Measuring performance in forging and metal forming units: what to track and what to ignore

Ask a forge owner how he judges his crews and he will usually say tonnes. How many tonnes of connecting rods, flanges or gear blanks left the shop this month. Tonnage matters, but it hides almost everything that makes a press shop profitable. A crew that pushes tonnage by running the dies too hot will crack a die-block in a fortnight, or start galling the cavity. A crew that rushes a header setup will make thousands of oversize bolts before the inspector catches it. A deep drawing pair chasing count will send out cups with earing and fine tears. The tonnage looks fine. The month does not.

Good measures in a forming plant are few, crew-wise and visible. They show supervisor and crew where the shift lost money. They also lead to something the crew values: training, a grade step, or praise in front of peers.

On a drop hammer the heater, hammerman and tong holder share every blow. On a transfer press, the setter, the loader and the unloader share every stroke. Scoring one person on a shared result invites blame: the hammerman says the heat was wrong, the heater says the die was cold. Score the gang as one and leave the gang to settle its rhythm. Keep individual measures for jobs that really are individual, such as an inspector's sampling discipline or a setter's first-off time.

• Good pieces per shift. Not forged pieces, good ones, after trimming and inspection, per crew.
• Rejects by defect. Laps, underfill, mismatch, cracks and scale pits for forgings; wrinkles, tears, earing and necking for drawn parts. The split tells you whether the cause is heat, die, material or handling.
• Die life. Pieces or strokes between regrinds or resinking, logged by die number and crew. A falling count flags poor preheating, lubrication or alignment.
• Setup and first-off time. Clock it from the final good piece of the outgoing job to the first approved piece of the incoming one, per setter.
• Handover completed. Tick or cross per changeover of shifts, signed by both in-charges.

All five fit on a single sheet clipped beside the press. None needs software to begin. The precision forgers that do this well often keep it on a whiteboard by the press, updated at each shift end. The performance page for precision forging units shows how such a sheet ties to the lot card.

Date. Shift. Line or hammer number. Crew names.
Job: part number, die number.
Good pieces after trim and inspection: ____.
Rejects: laps ____, underfill ____, mismatch ____, cracks ____, other ____.
Die strokes this shift: ____. Die strokes since last regrind: ____.
Setup today: start time ____, first-off approved ____.
Handover sheet completed and signed: yes or no.
Near miss or injury: yes or no, short note.
Supervisor initials.

• Tonnage alone. It rewards speed and hides die abuse and scrap.
• Overtime as a loyalty badge. The man who stays longest is often the most tired, not the most useful.
• Attitude scores with no behaviour behind them. They turn the review into a popularity contest.
• Single bad days. A crew judged on its worst shift learns to hide problems, not report them.
• Machine running hours. A press can run all shift making scrap.

1. 1

   Weekly at the line

   Ten minutes beside the whiteboard with each gang. What went well, which defect rose, what to try next week. No blame, just the sheet.

2. 2

   Monthly sit-down

   A short review per crew and per setter with the supervisor, reading the run of weeks, not the worst day. One agreed action, written down.

3. 3

   Link to training

   If underfill keeps rising on one crew, that is a heating or die-handling training need, not a warning letter.

4. 4

   Link to grade steps

   Setters and operators whose numbers hold steady across months should see the next grade within reach. Measures that never change anything stop being filled in.

5. 5

   Check the supervisors too

   Are scorecards complete? Are reviews happening? The supervisor's own review should include both.

The scoring approach used in deep drawing shops and our performance management process work both build on this pattern. Our post on how die handling decides tool life explains why die strokes deserve a place on the scorecard.

Pick one hammer or press line. Print the scorecard and run it for a month without linking it to pay. Let the crew see the defect split and the die count. Then decide which two numbers belong in reviews. Our forging and forming hub page shows how gangs, die care and pay hang together. If you want a scorecard drafted for your own presses, describe them on the GullyHR requirements form.