Automation has been the golden key to unlocking the potential in their businesses by meeting these objectives. Moving from their more traditional manufacturing operations has not only been a major investment by these companies in dollar terms, but has also necessitated major shifts in mind-set by both management and employees.

Automate or die has become the rallying call for moldmakers nationwide and there is no doubt that the sooner companies take the automation route the better.

  Embracing an automation concept early on has proved to be the best solution to deal with global manufacturing issues for moldmakers’ customers. The advantages of unattended lights-out production together with improved productivity have seen a rapid turn-round in their fortunes. Automation reduces machine downtime and extends the working week and machine utilization without having to take on any extra labor. The increasing demands from customers who operate in the JIT environment are more comfortably served with substantial gains in speed of delivery. Optimum 24/7 working is the ultimate destination at the end of the automation route.

  Most companies will therefore introduce automation in a planned program that not only utilizes the existing plant in the shop; and, therefore may be the line of least cost, but also takes into account the skill levels and current working practices of their labor force.
This automation route has three key milestones: (1) tooling, (2) palletization and (3) robots, all of which should neatly slot into each other and help govern the speed of change.

  Tooling
Standardizing on one tooling system throughout the shop has very clear advantages. Primarily it allows moldmakers to transfer workpieces or electrodes from one process to another—from EDM to high-speed machining, for example—with-out any loss of positioning or accuracy.

  With high technology industries such as aerospace, medical devices and communications demanding very strict tolerances, it is vital to select a tooling system that guarantees repeatable accuracy down to around +0.0001inch (+0.002 mm).
Thus each machine in the shop, fitted with a compatible chuck on the spindle or the table, easily accepts the tooling and operates assuredly, delivering pre-set accuracy without having to re-check measurements.

  Using such tooling with a stable and accurate reference system not only increases the labor force’s confidence in relying on its accuracy, but also takes some of the tedium out of setting-up. Setting-up times are minimized and because the reference system is compatible with every machine in the shop, the road to full automation starts to be seen as a reality.
An initial experience of the benefits of automation can also be a useful interim step, where automatic toolchangers can, for example, be retrofitted to an existing machine, thus increasing its overall productivity and efficiency.               

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