GETTING THE FASTEST TOOL SETUPS POSSIBLE: LATHE PRODUCTIVITY SHOULD NOT SUFFER BECAUSE OF LONG SETUP TIMES

摘要

FOR EVERY MINUTE A SHOP SPENDS SETTING up tooling, a lathe's spindle is not working. And, when spindles are idle, shops do not make money. However, there are ways to reduce lathe-tooling-setup time. Fast tooling setups start by grouping lathe work into part families based on certain criteria. For instance, all parts that fit within the size of a 4 × 4-in. cube and require drilled holes no larger than 1.000 in. in diameter would run on a lathe tooled for those requirements. It does not matter if the parts are from different jobs or that they have different run times, as long as they meet the job criteria. The idea is to establish set arrangements on the tool disk for each part family so that time is not wasted wondering what tools will work and having to completely break down disk setups between every job.