Introduction
Quality, cost, and throughput are associated with specific measurements and linked to process variables. Crimp
height, pull test values, leads per hour, and crimp symmetry are some of the measures used to monitor production
termination processes.
Many variables affect the process such as wire and terminal quality, machine repeatability, setup parameters, and
operator skill.
Crimp tooling is a significant contributor to the overall crimp termination process. The condition of crimp tooling is
constantly monitored in production by various means. These means are often indirect measures. Crimp Quality
Monitors and crimp cross sections are methodologies that infer the condition of the crimp tooling. Visual inspec-
tion of the crimp tooling can be used
to check for gross failures such as tool breakage or tooling deformation which occurred as a result of a machine
crash. Continuous monitoring of production will help determine when
the process needs to be adjusted and the replacement of crimp tooling can be one of the adjustments that is
made.
Crimp tooling can a have positive effect on the quality, cost, and throughput of the termination process. High qual-
ity crimp tooling can produce high quality crimps with less in-process variation over a greater number of termina-
tions.
It is difficult to distinguish critical tooling attributes with visual inspection only. Some attributes cannot be in-
spected even by running crimp samples. This paper will present the reader with information that identifies key
crimp tooling attributes and the effect of those attributes on the crimping process.
Key Crimp Tooling Characteristics
There are four major categories of key characteristics for crimp tooling. These are:
• Geometry and associated tolerances
• Materials
• Surface condition
• Surface treatment
Each of these categories contributes to the overall performance of the production termination process.
Crimp Tooling —
Where Form Meets Function
Quality, cost, and throughput are key attributes for any production process. The
crimp termination process is no exception. Many variables contribute to the results.
Crimp tooling, defined here as crimpers and anvils, is one of those variables.
This paper will focus on defining key characteristics of crimp tooling and the effects
those characteristics may have on the production process.
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