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Although our first dual Y axis machine was sold in 1998, the recent economy has helped to increase the urgency for greater productivity gains with manageable cost structures! And so we have decided to put together an illustrative demonstration of the advantages of a dual Y system.
With a typical batch mode system, all operations are serial in nature: the operator loads a part, the operator presses run, the machine does its function and stops, the operator unloads the part and the cycle starts over again. The load and unload sequence is something that we conservatively estimate at a 10 second time cost. As the cycle time drops below about 1.5 minutes, the consequence of this 10 second layover becomes more significant. If you have a 10 second cycle time and a 10 second change over time, fully half of your plant productivity is given to getting parts on and off of the machine!
At a certain point (also around the 10 second mark) it gets to be more difficult for a line operator to keep up with the machine and then something with automated material handling, such as our ICP line, should be considered. Some parts are simply too awkward to be able to load and unload quickly and safely.
One of the interesting elements of New Precision Technology's take on this type of configuration is our "queued" over-ride. The operator loads the parts and as soon as they are loaded, they can press the RUN button and the machine will begin a new cycle right after it finishes the current cycle.
NOTE! With these systems relying so heavily on operator loading consistency, some consideration should be given to validating the part load by way of sensing. Often, New Precision Technology will employ vacuum sensing, prox sensing, ultrasonic sensing, or tactile sensing where appropriate. A very effective example of vacuum sensing can be seen in the hot melt video found through the supplied link. In this example, the presence of a plastic sheet is sensed both when applied and when removed. In this double test method we can actually use the vacuum sense as a run cycle signal, allowing for a seven second cycle time!
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