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05 Jul20170

3D Printers – Are they a viable option in manufacturing yet?

adminCNC Automation Manufacturing, Manufacturing Process3-D printer, 3-D printers, 3-D printing, 3D printers, 3D printing, automation manufacturing, cnc automation

While developments in 3D printing (also called additive manufacturing) become increasingly sophisticated, debate continues as to whether the technology will truly be viable for manufacturing– and when and at what cost. Skeptics point to 3D printer limitations– primarily its price tag and concerns about the quality of assembled items, since the technology has been used mostly for small parts and prototypes. It may not be a practical option for most businesses at present. But with improvements constantly in the works, it’s likely just a matter of time before this versatile capability transforms the manufacturing industry.

Endless Possibilities

The technology is already showing promise in construction and spare parts production. China and Dubai boast printed concrete houses and an office, respectively. This rapidly-evolving innovation has the capacity to build parts more efficiently than current methods do, as businesses would be able to either print items on-site or contract with a nearby third-party to do it, saving time and shipping costs.

Industry leaders anticipate that 3D printer sales will grow considerably over the next five years, revolutionizing every industry impacted by it, creating a host of benefits and possibilities.

Added Value

While the cost of a 3D printer currently totals $1 million or more, rapid growth in the industry is expected to lower the cost, making it a viable option for increasing numbers of businesses.

Lower costs and faster production times could eventually make a 3D printer more cost-effective than traditional manufacturing methods. Even when companies have to spend more up-front to utilize the technology, that investment will quickly pay for itself, especially as manufacturers can shift production from a made-to-stock basis to a made-on-demand basis.

Additionally, 3D printing reduces the cost of raw materials. For example, traditional production of parts made of various metals requires that these materials be melted down. After a part is created, scrap materials must be reclaimed, often at considerable cost. Additive manufacturing is precise enough to use minimum amounts of raw material, leading to lowered costs and less waste.

Because it requires minimal set-up time, 3D printing expedites production. As the technology becomes more widely available, it may replace the traditional assembly line. With 3D printing, parts can be produced without halting operations between phases of production for reprogramming devices or swapping out tools and materials. Manufacturers will be able to fill orders more quickly. Furthermore, they’ll have the choice of either lowering prices to challenge their competitors, or charging the same amount while reaping a larger profit.

As the 3D printing industry grows, new competitors are expected to arrive on the scene, introducing more creative applications for the technology. Additive manufacturing is currently out-of-reach for most businesses, and its widespread uses are still highly theoretical. At one time, the same could be said for computers, yet today they’re commonplace and have proven indispensable in every sector of business and society. Additive manufacturing is likely to follow a similar course, but at a much faster pace.

Call Tag Team Manufacturing today. 303-841-5697

04 May20170

New Manufacturing Technology Means Greater Value for Customers

adminCNC Automation Manufacturingautomation manufacturing, cnc automation, cnc automation manufacturing, cnc manufacturing, high speed machining, lean manufacturing, manufacturing technology, mfg tech, tag team manufacturing

The Factory of the Future, as it has come to be called, is all about lean manufacturing. One of the most important components of lean manufacturing is incorporating the latest and best manufacturing technology, including machining tools and robotic manufacturing.

At the moment, probably in part because they’re leery of another economic downturn, U.S. manufacturers have been slow to embrace many of the improvements now available. This is a mistake because these advances—and many more that are just down the road—make for faster, more durable, more precise and far more productive tools. At Tag Team Manufacturing, we believe these factors together translate into greater customer satisfaction.

Taking Advantage of Today’s New Tools

Incorporating faster, longer-lasting tools doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive. So the cost of doing business doesn’t have to go up. In fact, the new technology can increase both productivity and quality, giving customers more for their money.

How does this work? The new technology can be implemented easily and inexpensively. Programming manufacturing machinery is simplified, resulting in:

• Reduced production times and greater production accuracy

• Reduced cross-training of operators and programmers

• Greater flexibility in operations, so one piece of equipment can perform a variety of functions

All these advantages reduce our costs and, consequently, costs to our customers without in any way compromising quality. This combination of lower cost and higher quality results in greater value.

The technological advances affect just about every aspect of the manufacturing process. They improve every step, from product design through production and even packaging. Each component of the process, including human and machine, is able to communicate more quickly and more accurately, creating an integration that greatly increases coordination and efficiency.

We at Tag Team Manufacturing look every day for ways to improve our lean manufacturing processes and so move closer to the Factory of the Future. We can see ahead to innovations that are on the horizon. What does the future look like?

