Productivity makes most people happy. Whether we complete a home project, or we reach our daily goal at the shop, being productive in life gives us satisfaction. But in order to do this, multitasking often comes into play. When we are walking the dog while checking our e-mails on our iPhone, we are multitasking. In shop talk, however, multitasking offers similar benefits of getting more than one thing done at a time, but takes the concept a step further: Multitask machining (or using a mill-turn machine) means performing various manufacturing operations without manual intervention. It provides the ability to reduce leadtimes, improve machining accuracy, reduce floor space and initial cost, lower operating expenses and operator requirements and improve the work environment.
With many multitasking machines, a single toolholder is used in place of the tool turret, allowing turning, milling, drilling, tapping, facing, grooving and threading operations in the main spindle followed by a hand-off of parts from the main spindle to a subspindle to complete backworking operations. The toolholder is serviced by an automatic toolchanger located outside the cutting zone. Untended operation takes over from there, with auto load/unload during machining operations.
When a shop is faced with producing any part with turning, drilling or boring, OD or ID threads and a few mill features, such as a square or hex, even a bolt-hole pattern, it is time to consider a mill-turn process.
This leading manufacturer of non-lubricated robotic gears uses a seven-axis turn-mill to machine components from “amorphous” metals such as bulk metallic glasses.
A shop in Big Sky Country uses a B-axis multitasking machine to produce complex, prismatic medical parts that require no turning complete from barstock.
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Why am I seeing this?
Dear Production Machining Audience Member:
Starting on Thursday August 8, 2024, PM will begin “gating” its premium content, asking all new website users to provide some information about themselves — name, title, employer, email address — before they are provided free access to the content.
We are doing this because the ways PM’s audience finds and accesses our content is changing. Google’s search algorithms, increasingly, make it difficult to connect PM’s content with the people who might make use of it. On top of that, generative AI like ChatGPT is serving up PM content to internet users without attributing that content to PM.
As a result, it has become increasingly important for PM evolve its audience development strategy and learn as much as possible about who is accessing our content, what content they are accessing and how they are accessing it.
With this audience development strategy, we hope to do two things:
First, we will be better able to deliver directly to our audience the editorial content that aligns with the machining materials, processes and technologies that interest them.
Second, we will be better able to connect the materials, equipment and services our advertisers supply with the audience that is most interested in them.
PM plays a distinctive role and has earned a place of esteem within the focused and specialized industry it serves. Large developments in the media landscape are forcing us to change the way we communicate with our audience. We are confident that our audience values the role PM plays in their professional lives and will join us in this effort to stay connected to them.
We thank you for your continued interest in and support of PM and welcome any questions you might have about the brand’s new content gating strategy.
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