Custom Automotive Steering Column Design

At Volunteer Sintered Products, we manufactured the steering column highlighted here for a leading company in the consumer automotive market. With our reputation as a problem-solver, we helped them overcome production issues on their assembly line that ultimately led to a significant boost in sales of this product.

Several components of this steering column sourced from their previous suppliers did not correspond to the client's quality standards and technical specifications, resulting in a high reject rate. Production losses from unexpected problems during assembly had negative consequences — production goals fell short, and the losses began to impact them financially. To improve yields and keep production on track, they shared information on the quality and technical issues with us and asked us to develop an alternative solution.

We conducted a thorough engineering analysis to determine an optimal, cost-effective means for alleviating this bottleneck on their assembly line. Our design engineers used their ingenuity to redesign the part and develop effective tooling to repeatedly produce high-quality powdered metal parts from pre-alloyed steel powder. As part of the quality management process, we implemented an automated torque stand to ensure technical compliance with the company's established standards.

Since we took over this program, the reject rate for this assembly has stood at 0 ppm. By improving the quality and reliability of this steering column, sales have climbed by 25%. The client was so impressed with the results that they awarded us many new programs. Our estimated annual volume of parts for this company now tops 3.85 million.

Contact Us today to learn more about this project or our powdered metal processing capabilities. We're ready to assist you with your needs or request a free quote.