5 Ways to Enhance CNC Machining Productivity

CNC machinery is a highly technical and niche technology that’s used by manufacturers. This technology is only getting better with time. It’s a multipurpose CNC cutting machine that’s used to carve designs on and shape materials as different as steel from fabric.

The full form of CNC is Computer Numerical Control. As the name implies, it takes great skill and time invested with the machine to discover all the myriad uses of this wonderful machine.

Leading businesses that use the machine take up to 2,000 projects a year. This gives them enough time to experiment with new projects leading to more prospective ways to put it to use. This enhances everyone’s understanding of the machine further, including ways to improve on the technology.

What can CNC Machines cut?

CNC machines are used for a wide range of things. They are useful in cutting sheet metal, and carving surfaces. Depending on the type of part used for the head, the machine can make intricate patterns on all kinds of surfaces including fabric.

How to check productivity?

Note the output of machines over a period of time and take an average of the values to know the approximate productivity of your CNC cutting machine.

Let’s look at ways to enhance the CNC machining productivity.

1. Scheduled Regular Maintenance

As cliche as this sounds, CNC machines need a lot of tender loving care like all machines do. Don’t get taken in by its low need for human intervention.

We recommend you read the manual carefully and ask your CNC machine provider to do a live demonstration for maintenance for you at the time of installation. Keep their contact handy incase you have any queries at the time of operating the machine.

The machine manual will contain enough information about maintenance and spare parts. The spare parts can be quite expensive so it is advisable to learn how to use and maintain them properly to avoid extra unnecessary costs.

Your CNC machine should undergo regular greasing, wiping down to get rid of residue, cleaning of filters and checks for damaged parts.

Use only the best spare parts from reputed cnc cutting machine manufacturers for the best results.

2. Organized Workplace

Keep the workplace organized for maximum efficiency, not to forget, clean. CNC routers can make a lot of debris fly. Maybe you don’t realise it but an organized workplace can help you manage your materials, employees, and machines better and increase productivity as well.

Plan your projects well in advance. Knowing the approximate duration, manpower and machine power needed for the projects in advance helps in increasing productivity. You can plan the raw material, machine and human resource working hours in advance.

3. Know your Power Requirements

Machines need a certain power input to run properly. While this is not a problem for bigger companies, smaller establishments might need to research the power requirements of the machine well in advance. Some CNC machines may need more than the standard 3-Phase 240V output. No one wants to blow their power fuses while setting up a brand new machine. A little lapse of judgement could prove to be quite costly.

4. Use your CNC Machinery Wisely

Researching the correct usage of your CNC machine could elongate the life of the machine and reduce operating costs dramatically. CNC cutting machines have the capacity of high throughputs and RPMs. This speed is very helpful for chip removal and improving performance levels depending on the material.

If you have 2 machines then ensure that the old one is always used more than the new one. Once the old one stops working, start using the new one to its full capacity.

Keep your machines constantly running. CNC machines are designed to function around the clock. You must make use of this feature to make the most of the machine. Production around the clock makes for faster and more efficient fulfilment of client needs.

5. Human Resource Management

The CNC machine is free from the limitations of manual control. However, it does need human supervision from time to time. Train your personnel to run multiple machines at the same time. You’ll need fewer workers and the output remains the same.

Since only highly trained technicians can operate CNC machines, hire human resources after an exhaustive process. Good CNC machines use softwares like CAD/CAM that help automate production. The staff needs to be able to keep up with the software requirements.

The Bottom Line

The CNC cutting machine is meant to be used as delicately as its work is rough. This piece of technology is still being discovered. Until we discover it more, keep it in top shape for it to yield the maximum results for you. Although it is very precise, the CNC machine is also quite expensive. Make the most of it and avoid incurring additional costs by timely intervention and maintenance.

Omni CNC is one of the leading CNC cutting machine manufacturers in China and we’d be happy to answer any questions.