PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO AUTOMATION

One of the major, ongoing trends reshaping manufacturing is automation. No longer is it something used solely in automotive applications in which large batches of the same part are produced over and over.

Instead, varying degrees of automation are now feasible and practical in machine shop applications in which small volumes of a variety of parts are produced. It is up to individual shops to decide how automation could be effectively applied to their unique situations. For instance, some shops are looking for ways to expand their capacities without larger buildings and more staff – the latter of which has become an increasingly large issue given today’s challenges of hiring and retaining skilled workers.

Learn how one shop, Precision Tool Technologies, found extra capacity by freeing time. This shop decided to take the work that accounts for the majority of its business and run it unattended at night. This has freed it to take on new work during manned, daytime hours. The benefit of this strategy is that it is enabling the shop to slowly build a more diversified work mix – something that comes in hand during uncertain economic times.

As this article and accompanying video describe, in lights-out machining, part loading is not the problem. This can be done easily using a bar feeder. What happens to the part after the machining is done can affect the capacity of the unattended process or the quality of the pieces. Read how Precision Tool Technologies handles automated unloading and watch a quick video of the shop’s solution.