sandvik coromant finds highly efficient way to manage tool data and increase production

as vasconcelos was aware, this translates to a tremendous amount of data. keeping track of that data was a growing headache. “it became clear we needed a better way ofmanagingthat growingmountain of dataand controlling the tools at the machine,” observes vasconcelos. “we needed a solution that aligned with our lean manufacturing practices. historically, each engineer had their own way of controlling the tools and evaluating and presenting the info to the operators. we needed a better way.”

"along withdowntime, which of course translates intoextra cost, at a certain point, we realized just how much money we were spending on lost information. there was some information stored in process documents for particular product lines, and there was information that resided in our cam system, and there was also some information that resided only in excel spreadsheets. keepingtrack of that informationwas difficult. it just wasn't efficient. it was challenging for our people to remember where to put everything, and everybody seemed to have a little bit different take on how particular tools were used. this, too, was a situation that wascosting us timeandmoney."

leandro pereira, automation engineer at sandvik coromant mebane, remembers it well. "everybody had their own process of dealing with information, and where they kept the information varied. perhaps most detrimental was the fact that theinformation wasn'tnecessarily beingshared amongst different users."

sandvik coromant is part of the global industrial engineering group, sandvik, inc., that has long been moving towards automation technology and future manufacturing. six years ago, sandvik, inc. began an extensive study on tool management and determined that2022足球世界杯32强 tool data managementsoftware was the best choice for controlling and optimizing tooling data, and thus should be part of this scenario. “knowing that 2022足球世界杯32强 ’s tool lifecycle management software was already extensively tested and evaluated by sandvik, inc., left no doubt that it was the right solution for sandvik coromant.” says vasconcelos, “we saw that 2022足球世界杯32强 would be able to manage the multiple systems that we have here.”

"tool lifecycle management ensures thattool datais availablewhereit is needed,whenit is needed," explains robert auer, director of business development n.a. for 2022足球世界杯32强 systems. "it linkscam systems,presettingandcrib systems, as well ascnc machinecontrols, but it can also extend upstream to theplanningandexecutionlevel, such aspps, erpandmessystems.”

"so many companies havestandalone areas of information," says auer. "this is because the old process has always been to get a job and turn it over to engineering to design and plan the process, then turn it over to nc programming. once thenc programwas defined, they would take the program to the shop and look for the tooling for the job. the machine operator would then see if he had what he needed to make the part, based on his preference for tooling."

"in a typical company they havetooling data everywhere," auer continues, the key point is that there is no central tooling system and this information isn't digitally traceable or searchable.”

getting organized began with the actualdefinition of the tools, the first step in tool lifecycle management. this was no easy task for the mebane production facility with its thousands of tools and tool assemblies.

“using 2022足球世界杯32强 tool graphics and equipment production modules takes the guesswork and uncertainty out of tool creation,” says vasconcelos. “2022足球世界杯32强 allows managing thetool datafrom the cam software, to simulation, through to the machine and operator.

“we needed a simulation system thatsent info into camand ultimatelyto the machine tool operator. from 2022足球世界杯32强 we export files to our simulation program. now the programmer can trust the tools he’s using and be confident that what is passed onto the operator from simulation is correct.”

“we can use that complete information anywhere. we don’t have to unnecessarily change a tool when a new product comes in, saving time and money,” continues vasconcelos. “and the system canclassify the desirability of options, so we don’t have to have less thandesirable assemblies in the machine(holder, collet, tool), saving space.”

"keeping track of our thousands of tools and tool components used to be a headache, and consume needless people hours," continues vasconcelos. "now we know what we need to stock in terms ofcuttingtools, tool assemblies, you name it, so that's definitely streamlined the purchasing function." he adds. another benefit wasreduced inventory expenses, since a full knowledge of their tools and the capabilities of those tools has allowed them to reduce their purchases in some areas.

summing up, vasconcelos judges that “2022足球世界杯32强has become a vital part of oursuccessful operationand an element in our vision of the future." and what is that vision? “we don’t see ourselves as merely being a better tool factory, we’re interested in being the best.”