If your company’s bottom line is defined by the efficiency of its production line, using CNC machinery could be a key to maximizing its revenue. By replacing manual machines with CNC machines, a company improves its production capacity in two ways: by increasing production rate, and by reducing human error in the production process. For many companies, implementing CNC machinery is the final step toward meeting commercial production goals. As with any type of woodworking equipment, it should not be purchased with blinders on.
If you are considering investing in CNC machinery, be sure to balance its drawbacks against its benefits as you make your decision:
Benefit: Can Operate Around the Clock
Due to its low operating temperature and economy of motion, CNC equipment can operate around the clock, helping the manufacturer achieve maximum production capacity. It is also profitable to operate around the clock because a single operator can monitor two or more CNC machines.
Drawback: Can Be Expensive to Purchase
The best-known drawback of computer-controlled machinery is its high purchase price. Buying it used can reduce the expense. Even when it is purchased secondhand, an elite CNC machine can still require a significant investment.
Benefit: Excellent Repeatability Across Production Runs
A CNC machine’s computer-controlled cutting mechanism ensures the device produces flawless woodwork. Conversely, using manual machinery can result in several errors across a large production run. Computer-controlled machines achieve excellent repeatability by eliminating human error.
Drawback: Can Be Expensive to Repair
In addition to being expensive to buy, industrial grade CNC machinery can also be expensive to repair. High repair cost is due to expensive replacement parts and the high service rates charged by special technicians.
Benefit: Eliminates the Expense of Waste Pieces
By achieving excellent repeatability across production runs, CNC woodworking equipment eliminates the expense of waste pieces. For companies that have a high production rate, eliminating waste pieces can lead to meaningful cost savings.
Drawback: A Programming Error Could Cause Significant Waste
Computer-controlled machinery does not make cutting errors, but it is subject to programming errors. If a machine operator enters the wrong design coordinates for a large production run, thousands of waste pieces could result from a single programming error.
Benefit: Eliminates Wasted Production Time
By eliminating waste pieces, CNC woodworking equipment eliminates wasted production time. In facilities where each minute of production contributes to production goals, computer-controlled machinery is indispensable.
Conclusion
CNC machinery was created in the 1970s. Since that time, its technology has considerably improved. Today, computer-controlled machines are ideal replacements for manual machines for several reasons, including:
• Superior production capacity
• Safer operation due to the operator’s distance from the cutting tool
• Potential to reduce staff by having one operator control multiple machines
• Short training regimen compared to the regimen for manual machinery
If you need CNC equipment, but you need help selecting it, the equipment experts at RT Machine can help. For over ten years, we have supplied woodworkers with the machines they need to succeed. In addition to selling new and used woodworking machinery, we also perform machine location. If we do not have the equipment you need in stock, we can locate it by searching equipment inventories across the globe. To get the machinery you need, call us today.
