Just like runners, shaving your times down can make all the difference and can now see the best returns. After all, we have now improved the speeds of the actual gear grinding process to the point where the incremental improvements that can be realised are seeing ever smaller returns.
So, focus now shifts to set-up times becoming the area where improvements can yield the best returns. So what is the latest thinking on how to achieve this?
Obviously, improving set-up times can yield big differences in shops involved in small batch production – where set-up can take up to 50% of the time. However, it is also an area that cannot be ignored by manufacturers involved in mass production where set-ups are once or twice a day. Grinding the same workpiece repeatedly means tools wear down quicker and need replacing – so improving this procedure can have a real impact here too.
When returns are so marginal any improvement can make a big difference.
So this article by Alex Cannella, Associate Editor at Gear Technology magazine, could be worth a little downtime to read…