1. Initial Assessment & Requirements
What information is needed from a customer before starting work on their part?
- Starting thickness including flatness if available
- Estimated annual volume and release quantities
- Special packaging requirements
- Target pricing is always helpful
How do you determine which grinding or finishing processes are best suited for a particular part or material?
- Size of part
- Geometry (shape of the part)
- Surface finish and flatness required
- Volume
2. Surface Grinding Process
What is the initial surface grinding phase?
- All parts go through a receiving inspection process to verify the incoming part meets the requirements for the process that has been specified
How does grinding differ for ferrous, non-ferrous, powder metal, or plastic components?
- Primary difference is wheel selection and method of fixturing
- Occasionally a special coolant will be required
3. Heat Treating
At What Stage is Heat Treating Important for Certain Parts
- Heat Treating can induce some distortion; parts typically need to be heat treated prior to the final grinding process
- In cases where a lot of stock needs to be removed, we may recommend removing the majority of the material prior to heat treat to improve throughput and reduce cost
4. Secondary Grinding & Microfinishing
After heat treating, when and why would a part be returned for another round of grinding or lapping?
- To achieve the best dimensional capability and finish, grinding or lapping should be the final process whenever possible
5. Coating and Surface Treatments
What types of coatings or surface treatments are most common for parts after grinding and lapping?
- After lapping or grinding is complete, parts are rinsed and rust preventative applied if required
How does the coating process impact part precision and surface flatness?
- Parts requiring a high performance, precision layer of wear resistant surface treatment such as chrome or hard chrome require a final lap after the coating has been applied
- This is very common in
6. Ancillary and Quality Assurance Services
What ancillary services (e.g., tumbling, de-burring, light band measuring) are typically required for precision-ground parts?
- We offer all of the above and will adjust based on customer requirements
- Some inspections, such as light band inspection are difficult for our customers to reproduce due to the expense of the equipment. In those cases, we produce digital documentation of the inspection that can be shared with the customer
How do you ensure every part meets both customer requirements and ASG’s standards for quality?
- All products receive a final inspection
What’s your process for documenting and verifying achieved tolerances?
- Inspection results are documented and maintained based on specific customer requirements
7. Challenges & Expertise
What are common challenges in maintaining surface flatness throughout all these processes?
- Working with the customer to provide us with parts that are as flat as possible is the most important aspect.
- If the inbound part is “out of flat” we may not be able to meet the required flatness and parallelism that is required. Often times we assist customers in measuring these features and in some cases collaborate to improve their internal processes.
How does your team collaborate with customers to resolve potential issues or last-minute changes in requirements?
- We pride ourselves on being flexible; we will do everything we can to help our customers succeed. It’s not uncommon for us to improve the overall process and offer our customers a price reduction
8. Customer Communication & Satisfaction
How did your process expertise solve a significant customer problem with a project?
- ASG asks for samples prior to committing to a project – a lot of companies do not do that. This can save the customer considerable time and money.
- Exceptional quality