The Efficient Machining Shop: Challenges & Solutions

It's the Wild Wild West out there in today's machining shops! Bob Nisivoccia, PLM Consultant at Engineering Industries eXcellence, talks about how our team approaches tool and machine management, the different challenges faced on today's manufacturing floor as well as the proven technology solutions we offer to help overcome them.

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Full Transcript

Hi, my name is Bob Nisivoccia, and I am a PLM Consultant here at Engineering Industries eXcellence. I grew up in the southwest suburb of Chicago called Orland Park. I studied Math and Computer Science at Illinois State University and Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.

What are “Tools” and “Machines” in Manufacturing?

When we speak about tools and machines in manufacturing, we are normally speaking about CNC machines on a shop floor, which are used to remove metal from raw stock to create the products that you see every day. Machines and tools are critical to the manufacturing process, because they provide an efficient and economical way to remove material from raw stock in order to make very complex design parts, such as fan blades for a nuclear turbine engine, or simpler parts integral to our daily lives, such as molds for plastic bottles.

Welcome to the Wild Wild West: Machining Shops Today

It may be hard to believe, but in many machining shops today, the management of data is still based on ad hoc manual processes and tribal knowledge. When I visit our customers’ shops, I often see operators walking around on the plant floor with 3 ½ inch floppy disks carrying NC (Numerical Control) programs that may be on revision 10 or on revision 11. Nobody really knows. The use of USB sticks is also prevalent, creating a problem called “sneaker net,” which means personnel are walking around unmonitored with potentially sensitive data. For some of our customers, especially those in regulated industries such as Aerospace & Defense, this is a huge liability, because highly confidential data could be easily lifted from the shop. When the duration of a machining cut covers more than one shift, I have even seen operators leave tiny pieces of paper on the CNC machine keyboard to insinuate or let the next operator know exactly where the cut stopped. The hope is that they get that note, I suppose, but what if they don’t? Simply put, it is the Wild Wild West out there for some of these companies.

PLM for Physical & Tool Data Management

Physical Tool and Tool Master Data Management can help a machining business transform their processes starting from engineering all the way to shipping out a product from their shop floor in terms of efficiency, time management and resource management. At Engineering Industries eXcellence, we believe that PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) systems should be used as the central repository for all product and production data, including master and physical tool data.

There are several steps that are involved in integrating all product data into a single source of truth and managing it efficiently, but for tool and resource management, let me give you an example. Let's say we need to run a single machining operation on a part, say on a surgical knee implant, which can be an extremely complex part to build and cut away using subtractive manufacturing. If our tool data resides in PLM, we can utilize this single database in order to access information about all the tools that we will need to utilize throughout that operation, including the CNC machine, tool tip, tool assembly, any custom or non-custom fixtures, etc. This will enable us to understand what is available, where we can find it and the program instructions that we will need in order to execute the operation. And by integrating a DNC solution with PLM, we can further enable the right programs and information to be sent digitally and directly from the PLM system to the operators and machines on the shop floor. But we will get into that in a second.

Enter Direct Numerical Control (DNC)

DNC stands for Direct Numerical Control. Our approach at Engineering Industries eXcellence is to integrate DNC with a customer’s PLM system, where all data is managed, including NC code as well as corollary work instructions, models and drawings for a specific operation. This integration enables manufacturers to take Numerical Control (NC) files, containing code that instructs the machine on how to execute a cut or operation, and send them directly to a CNC machine on the shop floor. As a result, this ensures that the correct machine is always cutting the correct part and using the latest information. This also ensures that there are no scrap parts, because the risk of cutting a wrong revision of an operation or manufacturing part is basically eliminated. On top of that, integrating DNC and PLM systems enables our customers to provide easy access to electronic work instructions, videos, images and any other helpful or necessary resources that a shop floor operator may require to perform their job quickly and efficiently.