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7/23/2019 Machine Tool Accessories Boost Productivity http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/machine-tool-accessories-boost-productivity 1/9 www.gosiger.com | (937) 228-5174 a white paper 12 Machine Tool  Accessories That Boost Productivity With 90 years of machine tool experience the Gosiger team has the experience to help you determine which accessories will optimize the performance of your CNC machine tools and provide the greatest ROI.

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Page 1: Machine Tool Accessories Boost Productivity

7/23/2019 Machine Tool Accessories Boost Productivity

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/machine-tool-accessories-boost-productivity 1/9

www.gosiger.com | (937) 228-5174

a white paper

12 Machine Tool Accessories ThatBoost Productivity With 90 years of machine tool experience the Gosiger team has the

experience to help you determine which accessories will optimize the

performance of your CNC machine tools and provide the greatest ROI.

Page 2: Machine Tool Accessories Boost Productivity

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www.gosiger.com | (937) 228-5174

 Manufacturers

invest in newmachine tools forthree main reasons.

 To make a current process better,

faster and/or more cost-effective.

 To add to their existing capacity.

 To expand their capabilities.

In each case the goal is to realize the best possible return

on investment. Which means choosing the machine tool that

will most efficiently and effectively perform the tasks at hand.

However even the best machine tools cannot operate at

peak performance unless they are fitted out with appropriate,

equally capable accessories. Unfortunately, because

shoppers are so focused on selecting the right machine tool,

these peripheral products are often overlooked or given little

consideration. This is a serious mistake because adding

the right accessories can often dramatically improve overall

productivity and reduce manufacturing costs.

In this paper we will discuss 12 accessories

proven to optimize machine tool performance

in various applications:

Robots & Automated

Pallet Systems

 Vacuum Unloaders

Bar Feeders

Machine Tool Probes

Shop Floor Inspection

Systems

 Tool Management Systems

Laser Marking Tools

High-Pressure

Coolant Systems

Chip Conveyors

Steady Rests

Custom Apps

Robots & Automated Pallet Systems

Many times manually loading, unloading or repositioning of

parts slows down the machining process and adds labor

costs. These functions are often mind-numbingly repetitious

for the machine operator who could be tending multiple

machines or performing more productive tasks. Robots are

particularly adept at these and many other activities.

 Among the many benefits are:

  • Improved machine tool utilization by eliminating

wait times, missed cycles, and enabling more

consistent throughput.

  • Reduced cost-per-part through unattended operation

and by eliminating labor-intensive activities such as

part loading and unloading, excessive part handling

and inspection.

  • Reduced overhead by increasing CNC machine

productivity and amortizing skilled labor over greaternumbers of parts. By increasing the productivity of direct

labor per man-hour and square foot of factory space,

you effectively reduce overhead costs.

  • Increased production flexibility by enabling machine tools

to produce diverse families of parts by using available

technologies and efficient programming techniques.

  • Increased income potential by producing more parts

in less time, thus freeing spindle time for additional,

incremental parts production.

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www.gosiger.com | (937) 228-5174

  • Enhanced part quality through consistent part handling

and eliminating human error.

  • Lowering overhead because robots don’t take vacations,

sick days or holidays, or require payroll taxes, insurance

and other benefits.resource.

 Automated Pallet Systems are another way to optimize

throughput by managing production schedules, level loading

machining centers and enabling one operator to manage an

entire production line.

 Pallet systems come in a variety of

congurations to accommodate any size

manufacturing process from a single cell

to an entire factory.

In many cases they can integrate a variety of machine

tool makes and models with robotics, inspection, material

management, warehouse functions and much more.

 Vacuum Unloaders

 Turning machines used in high production processes

may benefit by adding a vacuum unloader.

 This device automatically removes

parts from twin spindle or sub

spindle machines with thru-

hole. After the first end of a partis machined the part transfers

from the main spindle to the sub

spindle where the opposite end is

machined. Meanwhile, the first end of a new part is machined

in the main spindle. When the sub-spindle stops, the chuck

opens and the unloader moves into position and forms a

seal. It then uses vacuum pressure to pull the part out of the

sub spindle past a sensor that confirms the part is out of the

spindle so machining can resume as the part drops into the

unloader’s tray.

Bar Feeders

Loading 12’ or smaller bar stock into a turning machine is

more complicated than it appears. If the bar is not properly

supported it will lobe and create vibrations that are passed

on to the machine tool spindle. This vibration not only

makes it more difficult to hold dimensional and surface finish

tolerances, it can also cause excess wear on the turning

machine bearings, spindle and other components causing

premature failures. Manually loading bar stock is time-

consuming, labor intensive and causes machine downtime.

