Boost cutting efficiency with training

Dynamic and aggressive cutting tool demonstrations are common at trade shows. Toolmakers present phenomenal displays, where chips spark and fly and machines move at feed rates that seem impossible. In other words, they demonstrate high-speed machining.

Few marketing tools are as successful as these demonstrations. Of course, the intent is to convince attendees that one tool is more capable than the next, and, by purchasing the more capable tool, they’ll achieve the same results, ultimately reducing cost through increased efficiency.

However, efficiency gains can be achieved without purchasing the newest products. Significant gains can be made with solid technical training and by applying that knowledge to the machining processes.

In my previous column, I pointed out how proper cutting tool application enhances profitability by prolonging tool life and boosting efficiency. It’s no secret that removing more material in less time is a common goal. Unfortunately, part manufacturers often rely on the cutting tool manufacturer’s application experts to be the source of knowledge for achieving efficiency gains with cutting tools. Cutting tool manufacturers should be viewed as partners because they can provide valuable resources to solve difficult problems, but even good partners are not always available.

The reliance on outside expertise comes from an inverse relationship between the development of machining technology and the dissemination of shop floor knowledge. As machining processes and cutting tools have evolved, the theories that drive many of the improvements have not been effectively conveyed to operators on the shop floor.

A more proactive way to increase efficiency is by establishing a robust training program that teaches chip-formation theory to machinists, engineers and programmers. It is common to encounter metalcutting professionals who cannot properly calculate speeds and feed rates—the most basic of machining calculations. Those who lack experience or training often rely on past practices by copying old programs or techniques, which propagates inefficiency.

Proper training can combat inefficiency by preventing this propagation and by providing the insight needed to identify inefficiencies. For example, at a previous employer I was the manufacturing engineer responsible for a dedicated machining cell that produced a family of 24 aluminum aerospace parts. The parts shared a common configuration and differed mainly in size. The first machining operation on each part was milling a circular boss from 2 ” to 10 ” in diameter. All bosses were cut with the same 3 ” facemill tooled with PCD inserts.

I had not been on the job more than a few days when I noticed the cutting speed varied significantly from part to part. I asked around and no one could tell me why. In the part programs, I found several different speeds and feeds, but none in the range recommended by the toolmaker. After calculating the correct parameters using the median starting values from the tool catalog, I changed each program and documented more than $50,000 in annual efficiency savings. The total investment was about 8 hours of engineering time.

Had the previous machinists, engineers and programmers been given proper technical training, the company might have saved $500,000 during the life of that cell.

Every person who is held accountable for shop productivity should be taught the following key concepts.