Weekly Update 4/12/2007

April 12, 2007

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Reducing Setup Time

Shop Sets Up For Speed Long setup times can kill your productivity. A shop that deals with more than 200 machine setups a week, manages to continually improve its overall job turnarounds, and talks about the ways it does it. How Fast Is Fast Enough? Shops can reach a point of diminishing returns when trying to squeeze the last second or nickel from an operation, and reducing setup times is no exception. Find out how to avoid going past the point at which more time is wasted than saved by comparing your setup times to those of a few top shops. Switching Vises Shortens Cycle Times Improving an existing machining center's productivity can involve nothing more than changing vises. One shop switched to a high-density manual-model vise that holds four parts and reduced its cycle times per part 25 percent. Workcells And White Boards A machine shop in Michigan runs as many as eight jobs each day through its workcells. Reducing setup times is crucial to keep the work flowing. To accomplish this and to increase work flow, the shop keeps machine changeovers to a minimum and incorporates a special way of tracking jobs. Software Products Integrate Faster programming means shorter setup times. See how two software packages integrate to make this possible for your Tornos Swiss-style turning machine.

Featured Advertiser

JobBOSS

Exact JobBOSS is an effective and affordable software system for job shops / custom manufacturers. It provides them with the flexibility they need to respond to the day-in and day-out changes to schedule dates, quantities and part specifications. And the visibility and control they need to compete and win! Learn more about JobBOSS with one click. Or call 1-800-777-4334 to talk with one of our job shop experts.

Upcoming Webcast Series

The CNC Best Kept Secrets Series of educational webcasts from GE Fanuc and American Machinist is designed to educate manufacturers on the often overlooked ways to prevent downtime, enhance the speed of machine tools, and improve part quality.

• Best Kept Secrets of Minimizing Machine Downtime -- April 11, 2007 2:00 PM ET
• Best Kept Secrets to Reduce Cycle Time -- June 13, 2007 2:00 PM ET
• Best Kept Secrets to Improving Part Quality -- September 12, 2007 2:00 PM ET

Click here for more information.

Featured Advertiser

Makino

Makino— a leading manufacturer of horizontal and vertical machining centers and EDM machines — has announced a new series of online Webinars. Designed for shops of all types and sizes, the seminars are free to anyone who registers. The planned seminars are intended for shops in the automotive, aerospace, medical product and die and mold industries. In addition to metal cutting and die/mold, the seminars will cover new technologies, such as micromachining. Mark Rentschler, marketing manager, says, "Online seminars allow anyone with an Internet connection to attend without losing a day of work." The seminars concentrate on shop efficiency, lean manufacturing, asset utilization, machine tool integration and automation, machine tool technologies, and metal cutting processes. Makino's application engineers, product managers and guest speakers will give presentations. Click here for more info on upcoming seminars and registration information.

Practical Machinist Metalworking Forum

Machinists and motorcycles "My boss has a bike, another machinist in the shop has 4... what's up with it?" History of machine tool colors "I was pondering this trying to figure out why there are so many machine tools in the used market with blue porch paint slathered on them." Using scissor lift on lawn "Pneumatic tires, so it's fine on hard dirt like on a new construction site, but is it ok on a grassy lawn?"

Welding Webcast Series

Four hot topics you need to hear about.

• Safety: Hexavalent Chromium - April 18, 2007 @ 2:00 PM ET
• Automation: Man vs Machine - May 16, 2007 @ 2:00 PM ET
• ERP for Gases: On the Edge of Enough - July 18, 2007 @ 2:00 PM ET
• Best Practices in Electrode Selection: Maximum Profit Starts With the Process - September 25, 2007 @ 2:00 PM ET

Click here to attend these free Webcasts.