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Modern, automatic bar feeding equipment stabilizes bar

stock to reduce vibrations, can hold and continuously feed

enough bars to enable unattended and even lights out

production, and frees machine operators for more important

activities. Many bar feeders have automatic, self-adjusting

features that make changeovers quick and easy, often by

simply entering a few commands into the touch-screen

control. They also employ servomotors and synchronization

systems to prevent loading failures and machine crashes.

Some are even equipped with Internet connections that allow

them to communicate with the CNC machine’s program

schedule to optimize material usage and automatically

change parts programs on the fly.

 There are a wide variety of automatic, magazine bar feeders

available in both 12’ and short load models for fixed and

sliding headstock machines that cover an impressive range

of bar stock diameters and shapes.

Machine Tool Probes

 Years ago touch-trigger probes were strictly used for post-

process part inspection, as on a Coordinate Measuring

Machine (CMM). Today, they can be mounted on a CNC

machine’s spindle to make it quicker and easier to set up

parts, detect a problem with tooling including worn, broken

or missing tools, prevent machine tool damage and evenperform in-process gauging to maintain part quality. There

are also software programs available that can use the data

from these probes to automatically make tooling adjustments

or remotely alert operators of problems.

Shop Floor Inspection Systems

While in-process gauging has become more commonplace,

many applications still require post-process inspection to

certify part tolerances and comply with customer demands.

Inspection devices range from digital calipers, height stands

and other manual gauges to sophisticated scanning CMMs,

dedicated dimensional measurement machines, surface

texture instruments and much more. To operate successfully

on the shop floor, these tools must be designed to resist

environmental forces including temperature, humidity and

airborne contaminants. Otherwise they must be used in a

more controlled area such as a clean room.

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Tool Management Systems

Controlling perishable tool inventories is an ongoing

issue for many CNC machine shops. It’s important to

track tool usage to maintain an adequate stock of tools

and avoid overstocking that can impact cash flow.

Moreover an easily accessible tool crib may lead to

hoarding by machine operators who want to keep theirown stash in their work area.

One solution is a tool vending machine

that maintains inventory control records

to identify usage by employee.

 These systems can be coupled with tool drawer monitoring

systems that use weight sensors or RFID technology to

monitor tool inventory. The software that these systems use

may also enable automatic tool ordering and flag changes in

tool usage that could indicate machining problems.

Laser Marking Tools

 There is an increasing need for traceability of manufactured

parts due to recalls, identifying the causes of product failures,

and thwarting counterfeiting. Most medical, automotive and

aerospace parts have long required indelible markings to

insure traceability, and many other industries are adopting the

practice to help protect themselves from liability issues and to

hold contract suppliers accountable for meeting their quality

standards. Additionally, counterfeit parts from overseas and

within the U.S. are now a billion-dollar plus business.

One solution is laser marking

that uses laser beams to mark

a wide range of materials without

making contact with the part,

which makes it an ideal choice

for identifying all shapes and

sizes, and for placing markings

on hard to reach surfaces.

 There are three types of laser marking methods for metal

parts. The most familiar form is engraving, in which the laser

beam cuts into the material’s surface to create a marking.

If desired, the manufacturer can also introduce colored

oxides into the engraving to make the mark more noticeable.

 Another process, called ablation, is often used to laser mark

anodized aluminum or other coated metals by removing

layers of colored coatings to reveal the base material.

 The third method, typically applied to ferrous metals and

titanium, uses the laser to heat the area to be marked, which

produces layers of oxide on the part’s surface, thus creating

a contrasting color to the base metal.

High-Pressure Coolant Systems

 Various types of coolants have long been used in CNC

machining to reduce the amount of heat and friction at the

cutting point to allow the machine tool to operate at higher

speeds and to reduce tool wear. However if the pressure

and fluid direction isn’t precise, the coolant simply washes

over the tool, tool holder and work-piece.

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While this cools the surfaces somewhat, it fails to remove the

intense heat within the cutting area, itself. This is especially

important when working with difficult-to-machine materials

such as titanium and exotic alloys that typically generate

more heat during machining.

Manufacturers spend millions of dollars on liquid coolants

each year. In many cases the benefit of this coolant could begreatly enhanced – in some applications by 100% or more –

by using a focused, high-pressure coolant delivery system.

Here’s why: Directing the coolant stream more accurately

and with the optimum amount of pressure removes much

more heat from the cutting zone. This degree of cooling also

enables the cutting tool to remove greater amounts of metal,

thus improving machine tool cycle times.

