Earn big ROI with the right machine tool

Determining an accurate return on investment extends farther than just the machine’s performance specifications. You have to also consider the financial impact a machine tool has on other aspects of your shop floor and ultimately the service you provide to your customer.

To ensure the most accurate ROI calculations, you must refine your machine tool selection process by assembling a lean manufacturing team comprised of leadership from various positions across the shop floor. Together, they discuss how the performance of a potential machine tool investment could influence secondary machining operations, handwork, spotting and other post-processing labour of its automotive mould manufacturing

If you’re investing in capabilities that just simply get the job done, you may have dollars slipping through the cracks in other areas of your shop floor. Some small and medium-sized job shop owners in South East Asia find themselves serving several different roles for 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep the business running smoothly. They frequently faced difficult financial challenges due to limited savings. But learning the value of smart machine tool selection, and being wise and responsible with your finances, you will be able to keep reinvesting in your automotive mould manufacturing capabilities.

When you’re working with optic lens moulds, accuracy and finish are imperative. For this reason, you must invest in new capabilities that could provide the best finishes possible, straight out of the machine.

For each machine tool selection, you must decide to assemble a manufacturing team who could discuss current bottlenecks, share specifications, and determine projected performance across the entire part process. Upon gathering this information, you can accurately quantify how much the process is costing your shop with current equipment and the cost savings that could be realized with proposed equipment.

You will be surprised to learn that it is no longer feasible to have an operator stationed at each machine throughout the day, and inconsistent part quality was resulting in long hours of hand-finishing and spotting. You need a machine tool that could provide high productivity and exceptional accuracy and finish with little operator attention required.

Commitment to investment

Automotive mould designs are continuously growing in complexity with longer, deeper three-dimensional shapes and fewer draft angles, making it increasingly difficult to meet time-sensitive orders with 3-axis machines. In order to meet these demands, you must invest in multi-axis machining capabilities.

By investing in such machine, you will reduce semi-finishing and finishing times of cores and cavities by 50 percent, while eliminating almost 100 percent of your previous secondary machining operations and associated setups. These new capabilities will also allow you to substantially reduce outsourcing and cut out all related handwork and spotting. As with all high-speed CNC machines, anticipate that it will run close to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a total cost reduction of 35 percent with full return on investment in approximately three and a half years.

It’s a sure-fire way to secure the future of the business. Its ability to calculate the true value of a machining centre enables the company to continuously improve its efficiency, profitability, and competitive stance in the global marketplace.