Category Archive: Large Part Machining

The Future of CNC Milling: Emerging Technologies & Trends

The technology behind CNC milling continues to advance as the world demands more from modern manufacturing. Consumer, commercial, and industrial sectors need increasingly more intricate components made from specialized materials at affordable prices and higher volumes. Cutting-edge milling machines with CNC technology empowers manufacturers to create more precise and cost-effective products. Learn more about emerging CNC technological advancements and how they’re shaping the future of precision manufacturing.

Technological Advancements With Automation

Automation is one of the key driving forces behind changes in CNC milling. Robotic systems, in particular, have been getting easier to implement and use in existing workflows without personnel needing extensive training.

Robotics and automation also address the shortage of skilled labor in manufacturing. By performing tasks that human workers would otherwise perform, automation frees up workers to focus on more complex challenges. Companies that adopt cutting-edge robotic systems can address worker shortages, close costly skill gaps, and take on production projects that manual processes wouldn’t be able to manage.

These advances go beyond automated CNC milling centers. Manufacturers can invest in collaborative robots, or cobots, to work alongside CNC milling machines for completely automated production. Cobots can load and unload materials in CNC mills, conduct secondary and finishing processes, and perform quality inspections. This maintains high standards for efficiency, safety, and product quality while human workers tackle more complex issues.

Reducing Operating Costs and Boosting Efficiency

Emerging CNC milling technologies are also reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and allowing companies to become more sustainable:

• Efficiency. CNC milling machines waste less material, make fewer errors that require rework, and use far less energy and space than manual operations. As a result, facilities can conserve more materials and energy. This efficiency is particularly evident in large-volume production cycles, where small per-unit savings add up to large project-wide benefits.
• Sustainability. Currently, CNC mills already work with recycled or recyclable materials like steel. Future advancements will focus on developing other environmentally friendly machinable materials.
• Precision engineering. Product designers develop virtual CAD and CAM designs, which allow them to efficiently produce and test prototypes before mass production.

By saving on time, cost, and energy, manufacturers can continually invest in smarter tools and technologies to improve their CNC milling processes.

Greater Customization and Flexibility

Another core advantage of CNC milling technologies is customization. Product designers in the consumer, commercial, and industrial sectors are creating more intricate components than ever before. To meet exact specifications and regulatory requirements, high-precision CNC mills can produce components and assemblies with tight tolerances.

The growing trend of high-mix, low-volume manufacturing means CNC milling providers need to be able to create more customized products and variants with flexibility. As the lifespan of the average industrial workpiece grows shorter, CNC milling providers need to invest in better processes and systems to maintain production efficiency, rather than simply buying more advanced milling equipment.

This strategy will help manufacturers achieve increasingly shorter lead times and keep up with rapidly changing product trends and technologies.

CNC Milling Services From Technox

CNC milling is an indispensable technique in modern manufacturing processes. Due to their efficiency, versatility, and precision, CNC milling services for large parts and standard components will continue to evolve with industry trends. At Technox Machine & Manufacturing, Inc., we use CNC milling and turning to create highly complex goods with consistency.

Our guide to CNC milling services gives customers an in-depth look at the different types of CNC mills and the benefits of working with a reliable CNC milling provider. As an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, we take pride in being one of the largest machine shops in the Chicago area, serving the food processing, steel, plastics, oil and gas, automation, recycling, and other industries.

Contact us today to learn more about our advanced CNC milling capabilities, or request a quote to get started on your custom project.

What Are the Challenges of Large Part Machining?

The machining of large parts presents several challenges when compared to the fabrication of smaller, lighter components. Namely, oversized parts oftentimes must be moved quickly between tools or locations. Machining parts that are too heavy, large, or bulky to be easily moved by a single human being requires specialized equipment. Large parts may also be too large to readily fit into the work zones of most common CNC machine tools.

How Large Part Machining is Different

Large part machining may require extra steps or possess additional factors that need to be taken into account, magnified, or multiplied in order to get the job done effectively. Some of these include:

Accuracy

Factors that typically influence machining accuracy in a negative way are magnified when parts are larger. This means that careful consideration needs to be placed on monitoring and countering these factors. Temperature is one of the more notable and significant examples of this. The process for machining massive parts generates larger amounts of heat, so users must compensate for this heat to maintain integrity of the final part.

Stress

Material stress is yet another factor that’s frequently overlooked when smaller parts are being fabricated. Workpieces of a conventional size often leave some room for error here, but large parts do not. Stress-related distortions must be located and fixed promptly in order to keep them from negatively impacting finishing accuracy.

Tooling

In the case of large five-axis machine spindles, the range of rotary-axis travel is essential. Machining large parts quickly means that the tooling range must account for the size of the design to ensure that time is not lost per part. Spindles that can reach all holes on a part at once make for faster work.

Tolerances

As these parts have a larger surface area, additional quality checks may be required to ensure that parts are being fabricated with reliable repeatability. Performing semi-finish passes and setting aside the time to measure between them before taking one or more finishing passes can be key to achieving strict tolerances.

Challenges Facing the Large Part Machining Industry

Large part machining offers a range of unique challenges. When implementing new processes, keep the following three obstacles in mind:

1. Implementing Large Manufacturing is a Tough Process

Implementing large part machining capabilities can be a stressful process. Investments in equipment capable of machining larger parts involves a certain amount of risk. Staff will require additional training on the new equipment to successfully fabricate oversized parts, which may cause some internal frustration or pushback from the workforce.

2. Buying in at the Shop-Floor Level

The individuals who will be doing the legwork behind large manufacturing need to be invested in the process. Any shop relies on the experience and abilities of its workforce to drive success. Without support at the ground level, new large part initiatives will suffer.

3. Don’t End Experiments Prematurely

It takes more time than many professionals may expect to fine-tune a large part manufacturing process and get it right. Stumbling along the way and needing to adjust your process is normal, but not everybody has an easy time coming to terms with this. It’s easy to think your process is broken or ineffective when it’s in its infancy, and this is how many larger projects fail.

For more information about our large part machining capabilities, or if you’re interested in what large part machining could mean for your organization, please contact us.