Tag : machine shop efficiency

machine shop

5 Ways Your Machine Shop is Inefficient

In order to succeed, a machine shop needs to have an edge over its competitors. Looking for inefficiencies is a great way to start, and fixing those inefficiencies can give your machine shop the edge it needs.

Early Tool Decay or Tool Failure

It’s not common for your tools to fail or break often. Finding the right tool is important, but it’s also important to prolong the life of your tools. Some machinists think that using the tools too aggressively causes them to wear out faster, but if you aren’t pushing the tool to the full potential it can cause it to decay faster in some situations. There are different types of tool failure, which can include abrasive wear, chipping, or tool fracture. Understanding your tools can help you make sure that you are minimizing downtime, as well as saving money on any replacement costs.

By being able to identify different types of tool wear, you can be ready to fix any issues quickly and help extend the life of your tools. Abrasive wear will dull the cutting edge of the tool by mechanical abrasion from the piece. If you notice this type of wear, reduce the cutting speed or use coolant. Using high efficiency milling toolpaths can also help reduce wear. Chipping can be seen by a nick on the cutting tool, or seen on the finish of the part. Excessive loads can cause chipping. Reducing feed rates can help. Thermal cracking can be seen by cracks in the tool perpendicular to the cutting edge. This is caused by extreme temperatures and can be solved by adding a proper coating to give the tool heat resistance. When a tool fractures it causes complete loss of the tool, and this can be because of a wrong coating or the wrong speeds and feeds. Make sure to adjust speeds and feeds and optimize the right coolant use, in order to avoid any hot spots that can cause fracture.

Subpar Part Finish

With a subpar part finish you are not providing your customers with the highest quality product, and it will affect your buyer seller relationships. It also will not allow you to increase prices or attract potential customers in the future. Many factors can affect part finish, which include the material, hardness, speeds and feeds your shop is running, and tool deflection. You are employing machinists and should have the highest quality tools so make sure you are getting your money’s worth of both, and your products should have a good finish.

Inefficient Coolant Usage

Coolant can be expensive and is often an expense that many machine shops forget about. Too much coolant is often applied when it’s not needed, costing a machine shop more money. Some machines have a minimum quality lubricant function that applies coolant as an aerosol, so it’s provided just enough coolant to operate efficiently while saving the amount of coolant that can be used. Sometimes it is needed to drown a piece in coolant, but oftentimes it is not and you can get away with using less coolant to save money.

Coolant can be delivered in different forms, and if you choose the wrong pressure it can lead to tool damage, which you need to avoid. When applied as air, it does not cool as efficiently as oil or water based coolants, but it is good for sensitive materials. When coolant is applied directly to plastic it can cause rapid expansion or contraction. Use mist when heat is not a major concern. When applied as a mist, both the part and the tool don’t go through more stresses. When the coolant is applied as a flood, it can be a low-pressure method that helps flush chips from the part in order to avoid chip recutting and protect your tool from damage. High-pressure application can be similar to flood coolant, but can sometimes be enough to break diameter tooling so it must be applied carefully. This method is often applied into grooves that are already built into the tool. Look at the application of coolants as well as the coolants that you are using. You may be able to use less high-performance lubricant instead of a lot of lower performance options. Coolant can also be re-used to save money. We have a great system at Tag Team Manufacturing that allows us to re-use the coolant saving time and money in our machine shop.

Not utilizing tool versatility

Many CMC cutting tools will perform multiple operations. Depending on the job, you may be able to get away with a tool you already have instead of having to go out and purchase additional tooling.

There are a number of multi-function tools you should consider having in your shop. Not only can drill mills be used for drilling and milling, but they can also be used for grooving, spotting and chamfering. This means they provide five different uses. Undercutting end mills can also be used for some slotting and contouring operations, and depending on the situation, such as clearance challenges, this can actually be the first choice. Double angle shank cutters can be referred to as the “Swiss army knife of machine,” so you know they are a versatile tool. They have six different functions that include thread milling, chamfering, back chamfering, machine v-grooves, deburring, and countersinking. Flat bottom tools, including drills and counterbores, are best used for holemaking, but they can be used for a number of different functions. These functions include thin plate drilling, cross hole drilling, angled drilling, half hole drilling, removing drill points, and straightening misaligned holes. Adjustable chamfer cutters can do more than just chamfering and can be used for beveling, deburring, and spotting.

