CNC CAN MAKE YOU A MULTI-TASKING ASSET TO YOUR COMPANY

Attention Operators: Today’s advanced CNC can look and feel the same way, whether on grinders, milling machines, lathes or another machine tool, and also on press brakes, lasers, welding systems and other fabrication equipment . . . get the picture? Here is a look at how it works and why.

Most CNC builders have an array of models for the various chipcutting and fabrication machines on the market. For many years, however, those “little black boxes” had radically different physical designs, key positions, key codes and screen options onboard. This variation caused two things to happen. First, a tremendous brand loyalty derived from the comfort zone on a control. “I don’t want to use any other CNC in our shop, because my guys are accustomed to . . .” (We heard that for years.)

Secondly, and more problematic, operators became married to a single machine and literally needed to relearn the control when called on to run another piece of equipment in the shop. Downtime, lost production, excess scrap and the attendant costs of these problems all occurred and, predictably, the bigger the shop, the worse the problem was.

Well, as odd as this may sound given the relatively short existence of CNC technology, the modern control used today isn’t your dad’s control anymore!

Imagine you are in a shop where every CNC on the floor looks the same, has the same panel layout, key positions, screen set-ups, option menus, troubleshooting assists and alarm signals. And further imagine that this was the case: whether the machines involved were used for grinding, milling or turning three-axis or five-axis parts, or were welding, bending and laser, EDM or waterjet cutting equipment. By learning the interfaces and specific commands for each machine, you could be up to speed and operating the control on any machine tool in the shop in minimal time.

Fantasy Island? Nope. This is the reality of CNC technology today.

A single operator can easily master the ability to multi-task in a small shop, run a work cell to perform identical or various functions on a part – including the robots and transfer lines – or do the program set-ups offline on a PC for various machines on the floor, all without ever interrupting the workflow.

And this “commonality of control” is most definitely not limited to the big automotive, aerospace and medical part manufacturing environments anymore, though those places were the origin of that concept. On the contrary, in this age of lean manufacturing any operator at any shop can become a more valuable asset by getting cross-trained on various machines.

From the management side this scenario has obvious cost and efficiency benefits, and these new CNC designs have added advantages in the retrofit arena. I’m old enough to remember when the digital read-out (DRO) was all the rage and we wanted every mill and lathe in the shop to have one. Nowadays, when your “old iron” can easily be made to run better than new by a retrofit with a modern CNC, motor and drive package, imagine having the old machine’s control look, feel and run in the same manner as the new machine’s . . . with less training, less downturn, less cost.

It’s simple, really. There are even shortcut keys, which for you old-timers does not refer exclusively to Swiss machining!  Operators and owners alike, whether in a tool and die, moldmaking, welding, stamping or any other shop, big or small, can benefit from this development in CNC technology.

It was once said that someone who was a jack-of-all-trades was the master of none. Today, however, the operator who knows how to run multiple machine tools is simply a jack being nimble and the master of all he or she surveys!

At the rate CNC technology is advancing, a few more developments may have occurred since I wrote this column! Ask your CNC and machine tool vendors for more information, or call me personally to hear more details.