Instead of playing the tool life guessing game, we recommend taking a more holistic view of the manufacturing cycle to arrive at the best process and practices. To this end, Seco has developed a wear analysis methodology called Global Tool Deterioration Analysis (GTDA), which utilizes five core elements of manufacturing excellence to gain a better understanding of tool life across all areas of HMLV machining.
1. Overall Machining Processes – By focusing on tool life alone, one misses the upstream and downstream effects of tool usage. For example, burrs typically have little to do with tool life, but their occurrence interrupts the manufacturing process due to secondary operations required to remove the burrs. As tool geometry directly impacts burr formation, a truly global tool deterioration analysis will examine its effects. To avoid time spent developing and implementing secondary or tertiary operations, it’s far superior to identify the root causes and correct them directly.
2. Production Economics – Tools cost money, both in terms of total cost of goods sold and in terms of time spent on tool changeover and setup. A comprehensive analysis will go further and factor in related activities, like time spent acquiring and organizing tooling or loading programs into machines’ controls. To boost operational profitability, one must understand the various elements of the manufacturing process that contribute to production costs.
3. Waste Reduction – Once you understand these production costs, you can begin to strategically address them. The following formula offers a useful way to track effective machining times in expressed as a percentage of the total time available:
TTA = Total Time Available for Machining
PD = Planned Downtime
UB = Unscheduled Breakdowns
CO = Changeovers
PI = Minor Production Interruptions
SP = Time Wasted on Scrapped Parts
EMT = Effective Machining Time
While 100 percent effective machining time is not practically attainable, a thorough analysis will get shops far closer to that level.
4. Percentage Yield Goals – In HMLV production environments, production yield can often be all or nothing. A successful single-part run represents 100 percent yield, but if the part fails quality assurance or a workpiece is ruined, the yield is zero. Because this first-time yield is critical, avoiding tool breakage is perhaps the most important consideration. Because tool wear can be a minimal concern in these short run situations, a shop can apply, within reason, more aggressive and productive cutting parameters.
5. Workforce Management – Of course, HMLV production depends on human workers, who must be skilled technicians to efficiently adapt to the continually changing parts and cutting conditions characteristic of these new manufacturing paradigms. That means hiring different kinds of machine operators and investing more in their ability to think on their feet and solve problems in real time.
Seco also recommends that shops pair this on-the-fly problem solving and comprehensive analysis with an equally rigorous process for determining how tools are wearing. When combined with the other data, this Global Tool Data Analysis approach – a service offered by Seco Tools to help its customers achieve manufacturing success – results in a complete overview of what it will take to obtain a fully optimal process.
To learn more, visit the Seco Tools website or Seco Consultancy and find out how Global Tool Deterioration Analysis fits into a wider understanding of manufacturing best practices.