High Machine Downtime

If your machines aren’t running, then you aren’t getting the most of them. The key to helping your machine shop reach maximum efficiency is minimizing machine downtime. You can do this in a variety of ways, such as keeping like parts together. All you would have to do is swap in and out material and the machine can use the same cutting tool. This allows you to spend less time swapping out tooling and spend more time letting the machine do its job. This requires planning to help make the machine shop more efficient.

What Should You Do?

Implementing a proactive maintenance strategy instead of a reactive maintenance strategy can help you avoid some of these issues and gain a competitive advantage. Maintaining equipment so you have less failure and less machine downtime will make sure you aren’t scrambling to figure things out. Make sure you have a system set in place for inventory management, so you are managing costs as well as handling and storage. This is especially important for lubricants that are expensive and can take up a good amount of storage.

Industry concept: Lean Manufacturing on computer keyboard background

5 Lean Manufacturing Principles Every Machinist Should Know

Lean Manufacturing principles are the way to improve manufacturing processes and can be applied to any production process. Every machinist should know these lean manufacturing principles in order to increase efficiency and help reduce costs. With the right lean manufacturing principles, US manufacturing can compete on an international level. There are five principles to incorporate: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection.

Value

The value should be established early on in the CNC manufacturing process. In determining the value, machinists should look at the needs of the customer for the product. Other things to consider are the timeline, price point and if the customer’s expectations are going to be met.

Value Stream

After value has been determined, there needs to be an established process that takes the materials to the final product, known as value stream. Value stream is mapping out the steps it takes to complete the whole process. Every step needs be identified no matter what department it is in, whether it’s design, production administration, delivery or customer service. Once every step is determined, it’s necessary to go through the steps in order to find ones that don’t create any value and are wasteful. This process can be referred to as re-engineering, and helps better understand the whole organization. It’s important to identify inefficient inventory control, defects or bottlenecks in the process in order to make the system more lean.

In this step, determining everything of nonvalue is very important. It’s necessary to learn the difference between value and waste, and vendors may need to be consolidated. Purchasing supplies and components from one source may eliminate waste, since communicating with multiple people can use up time and money.

Flow

Once the waste has been eliminated from the process through value stream, the next step is to determine the flow of the remaining steps to continue to eliminate any interruptions, bottlenecks or delays. The steps need to flow smoothly. Sometimes it’s needed to look at all departments so they become cross-functional. This can lead to increases in productivity and efficiency, sometimes showing more than 50% improvement.

Pull

The idea of pull is to have the product ready for the consumer at any time, because the steps to make the product have become efficient and that product can be pulled when needed. This saves money for the manufacturing process because products don’t have to be stockpiled and there isn’t inventory just sitting there where people have to manage it.

Perfection

Lean is not just a one-time thing and, in order to achieve perfection and perfect value, the first four principles need to be looked at often and incorporated into the company culture. All employees should be involved in the process. Even though many of the processes are within manufacturing, other departments can still be involved. It may be necessary to repeat value steam and flow to create maximum efficiency.

When implemented correctly, lean principles will help improve efficiency and provide other values, such as increased workplace safety. Lean principles not only can be applied to manufacturing, but also different departments. By thinking outside the box, lean can be used to reduce fatigue in the manufacturing process, which can reduce injury potential. Not only does the company benefit from lean principles, but customers benefit as well.

Metal Wheel Concept

Improving CNC Machine Shop Efficiency and Productivity

As manufacturing continues to evolve, CNC machinists find themselves in stressful situations since the skills gap is diminishing with time. It has become very difficult to find experienced CNC manufacturing machinists in this industry. The level of competition is up which requires high CNC automation of machine tools to provide stiff competition to other CNC machine providers.

The high demand for quality parts means that mechanical engineering and milling processes must put more emphasis on increased productivity and manufacturing. Today, modern valuable CNC machining tools have made it possible for most shops to modernize their operations. To remain competitive, CNC machinists must find viable ways of increasing their output and maintain reliable, quality and exceptional customer care services.

Time is an important aspect in CNC manufacturing and each machine shop owner wish to make their shops more productive and efficient. Here are three main tips for improving your CNC machine shop efficiency and productivity.

