How to Improve CNC Machining Efficiency?

In recent years, with the increase of new products and the increasing complexity of parts, CNC machining has attracted more and more attention from enterprises due to its strong advantages, and has become a decisive factor for manufacturing enterprises to win market competition.

However, some CNC manufacturing factory have low CNC machining efficiency and insufficient CNC manufacturing capabilities. Therefore, studying and exploring how to improve the level of CNC manufacturing and the ability of CNC machining through efficient CNC machining technology is of practical significance for enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises and improving the ability of sustainable development.

Reasons For The Low Efficiency Of CNC Machining

cnc machine

1. Machine Failure Factors

Due to the complex principle and precise structure of the CNC system, it cannot be repaired and eliminated in time after a failure occurs, which will affect the production efficiency.

2. Production Management Factors

Due to specific reasons, the system of CNC machine is complicated and the equipment grade is not complete, which brings great difficulties to the application and programming of technicians and operators, and greatly restricts the transfer and processing of parts. The program management is not perfect, and the repeated compilation of machining programs wastes time and affects the instability of the program.

On-site management is still the main link in production arrangements, production organization, and process monitoring. It is inevitable that there will be problems such as disconnected plans and delayed production preparations, which increase the waiting time for equipment shutdown. In addition, some managers do not know enough about CNC knowledge and blindly command, believing that CNC machine are very advanced and should be able to do everything. Many parts that are not suitable for CNC machining or other types of work are also easy to process, so that CNC machine can not only play its role. Efficiency will also greatly damage the accuracy of CNC machine tools, so improve the ability of managers is very important.

3. Process Technology Factors

In many cases, the procedures cannot be followed up in time, the drawing are not perfect, the processability is not good, and the long delivery time is a factor that affects the machining  efficiency. In most cases, the process technology does not effectively combine the rationality of the process with the appropriate CNC machine, tools, tooling and fixtures, so that as long as there is a problem in one link of the machine processing on the workpiece, the equipment will stop waiting or produce unqualified products.

4. CNC Tool Factors

cnc machiningAs an important auxiliary tool for participating in manufacturing activities, the tool system plays a pivotal role in the flexibility and productivity of CNC machine and the precision and accuracy of product manufacturing. At the same time, tools are more expensive and consumable resources. In general production workshops, especially in the production environment with more CNC machine, the number of tools is huge, the components are also quite complex, and the information is abundant. Due to the needs of machining, a large number of tools frequently flow and exchange between the tool magazine and the machine, and between the machine and the machine.

Traditional tool management is to record the tool information on paper or memorize it in the human brain. For a longer time, the recorded information is easy to lose. It is difficult for different users to grasp the tool information, and the tool information management cannot keep up. It causes confusion in the use of tools, waste of resources, and low production efficiency.

The more serious result is that the deviation of the products is too large, the process deviation, and even the product is scrapped, which affects the production cycle. Establishing a complete tool database, incorporating all the information of the tool system into the computer for management, and establishing a paperless tool management system can greatly improve CNC machining efficiency.

5. Personnel Skill Factor

In the process of purchasing CNC machine, there are very high requirements for the technology and advancement of CNC machines, especially the CNC system, and the choice of functions of CNC machine is also very particular, and we strive to be as good as possible. However, after the equipment is installed and running, its use effect is not ideal, because the use of CNC machine is more difficult than ordinary machine. Because CNC machine are typical mechatronics products, they involve a wide range of knowledge, that is, the operator should have a broader professional knowledge of machinery, electricity, hydraulics, and gas, so the quality requirements for the operators are very high.

At present, a phenomenon that cannot be ignored is that there are more and more users of CNC machine, but the utilization rate of the machine tools is not high. Of course, sometimes the production tasks are not full. But there is a more critical factor that is that the quality of the CNC operators is not high enough, and they don’t know how to deal with some problems, which are often not found in the maintenance manual, or they may never have been encountered before. This requires users to have high quality, be able to deal with problems calmly, clear-headed, strong on-site judgment, and of course, they should also have a solid CNC foundation.

The improvement of the overall quality of the operators cannot be solved immediately, but must be accumulated in future use. Another method worth trying is to visit some old users of similar machines. They have strong practical experience and have the most say. They can ask for their help and let them conduct certain training for the operators. This is the most effective way to improve the overall quality of operators in a short time.

6. Factors Of Product Structure

(1) The specifications, sizes and structures of various parts are very different, and the versatility of process equipment such as machine and tools is not high.

(2) Many CNC factories are usually faced with production tasks of multiple varieties, small batches, and short production cycles, so the machining system is required to have a higher response speed.

(3) The structure of the product parts is complex and the machining is difficult.

(4) Thin wall, easy to deform during machining. There are a large number of thin-walled and deep cavity structures, which are typical weak rigid structures.

(5) Difficulty in selecting tools and cutting parameters. Since the development of the tool industry cannot keep up with the development and application of new materials, and the lack of machining and cutting database support, how to select tools reasonably and scientifically select machining parameters has become a difficult point in machining technology.

CNC Machining parts

Ways To Improve The Efficiency Of CNC Machining

CNC machine are different from ordinary machine, and the methods of managing ordinary machine cannot be copied to CNC machine. According to the management practice of some users who have used CNC machine for many years, it is better to adopt a relatively centralized management method for units with more CNC machine, that is, the method of “professional management, centralized use”. The process technology preparation is in the charge of the factory process technology department, and the production management is unified and balanced by the factory’s tasks.

If conditions permit,can adopt the production method of computer integrated management. The computer manages the various operations and machining information required for the production of CNC machine, and implements information sharing to reduce production preparation time, optimize logistics routes, and effectively improve productivity. In production practice, the machining efficiency of CNC machine depends to a large extent on the ratio of cutting time to the working time of CNC milling machines. The greater the ratio, the higher the production efficiency.

Generally speaking, the methods to improve the efficiency of CNC machining are as follows.

  1. Change the understanding of CNC technology.

CNC technology is a comprehensive technology. In addition to CNC machine tools, there must be corresponding supporting technology and personnel support, especially in CNC People play a decisive role in the machining process, and the technical capabilities of management personnel, engineering technicians, engineering maintenance personnel, and operators will affect the production efficiency of CNC machine.

  1. Formulate effective tool management measures

such as pre-adjusting the tools to reduce the installation and adjustment time of the tools on the machine tool, and manage the tools through the management system to reduce errors caused by manual management.

  1. Since the selection of fixtures is directly related to the installation time and measurement time of the workpiece, so we need to realize the management of fixtures.

In order to improve the efficiency of CNC machining, it is recommended to set up a CNC workshop to integrate technical personnel, production personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, and inspection personnel in the same department, which facilitates unified arrangements and collaborative services in production. Institutional settings include workshop directors, chief CNC engineers, production planning and scheduling, CNC programmers, tooling engineers, equipment maintenance personnel, inspection personnel, CNC operators, warehouse managers, etc.

The purpose of establishing the CNC workshop is to centrally manage and move the production forward, expose the factors that affect the efficiency of CNC machining as much as possible in the early stage of production, make sufficient preparations before production, and maximize the ratio of cutting time to the working time of CNC milling machines and reduce waiting time for downtime caused by waiting for the program, waiting for technical processing, waiting for machine tool repair, waiting for tool measuring tools, waiting for inspection, etc.

Conclusion

As long as the above factors that affect the efficiency of CNC machining are optimized or resolved, will inevitably improve the efficiency of CNC machining. To improve the efficiency of CNC machining, there is still a lot of meticulous work, and at the same time it need the strong support of the enterprise management.

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