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The information age of automation

A decade ago we couldn’t talk enough about automation: You remove the labor content from a job, it was said, and you can compete with the world. No longer would cheap-labor countries have the competitive advantage.

During the past 10 years it’s become more complicated. Automation in many applications is a given, but I don’t hear about reducing a job’s labor content. In fact, when I called owners our annual FAB 40 feature earlier this years, some talked about the importance of automation, but more emphasized the importance of having the right information at the right time.

Automation and good part quality are given these days—but ensuring all information regarding machine productivity, scheduling, safety, and part quality is accurate and complete? All this isn’t so much of a given.

Alan Lund, a manufacturing consultant with UHY Advisors, recently told me that when he arrives at a shop, he makes a bet with the executive in charge. “When we meet the first day, I pick five random job travelers or routers that specify how the job shop makes a certain product. I then say, ‘If those routers are correct, I’ll buy lunch. If they’re not correct, I’ll buy you lunch.’ I haven’t lost a bet yet.” More often than not, he said, processing and (especially) machine setup times don’t reflect what’s actually occurring in the shop.

We may be entering the “information age” of automaton in metal fabrication. Software and machine tool vendors tout systems that help fabricators track exactly what’s being produced where, and how long it’s expected to take.

Manufacturers have been experts in measuring things for decades, and today more are putting the information to good use. Barcodes have become pervasive, even at the smallest job shops, accompanying or occasionally replacing paper job travelers. More shops are measuring their changeover times, tracking material usage and flow.

A quintessential example of this may be what’s going on at Impulse Manufacturing in Dawsonville, Ga. The shop tracks machine uptime, quality and safety metrics, and every setup time—between the last good part of the previous job to the first good part of the next. As the saying goes, you can’t improve what you don’t measure.

Considering all this, perhaps one day soon Alan Lund will lose his bet.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Tim Heston

Senior Editor

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-381-1314

Tim Heston, The Fabricator's senior editor, has covered the metal fabrication industry since 1998, starting his career at the American Welding Society's Welding Journal. Since then he has covered the full range of metal fabrication processes, from stamping, bending, and cutting to grinding and polishing. He joined The Fabricator's staff in October 2007.