Manufacturing Business Operation Management, Quality Control, ERP Tracking, Shop Organization, Actionable Steps to Success, Zero Point Fixturing, Probing Controls on Datron, Heidenhain, and Fanuc

Business of Machining

TOPICS:

• Shop Operations
• Shop Organization
• Quality Control & AQL (Acceptable Quantity Limit)
• ALEX ERP
• Rask Progress
• Zero-Point Fixturing
• Machine Probing (Eumachs, Fanuc Robodrill, DATRON Neo)

Refining Shop Operations & Organization No longer is the conversation about product and process respectively. The Johns are now at a point where both are inextricably linked. Saunders talks shop revamp, QC, SMW custom ERP (ALEX), and DOITS (Days Off In The Shop). It's not enough to just make parts. Having refined and dialed in processes that are simple and effective are key to long-term success.

Also, SCREW GOALS. Go for bite-size, actionable steps instead! Saunders outlines 3 phases full of small actionable tasks that will benefit the business and products. Both of these hosts have discussed lots of ideas and theories, but something's changed. The podcast may be all talk but outside of this hour confine, there's less talk, more doing.

Boiling Point

Both hosts find themselves boiling for different reasons. One has to do with QC and another has to do with A/C. Saunders provides the best analogy for part quality during production runs: the frog in boiling water. With a shout out to Jake Yates from Yates Precision, Saunders is now combining AQL (Acceptable Quantity Limit) and an acrylic stroke of genius from Alex (the person, not the ERP system). In these sweltering temperatures, Monday can't come soon enough for the GK team!

Deadlines Come and Go Grimsmo may not have made the July 1st deadline for having a completed Rask but the gains made weren't in vain. The deadline simulated an external driving force to keep him focused and driven. He delights in his newfound comfort with running the KERN. Not only are the pallet changers something that make him smile, he's also demanding that zero-point fixturing be used on EVERY machine.

Cut Bait? Eumachs sat in storage for 6 months and have been in the shop for another 6 months. Grimsmo knows it's time to get service techs to inspect and repair. If push comes to shove, he may end up having to cut his losses and move forward but he remains hopeful that these will soon be dedicated foam cutting machines.

NOTHING COMPARES TO U... This isn't about getting into someone's personal business....or is it? Eumachs lack of probing summons Saunders' experience with the Fanuc Robodrill, which has neither a spindle or tool probe (video coming soon). The workflow incorporates a Speroni Tool Presetter and Haimer, which works well but nothing---and I mean nothing compares to DATRON's VacuCard and camera-assisted probing. NOTHING.

The Future of Hand Coding Saunders and Grimsmo ponder about the future of manufacturing. With the advents between CAM and high speed machining, it's difficult to envision a world where hand coding remains ubiquitous.

Grimsmo Holmes GK is perusing and investigating processes to determine the lowest hanging, high yield fruit to increase production and he's sitting on a smoking gun solution that he can do immediately!