It is hard to imagine the scope and

It is hard to imagine the scope and cost of these facilities without visiting an automobile factory, standing next to the gigantic machines, feeling the floor vibrate, and watching heavy duty robotic manipulators move the parts from one machine to another. Certainly, a videotape or television special cannot convey the scale of today's automobile stamping lines. Another factor that one sees standing next to such lines is the number of different sheet-forming operations that automobile panels go through. Blanks are created by simple shearing, but from then on a wide variety of bending, drawing, stretching, cropping , and trimming takes place, each requiring a special, custom-made die.