High Performance Carbide End Mills Offer Extended Tool Life

I once heard a colleague say, “Safety, ease of use, efficiency: pick two.” It can be difficult to strike a balance among these three productivity-affecting qualities. Anything done to improve one can potentially degrade the others. Efforts to improve efficiency, for example, might involve dangerous shortcuts or overly complicated tasks.

Companies seeking to improve their CNC machine utilization usually do so for several reasons.

For these reasons, always be on the lookout for ways to increase machine and personnel utilization. But of course, this must be done in a safe manner. Efficiency-related improvements must not violate safety priorities:

Mistakes are commonly the single-largest cause of unsafe conditions and are a symptom of undertrained operators. These mistakes come in many forms, from a misloaded workpiece or cutting tool to running the wrong program to making an incorrect sizing adjustment. The product of these mistakes is often a machine crash.

Machine crashes result in scrap workpieces, broken cutting tools, damaged machines and even injured operators. So, eliminating crash-causing mistakes will make for a safer working environment. And considering the amount of time required to get a machine up and running again after a crash, eliminating crash-causing mistakes might be the best way to improve CNC machine utilization.

There are two ways to reduce operator mistakes:

In either case, you will improve shop safety as operators grow in their competence and begin to eliminate mistakes.

Ideally, CNC machines should be attended 100% of the time, including during setups and production runs. Surface Milling Inserts However, machines often sit idle while waiting for someone to return and do something. While CNC operators may have appropriate reasons for leaving their machines from time to time, often the cause of non-attendance is related to preparation and organization. Here are a few suggestions:

From a safety standpoint, well-organized operators are safe operators. An organized work area will keep operators focused on the task at hand.

Operators should not have to overly exert themselves mentally or physically in order to accomplish their tasks. If someone is struggling or if they are taking a long time to complete a task, find a way to help them.

For example, say machine tool operators are taking excessive time during sizing adjustments and sometimes making mistakes when determining the deviation amount and polarity. TCGT Insert In this case, provide them with the high limit, low limit and target values for every surface being sized. Also, find a way to let them specify the surface type (external or internal), measured value and target value using a tablet or programmable calculator. Have the device respond with the deviation amount and polarity.

People who have the help and resources needed to complete their assigned tasks will be safer than people who must figure things out on their own. Additionally, they will do so in the manner and timeframe you intend.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/pro_cat/threading-inserts/index.html