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Automation and
the OmniTurn
OmniTurn lathes and attachments have been designed for use
with high volume automation projects. The control, tooling,
and interface have been designed to take into account the
issues with large runs.
How to Automate:
We offer a number of options for automation.
OmniTurn does turnkey project with tooling the job and
automatic loading.
OmniTurn will help you do your own automation, we have a
wealth of knowledge and can help with expertise, design
assistance, and interfacing suggestions.
We will also work with outside vendors who do automation.
Have your vendor give us a call, we would be happy to offer
as much advise and assistance as possible.
What automation makes sense for you?
Questions and Comments...
Automation
has become an important tool to be used to survive in
today’s difficult market. Most unfamiliar with automation
techniques assume that it is not for them. In many cases
this is incorrect. The OmniTurn system has been designed
with automation in mind. End users might want to review
their requirements and possibly add some simple automation
and reduce the work load on operators. Here is a concise
overview of automation issues, techniques, and possible
applications.
With all aspects of manufacturing and engineering there are
always trade offs. The joke goes that you can only have “two
out of three”. Here it is the same:
Speed - Convertibility - Price.
In almost all cases you can get only two out of the three.
In many cases two out of three will be more than enough.
High volume, dedicated application:
First off, what do we mean by “High Volume”? We take it to
mean any job that will run longer than 6 months without
having to change the setup. Notice that we look at the
length of the run, not the number of parts. Automation of
this type should be considered to be replacing operator
costs and increase production rates. The cost of
implementing a dedicated loader usually takes the 6 months
to offset an operator’s salary and overhead charge. Loaders
that will be dedicated to one job do not need to be
Convertible. This leave us to play with speed and price.
Dedicated loaders can be simple to design and implement
since they are built around doing only one job. Usually load
times are around the 3 seconds. However there are cases
where we have been down around 1.2 seconds. Many factors
come into play with load time and capability. Blank
consistency, work holding, material issues, and tooling life
are only a few of the issues for long run, dedicated
systems. OmniTurn has been building dedicated systems for
our customers for years. Let us take a look at your part,
maybe we can come up with an idea that will make automation
possible.
To “Bowl” or “not to Bowl”? Is this a question?
Most customers assume that a bowl is required for long
running production automation. OmniTurn wonders how often
the bowl is really needed? We find in many applications
having an operator once in a while fill an infeed track is
more cost efficient. You could make argue that automation is
implemented to remove operator intervention. However there
are still reasons to keep an operator near the setup: Tool
life, tolerance maintenance, part outflow safeguarding, chip
removal, etc. While the operator is maintaining the other
issues of the work cell, they could fill the infeed track.
If the track holds at 30 minutes of parts, it still frees
the operator for other duties and still load a number of
automated OmniTurns. After a job has been up and running for
a while it is a better time to determine if the purchase of
a bowl is justified. If your automation is designed to work
with a bowl, then the addition of it at a later date is
simple!
Similar part automation:
There are many instances where part family production is
critical to making a product economically. Here we have a
case where automation will be needed for a long time, but
must be convertible enough to handle variations in the blank
part. This could be variations in lengths, diameters,
shapes, etc. If the parts all maintain some basic
characteristics it is possible to build automation that can
be changed over quickly. Here the 3rd item to be left out
could be either the speed or price. In come cases we can
build systems that are convertible and fast at a higher
price. Or one that is convertible and less expensive but not
as fast. The defining issue is usually the lot size and how
often the loader will have to be changed over. The longer
the runs, the more important the speed.
Simple automation:
Here the issues are usually price and delivery. Many jobs
will have to be in production and running within a week or
two. So speed of getting the loader up and running is
important. The other issue is price. In many cases the job
will only be on the shop floor for a few weeks or less. This
does not warrant spending thousands and taking weeks of a
tool maker's time. Here OmniTurn has come up with simple
loader ideas and implemented them many times over the years
very successfully. With the simple type we are happy to help
you build your own, or build a turnkey for you. The most
important thought to remember that there is such a thing as
SIMPLE automation. A few hours of tinkering can save
hundreds of hours of operator’s costs.
Give us a call.
Before you contact us please review your application. Both
of us will have to get a handle on the following before we
can quote or advise you:
-
Lot size
-
Work
holding issues
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Blank
tolerances
-
Blank
conditions
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Material
consistency
-
Finished
part tolerances
-
Chip
issues
-
Part
handling issues
-
Through
put requirement
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