Have you ever spent sleepless nights wondering, “How are we going to get more product out the door?” or “Why can’t we find enough good people to keep our spindles running?”
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While investing in automation may seem like the obvious solution for increasing throughput with fewer people, consider starting with quick-change tooling systems. These systems keep your spindles running and producing more parts without having to hire staff.
Quick-change systems have dramatically improved manufacturing across the board, from traditional lathes and machining centers to multi-task machines and automated setups.
At Triumph, we aspire to bring meaningful advancements in technology to our customers. That means not only highlighting the benefits but also helping with a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis and ultimately calculating savings upon implementation. Our goal is to ensure that you are increasing your uptime and maximizing chip- and profit-making!
In this blog post, we dive into a few key strategies that can really move the dial on reducing downtime.
In terms of toolholding systems that utilize quick-change technology, Coromant Capto® (Capto) from Sandvik Coromant is your best choice and industry leader!
Capto provides the repeatability and rigidity you can trust to save time on tool changes. Plus, its robust design can potentially extend the life of your tools with your existing consumables.
It’s also a game changer for companies struggling with skilled labour shortages. Capto is very easy to set up, even with limited technical know-how.
More benefits of the Coromant Capto include:
Solidfix quick-change from Benz Tooling allows for quick and accurate changes between different types of holders.
Live tools are not cheap, but they are extremely valuable! Incorporating quick-change on your driven tool or angle head also gives you versatility to use other types of tooling without having to buy a second live tool.
Further benefits to the Solidfix include:
Sticking to traditional systems instead of switching to quick-change options like Sandvik’s Coromant Capto and Benz Tooling’s Solidfix can add up to significant lost profits annually.
For demonstrative purposes, let’s consider that each machine in a shop has 10 hours of downtime per month due to manual changes. That same shop could reduce that to, say, two hours with Capto.
With a machine rate of $100/hour, the annual savings could equate to roughly $10K per year per machine in uptime!
When it comes to working with quick-change systems, our valued supplier partners – including Schunk, 5th Axis, Jergens, and Raptor – all provide solutions to help your shop become as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
Quick-change systems aren’t just for taking your fixtures in and out of the machine but also streamlining the process of changing parts on your fixture or vise. Focusing on quick-changing your fixtures or vises from your machine, we wanted to share a few points to consider.
Quick change fixtures, at the minimum, need three points for positioning to ensure accuracy:
Note: depending on the size of the quick-change fixture, additional pins may be needed for clamping only, which increases rigidity in the setup.
Schunk offers an innovative quick-change workholding component known as the Vero-S quick-change pallet system. Specifically, the Vero-S NSE3 and the NSE have capabilities that allow them to be utilized in high machining parameters due to their high pull-down forces, and they also reduce setup costs significantly. This feature contributes to the main goal of increasing your uptime without suffering lower accuracy along the way!
Benefits of Schunk’s Vero-S and their NSE3 version specifically include:
Countless variants of the workpiece clamping.
5th Axis provides workholding solutions through their RockLock quick-change system. This is a versatile base that is designed to securely hold a variety of different vises, fixtures, and tooling. With efficient changeover capabilities that maintain repeatability (repeated tolerance of less than 0. inches) when switching operations between machines, this system will ensure that you stay efficient and keep the spindles running without sacrificing accuracy after setup.
The number one goal is to keep your spindles running and the chip-making process going without sacrificing accuracy or efficiency. When you invest in quick-change systems, it opens the door to other options, such as presetting, to further streamline the time it takes to set up a tool. Presetting eliminates the risk of downtime, inefficiency, and errors caused by reliance on less experienced staff or manual data transfer to the machine.
There are many ways we can help you minimize unnecessary downtime. One of our Technical Sales Reps can visit you to discuss options based on your requirements and budget.
As we move further along Industry 4.0, automated systems and operations that require the fewest operator touchpoints possible will become increasingly vital. Triumph Tool along with our Supplier Partners are here to assist you in this journey!
References:
If you want to learn more, please visit our website NEXTAS.
Coromant Capto®
BENZ Solidfix®
SCHUNK Workpiece Clamping
Our components allow you to fixture workpieces of almost any size, shape or material onto your measuring bed. Our wide range of metrology fixtures for CMMs and Equator gauging, includes a choice of standard size base plates and an extensive selection of components with M4, M6, M8 or 1/4-20 threaded fittings.
Whether you are inspecting workpieces for aerospace, automotive, electronics, industrial or medical applications, Renishaw can provide a complete fixturing solution for any workpiece regardless of its size, shape or material.
