November 2022 Volume 4

AUTOMATION

Forging Roundtable with FIA’s Jim Warren and Bonney Forge Corporation’s Drew Hunsinger

Adaptec Solutions’ retired executive and current board member, Jim Morris, led a Forging Industry Association (FIA) workshop in Ohio, attended by Mario Trizzino of Adaptec and Drew Hunsinger from Bonney Forge Corporation. After learning about Hunsinger’s interest in looking for that first step in automation, Trizzino joined together with Morris and FIA’s Jim Warren to further discuss the forging industry. General Overview As Hunsinger notes his interest in automation for Bonney Forge, the four begin a conversation about the general state of the forging industry. Jim Warren, President and CEO of FIA, highlights that they have been monitoring their member’s health as forging companies are struggling in the workforce due to lack of labor. Warren says, “One of the solutions we believe in is automating processes to increase throughput, increase quality and help beat back that lack of labor.” Under direction from the board, FIA started executing programs in 2018, but had trouble accessing forging facilities with automation due to the apprehensiveness of sharing processes with competitors. As a result, FIA exposed their program attendees to other manufacturing industries including metal fabricating and stamping. Despite the challenges, FIA successfully pulled off their first program. Manufacturing in the U.S. Mario Trizzino, Sales Engineer at Adaptec, starts the conversation by asking Warren for his insight on other countries and their level of automation compared to the United States. Warren responds with, “Newer developing manufacturing areas have an advantage of putting all new equipment in, and when they do that, they have automation in mind right from the start.” The U.S. has a great history in forging, leading to a lot of roadblocks preventing robotics and automation from replacing older equipment that forgers have had success with. Despite being behind in the global situation, Warren sees possibility through the FIA membership. Daily, the FIA is learning of companies that are installing automation. With integrators like Adaptec and LASCO staying busy in forging, Warren believes the U.S. has a great chance to catch up. As the FIA becomes more involved with forging education and research, specifically ergonomics and people, the great cause in automation is inevitable. People are getting worn out and the injuries are increasing, precisely strains and sprains to the upper and lower extremities. Hopefully, the stigma that surrounds robotics in the workforce will begin to dissipate as robots are used to extend

the workforce, not replace it. Ultimately, robots succeed in getting humans off those worse tasks – the dull, dirty, and dangerous – and put them on projects that require creativity and cognitive thinking. “We have no choice. We have to look to automation or we will not be in existence. I think it is that simple.” As a forger considering automation, and having attended FIA’s program, Hunsinger acknowledges that, “We have no choice. We have to look to automation or we will not be in existence. I think it is that simple.” He continues to discuss the aging workforce, stating that skilled forgers are not available anymore. Furthermore, students are not graduating from schools aspiring to be forgers, further creating a gap in the workforce for forging companies. Hunsinger adds that robotic automation is the easiest path to adapt and overcome the labor shortage as Bonney Forge considers automating their processes. As a company with a deep history in the forging industry, Bonney Forge was established in the 1870s in Philadelphia. They started by working with shipyards, then went to fabricating and forging turnbuckles for covered wagons that were prominent in Pennsylvania at the time. Eventually, they got into forging and tool work, becoming an original founding member of FIA in 1913. Bonney Forge is privately owned by John Leone and family, giving Hunsinger the inspiration to make the commitment to automation for the company. State of the Industry Warren sets the tone for the state of the industry discussion, focusing on the U.S. government’s position on the state of supply chain and labor in forging.He notes that the last two presidents issued executive orders to study the overall supply chain, highlighting casting and forging as areas of study. Subsequently, the Department of Defense became concerned about both industry segments. Because of this, Warren states that he expects funds to come from the military as FIA has already seen some support to bolster workforce training through Forging University. FIA has also been approached by the army and another military unit, the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Unit – the front-facing part of the Department of Defense that analyzes how the military secures things – expressing their concern for supply chain. Government funds can be used for training, investing in community colleges, direct equipment, or technology. Ultimately, the state of the industry has reached lawmaker level as they throw forging a line of support. In order to succeed in North America, and keep the national

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2022 34