INTRODUCTION
In a market where automotive electronics demands increasingly smaller components, more precise, and ready to use, ETMA developed a technical spacer for use in automotive electronic sub-assemblies. The part had multiple functional and process requirements, calling for an integrated approach that would ensure dimensional precision, cost competitiveness, and delivery in a “ready-to-assemble” condition.
CHALLENGE
The initial request arrived as a technical enquiry: several manufacturing routes were feasible, but the goal was to balance cost, process robustness, and lead-time, while also ensuring an anti-corrosion treatment and a thread-locking adhesive compliant with the client’s standard. Beyond the geometric demands, this was a very small part with tight tolerances and an internal M4 thread, requiring a second-operation machining step on parts already forged and supplied in bulk. A particularly demanding scenario for high-throughput, highly repeatable feeding, clamping, drilling, and tapping.
SOLUTION
ETMA’s process engineering team evaluated alternatives and selected cold forging as the base process, followed by second-operation machining on Variomatics transfer machine. This route delivered the target cost and secured the required tolerances. To stabilise the flow, the team developed bespoke tooling both for forging and for clamping/fixturing during machining, enabling precise drilling and M4 tapping.
In parallel, specifications were harmonised with the client: thread-locking adhesive qualified to ETMA-approved equivalents, and zinc plating to meet corrosion-resistance requirements. The outcome was a ready-to-integrate part (final finishing plus adhesive applied), reducing customer-side interfaces and supplier count.
PROCESSES INVOLVED IN ETMA’S INTEGRATED PRODUCTION SYSTEM
To turn the concept into a ready-to-integrate part — combining precision, process robustness, and competitive cost — ETMA drew on the following processes within its Integrated Production System, each playing a specific role in the part’s final performance.
- Cold forging — precise blank definition with dimensional accuracy at a competitive cost.
- Tools — design and manufacture of forging dies and fixturing/clamping devices for the second-operation machining
- Turning — drilling and internal M4 tapping on a small-format part, ensuring high throughput and repeatability.
- Surface treatments — zinc plating for corrosion protection, in accordance with the client’s requirements.
- Assembly — application of a thread-locking adhesive validated as a technically equivalent solution.
Note: Before stabilising the second-operation process, initial samples were produced by single-piece turning to provide a rapid response to the customer’s needs during the ramp-up (start-up) phase.
RESULTS
- Industrial scale: ≈1,000,000 parts/year.
- Competitive cost enabled by the cold-forging + optimised second-operation machining route.
- Ready-to-assemble part (finishing + pre-applied thread-locking adhesive), reducing the customer’s supplier base and lead-time.
- Robust process for a very small, tight-tolerance part, including bulk feeding, dedicated gripping/fixturing, and a high-precision internal M4 thread.
TECHNICAL COLLABORATION
Given the complexity, the project involved ETMA’s multidisciplinary teams (project management, process engineering, tooling, quality, and finishing), with iterative technical design reviews – including joint sessions with the client – to align specifications and establish a stable production flow prior to full industrialisation.
WHY ETMA
- Genuine process integration (one partner, multiple critical stages): fewer interfaces, lower risk, faster time-to-market.
- In-house process and tooling engineering: the right solution for each geometry, with a focus on repeatability and cost.
- End-to-end quality and finishing: part supplied ready-to-use, with validated surface treatment and thread-locking adhesive.
- Scalability: capacity for millions of units/year output while maintaining dimensional stability.
In short, we delivered a ready-to-integrate component with a robust process, competitive cost, and end-to-end control.
Need to turn a concept into a high-precision, ready-to-integrate component, with fewer interfaces and greater control?
Get in touch: we will assess your case, design the right process, and deliver turnkey technical parts for a wide range of industries and other demanding applications.