Multitasking Machines – Smarter Than You Think?

Most of us can’t imagine a day without our smart phones. But what about smart machines? Well, we use these every day too. Take for instance the all-in-one printer. For years every office had a separate fax, printer, copier and maybe a scanner. Now we have a single all-in-one device that does it all, making things simpler, faster and more efficient. Smart phones are another area of convergence. By combining the capabilities of a phone, pager, camera, voice recorder, and even a GPS, we have a more compact, more efficient, more capable device. Much better than when we wore all of those devices hanging from our belt, looking more like a SWAT team leader than business people.

The “smart” convergence has also happened with machine tools. In fact this has been around for more than 20 years! By combining 2 lathes, a machining center or two, and some automation, you have a multitasking machine tool. Just like our previous examples, this simplifies and improves the machining process, as well as adding smarter capabilities.

Raw Material In, Finished Part Out

With the traditional way of using multiple machines, when you move a part from machine to machine, it’s difficult for one machine to know what was going on in the prior process. So operators have to clock the part, and make sure it’s properly aligned. But this isn’t needed when you perform all your processes on one machine. With one machine you take the chances for operator error out of the process, and mishaps like scrapping a part due to misalignment are eliminated. With a multitasking machine, you simply put raw material in and take a finished part out. Very efficient.

Don’t Be a Slave to Fixturing

In the traditional process you have a CNC lathe for the first operation, to do your turning work. Then you move the part to a machining center, where, depending on the required features, you might perform 2-3 different operations. For all these various operations you need dedicated fixturing and tooling. This adds up to big dollar investments.

With a multitasking machine, all you need for fixturing is two sets of chuck jaws. Much of the fixturing that was previously required is now eliminated because the functionality is built into the machine. This is especially important nowadays, when product life cycles are much shorter than they used to be. It used to be that it wasn’t a big deal to invest in special fixturing for a part, because you’d be using it for years. But today, there aren’t many parts that go for years without significant change. When you have lots of money invested in fixturing, most people resist changing the design, because it’s very expensive to do so. And this could leave you in someone else’s dust. By using a multitasking machine and reducing the amount of fixturing you need, you gain the freedom and flexibility to evolve with product designs (and keep your customers happy) without the pain of throwing away fixturing investments.

Setup Reduced From 8 Hours to 15 Minutes

We had one customer in the aerospace industry that was making lot sizes of 1,000 to 5,000 parts. But gradually this changed over time and their lot sizes decreased to 20 to 50. With their old multiple machine process, they had 8 hours of setup time to make 20-50 parts! We encouraged them to consider a MULTUS, and with this machine their setup time is now 15 minutes. They can finish parts in less time than it took them to set up using their old process. This gave them a tremendous advantage.

Slash WIP, Streamline Hot Jobs

If you have 4-5 machines set up for a job, this creates WIP (Work In Process) between the machines. With a multitasking machine WIP is eliminated. Raw material in, finished part out. No more stacks of parts between each machine. With less WIP, money goes into your pocket instead of sitting on your floor.

The reduced setup time for multitasking machines also has implications for hot jobs that come in unexpectedly. If you have a lineup of 4-5 machines, it could take as much as a day or two to change over your setups. With a multitasking machine, your tools are in the machine ready to go, and all you have to do is change the program. And what about those orphan parts that had to be stopped mid-production and laid on the floor while you handle the rush job? I spent many years in production environments, and I remember times when orphan parts collected dust and dirt while sitting on the sidelines. So much so, we sometimes had to put them through the wash tank before resuming cutting. Time-consuming changeovers and interruptions for hot jobs can be very costly, and in most shops they’re a huge headache. But this can be greatly reduced with a multitasking machine.

Danger On the Old Cowpath

I see a lot of shops that stick with the same old way of doing things. They don’t adopt new technology simply because they don’t “have to.” But in a market where contracts and jobs can go away overnight, doing things “the way you’ve always been doing them” could put your business at risk. What if one of your competitors brings in a multitasking machine? There’s simply no way you can compete with that. The impact these machines can have on your processing efficiency, especially if you’re involved in small to mid-range lot sizes, can be huge. Okuma makes several different multitasking machines (and has been doing this for decades), including the new MULTUS U3000 and MULTUS U4000, which we’ll be showing at IMTS this year. Take a look at multitasking and keep an open mind. Be careful about staying on that old, worn down cowpath. It might seem like the path of least resistance, but if your competition takes a new shortcut, they might pass you by. Smart machines could be a very smart choice for your business.

Are you bringing in technology that keeps you ahead of your competition? If so, hats off to you – please comment below and share your experiences. If you want a little help, contact us, or your local distributor.

David Fischer is Lathe Product Specialist, Okuma America Corporation.