There are two kinds of downtime in the manufacturing industry, planned and unplanned. While most people associate downtime with loss of time and money, there is much more to be lost. Decreased employee productivity, quality control issues, and a resulting damaged reputation are all effects of downtime in manufacturing.
Over-looked gaps in your work-flow account for most downtime scenarios. Eight other common causes of downtime that could be costing you thousands are:
- Defects
- Overproduction
- Waiting
- Underutilizing talent
- Transportation
- Excess Inventory
- Wasted Motion
- Excessive Processing
Understanding the effect that downtime has on your bottom line is a very important first step to decreasing or eliminating it. SigmaNEST is aware of these common downtime pitfalls and we have crafted a number of features that can spark an improvement in your machine motion.
- iPierce
A proprietary pierce technology that reduces the time that each pierce takes for plasma, oxyfuel, laser and waterjet cutting machines. Applying this technology allows users to run their machines more efficiently and save on valuable consumables. In some cases, our users have been able to save thousands of dollars on a single plate.
- Automatic Tool Sorting
The automatic tool sorting feature will allow you to configure a tool sequencing strategy that optimizes the sequences of tool hits which will save time, and consumables when cutting parts. This feature is applicable on machines with punch, drill, and router tooling.
- Common Line Cutting
Allows a laser, water jet, or knife cutter to cut along a common-line to make a single cut where two may otherwise be needed and move uninterrupted from one part to the next. Reducing the number of pierces used when laser cutting will extend tool life. This method for nesting is not only a time saver, but can also increase your material yield, a huge money saver for your operations. Saving time, machine motion, and tool wear allows you to run more jobs by taking advantage of this efficient machine uptime tool.
Concerned you could be costing your shop more than you can afford in downtime? For a quick third party estimate of your down time click here.
To learn more about how SigmaNEST can help your efficiency click here.