machine tool accessories boost productivity
TRANSCRIPT
7/23/2019 Machine Tool Accessories Boost Productivity
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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.
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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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• 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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