Fastco’s Cold Heading Department

The primary function of the cold heading process is to produce the “blanks” that are the start of the manufacturing operation at Fastco. Cold Heading is a high-pressure, high-speed progressive forming process that uses a series of dies and blows to form parts. At Fastco, our Cold Heading Department manufactures pins and rivets complete and can form the blanks for screws, bolts, and studs.

Cold Heading’s Goal

Our goal is to manufacture quality parts on time and as close to the manufacturing order quantity (or 10% over) as we can. This is critical to the company because any mistakes or missed goals (defects, late delivery, short order quantities) cause problems in downstream operations. This also has a negative financial impact on the company. Conversely, when we perform well we can positively contribute to the financial health of the company.

Pride in Our Work

Our department takes pride in what we do. That being said, Fastco’s process is a complex one. As such, it is the result of the hard work of many people in many departments. Fastco’s Cold Heading Department takes defects very seriously; scrap and cost of poor quality reduction are significant strategic priorities for our Cold Heading and Thread Rolling.

Given the progressive nature of the manufacturing process, a delay or defect in Cold Heading has significant downstream operation impact. When we recognize an issue, we do our best to correct it for future runs. We are continuously innovating process improvements to avoid defects at every level. These include regular part checks and scrap reduction huddles, among other strategies.

As a team leader, I am very proud that the cold heading team is flexible and open to new ideas. Many of our long-term employees (aka old-timers) have seen a lot of changes over the years. Each time the team is tasked to consider a new challenge, they try to embrace the change the best they can and learn from past missteps. We have learned a lot collectively about what works and what doesn’t. We are constantly trying to adapt and improve.

by Jim Wolters, Cold Heading Team Leader