23rd May 2011
In the current economic climate no manufacturer can afford substantial waste product and the costs associated with it. However, many companies have to deal
with scrap and re-work as a direct result of out of tolerance manufacture. In an ideal world, manufacturing engineers would have sufficient input in the early
stages of the design process to minimise such quality losses. Here Martin Raines, a director of Tolcap, explains how manufacturing engineers can help mitigate
the problem by applying the correct software tools.
2nd March 2011
As a design engineer, one doesn’t always have all the necessary experience of manufacturing materials, processes and treatments to produce a design that will result in a product that requires minimal engineering change and will keep scrap and wastage to a minimum. One of the ways this can be achieved is to provide the designer with the expertise of a manufacturing or machining professional. Here, Martin Raines, of tolerance software provider Tolcap, suggest five ways that good communication and accurate tolerancing can be applied to accurately predict, and thus improve, machinability.
2nd February 2011
Design and manufacturing departments co-exist in relative harmony in modern manufacturing. Gone are the days when engineering created the design and manufacturing produced it and never the twain should meet. However, issues that do still divide the two include engineering change, scrap and re-work. Here, Ken Swift of tolerance software provider Tolcap argues that more attention paid to tolerances in the first instance would help businesses get it right first time more often.