The Tools of Tomorrow

What’s ahead in manufacturing technology tools looks great for both manufacturers like us and our customers. Our challenge is to meet the demand for value from our customers. This challenge will be met with:

• Machining that delivers ever more precisely and efficiently made products
• Software capable of increasingly sophisticated operations
• Shorter production time

So we’re looking at software and hardware on the road to greater and greater value. The progression includes further development of things like:

Source ( characters / words)

NTN Technical Review No. 74 (2006) http://advancedmanufacturing.org/advances-cnc-technology http://www.manufacturing.net/article/2012/02/10-trends-manufacturing-technologies http://www.industryweek.com/manufacturing-day/fast-forward-factory-future?page=1

There were no Copyscape matches found.

• Multifunctional machining tools that increase accuracy and reduce machining time while, at the same time, being able to produce products with more complicated shapes

• Control hardware and software that costs less but offers “intelligent” functions that turn information into more efficient and precise production

Not all advances in manufacturing technology apply to the work Tag Team Manufacturing does. But we’re keeping our eye on every improvement to make sure we deliver the best value to our customers.

13 Apr20170

Superior Customer Service in the Manufacturing Industry can be the Difference in Winning Work

adminCNC Automation Manufacturingcnc automation, cnc automation manufacturing, cnc manufacturing, colorado machine shops, customer service in manufacturing, denver cnc manufacturing, denver manufacturing, machine shops colorado, manufacturing shop

Manufacturers may work with machines, but they are working for people, and people like knowing that they are working with someone who demonstrates a genuine concern for their best interests. In many cases, this quality is more apt to win over a potential client than anything else a manufacturing shop has to offer.

Clients Remember Superior Customer Service

Superior Customer service is a good way to win over new clients, but it’s an excellent way to win repeat work from existing clients. As a general rule, clients tend to remember instances of excellent customer service for a long time, and they will reward it with loyalty and repeat work. In contrast, clients remember instances of poor customer service as well and are very unlikely to offer repeat work to a manufacturing company that demonstrates poor customer service even if they were happy with the products they received.

Customer Service is Critical to Word-of-Mouth Advertising

Good or bad, people tend to talk about their experiences with a company’s customer service, often much more so than they tend to talk about any other aspect of their experience with a particular company. With this being the case, great customer service can lead to valuable word-of-mouth marketing while poor customer service can be a serious blow to a company’s reputation. In a digital world where people are constantly connected and able to communicate to larger audiences than at any other point in history, word-of-mouth marketing ad reputation management are more important than ever before, and customer service is key to maintaining these things.

Putting Superior Customer Service to Work for You

There are a lot of aspects that go into making a manufacturing company successful, but customer service is certainly one of them. At our Denver manufacturing shop, we recognize the undeniable value of superior customer service and always strive to provide an experience that leaves our clients completely satisfied and eager to work with us again. In addition to promptly addressing any questions or comments a client may have, we believe that superior customer service entails protecting all of a client’s proprietary documents and intellectual property with the best possible security, making ourselves available at all times, and always striving to deliver high quality parts on time and at the lowest cost in the industry.

If you would like Tag Team Manufacturing to put these qualities to work for your business, let us know how our manufacturing shop can help you today by contacting us at 303-841-5697.

30 Mar20170

Making Every Component Once and Making It Correctly

adminCNC Automation Manufacturingautomation manufacturing, cnc automation, cnc machining, cnc manufacturing, denver manufacturing, machine shops colorado, machine shops denver, make it once make it right, manufacturing automation, robotic automation manufacturing

Your clients require, indeed demand, quality and minute accuracy in the parts you provide for them, as well as timely delivery. And you try to do your best to provide that for them, because the future of your business depends on it.

That’s why you have to have suppliers that can deliver every time, the first time. And that’s what Tag Team Manufacturing can do for you.

The Cutting Edge Of CNC Manufacturing

When you need quality machining, Tag Team Manufacturing is your go to source. We are devotees of the cutting edge of manufacturing automation technology. It’s what we do. We utilize current technology, including robotics, to produce the perfect OEM part, with continuing and consistent quality. We represent the future of CNC manufacturing.

The secret to our success is our highly qualified team of professional machinists, quality inspectors, and finishers. We only hire the best, people who not only understand the intricacies of CNC manufacturing automation and business processes, but who also understand the technology behind it all that makes it work. That’s a hard order to fill, but we’ve put together a team that is second to none in the industry. They combine their knowledge and expertise together into a highly coordinated whole to provide you with the high quality OEM parts you need to keep your business running at the peak of success, and your customers happy.

