The process of making shaped metal forms from sheet metal—known as sheet metal forming—is seeing some new technologies and engineering innovations push it toward the next level. This article examines recent developments in this area and what they could mean for the industry as a whole.
The relentless development in sheet metal forming has resulted in the use of high-strength materials. We no longer just use common metals, like steel and aluminum; we’re also using advanced alloys and composites—like titanium and carbon composites—to form high-strength, lightweight parts. By and large, these materials are much stronger and more ductile than anything sheet metal forming was originally developed to produce. Not only that, but automotive and aerospace industries are using them to push the limits of sheet metal forming technology to produce parts that are high-performance, fatigue-resistant, and much more resistant to corrosion than anything we used to make.
Our second great step forward in sheet metal formation is integrating additive manufacturing. When you take 3D printing technologies and marry them with the sheet metal forming processes, you can achieve geometries and complexities that sheet metal, in and of itself, could not achieve previously.

Now, there are lots of ways to put parts together, and assembly accounts for a significant portion of what we call construction. But when you look at the combination of additive manufacturing and not-as-we-know-it assembly, you enter a universe with no parts because the whole thing is a part, and it could all be created from the same sheet of metal.
3. Simulating and virtually prototyping: The limits of sheet metal forming have been pushed by not only CAD but also simulation algorithms. Almost the entire manufacturing process can now be simulated. Variables can be tweaked and "what if?" scenarios can be played out to optimize not just the designs of the tools used but also the process itself. Predicting defects—things like wrinkling, slumping, or dimensional errors—and ensuring product quality can now be done better, faster, and cheaper, since the virtual prototyping of the past 15 years has made using physical prototypes almost an old-fashioned way of doing business.
4. Intelligent Tooling: Conventional tooling in sheet metal formation has become far more intelligent and adaptive. It now contains sensors and even actuators that allow for real-time monitoring of essential process variables such as temperature, force, and vibration. This yields the necessary 'smart' data to make really rather fine adjustments in real time to the forming process. But it can also be used to identify potential problems with tool paths or setups before they turn into actual problems, which is at least as vital for productivity and efficiency as any direct improvement to part quality.
Robotics and automation: Several industries have been impacted by automation, and sheet metal forming is one of them. Today's robots handle high-tech tasks and do them well. They are used extensively in the automotive industry. While it is predicted that a huge number of robots will be used in the automotive industry in manufacturing cells, they can also be used in other industries for material handling. Robots promise to perform the tasks that need to be performed with speed and safety. They can also assemble parts, perform inspections, and if given smart vision, can perform these tasks properly.
The process of forming sheet metal is ancient. Nonetheless, it is an area that continues to see much innovation. Most of the modern machinery and structures we interact with contain components made by sheet metal forming. Of course, metal components only suffice when they have sufficient strength. Yet, in the case of many formed components, this is a problem area. When it comes to the formation of sheet metal, there is the potential to innovate—notably, in the absence of a sustainable business model. The presence of a business model dilemma may have something to do with the emergence of four powerful innovation levers: the use of simulations, intelligent tools, and robots and the additive manufacturing process. These factors appear increasingly to be driving sheet metal forming toward a sustainable future.