The Shanxi Jianing Forging Forging Train Wheel, Mine Overhead Wheel, and Heavy-Duty Overhead Wheel Forging Project features mature forging technology for high-strength wheels, excellent load-bearing performance, and suitable for heavy-duty conditions in rail transit and mines.
In the fields of construction machinery and special vehicles, the performance of wheel forgings directly affects the safety and operational efficiency of equipment operation. A forklift equipment factory in Shennongjia, Hubei, has long focused on manufacturing complete forklift machines and key components, and the reliability of its wheel forging supply chain has a profound impact on product quality. Based on in-depth analysis of the plant's actual working conditions, Jianing Forging provided a customized wheel forging solution tailored to its needs, addressing key bottlenecks in production.
A forklift equipment factory in Shennongjia, Hubei, mainly produces 3-10 ton class internal combustion and electric forklifts, with a large annual demand for wheel hubs and wheel assembly components. Previously, forgings purchased by the factory frequently developed early fatigue cracks and abnormal wear during long-term heavy-duty operations, leading to higher after-sales maintenance costs and seriously damaging customer reputation. At the same time, different models of forklifts have differentiated requirements for wheel dimensional tolerances and heat treatment hardness distribution, making general-purpose forgings insufficient for flexible switching between multiple varieties and small batches.
After on-site research by the technical team, the forklift equipment factory faced three specific pain points: First, the grain size and grade of the original forgings were unstable, with some batches exhibiting crystalline mixing, reducing the fatigue life of the rim under impact loads; Second, the coaxiality deviation between the inner hole and the flange end face of the forging exceeds 0.3mm, resulting in uneven machining allowances and a scrap rate as high as 8%. Third, suppliers have long delivery cycles (average 45 days) and cannot provide multi-specification rapid changeover services for forklifts of different tonnages, causing factories to frequently stop work due to missing parts and wait for materials.
Jianing Forging has made targeted adjustments in technology, processes, and production management to address these pain points:
Material and microstructure control: Selected high-quality alloy structural steel, and through temperature-controlled forging + isothermal normalizing processes, grain size is stably controlled at grade 6-8, eliminating crystal mixing. Third-party testing shows fatigue life is about 40% higher than the original plan.
Dimensional accuracy support: Introduced closed precision die forging technology, combined with the straightening process after heat treatment, stabilizing the coaxiality of forgings within 0.1mm, flange end face flatness ≤ 0.15mm, reducing machining allowance by 30%, and lowering the defect rate to below 1.5%.
Flexible delivery capability: Established multi-variety collaborative line switching production lines, equipped with a quick-change mold change system, reducing single-specification switching time to 15 minutes. For the six commonly used wheel types (3T, 5T, 8T, 10T, etc.) used by the forklift factory, the first batch of samples was delivered within 7 days, reducing the lead time for regular orders to 20 days.
Through the implementation of this plan, the first-pass pass rate for wheel forgings at a certain forklift equipment factory increased from 89% to 97.5%, monthly after-sales claims decreased by 62%, and a zero-inventory replenishment model was realized, effectively reducing overall manufacturing costs.