Prolonging the Life of the Tool

Consider having a high-pressure coolant system or increase the concentration of the existing one. It is advisable to examine your tool holder and the inserts from time to time to enhance its lifespan. This simple process helps you to prevent any disastrous failures. You should also record the number of materials that are being removed. Mechanical engineering schools put a lot of emphasis on avoiding extreme contact time with the new materials.

During this process, it’s advisable to go for harder insert grades of your choice which will service you for long. To maintain your tool holder for a long time, some specific coatings like aluminum oxide will help you to reduce the cycle while increasing the lifespan of your tool, feed rates and cutting speeds. Alternatively, you may consider investing in a cryogenic machine.

Improve the Organization

Lack of proper organization may lead to loss of money and significant manpower. There is need to maintain a properly arranged workplace for your business especially if it’s a machine tool. You have to organize things and put them in place when you are done with your work.

You should make sure you invest in quality shadow boards, and tool draws such as those used at US manufacturing schools. You should also improve the labeling system of your arrangements to prevent confusions. Cleanliness of your equipment and shop floor should be maintained since it’s beneficial to your health and business.

Equipment Management System

It is profitable to keep your tool cost as low as possible and invest in US manufacturing tool management system while setting your time down. A good and reliable tool management system will help you to manage and track your inventory. This will enable you to reduce the cost of overstocking or understocking of the tool supply.

The manufacturing in USA enables you to find useful software that will help you control performance, tool usage and procurement in your CNC machine shop. The software also provides crucial purchase notifications to help you avoid costly downtimes. You need to understand that your production quantity isn’t the only factor that drives business growth. You need to thoroughly evaluate the kind of services you are providing to your clients and streamline your overall business processes.

CNC Automation Trends

Machining Technology Trends 2018

2018 is already off to an exciting start when it comes to CNC manufacturing and CNC automation. The US economy is improving, jobs and growth are projecting higher for US manufacturing for the coming years, and new technologies are emerging in CNC automation. Here’s a look at some of the top machining technology trends for the coming year (and beyond).

1. Demand for Machine-Tooled Products Is Increasing
Consumer confidence is on the rise and the US economy is ramping up after a slowdown of many years. This means the demand for machine-tooled products will be on the rise as well. New changes to US tax laws and trade policies are increasing the demand for domestic manufacturing. This will also make it easier for new CNC manufacturing startups to get off the ground, because they can be more competitive with established overseas machining operations.

2. CNC Growth Projections Are High
CNC manufacturing is projected to grow in demand across nearly every sector this year. Take a look at the estimated 2018 growth in CNC industries from an analysis by Gardner Business International:

Medical Devices & Instruments: 5.1 percent increase
Surgical Instruments: 3.1 percent increase
Automotive Manufacturing: 2 percent increase
Aerospace Parts & Engines: 3 percent increase

3. Demand for CNC Manufacturing Jobs Projecting Upward
This is actually a “good news and bad news” trend for the moment, with the bad news coming first. The CNC manufacturing sector overall was not ready for the increased demand for precision machined products. In the short term, the skilled labor gap is going to get worse than it already is. Mechanical engineering schools don’t have a lot of new slots opening up, while the industry needs skilled and trained workers for CNC automation and machining. Bottom line: There aren’t enough workers to keep up with demand in the short term. However, that is good news in the long run. The job outlook for the CNC Manufacturing sector looks better and better through 2018 and beyond.

4. More Touchscreen Controls
Companies that make precision CNC machining equipment are rapidly implementing more touchscreen controls. The controls make it easier and faster to pre-program machinery and tools for 3D cutting tasks. Program navigation, editing, creation and verification are all made easier by implement touchscreen controls with manual keypads. CAD/CAM programming and USB communication with interfaces allow even more options, versatility and ease-of-use on the machining shop floor. The implementation of touchscreen controls has added more speed to the CNC machining process, which is great when manufacturers want to quickly push more product out the door.

5. Robotics & Regulations
As the CNC manufacturing sector continues to expand, human engineers are increasingly working in proximity to robots. State and federal government will eventually step in with new regulations related to functional safety. While it hasn’t happened yet (beyond regulations that are already in place under OSHA), the industry is holding its breath for when that day comes. When it does happen, it will likely have a ripple across the domestic CNC manufacturing industry which will increase product costs for consumers.