CNC Scrap Tracking and Metrics: Tools for Continuous Improvement in CNC Operations
From Scrap to Missed Profitability All CNC shops today can relate to the desire to continuously improve their processes and metrics, specifically when it comes to decreasing costs and increasing their rate of production on their shop floor. However, even with rising innovation in CNC systems, shops still regularly encounter setbacks due to scrap and rework. For manufacturers aiming to elevate their operations, optimizing scrap and rework metrics is paramount. Scrap can occur at any point throughout the machining process for a large variety of reasons making it difficult to anticipate. However, by observing why and when scrap occurs and
CNC Machine Data Collection and Analytics: Turning Numbers Into Insights
CNC Machine Productivity: Optimizing Manufacturing Operations Through Data In the world of CNC machine shops, the primary goal is always efficiency. Every machine shop and shop floor today is faced with the task of attempting to figure out how to increase efficiency and profitability in their day-to-day operations. But without the necessary tools to gather, store, and interpret machine tool data most shops have to rely on paper records or manual entry into their ERP as their source for machine data. This lack of insight results in shops missing out on full machine optimization, machine downtime tracking, and even further
How Is Your Shop Tracking Unattended Machining Time?
Unlocking Maximum Efficiency With the increasing demand for high-quality precision machining, more and more CNC machine shops are excited to use unattended machine running to meet these demands. Unattended machine running allows shops to keep the machining process and machine jobs running with minimal intervention from the operator. Meaning that shops dedicate more machine hours to production and can also reduce labor costs. While there are several benefits to automatization of machine running, it can be optimized even further with accurate tracking of unattended time — especially for shops utilizing vertical or horizontal machining centers and implementing lights out manufacturing
Why Your Factory Machines Shouldn’t Be On Your Main Network
Great - A Lecture On Security -_- Dealing with network security is about as fun as going to the dentist. It is this balancing act of opening things up enough to be productive while minimizing the potential for catastrophe. As somebody who started their career in IT, I can appreciate how stressful and thankless maintaining that balance can be. "What do you mean I can't install an application myself?", "what is this dual-factor garbage?", "I can do whatever I want to my home PC, and I never got hacked." But when things hit the fan, IT are the ones frantically
How To REALLY Be Measuring Manufacturing Efficiency In A Machine Shop
There is a myriad of ways to measure your manufacturing process efficiency, ranging from simplified utilization percentage measurements to calculating production efficiency with complex OEE calculations involving numerous loss factors. But what almost all existing methods of measuring efficiency miss, and what all machine shops suffer from to varying degrees, is the disconnect between spindle time and charged time, or the amount of time that an employee allocates to a job either through time cards or an ERP system. Let’s start with some basics on efficiency measurement before touching on how we can get the real picture of manufacturing productivity
