How Better Workholding Cuts Hidden Costs and Boosts Spindle Uptime

The bedrock of success

How Better Workholding Cuts Hidden Costs and Boosts Spindle Uptime.

In many machining environments, workholding is still evaluated using narrow criteria: can the workholding securely hold the part, and how much does it cost? While ensuring adequate clamping force is critical, this perspective overlooks the broader role workholding plays in CNC machining. Workholding is more than just a vise. It is the foundation of your machining process and directly impacts:

setup time and complexity,

process stability,

cutting tool performance and lifespan,

machine tool utilization, and

overall profitability.

The challenges facing CNC machine shops today include labor shortages, shorter lead times, smaller lot sizes, greater part variety and lower prices. All of these are amplified by inefficient workholding and impact your profitability every day. Yet, the costs associated with inefficient workholding rarely appear as line items in the budget. On the shop floor, however, these costs usually show up in a variety of ways: a machine sitting idle, an operator watching a machine after pressing cycle start, premature cutting tool wear, or increased inspection frequency.

In contrast, better workholding can benefit a shop’s operations by:

reducing setup times and recouping lost spindle utilization,

improving process stability and part quality,

better cutting tool performance and life, and

increased operator confidence.

Reduced setup times and lost spindle utilization

Setup time is one of the most significant contributors to lost spindle utilization and reduced profitability. In many shops a new job or operation requires a time-consuming setup process that includes indicating, aligning vises, replacing jaws and verifying part location. Each of these steps is time-consuming and occurs while the spindle is stopped. This is particularly impactful in high-mix, low-volume machining environments where setup time can sometimes exceed the job’s run time.