 Additionally, the high-pressure coolant stream helps break

up troublesome chips including stringy chips or bird’s nests,

and more efficiently removes them from the cutting area.

 This means the cutting tool spends less time re-cutting

metal chips. The combination of reduced heat and more

efficient evacuation of chips prolongs tool life and makes

cutting tool replacement more predictable because they

wear naturally, rather than failing prematurely due to

excessive heat or chip damage. The new generation of

programmable, high-pressure coolant systems provides

variable pressures throughout the machining process so

 just the right amount of coolant pressure is applied precisely

when and where needed.

Chip Conveyors

Removing chips from a machine tool seems like a no-brainer.

In many cases coolant flushes away the chips or the actions

of the machine tool pushes them along to the chip conveyor.

However if the chip conveyor is not properly matched to your

applications, you may experience backups, bottlenecks or

breakdowns, all of which require additional labor and can

bring your manufacturing process to a standstill.

 That’s why it’s important to have

the right chip removal system

for the specific kinds of

machining you perform.

For example, multi-function

CNC machines that combine

milling, drilling, turning and

grinding create a variety of

chip types, each with their own shape, weight and size

characteristics. Turning may produce stringy chips, while

milling creates a combination of large to very tiny chips,

depending on the operation.

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If the part undergoes both turning and milling, the

combination can cause problems for conventional hinge belt

conveyors. The tiny chips tend to remain suspended in the

quickly flowing coolant and end up washing into the coolant

sump, which can cause extra maintenance and possible

damage. In this case the answer may be to install a filtering

chip conveyor that removes the larger chips via a hinge belt,

but uses self-cleaning filters to remove the tiny chips from

the coolant, then returns the fluid to the sump. This not only

means the chips are efficiently removed, it also prolongs the

life of the coolant.

Steady Rests

 As part of a work holding system, a steady rest is typically

used when the inherent strength of a work piece isn’t

sufficient to resist the force of the cutting tool, or to support

the end of a work piece without engaging a tailstock.

The benefits of steady rests include:

  • Increased part stability

  • Faster feed rates and spindle speeds while

maintaining close tolerances

  • Extended tool life

  • Improved part finishes

Depending on the application, steady rests can be controlled

manually or automatically controlled by the CNC machine

PLC. In many cases the steady-rest based automatic

workholding system is custom designed for your specific

application, with appropriate brackets, automatic oiling

systems and interfaces.

Custom APPs

 Anyone with a smart phone or tablet knows “there’s an

 APP for that.” What you may not know is that there are also

 APPs that can help improve manufacturing productivity.

While there are a number of general purpose APPs available

for everything from reading CAD files on mobile devices to

scanning barcodes, users of Okuma CNC machines can usethe THiNC Applications Program Interface to create custom

 APPS to monitor machine activities or to automate a wide

variety of machining functions.

Gosiger’s Aftermarket Support Department is an industry-

leading developer of these Windows®-based Apps. You’ll

find several examples in the free white paper “Mobile APPS

for CNC Machining” available to download at gosiger.com.

Health & Safety Products

Keeping your employees healthy and safe is not only the

right thing to do, it also makes excellent business sense.

Last year US employees in private industry missed more

than 900,000 workdays, with Forbes magazine reporting

that, in 2013, such absences cost American manufacturers

over $2.8 billion.

One step toward keeping the workplace safe is to make sure

workers don’t circumvent the many safety interlocks and

other devices built into CNC machine tools.

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 Another way to keep employees safe and healthy is by

adding such equipment as:

  • Vacuum parts washers clean baskets of parts in a sealed

chamber using hydrocarbons or modified alcohol-based

solvents that are internally recycled through a distillation

process, so the environment is protected, workers are

not exposed to volatile chemicals and users save moneyby recapturing and reusing the cleaning solutions.

  • Oil mist collectors, some with HEPA filters, capture

harmful airborne contaminants to improve air quality,

provide a safer workplace and meet OSHA and NIOSH

standards. Because they return clean air to the factory

rather than exhausting it outside, they also reduce the

energy required to heat or cool the facility.

  • Tramp oil removal systems cleanse cutting fluids

of the residue that can breed harmful bacteria and

cause respiratory problems and skin damage. These

devices remove tramp oil droplets as small as 20

microns from machine coolant, returning fluid that is

99% free of contaminated oil to the machine sump. As

a result, workers are healthier and more productive,

and the filtered tramp oil can be disposed of in an

environmentally safe manner.

With 90 years of machine tool experience the Gosiger team

has the experience to help you determine which accessories

will optimize the performance of your CNC machine tools and

provide the greatest ROI.

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