The cold revolution: forging without fire
For the first fifteen years, production at the bolt factory was a hot, labor-intensive affair. Metal was heated, hammered and shaped by skilled workers using techniques that placed limits on precision, speed and output. In 1916, the installation of the factory’s first cold heading, imported from Germany, changed everything.
Cold forming involves shaping metal at or near room temperature using high compressive force, rather than heating it to make it malleable. Even though each initial setup would have been more time consuming, once completed, a production run could churn out many more fasteners with minimal manual intervention. This would have been a major shift in production operations and will most likely have set the future direction of the company as a volume manufacturer.
But the new technology was not without its challenges. Increased tool wear and more complex lubrication requirements required machine operators to develop entirely new skills in process adjustment, quality inspection and tool maintenance.
In recognition of the importance of a stable and committed workforce, the company established a reward scheme for employees with fifteen or more years of service in 1916. Three years later, it began purchasing local residential properties for employees, further binding the community to the factory.
The cold heading machines would form the basis for the company’s production for decades and were the platform upon which the stainless steel revolution would be built just ten years later.