Increasing machining capacity cheaply
This blog is written by Dasarathi GV, Director-Applications, Cadem Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
CNC
Increasing capacity – buy a machine or reduce downtime on existing machines ?
Tough decision for a CEO !
Increasing CNC machining capacity
Downtime on the shop floor can be up to 30 % because of poor work ethics and system problems (see this earlier post of mine).
If I have 10 machines on my shop floor and I want to increase machining capacity by 10 %, I have two options:
Option 1: Buy another machine.
Option 2: Reduce downtime by 10 %.
Option 1 is quick, painless, does not involve disrupting my current inefficient way of working. I can buy a new machine in a couple of days.
Option 2 is costs a fraction of Option 1, but is painful – involves changing work culture and improving systems.
Most organizations prefer Option 1, which increases costs and reduces profitability, but is painless. Option 2 involves putting in a productivity monitoring system that tracks your machines’ production and downtime electronically, auomatically, 24/7.
Let’s say you have 10 machines costing a total of Rs. 2.5 Crore. A new machine will cost you Rs. 25 Lakhs, while a basic monitoring system will cost you Rs. 7 Lakhs.
The monitoring system can typically increase your machine uptime by up to 10 % in one month, and 25 % in 6 months. Which means you can, pessimistically, recover your
investment in the system in approx. 6 months.
Action point
The next time you have a capacity constraint and want to buy a new machine, instead install a machine monitoring system like CADEM LEANworks to increase capacity. Or
install a monitoring system right away and dispose of some of your existing machines.
Etc.
Doggie moving up in life
I stayed in a hotel near Connaught Place in Delhi recently, for a week. While on an early morning jog (trying to shed the kilos that I was acquiring at the huge breakfast buffet spread every morning – part of the hotel’s package deal), I saw this dog sleeping on top of a parked car.
Two questions arose in my mind:
1. How in hell did the guy get on top there, negotiating the slippery metal and glass ?
2. Wasn’t he uncomfortable on the hard and possibly cold metal ?
I still haven’t figured out the answer to the first question.
As for the second one, it was a warm and humid monsoon morning, and the metal was probably nice and cool compared to the ground.
And now I’m wondering whether he (being a city slicker dog) will at some point in his life think “I’m tired of sleeping on these mid-range cars. It’s time I moved up in life. Should look for a Benz or a BMW to sleep on tonight, so I can impress the babes”. He’s actually moved up in life, literally, from sleeping on the footpath to sleeping on a car.