May 04
JackLundeeMachining Green green machining, guest post
This is a guest post from Jack Lundee, thank you for your contribution!
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With heavy development of prototypes and the never slowing business to business construction/adaptation of plastic, metals and wood, laser sintering and stereolithography have become widely energy efficient. Yielding the same, if not better, output, these large machines have rapidly become greener.
Utilizing CNC (Computer Numeric Control) and CAD, prototypes are able to develop unique designs and shape various metallic, plastic, and wooden materials into appropriate form. Although, since the first CNC machines were built (1940), there have been significant strides in providing a more energy efficient machine. Ranging from $1,000 to nearly $50,000 and weighing in at close to 6000 lbs, these machines can eat up electricity much like a large industrial oven used in a pizza shop. Although, this is a tremendous improve from past machines, coming it at close to 50,000 watts. Newer machines can range anywhere between 800 and 6,000 watts, depending on the make and price. Again, this is still close to the electric drain of a hot tub or stove.
Despite, this is quite a significant difference – It’s easy to compare this to a domestic furnace, whereas older furnaces were built to last, newer ones are built to reduce electricity costs and promote sustainability. With more expensive machines running at close to 4000 RPMs, (revolutions per minute), it’s no wonder why they require so much juice. The engine/motor eats up the most power, along with the CPU and cooling system, which leads me to my next point.
The machines ability to reduce business expenses effectively compliments its technological advances. This includes things like a brushless motor. Prior to construction,
motors were subject to:
• Worn brush heads
• Sparking and electricity (noise)
• Limitation of speed (efficiency)
• Slow cooling
With the implementation of a BLM (Brushless Motor), these machines not only have greater capabilities, but provide low costs and greater efficiency.
As tool manufacturers are met with new market demands, they must also inherently adapt their business and machines. This is especially true for those in the niche of rapid prototyping. Adapting to new technology and market demands is essential for any business conducing sintering, cutting, welding, stereolithography and much more! With this, consumers should be green conscious, particularly in the development of CNC/CAD machines.
Apr 30
StevenDeamAerospace Machining, Machining Green, Precision Machining Aerospace Machining, Precision Machining, value added services
Airplanes and other aerospace items need to be ordered well in advance of when they are needed. With long lead times and relatively low volumes – a good jet sells 200-300 units in a year – aerospace companies can get a pretty good read on what their needs will be for the next year or so. To aid our customers of aerospace machine parts we have added several services without increasing our costs to our customers. You can read all about our aerospace services in detail at our aerospace machining page or our aerospace machining definition page.
Our advanced information management capabilities allow us to provide long term stocking arrangements or kanban shipping. In many cases we hold the inventory for our aerospace customers and allow them to draw from our inventory rather than maintain their own inventory. We use various just-in-time production techniques to keep up with our customers’ assembly demands. For one of our customers we deliver parts on an demand-flow basis directly to the assembly line.. In addition we are able to build to an annual forecast, rather than directly to individual purchase orders. Machining the parts to an annual forecast, while we also maintain the inventory, combines to save our customers considerable cost and time.
CNC Industries has the ability to handle many different methods of receiving orders. We have multiple electronic systems, such as Exostar which many aerospace companies use, through which we receive new orders. We also have many customers who send electronic triggers through email to indicate additional requirements.
Some other value added services are more transparent to our customers but are still important. Our standard practice of handling machined parts within our facility is to create unique totes and tubs to protect the parts throughout the entire manufacturing process. We have strict maintenance policies and keep our facilities climate controlled, clean, and well lit. One traditional view of machine shops is that they are dingy, dirty and dangerous to walk around in. When coming to CNC Industries, we expect that you will immediately notice the difference in the care we take in maintaining our facility. Visitors frequently tell us that our facility is the cleanest and most advanced manufacturing facility that they have seen.
Jun 03
adminMachining Green, News
CNC Industries, Inc. a Fort Wayne, Indiana based job shop is incorporating green initiatives into it’s daily operations. Working with several of it’s customers CNC Industries has switched from single use, paper based shipping and packaging materials to re-usable shipping materials. In some cases CNC Industries is delivering their products directly to the manufacturers’ floor and eliminating packaging materials all together.
The company is also incorporating green initiatives into their manufacturing processes and facilities management in every area possible. In one example the company was able to completely eliminate a high amperage air conditioning unit for cooling their server room by recycling cooled air from another area of the office. The company is also using high efficiency LCD monitors throughout the company as well as high efficiency “thin client” work stations in place of desktop computers wherever possible.
A very significant Green initiative by CNC Industries is their paperless document system. The company has a sophisticated electronic Document Management system which has reduced their use of printed documentation very significantly. CNC Industries has even requested that their customers as well as suppliers use electronic documents instead of faxes and printed documents as much as possible.
According to an article at: www.greenbiz.com, manufacturers increasingly see green initiatives as a way to move business forward through cost savings, improved efficiency and reputation boost, according to a new survey.
Eyefortransport (EFT) turned to 300 North American executives overseeing manufacturing, operations and supply chains to gauge adoption and perception of green efforts. The results showed a majority see the price barrier to green manufacturing shrinking and a view that environmentally friendly practices can be successfully combined with traditional business practices.
“When asked how they view green manufacturing initiatives, 84 percent told us that they see them as part of an overall optimization strategy,” said Katharine O’Reilly, EFT’s senior vice president of environmental research. “This marks a major sea change, and implies that environmental programs are becoming part of the standard arsenal of strategies employed to boost innovation and optimize operations.”
Ninety-five percent of respondents in the “Green Manufacturing: Adoption & Implementation 2008″ said green manufacturing will increase and expand. Two-thirds believe in the existence of markets for greener, more expensive products. Leading drivers toward greener operations include the contribution to sustainability strategies, response to consumer interest and improving reputation.
Forty-three percent said eco-initiatives improved their bottom lines through better product quality and increased efficiency. Most — 65 percent — turned to recycling and reuse programs, followed by water reduction programs (58 percent), continuous improvement (54 percent) and energy management (50 percent).
Here is a good article on Green Manufacturing which explains some of the practices CNC Industries is incorporating into their business.
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CNC Industries is a Fort Wayne, Indiana based machine shop specializing in precision CNC machining, fabrication and assembly of application-critical and custom machined parts for the Aerospace, Defense, Medical, Industrial and Transportation markets. The company presently employs approximately 55 people.
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