Quality Is the Priority in Our Sheet Metal Fabrication Services
We take quality very seriously at Century-Tywood. In fact, we’ve built quality control processes into every operation in our shop, from precision metal stamping and sheet metal assembly to finishing and inspection processes. From raw materials to the first and final operation to the moment we package up our parts for shipment, the Century-Tywood team prioritizes exceptional quality to meet our customers’ needs.
Just because a part meets spec doesn’t mean it automatically gets an “accept” stamp from our inspection team. We strive for excellent accuracy and precision at Century-Tywood and have cemented in-house protocols to ensure first-rate quality management.
Top Quality, Every Step of the Way
Quality control isn’t just a priority during inspection; at Century-Tywood, quality starts with the operator. We have incorporated point-of-generation inspection at all of our processing steps to ensure conformance when a characteristic is generated, not at final inspection. Parts are inspected first by the team member responsible for the feature, and then by a quality inspector. This commitment to quality greatly reduces the risk of passing nonconforming products through our shop.
Operators are constantly monitoring parts to ensure they are within the required processing tolerance requirements. Using calipers and referring back to the design, our operators ensure all measurements are accurate before sending them for inspection. From there, a final piece is signed off before it can move along to the next operation. In-depth inspection occurs during and after every process on the shop floor. This allows us to react rapidly and make any machine adjustments midstream, reducing potential vectors for nonconformance generation.
We even inspect parts we’ve deburred. Many other shops consider this unnecessary and don’t bother with it, but we see the value in this extra step to ensure parts are free of stray burrs.
Close Adherence to the Part Design
“Good enough” is not part of our vocabulary. We hold our people and processes to tremendously high standards. When we know that a technically good part could be better, we make adjustments to center the process around the nominal.
A lot of other shops will inspect a part, note that its tolerances are close enough to the design, and let production proceed. However, things can go wrong when a part that barely meets the print requirement is accepted without any subsequent corrective action. If a print calls for a tolerance of +/-.010 and they let a part that measures at .009 pass without centering the process, statistical deviations within the expected machine process capability would likely result in nonconforming hardware. This leaves essentially no room for error. If the machine shifts even the tiniest bit, parts in the same batch could potentially drift to .011, making it unusable. This problem could trickle down to other areas of production or, when left unchecked, to the customers themselves.
Our inspection team is extremely particular about what parts they will accept. Even if a part meets all of the required tolerances according to the print, our quality assurance team will only accept it when it is as close as possible to the nominal.
Go-To for Reliable Precision Metal Fabrication
We have cemented thorough quality control processes into our operations, offering reliable tight tolerance precision fabricated components to OEMs.
Some of our customers have so much faith in our quality that they don’t perform incoming inspections on Century-Tywood-supplied parts. What’s more, we even work with a handful of OEMs that permit us to drop ship parts directly to their end users, removing themselves as the go-between. These customers know our track record of producing high-quality parts and our impressive attention to detail in packaging and shipping components. By having Century-Tywood ship straight to their customers, they can cut lead times and streamline production.
Quality Certifications
Our ISO 9001:2015 registration calls for us to maintain excellent quality management systems that increase efficiency and ensure our parts meet customers’ regulatory requirements. Our ISO certification has helped us usher in other initiatives, such as our implementation of Lean Manufacturing practices, which have helped us improve shop efficiency while reducing waste.
Additionally, the other certifications we’ve earned directly contribute to our quality standards. We are both ITAR-registered and RoHS-compliant, so we are accustomed to meeting rigorous precision standards and honing our internal processes to achieve optimal quality.
The Value of High-Quality Precision Fabricated Components
Quality is the cornerstone of our sheet metal fabrication services. It’s the main reason we’ve been able to keep our world-class 0.1% rejection rate. Along with this impressive number, our eagle-eyed inspection team and distinctly high quality standards benefit our customers in the following ways:
Reduced Lead Times
When we get parts done right the first time, we aren’t spending time on rework or scrap replacement. So while inspecting parts after every operation adds more steps to the production process, it cuts lead times sufficiently in the long run.
Cost Savings
Our tight quality control processes result in minimal scrap in our shop. With less wasted material, we can keep our scrap overhead so low that we don’t build this extra cost into our quotes.
Greater Consistency
Our attention to detail regarding quality means that when a customer orders a part from us, they will receive a product that meets print and won’t cause costly assembly fit issues. When OEMs are used to getting exactly what they ask for, they can trust that the parts that arrive on their dock from Century-Tywood are usable.
When you’re seeking a precision sheet metal fabricator to supply parts that will add value and please your customers, request a quote to get started with Century-Tywood.