Jump to content

Welcome to eMastercam

Register now to participate in the forums, access the download area, buy Mastercam training materials, post processors and more. This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Use your display name or email address to sign in:

Tool Crib Management Software?


motor-vater
 Share

Recommended Posts

Anybody got any experience or suggestions? Our old crib man just retired and while he knew every tool in the place his only system was, well he knew every tool in the place. We hired a pretty green kid to take over and we need to give him a direction to go in to make our lives easier and save some money. Its amazing to me how many tools we buy without really knowing what we already have. From a programmers stand point we have a decent selection of standard tools in stock that I know I can program to but, I still would love to be able to know what we have be it on other jobs or just sitting around before I commit to ordering tools. Also knowing when to reorder is huge. I feel like the money we spend can be some what reduced or atleast redirected into other areas of the shop... Not really interested in a vending machine or locking drawers, we have a guy to go through, just need a way for him to manage it all...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, jlw™ said:

The tool vender would send an excel file every week to my email.  That was good as it had everything in it and the quantitties on hand.  Is that an option?

Maybe except we use multiple venders. I'm looking for something in house that we can use a company..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TMS, WinTool, and Zoller are the big players, with arguably the most capable systems. Each will require some sort of integration with ERP (if that is your goal), and have a mechanism to output Tool Data for Mastercam and/or Vericut.

One of the questions I usually ask when this subject comes up: where do you want to define the tool data initially? I personally like building tools, holders, and Assemblies inside of Mastercam, and feeding that data to Vericut through the McamV Chook, but it depends on where you want to designate the "source data".

What happens when the Tool Crib attendant needs to substitute a Tool and/or Holder? Do you allow that as part of your process? Who is then responsible for owning the process change, once that happens?

Ideally there is some sort of feedback loop in place that captures the changes or updates to the Tool Assemblies in the Tool List, so that changes make it back to update the source files. We can do this with the Mastercam Tool Manager standalone application, make edits to .ToolDB Files, and save the updated database to the "job folder". The issue is the CNC Programmer (or someone responsible), must now delete the existing tools that need to be replaced, then must grab the edited assemblies from the ToolDB file, and regenerate the Mastercam Toolpaths.

The issue with Mastercam Tool Manager, is it doesn't offer anywhere near the data and ability to integrate with an ERP system, the way the big players do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome feed back guys. I have been building tool libraries for all of my assembly's. And we/programmers provide and control the info for the crib attendant to build assembly's. That part is working fine. The biggest problem I have is knowing what we have on hand, and equally important knowing when to replenish certain tools. I really need an inventory system that I can use as a reference when deciding on tools, it would be nice if it would keep track of lead times too so we know when to reorder some custom tools and such. We are now starting to kart jobs that are reoccurring to cut down on set up times, But the last big job I programmed alot of money was spent on tooling and 3 weeks later as we re-organized our crib, I found multiple tools that I had just purchased already in stock. This was an OH S#&! moment for me because I just hate wasting money that could be used for other things that can make my life better like probes, new computers, etc...

 

I guess ultimately I'm looking for something really easy to use, but functional for all the above mentioned objectives. Spending a fortune for something complicated is less likely to catch on around here. If its easy they will use it... If they use it, it will help immensely..

Link to comment
Share on other sites
55 minutes ago, motor-vater said:

Awesome feed back guys. I have been building tool libraries for all of my assembly's. And we/programmers provide and control the info for the crib attendant to build assembly's. That part is working fine. The biggest problem I have is knowing what we have on hand, and equally important knowing when to replenish certain tools. I really need an inventory system that I can use as a reference when deciding on tools, it would be nice if it would keep track of lead times too so we know when to reorder some custom tools and such. We are now starting to kart jobs that are reoccurring to cut down on set up times, But the last big job I programmed alot of money was spent on tooling and 3 weeks later as we re-organized our crib, I found multiple tools that I had just purchased already in stock. This was an OH S#&! moment for me because I just hate wasting money that could be used for other things that can make my life better like probes, new computers, etc...

 

I guess ultimately I'm looking for something really easy to use, but functional for all the above mentioned objectives. Spending a fortune for something complicated is less likely to catch on around here. If its easy they will use it... If they use it, it will help immensely..

Excel spreadsheets with some custom VBA Macros might do what you want. The trick is setting it up so that you keep track of the important things, but not burden someone with entering redundant data. At least you can easily track quantity on hand, min/max order quantities, and track lead times.

Have you looked into getting any vending machines? These are really great if you can get someone good to stock a range of tools. Typically, they don't bill you until you actually scan a tool against a work order, which allows you to stock a range of different tools. I would look at Helical and Harvey Tool (same company now), or pick your favorite carbide tool supplier and see what they can do for you.

You can also look to partner with a 3rd party tool supplier. I've seen both Fastenal and MSC as the providers recently, and preferred the capabilities that Fastenal offered. They built a custom web-based inventory management and ordering system for the last place I was at in CT; PCX Aerostructures. It will always be difficult if you have people ordering tools that do not have at least basic mill and/or lathe experience. So, we (as CNC Programmers) still had to do 150% of the leg work. I say 150%, because we literally had to call the salesperson, check stock on hand, figure out lead time and shipping arrangements, type all the Tool Data into an online order form, with exactly what I needed, and they would still find a way to screw up the order, about 25% of the time. (Hey, down from 80-90% , so an improvement, right?) Then, once I got the order confirmed, I would have to chase the approval up the chain of command, first to my boss, then to the Operations Manager, and finally up to the COO. So, it was a minimum of an hour or two, for me to physically chase these guys down between (their) meetings, so I could get tools ordered by the shipping deadlines. It was only small orders (under $500, I think) that my direct boss could approve. 

Beyond the fiasco of approval for placing the order, the Fastenal service reps were the ones who actually placed the order with the tooling vendor. So now, once the order gets placed (if done correctly), I get an automated email when estimated delivery date is updated (good), plus another email once the tooling order is received (manually emailed), but, sometimes the orders would somehow slip through the cracks. We'd get an order placed Red for overnight shipping, with approval in the system by 11 am (noon cutoff for next day air), but the order actually got placed at 2:40 pm. Still Red, even though they should have realized they missed the shipping deadline, and could have saved a ton of shipping cost by changing to Blue (2 day shipping).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would think a good starting place would be good visual management techniques like KanBan or something of the sort.  That combined with an excel database of tools that should be stocked in the crib should suffice.  I would start that with consumable tools, and eventually holders and components, then finally with assemblies.  Any time a tool enters or exits the gate it goes into the sheet under the proper category.  Any time an assembly is broken down, the components are put back into used inventory, both physically and in the sheet.  The physical visual management Kan Ban cards are the tool to make sure the tools are properly logged in the system.  Eventually, the system will know roughly where everything in the shop is supposed to be, and have a decent idea of it's status.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Join us!

eMastercam - your online source for all things Mastercam.

Together, we are the strongest Mastercam community on the web with over 56,000 members, and our online store offers a wide selection of training materials for all applications and skill levels.

Follow us

×
×
  • Create New...