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The COVID-19 outbreak has touched nearly all aspects of life, impacting corporate, community and psychological well-being. No doubt these are challenging times, and navigating a business climate that shifts on a daily basis requires strong leadership and foresight.
Impacts on Manufacturing
In the world of manufacturing, some machine shops are finding opportunities to serve by producing much-needed personal protective equipment. Their achievements are inspiring, often involving complete transformation of production processes in impressively short time frames.
From a market perspective, a look at historical data reveals that capacity utilization in shops could potentially decline in the months ahead. Manufacturing tends to go through up and down cycles, and it can be instructive to look at practices that have been employed during previous slow periods.
Time to Optimize Machine Tools
“Machine shops often take advantage of a lull in business to perform preventive maintenance procedures,” said Ira Busman, Vice President of Customer Service, Okuma America Corporation. “This ensures that machine tools are in peak condition and ready to ramp up quickly when the recovery begins. This is also a great way to keep employees – one of a shop’s most valuable assets – working productively when all the parts have been cut.”
There are also opportunities to review the overall operations and efficiency of the business. Is it time to consider automation? Perhaps a 4th axis, an option like a bar feeder or parts catcher, or probing to optimize efficiency. Another potential project could be adding an option that was overlooked at the point of sale, such as extra program storage or cycle time reduction technologies. One can also consider more typical preventive services, as outlined below.
Preventive Maintenance and Recertifications
A slow period can be the perfect time to:
- Perform preventive maintenance procedures, such as those outlined in this PM checklist.
- Do a coolant flush, including a fluid check/replacement and overall health check.
- Consider a geometrical alignment of the machine tool to bring it back to factory specifications.
Safety Inspections
When shops are busy, it’s easy to overlook simple yet important issues on the machine. Now may be a good time to check for:
- Door glass: is it broken or worn? These conditions can compromise the strength of the glass and impair visibility.
- Mechanical door locking mechanism: is this broken or disconnected? Have interlocks been overridden?
- Machine placards: are they missing or not legible?
- Replace guarding that’s missing or broken.
- Software: make sure you have the original software and manuals that came with the machine.
- Parameter backup: ensure batteries are replaced. In some cases, machines are powered off and 100% dependent on battery backup. If the machine batteries are weak, once the power is turned back on, all system and program storage could be lost.
Extended Warranty Contracts
- Now might be a good time to investigate extended warranty contracts, which can provide peace of mind while supporting long-term productivity.
Simplify and Streamline Maintenance Procedures
One machine tool builder, Okuma America Corporation, recently rolled out two new programs that help simplify and streamline machine maintenance procedures. The CARE Kit provides select preventive maintenance parts recommend for replacement each year (or more often, with heavy usage). A Free Evaluation service is also offered, which provides users an assessment of the machine’s control devices including servo system, display unit, I/O devices, CPU and spindle control system.
Machine shops have been extremely busy for some time now, and it’s possible maintenance services have been given lower priority. For those who experience downtime due to the COVID outbreak, this may be a good opportunity to ensure the productivity and longevity of machine tools.