ADVANCED

MANUFACTURING
TECHNOLOGY MAB 4313
Semester July 2010

LECTURER: AP Ir. Dr. MOHD AMIN ABDUL

MAJID

PROJECT TITLE:
KNIFE’S BLADE STAMPING PROCESS IN
VICTORINOX AG COMPANY

MOHD ARIFFAN ABD RAZAK

Submission date:
 ABSTRACT
One of the common tools found in the household is the kitchen knife that is being used in the
food preparation. In general, there are 2 ways to produce the knife’s blade; by using forging or
stamping process. The material used to produce the knife’s blade may vary according to their
advantages and disadvantages.

This report highlights the single station process of stamping the knife’s blade of a knife maker
company, Victorinox AG Company. The parameters involved in the calculation are being taken
into consideration in order to determine the number of machines and workers required to meet
the annual demand that has been set by the company.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background study

One of the common household items found in the market is knife. Knife can vary in terms of its
functions as well as appearance. A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food
preparation. While general purpose knives can accomplish much of this work, there are also
many specialized knives that are designed for specific tasks. Kitchen knives can be made from
several different kinds of materials:

Table 1: Materials used to make knives [2]

Material Description
Carbon steel alloy of iron and carbon, mixed of vanadium and manganese, commonly used
in knives has around 1.0% carbon (ex. AISI 1095)
Inexpensive and hold its edge well
Normally easier to resharpen than most stainless steels, but is vulnerable to rust
and stains
Stainless steel Alloy of iron, 10 to 15% chromium, mixed of nickel, molybdenum and carbon
Low-carbon stainless are softer than carbon steel
Must be frequently resharpen, highly resistant to corrosion
High carbon stainless steel combines the attributes of carbon steel and ordinary
stainless steel – high quality and do not discolor or stain, maintain the sharp
edge
Titanium Lighter, less wear resistant
More flexible than steel
Typically expensive
Ceramic Hard, sharp, light and do not corrode
Need special tooling for resharpening
Very brittle, will chip if struck against hard objects

In general, the steel blades of the knife can be manufactured by being forged or stamped:

 Forged – complex process, typically thicker and heavier than stamped blades

 Stamped – cut to shape directly from cold rolled steel, suitable for mass production
The nomenclature of the parts of a knife is shown below:

Figure 1: A kitchen knife anatomy [2]

Table 2: Description of kitchen knife anatomy [2]

Anatomy Description
A: Point The very end of the knife, which is used for piercing
B: Tip The first third of the blade (approximately), which is used for small or
delicate work. Also known as belly or curve if it is curved, as on a chef's
knife.
C: Edge The entire cutting surface of the knife, which extends from the point to the
heel. The edge may be beveled or symmetric.
D: Heel The rear part of the blade, used for cutting activities that require more force
E: Spine The top, thicker portion of the blade, which adds weight and strength
F: Bolster The thick metal portion joining the handle and the blade, which adds
weight and balance and keeps the cook's hand from slipping
G: Finger Guard The portion of the bolster that keeps the cook's hand from slipping onto the
blade
H: Return The point where the heel meets the bolster
J: Tang The portion of the metal blade that extends into the handle, giving the knife
stability and extra weight
K: Scales The two portions of handle material (wood, plastic, composite, etc.) that
are attached to either side of the tang
L: Rivets The metal pins (usually 3) that hold the scales to the tang
M: Handle Guard The lip below the butt of the handle, which gives the knife a better grip and
prevents slipping
N: Butt The terminal end of the handle

1.2 Problem Statement

As the blade is the most important part of a knife, how does a knife maker companies determine
their manufacturing process and resources appropriately in order to achieve the annual demand?

Throughout the project, the author has used one of the renowned knife maker companies in the
world, the Victorinox AG Company as her references. The company is a knife manufacturer
based in the town of Ibach, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. With the income sales up to
$337.1 million per year [1], the Swiss Army knife has been the centerpiece of Victorinox’s
business apart from other product sales such as household cutleries and multi tools. With a large
volume production annually, the manufacturing system of Victorinox’s company is appealing to
refer as a case study.

