to your plant to provide debug assistance for jobs that have been engineered by ACF. Shelter and transportation expenses are additional over and above our daily rate. The most cost effective solution for our customers is to have their machine completely set up with all the tools loaded in it, ready for our technician when he walks through the door. This includes wire-line tools loaded and capable of feeding cutoffs and transfer installed with grips and aligned in the machine. This will help keep development costs to a minimum.
Can both the tool designs and tools be purchased from ACF and the customers do their own part development?
Yes. Although we prefer to also furnish the part development assistance so that we have the maximum control over seeing your project through to success, we realize that it is the customer who is left to run the job long after our technician leaves. The vast majority of ACF tool design jobs are completed by our customer’s personnel without an ACF representative onsite. We do offer technical assistance by way of phone, fax, digital images and overnight mail of actual blank progressions. An hourly rate will be charged by ACF for all time accumulated when using this approach for part development.
Are your engineering services expensive?
We don’t think so. In fact, our prices are historically lower than OEM for the same level of product. ACF believes our products are some of the best available in the market. Before any project is undertaken, a complete review of the situation is made and a price quotation submitted. This cost is relatively low compared to the continuing long-term benefits to your company.
How can ACF fit in with our company?
If you are new to cold forming and plan on buying your first machine (new or used) in the near future, this is the perfect time to get ACF involved. Established companies use us for many reasons: to help their engineering teams when their workload is over-extended or lack the experience required for a particular job; to review new part quotations; to insure a successful project; for some companies we supply their total engineering needs.