In common with a whole host of industries, the manufacturing sector – as it seeks to navigate some extremely choppy post-COVID waters – is facing unprecedented complications.
Supply chains have been disrupted, staffing levels have been reduced in many cases, the impact of Brexit is yet to become clear and there is very little room for manoeuvre in company budgets.
A combination of this volatile marketplace and some fierce competition has left manufacturers facing a stark reality: there’s quite literally no room for error if their operations are to continue to flourish in the long-term.
Standing still and having blind faith in an existing business model simply may no longer be enough to survive. However, is investing significant amounts of capital to try to safeguard future prosperity any less risky a strategy?
Offline tool setters: A CNC machine tool’s best friend
In this era of financial belt-tightening, how many times have you heard people speak of a need to ‘do more with less?’
While it’s a paradox that can rarely be achieved, there are certain technologies whose sole mission is to make it a reality. Offline tool presetting is one of them.
Historically, if a production operation was running at full capacity and needed to achieve additional product throughput, it would simply look to buy a new – and potentially hugely expensive – CNC machine.
Today, the most practical and cost-effective way of freeing up capacity on existing machine tool assets, without the need for major investment, is via intuitive tool presetting solutions.
ZOLLER systems have been doing exactly that for the past 75 years. The company’s world-leading technology prepares tools ready for machining with micron precision, meaning they work to their optimum level, last longer, improve product quality and dramatically reduce non-conforming and rejected parts.
Crucially, rapid tool changeovers mean a machine tool’s spindles never need to stop turning and thus it can be left alone to get on with the job it was intended to do – actually making things.
Turnkey solutions: How ZOLLER tool setters eliminate factory downtime
No matter how advanced a traditional on-machine laser setting system, it tends to be unreliable as it cannot validate critical tool features such as diameters, corner radii, step lengths and run-out, significantly increasing the risk of machine crashes and failures.
With on-machine setting, even 50 tool changes per day, taking three minutes per tool, will cost you 150 minutes – or two-and-a-half hours – in lost production time. That’s 12-and-a-half hours each five-day week.
Time is money. No business we know can afford ‘dead time’ like that.
Irrespective of the CNC machine control system that a business is using (and no two are the same), ZOLLER tool setters and measurement systems interface with them all and make transferring tool data automatically, reliably and securely a straightforward process, uniting existing assets and increasing efficiency.
Efficiency and profitability: Your guaranteed competitive edge
It’s not difficult to see how offline tool setting can start saving a business money from day one, offering a return on investment in a very short period of time.
Validating production routines and having parts consistently reproduced to exact specifications allows you to focus on other aspects of your operations, giving a clear economic advantage over rivals.
As the only company in the UK dedicated exclusively to supplying tool pre-setting and inspection equipment, ZOLLER is unique in its ability to offer impartial, unrivalled know-how and support for every application, regardless of the size or nature of a business.
In modern manufacturing, offline tool setting is the most affordable, straightforward guarantee of efficiency and productivity gains, alongside sustainable and long-term profitability.
The benefits of offline tool setting in manufacturing – download the eBook