Superior Quality Management

Tag Team Manufacturing utilizes a sophisticated and highly effective Quality Management System that is fully compliant with the guidelines of ISO 9001, ensuring that our products meet all customer requirements consistently. We do this using a variety of advanced software and manufacturing automation.

Our E2 software system comprehensively tracks every phase of the manufacturing process, and clients can log into the system to check the status of their order at anytime.

The automated coordinate measuring machine (CMM) constantly checks to make sure parts have been manufactured with the required tolerances, and a report showing key measurements can be generated for the client and submitted upon delivery if desired.

These, in conjunction with the MasterCam CAD/CAM CNC programming software, and the SmartScope Flash 200 automatic measuring system, ensure the highest quality parts achievable by current technology, with much less scrap and at a lower per-piece cost.

Excellent Customer Service Is A High Priority At Tag Team Manufacturing

Customer service is more than just manufacturing the highest quality parts at the lowest cost, delivering them on schedule, and being available to consult and answer questions at any time. It also means protecting a client’s documents, digital files, parts, and all intellectual property with the highest level of security 24/7, both inside and outside the facility, and providing near flawless document control. We go to great lengths to provide the best customer service we possibly can, because we care about our clients, and our reputation within the industry.

We believe Tag Team Manufacturing is your best choice for CNC manufacturing. Let us show you what we can do for your business. Call us at 303-841-5697 or contact us online for more information.

01 Mar20170

Lean Manufacturing at Tag Team

adminCNC Automation Manufacturing, Manufacturing Processcnc automation, cnc automation manufacturing, cnc machining, cnc manufacturing, cnc production, denver manufacturing, lean machining, lean machining denver, lean manufacturing

At Tag Team, we believe that “lean” as a concept is more than just a way to streamline and simplify the manufacturing process. It’s a way to shine a powerful light on the areas of manufacturing that add value in a way that lets you support them and strengthen them. It’s a methodology that lets you get the right products into the right places at the right time. Most importantly, it’s a way to guarantee the type of competitive advantage necessary to be able to constantly grow and evolve within the ever-changing demands of the market as a whole.

What is Lean Manufacturing?

At its core, lean manufacturing is a concept built on the idea that if you take steps to identify and eliminate waste and overburden within a system, you immediately identify the core pillars that are truly adding value to your organization. It’s a philosophy that was spearheaded by Toyota during the 1990s and is also directly responsible for that company transitioning from a small, niche company to the largest automaker on planet Earth.

Lean focuses on eliminating three core types of waste from within the manufacturing process:

Muda. As a term meaning “futility” in its original Japanese, these are all the steps within your process that may get you the results you want, but in the least efficient way possible.
Muri. This is the type of waste generated by overburden. These are decisions that may have seemed great when you made them but that, over time, prevent you and your team from working “smarter, not harder.”
Mura. This refers to the waste in your process created by uneven workloads.

By overhauling a manufacturing process with an eye towards these three simple ideas, you don’t just improve the quality of the work you’re doing – you improve costs, delivery times, stability and absolutely everything in between.

The Lean Manufacturing Approach

At Tag Team, lean is the very foundation on which our entire manufacturing process has been built. We use one of the best manufacturing software systems available in the world today – E2 – to track everything from machine and employee efficiencies to material and labor costs. We automate wherever possible, allowing us to not only use technology to do things we couldn’t have dreamed of even 10 years ago but to free up the valuable time of our employees so that they can focus on the things that matter the most.

At the end of the day, lean manufacturing doesn’t just allow us to support our own growth and profitability. It lets us support yours, too.

Tag Team has over 30 years of experience serving customers just like you by way of a highly trained, passionate staff with a commitment to quality that is second to none. If you’d like to find out more information about how lean manufacturing can benefit your organization, or if you’d like to sit down and speak to someone about your situation in a little more detail, please don’t delay – contact Tag Team today.

22 Feb20170

What Is High-Speed Machining?

adminCNC Automation Manufacturingcnc automation, cnc automation manufacturing, cnc machining, cnc manufacturing, high speed machining, tag team manufacturing

When referring to CNC machine tools, the term high speed machining (HSM) usually means making products or prototypes rapidly by using milling machines at higher spindle rates with lighter, shallower cuts to achieve greater metal removal rates and lower operating costs.

How Did HSM Develop?