Figure 2: Products of Victorinox AG Company

The situation of Victorinox Company that the author used as her case study is:

Victorinox Company has an total annual demand of 102,000 units per day [1] with the
production breakdown of 3 different product categories:

1. Swiss Army knives – 34,000 units per day

2. Pocket tools – 38,000 units per day

3. Household, kitchen and professional knives – 30,000 units per day

The company used stamping process in their value chain of manufacturing the knife’s blade.
They need to build a stamping production line in their company to meet the annual demands.
The company has 1700 employees altogether [1].

1.3 Objectives

The objectives of conducting this project are:

1. To study the process flow of manufacturing kitchen knife blades in the industry

2. To estimate the number of machines required for the stamping process according to
Victorinox Company annual demand

3. To estimate the number of workers allocated for the stamping process to ensure that the
employees of Victorinox Company is sufficient for the process.

Figure 1: The kitchen knife being manufactured

 CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY
2.1 Project Flow

Figure 3: Project flow

2.2 The knife Manufacturing Process

Main focus of
the case study

Figure 4: The knife's blade manufacturing process [3]

 CHAPTER 3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Analysis of number of machines

Parameters involved:

Company: Victorinox AG Company

Employees: 1700

Production rate: total of 102,000 units per day

Operating hours: one 9-hour shift per day, 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year

Annual demand =

units days weeks

102,000 x5 x 50
day week year
Annual demand, D = 25,500,000 units per year

Table 3: Element time in each process

Process Cycle time (minutes)

Stamping 0.05
Heat treatment 30
Grinding 3.6
Polished and sharpened 5

Since the process can go in parallel, the cycle time taken is the longest of all process, which is
the heat treatment, 30 minutes

Batch size = 10,000 units per coil

Setup time = 3 hours

Scrap rate = 5%

Presses are 90% reliable during production and 100% reliable during setup

Determining the number of machines:

The available time, AT = 9 x 5 x 50 = 2250 hours

25,500,000
No. of batch per year = = 2550 setups
10,000

For setup, the workload, WL is:

WL = 2550 (3) = 7650 hours

No. of machines required just for setup,

7650
n= = 3.4 press machines
2250

The total workload, WL for 25,500,000 production runs:

0.05
WL=
2550 ( 10,000 )
60 ( )
=2236.84 hours
(1−0.05)

Available time, AT affected by 95%,

AT = 2250(0.90) = 2025 hours

No. of machines required for 25,500,000 production runs:

2236.84
n= = 1.10 press machines
2025

Total no. of machines:

3.4 + 1.10 = 4.50  5 press machines

3.2 Utilization of the machines

The utilization, U of the press machines will be,

4.50
U= =90 % utilization
5
3.3 Analysis of number of workers

Parameters involved:

Machining cycle time, Tm = 0.3 sec = 0.005 min

Service time, Ts = 25 sec = 0.4166 min – worker loading and unloading the parts at the end of
each cycle

Repositioning time, Tr = 10 sec = 0.1666 min – average worker walk between the machines

No. of machines per worker is:

0.005+ 0.4166
n= =0.72 ≅ 1 machines
0.4166+0.1666

Thus, for 5 press machines, the no. of workers needed = 5 workers

3.4 Discussion

Upon determining the number of machines and workers, some of the point has been discussed
are:

 Operating hours of the company is only one shift per day, as in Switzerland the rules and
regulation for the total working time is 45 hours per week and banning night shift [4]. If
the operating hours can be longer, less number of machines can be used to cater the
demand for the company.

 The machine utilization is only 90%. If fewer machines were used, the problem of not
meeting the demand target can be solved by overtime, but then again, abiding the rules
and regulation of the total working time for the country that the company is located.

 The number of machines allocated for one worker is 1, M=1. This can be improved if the
company uses the stamping process on automatic cycle, where the coil stock is being feed
automatically and attached to the press machine. As results, setup time can be reduced
and productivity can be increased.
 CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The manufacturing process of the knife’s blade has been discussed and the estimation of the
number of workstations and workers has been identified. As a knife manufacturer, the
company’s vital value chain is to manage their production of the knife’s blade as it is the most
important part of their product.

Some of the recommendation for the company to improve their productivity:

 Better specification of the machines are employed in the manufacturing process to reduce
setup time and increase productivity

 Applying automation system for the coil stock feeder in the stamping process to reduce
the number of workers attending the machines

As a conclusion, the objectives of this project have successfully been achieved and prepared the
author to explore the prospect of manufacturing industry in real life situation.

REFERENCES
[1] [Link]

[2] [Link]

[3] [Link]

[4] [Link]