Let Your TMS and Machine Tools Talk Amongst Themselves

Managing tool data with presetter software saves time and prevents errors

Tooling Integration options

Integration options can eliminate data redundancy and safely share data among various systems.

Machine shop owners are constantly looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity. Tool management system (TMS) software, in conjunction with presetters, can accomplish both, and together they offer many advantages to a shop’s day-to-day activities. TMS software helps organize and locate component inventory, aids assembly and location control, monitors tool life, creates setup sheets, and helps in overall production planning and control.

In many cases, machine shop owners don’t want to put money into something that’s not making parts. However, the industry is recognizing that the right investments can pay off. Although TMS doesn’t produce parts, it reduces setup time and component use, which lead to more profit. In the long run, the investment is worthwhile.

Most shops are already using a tool management system to some extent, whether it’s an electronic or a physical library, and a variety of new systems with varying levels of complexity are available. The first step in implementing or upgrading a TMS is to determine which one is right for the shop.

Start With the Basics

At the most basic level, presetters can print labels containing the job number, dimensions, offsets, tools required, and so on, and an operator manually types the information printed on the setup sheets into the control’s tool offset table. These CAD generated setup sheets are popular, but manually inputting the information takes time and introduces the risk of human error.

As paper data sheets pass through a shop, they are prone to being displaced, lost, or damaged, potentially leaving the operator with incorrect or insufficient information. And using information from an outdated setup sheet can cost thousands of dollars in production time and wasted materials.

Though this manual-entry method might work well for one-off jobs, single tool changes, or infrequent or low-volume runs, new presetter technologies streamline the process, reducing the potential for human error and the amount of manual labor.

Build a Customized Library

New presetters offer options for building a tool library specific to any facility. In the case of a complete setup, or setup of a complete turret where every tool is changed out, the postprocessing system provides a leap forward in errorproofing. Using this system, the presetter creates a file containing offset information and sends the file to the network, where it can be pushed to the control via DNC software.

There are many advantages to the postprocessing system. Most important, an operator needs to build a job only once and it will remain available electronically. When a job comes in, information is entered into the presetter control to connect a job number with the appropriate tooling. Once that’s done, it’s saved. A shop may not see the job for another five years, but when it comes in, the file won’t have to be re-created. An operator can search the presetter for the part number to find the job information and the tools needed and go straight into production.

Measured Tool Data

Measured tool data can be easily and securely transferred to a machine tool.

Newer machine tools have the ability to find and automatically upload a component program file. The program inputs similarly to the way a component program would be input into the machine. The messaging from the presetter would only be an augmentation for the offset. This postprocessing technology removes human error, often referred to as “fat-finger” syndrome, and helps minimize the scrap caused by those errors.

By implementing the postprocessing system, operators also have the ability to research and run job comparisons. This is done by entering a job currently running, the job that will run next, and the tools to be used. The system finds tools that are common between the two jobs and locates the remaining tools needed, whether they’re in a machine, the tool crib, or disassembled. This efficiently eases the flow and transition from one job to the next.

Building a tool library into the pre- setter reduces redundancy, manages stock, and reduces tooling costs. This eases inventory management, as the system keeps close track of what tooling is needed for each job, what’s available in the shop, and what needs to be ordered.

Errorproof Data

The best way to safeguard tool data is to keep it on the tool and use radio frequency identification (RFID) to upload offset information into the control. A new presetter, once it has measured the offsets at the end of the cycle, writes all of the dimensions to a tag that is inside the toolholder.

In this system, the toolholder itself then carries the dimensions and offset details with it. Once it goes into the machine, the control can read the tag and update its tool offset table from the tag information. Even if an operator puts the tool in the wrong machine, the correct data will be preserved.

Choose the Right System

These three levels of input security do have cost differences. Basic printing and manual entry is the least expensive option—the label printer being the single expense—but operators are subject to fat-finger errors. The postprocessor costs more but is also more reliable, removing transcription and fat-finger errors, but the file and tool remain two separate entities. If an operator offsets the tools for one machine, loads the postprocessor file into the machine, but then places the tool into a different machine or the wrong turret pocket, the entire process becomes flawed.

RFID can prevent these mistakes. With RFID the tool is measured, it goes onto the machine, and then the machine (whichever machine, in whichever turret pocket) reads the tool. This method requires the highest investment but provides the most reliability.

When choosing a TMS it’s important for shops to consider whether it can grow with the operation. For example, with some TMSs, all the data can be transferred to a tool data management (TDM) system, so if and when a shop wants to upgrade, it can. Some presetters work with the TMS and TDM system to eliminate duplication when transferring data.

Worth the Investment?

The best ways to increase profitability are to reduce overhead and increase productivity. An advanced presetter can help a shop do both simultaneously. It also analyzes the tool outside the machining center, ensuring the insert is not chipped, worn, or cracked; the cutter is not too dull; and the runout isn’t too high.

Minimizing runout also increases tool life, reducing investment in tooling. Decreasing consumable costs and increasing productivity equal more money in your pocket—making presetters a profit-making investment. With the variety of options available today, it’s just a matter of finding the most suitable presetter and TMS software combination.

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