HSM grew out of CNC techniques developed in aerospace manufacturing at companies such as McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Originally, one of the reasons for using HSM was to machine at specific speeds that would avoid what’s known as “chatter” (machine vibration that can become noisy and/or violent) by taking advantage of milling at natural frequencies. By keeping high speeds stable, parts could be more milled more accurately and have less “ribs,” resulting in a lower weight. Lighter parts meant less heavy, more efficient aircraft. The goal for McDonnell Douglas became reducing the weight of many of its sheet metal parts and combining pieces together for even more efficiency. Eventually, so dramatic was the success of HSM that a jet that formerly was built with 14,000 parts now required only half that number. This greatly reduced costs and allowed speedier production of finished airplanes. As such, HSM became an assembly solution for McDonnell Douglas and eventually other aircraft manufacturers.

What Makes HSM Effective?

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, the way high speed machining works is that a higher machine “spindle rate” (measured in rotations per minute of the tool) combined with lighter cutting will actually remove more material faster than slower spindle rates and heavier cutting. Lighter cutting also means more efficiency from a power perspective — some CNC machines may be rated at a high horsepower but can become overloaded if their cuts are too deep.

With HSM, cutting temperatures are actually reduced; surface finish is also improved, and the machines’ spindle and cutter acquire less wear-and-tear over time. This is especially true with harder materials. Cutting becomes more consistent and more reproducible. Often, HSM combines the roughing and finishing passes that are normally separate at lower speeds. This means that throughput generally increases when HSM is applied to process workflows.

What Are the Benefits of HSM?

In mold making, HSM allows for intricate cavity and core geometries and can enable the quick machining of large, complex components out of solid blocks of material. Material walls can be made very thin, and edges can be very sharp. Accuracy and precision are improved, and time spent polishing surfaces can be reduced. Automation can be improved because errors and interruptions are fewer. Molds and dies have more durability because fatigue cracks are lessened, hence there’s less risk of breakage. Assembly of finished products often can go faster. In general, customers are very satisfied with the output of pieces produced with high speed machining.

How Has HSM Helped Tag Team Manufacturing?

At Tag Team Manufacturing, high speed machining has allowed us to boost our capacity and handle more orders in a shorter timeframe. This, combined with our sophisticated MasterCam CAD/CAM programming system, makes us the leading provider of machined components in the Denver, Colorado region.

Source:

https://www.makino.com/about/news/Ramping-Up-To-High-Speed-Machining/204/

http://www.mmsonline.com/zones/hsm

13 Jan20170

The Role Of CNC Automation In Modern Manufacturing

adminCNC Automation Manufacturingautomation manufacturing, cnc automation, cnc automation manufacturing, cnc machine shops, cnc manufacturing, modern manufacturing, robotic automation manufacturing, robotics manufacturing

No business can survive without adopting the most advanced technologies, and in manufacturing, there are few devices more important than CNC machines. CNC, or Computer Numerical Control, manufacturing involves operating lathes, mills, drills, and other devices from a single computer. Manufacturers program the computer with precise instructions for the products they want to make; the machines can then manufacture those products without any additional input. CNC devices dramatically improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and have thus become a mainstay of modern manufacturing.

The CNC revolution is only beginning, and with each year manufacturers develop new, more effective ways to use this technology.

Advantages Of CNC Automation

CNC automation has a wide range of benefits for the manufacturing process, including:

• Consistency

• Volume

• Intricacy

• Efficiency

• Safety

• Speed

• Simplicity

Compared to these advantages, the only significant disadvantage of CNC automation is the high up-front cost. By improving efficiency, reducing waste, and preventing mistakes, CNC machines quickly make up for their initial prices, providing long-term savings for manufacturers in a wide range of industries.

What Comes Next? The Future Of CNC Automation

The CNC revolution is only beginning, and with each year manufacturers develop new, more effective ways to use this technology. At present, experts are focused on ways to integrate CNC machines with with the robots used to move and pack finished goods. Doing so will streamline the manufacturing process, reducing waste and increasing simplicity. A single control panel may one day be enough to direct an entire manufacturing operation.

Another key development is the advent of the CNC 3D printer, which has made this type of manufacturing available to smaller businesses and even individuals. As these devices fall in price and grow in complexity, CNC manufacturing will become increasingly personalized and decentralized.

To learn more about modern manufacturing, robotics, and other hallmarks of manufacturing automation, contact Tag Team Manufacturing today.

Tag : cnc automation