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Lean or mean in punching tool organization?

Hint: Lean makes life easier for all

Figure 1
These two toolrooms represent a lean, organized method for storing complete assemblies that are ready to use along with the accompanying dies.

Every day fabricators all over the world are working on continuous improvement efforts. It’s a never-ending job because opportunities for improvement always will be available.

Advancements in technologies like 3-D printing, factory automation, and materials sciences are exciting, inspirational, and attention-getting. Yet we walk past waste every day on the shop floor, failing to see the opportunities that require little to no expense to improve productivity and profitability. One of these waste streams is the management of tooling inventory.

Tooling for NC punching presses is mission-critical for production. You handle these tools many times a day, and the management of these tools can affect the productivity of the people using them. Because tool management efficiency is not easily measured, it becomes part of that invisible waste stream you live with until you recognize it and make the changes needed to improve.

Well-managed tooling minimizes non-value-added activity in areas where you are not producing goods. Those non-value-added activities can be identified by looking for the eight deadly wastes. All of these wastes can be found when you begin to look at your tooling use and storage with a critical eye.

The acronym DOWNTIME can help you keep these deadly wastes on your radar:

Defects

Overproduction

Waiting

Non-value-added processing

Transportation

Inventory excess

Motion waste

Employee/people waste

No Time for Waiting

Let’s take a closer look at waiting. This is the idle time resulting from nonsynchronized processes. It’s simply the time when individuals are not working directly on adding value to the product. Relative to the tooling management, the majority of waiting waste can be defined as all of the press setup time, including searching for tools.

More specifically, press setup is the process of transitioning from the production of one job to another job, which frequently requires some tool changes. Efficiently performing this necessary function depends upon the availability and condition of the tooling that is to be installed into the press. Being able to quickly locate tools that are prepared and ready to use requires organization and visibility. Press setup is absolutely the worst time to discover that the tool you need is dull and needs sharpening or that you need to go hunting for a tool that is needed now.

If you have a centralized toolroom area, you can organize your tools in such a way that the tool management process is efficient and serves the needs of the production team and press operators. Toolroom organization can be divided into different categories, such as active, regularly used tools; backups for high-use tools; storage of inactive, infrequently used tools; and items needed for tool/press maintenance.

The ideal toolroom system is part of the production workflow and prepares the tools needed for the next job in advance. The toolroom employees locate the required tools, confirm the tools are in good condition, put the tools on a mobile setup cart, and deliver them to the press area for installation with the next order.

Figure 2
Colors are used to identify the different punching machines.

For this process to be efficient, the tools stored in the tooling room must be ready for use when they are put away. Tools used on previous jobs and no longer needed at the press are returned to the toolroom for inspection, maintenance, and storage. Figure 1 shows two different toolroom areas that have a lean, organized method for storing complete assemblies that are ready to use along with the accompanying dies with various clearances.

Keeping track of the tools and knowing their location can be challenging. It is common for fabricators to use color coding to differentiate the presses. One well-organized toolroom has a board that displays the colors assigned to each press (see Figure 2). The fabricator uses colored placeholders to show the location of missing tools (see Figure 3), including white to signify it is at sharpening. There is no guessing, but this organization approach requires discipline to sustain.

It is common for toolrooms to have large cabinets with drawers filled with tooling (see Figure 4). Typically these toolrooms have active tools, backup tools, and inactive tools all stored together. You really don’t know what you have until you find the right drawer and correct compartment within that drawer (see Figures 5 and 6).

It’s waste to open and close drawers looking for tools. Open, accessible, well-labeled tool storage provides a quick visual confirmation that the tool you need is there.

Figure 7 shows a cart with tooling that was prepared by the toolroom and is ready for installation into the press for the next job. The cart also includes the die shims needed with each die. This is a great lean improvement step, and it minimizes the time the press is not running.

Simply having tool carts doesn’t ensure that you have a lean process. As Figure 8 shows, tool carts can be a mean, disorganized dumping ground. An organized toolroom staffed by knowledgeable and service-minded individuals can eliminate a tremendous amount of waste at the press.

The setup process also can be streamlined if you store punching tooling at the press. Figure 9 shows a well-organized press area where the operator has prepared the tools needed for the next job while running the current job. Figure 10 shows another press area with tool storages and the tools are visible, accessible, and well-labeled. These are both good examples of lean practices.

To increase efficiency and ensure well-maintained tools, you can locate an automated tool grinder (see Figure 11) near the press. It allows the operator to sharpen tools while running a job.

The press area in Figure 12 shows a closed drawer cabinet. Outside appearances suggest a proper level or organization, but if you look closely, the drawers are not labeled.

The tools in Figure 13 also are stored at the press, but clearly these expensive tools are infrequently used. They are good candidates for storing inside a labeled tool cabinet.

Figure 3
Colored placeholders tell employees what punching machines are using missing tools. White indicates the part is being sharpened.

Be Organized or Beware

Fabricators that do not have an organized, orderly tool management system may find that their operators devise undesirable, unorthodox solutions to the problem.

For example, say a punching machine operator is a conscientious employee who wants to be productive, but the lack of organized tooling management drives him to hide tools. The operator doesn’t want the tooling to go missing in between jobs, so he puts them where he can find them. Unfortunately, others that might need the tooling don’t have his knowledge. It’s not a good storage solution, but it’s the only solution that the operator has available.

Eliminating the waste associated with waiting can have a great impact on a punching operation—and that’s just one of the eight deadly wastes! Fabricators wanting to focus on efficient and effective punching tooling management can expect to see higher productivity and better quality of parts.

It’s always better to choose lean and eliminate the mean aspects of production.

About the Author

Dennis Lowry

Custom Engineering Manager

1295 Lund Blvd.

Anoka, MN 55303

800-328-4492