Geez - what a nightmare.... Several possible causes relates to metallurgy, tooling, processes and/or machinery.
I've been working in machine shops since 1977, after my 1st year of tech school. Started sweeping floors and cutting stock, had my own shop (still part time, thanks to this f!@@$$!!! ECONOMY..) so I've seen a lot of issues.
My guess is that Ruger is going through the process pains that others described earlier. When you spend beaucoup $$$$ on CNC equipment, rigging, installation, and the tooling(costs a freakin' fortune!)the bean counters justify the payoff over a certain period of time. The Return On Investment is based on the manufacturer of the machine's 'claimed' cycle and operational speed. And we ALL know that salesmen NEVER stretch the truth.... right?
Then we can get into management trying to save $$$ by importing alloy steels from overseas that are definitely NOT as consistent or pure as that put out by reputable American makers. Hard and/or soft spots in the material can be a nightmare as far as consistent accuracy goes. Varying results from heat treatment processes due to poor quality material are a very real possibility here.
I see it all the time - a programmer writes a program based on the manufacturer's recommendations, for both the machine and tooling. THe progress in both areas over the last 10-15 yrs has been phenominal, but the basic rules of machining still apply! College educated bean counters, not to mention engineers, and 'freshly minted managers' have no clue why things aren't working right, but they want it fixed, and fixed NOW!
And the lack of honesty in admitting a problem has as much to do with the general lack of morals these days as the overabundance of lawyers, of which Ruger seems to have more than their share....
That's the part that bothers me more than anything. This whole problem should have been fixed in-house well before the guns were ever available for sale!
The bottom line is that when production numbers don't meet projections, managers scream. Programmers then try to push the envelope harder and faster, resulting in more scrapped parts, and a big problem for QC departments. Not to mention the poor schmuck running the machine who actually is trying to make the processes work! :evil:
Compound these issues with all the Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Six Sigma, ISO, QS, AS, etc. constraints, it's almost a freakin' miracle that anything gets out at all, sometimes! Thanks
ALOT Toyota!
Ruger and their subcontractor's are going to have to learn that you can only push a manufacturing preocess so fast. Take the manufacturer's recommendations, knock off 30-40%, and start there.
It's just like working up a new load for your favorite gun. You don't start at maximum, you work up to it, find out what's safe and accurate, then go from there.
Obviously, most college educated bean counters and management trainees aren't reloaders..... :shock:
Hopefully Ruger's upper management will start reading some of these forums, and come to the realization that honesty is the best policy, and admit the snafu they're trying to ignore. Everybody makes mistakes, just got to be a man about it, if you want your company to survive. Especially these days.
It takes money to make money, and some corners can't be cut. Those have to be learned thru experience.
And Ruger's learning that the hard way.....