To minimise unproductive set-up time, whilst maintaining fixturing flexibility, workpieces can be fixtured on a base plate away from the CMM, vision machine or Equator gauging system. The fixtured workpiece can be loaded onto the inspection device with ease, immediately prior to measurement.
Filling the measurement area of a CMM with multiple fixtured parts is another way to minimise set-up time. Multiple workpieces on the CMM bed can be measured in one batch, without the need to start and stop the measurement cycle to load more fixtured workpieces.
A large range of components
Our modular CMM fixtures can be used to secure parts of almost any size, shape or material. Base plates and components are available as standard in M4, M6, M8 metric and 1/4-20 imperial thread sizes.
With a range of fixturing solutions available in our Online store, your fixture collection can be expanded when your requirements change.
Reproducible set-ups
Identical fixturing set-ups are important to ensure the repeatability of inspection by removing variation from the process. Set-ups can be accurately documented and reproduced using our alpha-numerically labelled base plates and labelled fixturing components.
Fast assembly
Fixturing solutions can be assembled very quickly to increase throughput and avoid delays in inspection. All components are hand-tightened and require no special tools.
Unrivalled wear resistance
Our heat treated steel components and hard coated base plates, provide a smooth and scratch resistant finish.
Remember our modular and custom fixturing can improve the throughput, reproducibility and accuracy of your inspection process with quick and repeatable fixturing set-ups. Renishaw fixtures can provide a complete solution to your fixturing requirements.
Maximise working volume
Our specially designed fixture plates cover the CMM bed and bolt straight onto it for more stable and accurate measurements. Allowing you to fixture large components that might utilise the entire working envelope of the machine.
Hard coat black anodized
Our cast aluminium base plates are hard coat anodized in black to resist wear and scratching.
Secure parts of any size, shape, or material
Our modular CMM fixtures can secure parts of almost any size, shape, or material, and can be expanded as your requirements change.
Reduce set-up time
Need a system to easily swap out smaller fixtures? The QuickLoad™ rail can be located and secured to the left, right, or centre of the CMM granite, or to an existing modular base plate, allowing you to fill the CMM bed with fixtured workpieces, reducing set-up time and increasing CMM productivity.
Design and document configurations
Our 3D-modelling software, FixtureBuilder, can be used to design and document QuickLoad rail configurations and modular fixturing set-ups, making configurations easy to reproduce.
Improve reproducibility and accuracy
By using Renishaw fixtures on the base plates of the AGILITY CMM, you can improve the reproducibility and accuracy of your inspection process.
Renishaw QuickLoad rail system increases CMM inspection throughput, reduces set-up time and improves repeatability. Our modular and custom fixturing can improve the throughput, reproducibility and accuracy of your inspection process with quick and repeatable fixturing set-ups.
The QuickLoad rail system makes loading and unloading fixtured workpieces onto your CMM quick and easy. Multiple plates can be loaded to either side of the QuickLoad rail, allowing you to make use of all of the space on your CMM bed.
Load parts quickly
Use QuickLoad rail to reduce the time spent securing fixtured workpieces to the CMM bed. Specially designed QuickLoad base plates locate to the QuickLoad rail, on either side, using quick release magnets and location pins. This design allows plates to be loaded and unloaded swiftly, reducing unproductive set-up time and maximising productivity.
Fill the CMM bed
QuickLoad rail can be located and secured to the left, right or centre of the CMM granite, or to an existing modular base plate. As multiple plates in many configurations can be loaded to one or both sides of the QuickLoad rail, it is possible to fill the CMM bed with fixtured workpieces. Maximising the measurement volume in this way reduces set-up time and increases CMM productivity.
Alpha-numeric labels
Recording the fixture set-up is simple as each QuickLoad base plate has an alphanumeric grid pattern, and each fixturing component has a clearly labelled part number.
FixtureBuilder compatibility
FixtureBuilder software can be used to design and document QuickLoad rail configurations and modular fixturing set-ups. Build instructions make configurations easy to reproduce.
Modular fixturing components
Renishaw's modular fixturing ranges can be used with the QuickLoad rail system. A wide variety of fixturing components are available in M4, M6, M8 and 1/4-20 thread sizes from the Online store.
Robust base plates
The QuickLoad rail system benefits from Renishaw's industry leading hard-coat anodised, aluminium QuickLoad™ base plates, which are available in M6 thread size, with M4, M8 and 1/4-20 options available upon request.
Want more information on Quick Change Fixturing Solutions? Feel free to contact us.