feature
productivity comparable to three VMCs.
This year's survey also revealed that
essentially the same percentage of Top
Shops and other shops use turn-mill
machines (approximately 30 percent). In
previous surveys, a notably higher percentage of Top Shops used this equipment.
This year's findings indicate that more shops
are beginning to integrate multitask machining, but those that are new to this platform
might be facing a bit of a learning curve
compared to Top Shops that have been
using the se mac hine s for ye a r s a nd
have established effective multitasking
processes.
Table 1 highlights various t ypes of
machining strategies shops are applying.
Essentially the same percentage of all
sur veyed shops can per form five-a xis
positioning. However, a significantly higher
percentage of Top Shops are realizing
the benefits of more advanced five-axis
contouring, which can help them win more
complex work with higher margins. Therefore, it's no surprise that Top Shops are
more apt to invest in simulation software
to verify tool paths and prevent collisions
during complicated multi-axis machine
movements.
Similarly, a greater number of Top Shops
perform high speed machining and run
lights-out. What's interesting is that survey
data shows these advanced processes are
not limited to very large operations. For
example, nearly half of shops with fewer
than 20 employees perform high speed
machining. Likewise, more than 21 percent
of shops with fewer than 20 employees
have established lights-out processes,
compared to 36 percent for shops with
more than 250 employees.
As with previous surveys, this year's
edition revealed notable differences in cutting tool strategies (see Table 2). Nearly 75
percent of Top Shops use custom/specialty
tooling versus just 50 percent of other
shops. They justify the higher cost of that
tooling knowing they'll realize improved
production and longer cutter life. (Wisely,
71 percent of Top Shops also have a
carbide recycling program to recoup some
of the cost of their advanced carbide tools
and inserts.) A higher percentage of Top
Shops have invested in tool presetters, too,
in order to realize faster changeovers to
new jobs that require different cutters.
Performing tool measurements offline to
determine of fsets means the machine
can spend more time making chips and
less time sitting idle while operators manually measure tools.
Top Shops approach workholding in
much the same way. They are more likely
to use multiple-workpiece fixturing to enable
longer stretches of unattended machining
as well as quick-change fixturing and
magnetic and vacuum chucks for faster
Learn more
Visit the Updated Top Shops Zone
Additional benchmarking resources can be
found in the updated Top Shops Zone.
New content in that Zone includes:
• Our detailed 2013 Executive Summary of
survey results.
• Access to our Top Shops LinkedIn group.
• Information from past Top Shops
surveys.
mmsonline.com
mmsonline.com/topshops August 2013 MMS 11