Author: Paul Van Metre
As Jim and Jason always say on the MakingChips Podcast, “If you’re not making chips, you’re not making money!” We all know it’s true. Yet precious few shops have formal systems for increasing uptime. The corollary is to reduce spindle down-time.
An important component to that is to reduce the downtime between jobs. When you finish the last part on the job, you’re just finishing and when you make your first good part and start running the next job on that same machine. That’s what I want to focus on today.
Steps to wrap up a job
There are a few barebones things that need to happen when you finish a job.
1. Remove the fixtures off the machine, or take out your softjaws, etc. However, if you have modular tooling, that will be used on the next job.
2. Take any cutting tools out of the machine that you won’t be using on the next job – don’t remove them from their holders unless you absolutely need to.
3. Clean off the bed or table.
4. Download your programs (and save them) or delete them off the machine.
5. Sign off that you’ve finished that operation on paper or in your ERP system. Ideally document your setup somewhere.
6. Wheel the cart or pallet to where it’s going next.
That process is generally fast. Use a horizontal to change out your fixturing while your other pallet is still running. Otherwise, you’ve designed universal tooling so changing over doesn’t require taking out your fixture, or only takes seconds. Many books have been written on SMED! Google it if you’re not familiar.
Steps to prepare a new job
Generally, the next step of the process is getting your next job set up on the machine. This is where most of the savings can be had and where many companies need a lot of help. Here is how it often looks:
1. The machinist finds out what’s next on the machine and get the paper job traveler.
2. They collect cutting tools and holders that match the general description (e.g. ½” EM – but may be incorrect).
3. They find undamaged fixtures and review incomplete set-up instructions while loading tools into the machine.
4. They mount fixtures or vices. and dial them in with pins or zero-point fixtures.
5. They upload the program into the machine controller, finding additional materials that were missed earlier.
6. They put some raw stock into the fixture or vise.
7. They turn the feed and rapids down and show “distance to go” on the controller.
8. They slowly step through the program without crashing until the entire part is machined
9. Use measuring instruments to check the resulting part against a paper drawing which may be dirty, ripped, old-rev, and check a bunch of dimensions to see if they think the part is good.
10. Once they have a part they think is good (which might take several tries), they submit the part to the QC department and wait (sometimes a long time).
11. Once they have received approval from QC, then they can start making parts. Thus, when the timer stops, the spindle is “Up” again.
As you can see, this is a lengthy, tedious process to make chips. It can go south quickly, and setups can take many hours or longer! So much lost opportunity for revenue and throughput! There must be a better way!
The better way to start making chips
ProShop ERP facilitates and guides shops to dramatically reduce downtime between jobs. We applied lean principles, concepts from franchise-type businesses, and decades of experience to develop best practices. This is the ProShop process – 100% paperless and web-based.
a. The cutting tool ID numbers are collected, loaded in the proper holders, and extension lengths defined by the programmer. Offline tool length presets and a G10 offset file are stored within ProShop, waiting to upload into the controller. This tool caddy is loaded on a cart.
b. Load well-maintained fixtures on a cart. (ProShop shows if it was overbooked).
c. Ancillary items like inspection equipment, packaging materials, deburring equipment, etc. are specified, collected, and loaded on a cart.
d. A proven G-code program which has been stored in a secure file location managed by ProShop
e. The proper material is pulled from a specific storage location defined in ProShop. Traceability is guaranteed to be right.
2. When the prior job finishes, ProShop creates a breakdown checklist to prepare the machine for the new job.
3. They start tracking their time on the new job with ProShop’s fast Time Tracking interface.
4. They load the fixtures, tools (and only the ones that need changing), raw material, tool offset files and G-code programs into the machine, following the digital work instructions with videos, photos, etc.
5. Run the proven code on the first piece.
6. Inspect the first part and record the results in ProShop’s FAI form. ProShop reports if the part is good or not (And it will format the FAI in the AS9102 if you need it to). If the part is good, then:
7. Check off the “Certified to Run” checkbox (which prompts you to update the setup and cycle times) and log out of “Set-up” and into “Running”.
An all-in-one solution makes chips better
You have good parts off the machine and the spindle is running again much faster than the first scenario. You’ve increased throughput and have higher revenue on your machine.
Highly choreographed setups are much faster and more efficient. Shift leads, or managers get automatic notifications if the setup exceeded its time budget, so they can provide support. Out-of-tolerance results prompt an NCR, alerting managers through our messaging system. Your employees are more supported and successful, increasing engagement and satisfaction.
Your legacy “one-size-fits-none” ERP system has none of the functionality required to walk employees through the process. But you’ve been given a set of tools with a bunch of the tools actually missing. It might be time to upgrade your toolbox. Let us know if you’d like to discuss upgrading your tools.