Precision workholding equipment is a good investment for your business that can pay for itself over time, especially if you’re in the manufacturing industry. These can be clamps, fixtures, and other devices or machines that hold your workpiece in place while you operate on it. Moreover, this equipment can position parts with a high-accuracy level, improving your final product’s quality. With this equipment, you can achieve greater dimensional accuracy and repeatability in your production.
Here are five benefits of investing in precision workholding equipment.
1. Faster Cycle Times
Investing in precision work holding equipment has many benefits, but one often overlooked is how it can improve your overall cycle times. If you’re unfamiliar with “cycle time,” it refers to how long it takes to complete a single process or task. Often, this is done by measuring the time between when an operation starts and when it finishes.
Think about how much time you spend setting up your tools before each job or batch run. You set up fixtures on machines, calibrate them with measurement tools like dial indicators and height gauges, and run off samples. And once you’ve completed your setup tasks for the day’s work cycle, there’s always some cleanup before you’re ready to start production again tomorrow morning.
When using conventional tooling holders, your cycle times would likely be slower. Precision workholding equipment makes these tasks faster by providing quick adjustments and repeatable accuracy across multiple setups. If you’re planning to invest in one, you can find them on industrial component providers, such as this related site.
2. Reduced Human Error
You may have misaligned or otherwise assembled an important component incorrectly. Or perhaps the tooling you used was not precise enough for the task at hand, causing your part to be slightly bent or warped somehow. In either case, you can avoid this error with better workholding equipment that can hold components securely while machining or finished off by hand on CNC machines.
In addition to reducing human error in products, precision workholding solutions can also help prevent other types of errors, such as those caused by a lack of communication between workers.
Precision workholding systems allow all parties involved in making a product from start-to-finish stay connected through cloud-based software solutions. This software tracks each step along the way so that everyone knows exactly what needs to be done next and when it needs to be done.
3. Consistent Quality
Consistent quality is the ability to produce objects identical to each other, which is vital for companies that make parts for critical applications. For example, the medical industry must ensure that every product it produces meets stringent standards not to compromise patient welfare.
In addition, consistent quality allows companies to reduce production costs and improve their bottom line by reducing scrap rates and rework expenses associated with defective products. Precision casters offer various features explicitly designed for consistently producing accurate castings.
Some of these features include:
- Heated tooling for improved flow and filling
- Vacuum chambers for enhanced surface finish and dimensional accuracy
- CNC machines for consistent wall thicknesses
4. Larger Job Capacity
Precision workholding equipment can increase the number of parts you can produce per hour, allowing you to make more money. Additionally, it enables you to create multiple different pieces in a single shift or even numerous various parts for a single job. It means that you can deliver what your customers want and need faster than if you were using conventional methods.
This can be especially beneficial in industries where there is little room for error or where jobs must be completed within strict deadlines, such as aerospace engineering or automotive manufacturing. But it also makes sense to use it wherever there is demand for high-end products or materials with tight specifications, such as medical devices and semiconductors.
5. Reduced Maintenance Costs
Another benefit of investing in precision workholding equipment is reduced maintenance costs. Precision workholding equipment is designed to last longer, so you won’t have to replace it often or spend your time and money on maintenance or repairs.
It means you can focus on your core business activities instead of worrying about replacing worn-out tools and parts. Also, because these tools are more durable, they will likely require less frequent adjustments, further reducing production downtime.
Takeaway
Precision workholding equipment offers many benefits for businesses across various industries. Investing in this type of equipment can improve the quality of your products, increase your production capacity, reduce maintenance costs, and make your employees and customers happier. All these factors can lead to a better bottom line for your business. So if you’re looking for ways to improve your manufacturing processes and outcomes, investing in precision workholding equipment would be wise.
