6 ways to boost your CNC productivity
By scribe
CNC machines provide shops with several major benefits – heightened precision, versatility, and overall capability – but perhaps their most significant benefit is the ability to streamline a shop’s productivity. Time is money when it comes to CNC work, and project efficiency is especially crucial.
While most of this efficiency comes from the very use of the CNC machine itself, there are additional ways to increase your productivity based on how you use your equipment and operate your shop. Here are six tips for streamlining your CNC output.
Keep equipment up-to-date
Technological advancements in CNC are constantly taking shape, and it’s no secret that modern machinery is almost always more precise and efficient than that of years past. Keeping the equipment in your shop up-to-date and knowing when to replace components that are no longer effective will improve your project timelines.
It may help to develop a written protocol to help determine when it’s time to replace or retool equipment, rather than relying on your gut.
Work while the machine works
Don’t sit idly by while your machine is in operation. This is a perfect time to start setting up for your next project or to take on another task around the shop. While the machine is working, you should be too. In shops with multiple team members, it’s smart to set a list of duties to ensure everyone has something to do while the machinery is at work.
Prepare for your power requirements
Some CNC operations can consume a large amount of power – and your shop needs to be prepared for it. Downtime due to power outages costs you productivity and revenue. It’s critical to understand the power requirements of your equipment to ensure your facility is capable of delivering on those needs and maintaining project timelines.
Set and maintain processes
Having a set plan for how to prioritize and attack certain types of projects is key to achieving productivity in the shop. The more you perform a specific kind of project, the more efficient your processes will become.
You should also remain aware of any opportunities to improve on processes so you can continue to fine-tune your operation with each completed task. As new trends in the industry emerge, your processes should evolve, as well.
Perform routine maintenance
Few things will delay a project more frustratingly than equipment failure, and one of the best ways to avoid that failure is to perform regular and routine maintenance on your machinery. CNC routers and CNC plasmas go through a lot on a daily basis and need to be maintained just as any high-powered machinery should.
Equipment failure can lead to extended downtime as you wait for replacement parts to come in, drastically damaging your profitability, as well.
Organize your shop for productivity
Disorganization in the shop is one of the most common yet least thought of causes of inefficient production. Arranging hardware and pieces of machinery in a way that lends itself to less in-shop movement and general work on your part goes a long way.
Keeping items where they belong also reduces time spent searching and will help you develop a rhythm – especially when working on familiar types of projects.
Streamline your project efficiency with ShopSabre
ShopSabre’s industry-best CNC machines provide precision, efficiency, and total versatility to help aspiring hobbyists and full-time commercial shop owners alike produce truly outstanding results with a fraction of the labor. Shop our unmatched collection of CNC routers and plasmas today to take your shop’s quality and productivity to the next level.