Frequently Asked Questions
Does General Chain / General Wire Form provide product design support?
Yes. Our corporate engineering department:
Routinely reviews existing customer designs.
Helps develop new designs and recommendations based on customer input.
- To contact the Engineering Department, click here.
Can General Chain / General Wire Form develop manufacturing techniques or processes to improve the part’s performance and / or durability?
Our Engineering Department is ready to work with you to identify the most optimal processes needed to make your parts. An example of successful collaboration was with a customer who needed us to modify an existing coating line hanger design for a new part that would need to endure a much higher coating process temperature. We were able to far exceed all performance requirements without having to radically change the fundamental part design.
What materials do we typically work with?
Wire Forms – Low Carbon Bright Basic(c1008-1018) Steel, Stainless Steel. The choice of material depends on factors such as strength requirements, environmental conditions, and corrosion resistance.
Stampings – Most metals that can be formed in a 600 Ton Press.
What size material do we work with?
CNC Wire Bending – up to .500″ diameter wire
Fourslide Forming – up to .375″ diameter wire
Die Forming – up to 1″ diameter wire or rod
Stamping – Width up to 12 inches / Thickness up to .200″
How do you ensure product consistency from run to run?
We select the appropriate process control tools for each product based on production quantity and customer requirements. Our facilities are certified in various quality systems standards, such as ISO 9001:2015. For more information on our Quality Department, Certification(s) and Capabilities, please visit our Quality Department to learn more.
Can our engineers help you increase profitability and reduce risk?
Involving our engineers during the developmental phase of a part has multiple benefits.
Security – We maintain NDAs with most of our major customers to ensure their intellectual property is vigorously protected.
Profitability – There are so many examples where the cost to make a part can be dramatically impacted by small dimensional variations. In the case of wire forms especially, having our engineers involved gives you a highly specialized set of eyeballs skilled in determining what dimensions enable a part to be made with the least amount of processes / secondary operations.