THIS PAPER ANSWERS MANY STRATEGIC QUESTIONS ABOUT A GOOD LOAD MONITORING SYSTEM. THE BASIC STRATEGIES THAT NEED TO BE DEMONSTRATED ARE: DETERMINING THE TOTAL LOAD AND ITS DISTRIBUTION ON AN UNDERDRIVE PRESS; DETECTING STRAIN MOST REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TOTAL FORCES IN THE DIE; DETECTING TOTAL LOAD ON A PRESS MEMBER WITH A LINEAR RELATIONSHIP OF FORMING FORCES REGARDLESS OF DIE SIZE OR DIE PLACEMENT; THE DESIRE FOR ACCURACY; AND THE DESIRE FOR REPEATABILITY.
