Today’s machinery shops confront the considerable challenge of meeting the ever-changing requirements in the industry, making it difficult to attract enough customers. That’s on top of the need to offer top-notch service and maximize the shop’s assets. A cost-efficient solution to such matters is automation.
While automation is becoming more common in machinery shops due to increased competitiveness in the field, handling more complicated pieces and providing shorter delivery times can still be tricky to accomplish. That being said, the logistics and price of automation in smaller businesses may be somewhat prohibitive. Here’s how you can automate your machine shop using the appropriate technologies and procedures to increase productivity regardless of the size of your business:
1. Evaluate Your Machine Shop
Automation is a method to improve efficiency. When automating your machine shop, you’ll need procedures in handling all the downstream operations in advance. An excellent starting point is to evaluate the entire process of your machine shop. This includes your expectations in using the piece of new technology you’re going for
Most businesses see automation as a way of resolving a problem with current production. A company should explore many questions before the automation process begins, such as the following:
- What are your short-term and long-term goals for your machine shop?
- How do you see your machine shop 5-10 years from now?
- Why do you want to automate your process?
- What’s the current strategy in your machine shop?
These are essential questions that may ensure that you have a proper framework in place to help you achieve your long-term objectives. All machining variables must be examined and kept under control. Automation won’t be effective without monitoring such factors.
2. Identify The Types Of Machine Automation Systems You Need
When you automate your business, you have a central database that all workers may access. This reduces duplication of information, enables workers to decide based on facts, and simplifies processes for information. Security levels may be adjusted as necessary in many parts of the program. Ensure that you know what kind of system you should choose before looking at particular enterprise resource planning solutions. The two main types of production software are item-based and job-based.
For item-based, an example is material requirements planning or MRP. This is a computerized inventory management system intended to increase corporate efficiency. Companies utilize material requirements planning strategies to predict and arrange their supply of raw materials. They were created to help companies in planning, controlling their inventories, and organizing their logistics. When done correctly, MRP guarantees that producers have the appropriate amount of material at the right time to manufacture goods.
With job-based software, manufacturers intend to produce components according to client requirements, such as most screw machine companies dealing with low profile work holding supplies. These programs focus on actual labor, material, and external expenses. They’re usually for shops dealing with numerous changes as they’re capable of tracking inventories.
3. Start SmallÂ
The key to automation is to start small. Machine shops may start modestly with automation, for example, by using quick-change work-holding components. From there, they may come across the use of a robotic loader and pallet pool, at which point they may move on to the offline setup. Offline programming is when the robot is installed after the physical installation is complete. The trick is to build things up gradually.
Numerous manufacturing lines use human labor to execute operations on workpieces delivered through a conveyor belt. Improved conveyor speed should result in faster workpiece feeding and increased production.
However, that isn’t always the case. While employees are physically capable of keeping up with quicker conveyance, issues may arise. For instance, increased conveyor speed may decrease productivity if workpieces hit end stops at higher speeds and get displaced or even tumble to the floor.
That sort of issue can be addressed by robotic technology. Linear robots can replace traditional conveyors and are simpler to set up without any mechanical end stops with digitally specified start and eliminate positions.
Acceleration and deceleration occur smoothly across predefined distances, which enable rapid transit rates. These modules may be operated on the same manufacturing line independently to replace a single fixed-speed conveyor. This provides the flexibility to optimize transportation speeds across various zones to meet each operation’s needs and balance the workflow.
4. Recognize Repetitive TasksÂ
Any business, irrespective of industry, will have several procedures that can be entirely or partly automated using machine learning software. A simple approach to automate small machine shops is identifying repetitive tasks currently performed by your employees. Determine which activities tend to take the most time and can be quickly managed through an automated procedure.
Suppose a company identifies a process in its workflow that might be improved. Whether it’s repetitive, prone to human error, or has a high cost, it should be considered for automation. This stage involves an in-depth understanding of business operations.
However, machine learning isn’t suitable for every aspect of a business. Its most significant benefit is that it allows for the automation of high-volume and repetitive activities with complicated rules and vast quantities of data involved.
5. Automate The Quoting ProcessÂ
All business owners understand the concept of cost. It has to do with the process of analyzing each necessary component’s characteristic, determining how to manufacture it, adding up the time and materials, and applying a markup to estimate the part’s worth.
Pricing varies significantly. It’s the skill of appreciating your worth from the customer’s perspective, which is often not about obtaining the lowest price. Perhaps lead time or assured delivery are essential considerations. Maybe clients want feedback on the part’s manufacturability to cut costs. Because these and other variables vary, it pays to be vigilant and flexible when pricing your bids.
Automation of the quoting process may save you time and increase accuracy. The technology you use would be able to determine prices using information such as hourly rates, markups, and inventory expenses.
Create your quotation by inputting the quantities, production processes with typical setup and run times, material needs with estimated prices or inventory requirements; outside processing, and tool requirements into the software program. You should look into the history of a particular part to produce a new quotation for a single or similar part for a repeat quotation. A part number or part description may be used to obtain an estimate.
Automating your quotation is like throwing a deep ball for a touchdown: it returns quickly. How effective your quote is and how thoroughly you monitor the quantity of business you bring in every year directly impact your business. Geometry-driven quoting technology can automate a large part of the complicated estimation process and prioritize the entire value proposition of a machine shop.
6. Automate The Scheduling System
A bit of preparation goes a long way, particularly in terms of stock. It’s crucial to know the total time needed and the working hours required to accomplish a certain task. Check every hour since any chance of minimizing lost time speeds up the process flow and lowers personnel expenses.
Proper planning also helps keep your delivery correct and timely. Also, avoiding inaccuracies both in your project schedules and reporting reduces the working hours spent dealing with those mistakes.
For many shops, a graphical scheduling board is a common choice. Part of the system is a graphical scheduling table that enables you to see the associated material and external services while manipulating schedules, making what-if scenarios, and changing tasks on the fly.
Most systems provide exception reports in which tasks have been pushed out so you may determine what to do with jobs that aren’t done on schedule. However, computerized scheduling systems may assist you in matching the store’s timetable with delivery dates to help you ship on time.
7. Have The Right Tools On Hand
With the right tools and fixtures available in addition to materials, a machine may operate efficiently without human involvement. No business wants to start loading pallets and discover that their equipment doesn’t have the proper fittings to load all the necessary components.
The ability to identify whether the component is appropriately placed and to check that it’s properly loaded prevents the misloading of parts. The system can pick up the mistake in advance and keep the automation system operating.
Shops will require more tools with lengthy and unsupervised runs, so it may be essential to invest in a more significant tool changer for the machine. Exploring the redundancy control tool choices of the device is also a smart habit. In addition, it’s essential to look at how broken tools can be identified.
Lastly, it may be worth investigating or considering installing an automated tool changer (ATC), which may include additional instruments for the possibility of future expansion. It gives the operator peace of mind knowing that there are sufficient safeguards in place if necessary.
Conclusion
Staying competitive in the modern-day digitalization of end-to-end manufacturing processes is necessary for successful automation. Although a change in your machine shop through automation is beneficial when a process is enhanced, ensure that all machine tasks or shop projects are straightforward. Streamlining may mean the difference between your team accepting and fighting a change in the process. See to it that your team would support your vision to automate your process for the sake of increasing productivity and return on investment.