Engineering Resources...


Design

Engineering personnel at Powers and Sons have over 85 combined years of experience in designing steering linkage and suspension components. Using CAD/CAE and compatible software that directly interfaces with our customers, our personnel have complete black-and-gray box design capabilities.

Our manufacturing engineering staff, with over 50 combined years of experience in the manufacturing of steering and suspension components, is co-located with our design staff. This makes simultaneous engineering a way of life.

From initial design and the prototyping stage through developmental testing and production implementation, our focus is on the needs of the customer.



Prototype and Testing

The advanced product quality planning process at Powers and Sons incorporates initial design, empirical analysis, physical lab testing, fleet testing, quality analysis and production feasibility studies. A professionally-staffed prototype shop and test lab afford us the ability to properly test designs early in our product development process. The use of extensive fleet testing provides real-world feedback, augmenting our empirical laboratory analysis.

Aside from the obvious need to support prototype vehicles and lab testing, Powers and Sons considers the manufacturing of prototypes a key part of the program. Why? There is much to learn during the prototype phase. During this stage, we evaluate the selected manufacturing process, assess costs and look for potential quality issues. Wherever practical, the designated production sources will be used in prototype manufacture.

Sometimes critical prototype timing and/or cost prevent the production process from being utilized. In these instances, parts can be produced in Powers and Sons’ in-house toolroom. Fully capable of making anything from plastic bearings to simulated forgings machined from a billet, our toolroom has proven time-and-again to be a critical prototype resource.

Powers and Sons has full testing capability for program load fatigue testing, ultimate tensile or buckling as well as wear and environmental testing of ball joints used in the linkage. Wear testing equipment at Powers and Sons has evolved to today’s servo-hydraulic key life test with contamination (mud and grit) cycling from –30 degrees C through +150 degrees C. Testing is conducted during Design Verification (DV) and Production Validation (PV) phases.

Advanced Quality Planning insures that customer satisfaction has been designed into the part and the manufacturing process. This makes the transition from prototype to production seamless. During production our commitment to customer satisfaction continues. Good enough is never good enough. We provide on-site support. We constantly monitor the process, looking for cost or quality improvements.

We at Powers and Sons consider steering linkages to be one of our best niche products. They require the proper balance of engineering capability and manufacturing imagination to allow us to offer the Best quality at the Least possible cost with Timely delivery and a commitment to total customer Satisfaction.