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Thanks guys. Like I said, we use the MSC Cap system for our inserts, endmills, etc. It's powered by software from Supply Point, and it turns out that it has the ability to manage items not stored directly in the CAP vending tower. I'm going to do some more digging to make sure it will accomplish everything I want it to, but it looks like a winner. It also interfaces to Access/SQL so I guess I could write a program to do the things Supply Point can't (although I'd rather not!)
Ahaslam, what I want to do is exactly what you described. Can I ask you a few detailed questions about it? How much access did the operators have to the tooling? How was the tooling checked out (barcode, pen and paper, computer)? Aside from the pre-setting, what would you guess was the amount of time your crib guy spent doing work related to inventory/ordering/organizing?
We're looking to overhaul our tool management system. As in, right now we have pretty much no management and it is killing us. We're looking to consolidate our tools, keep a complete inventory, track usage, and cross reference what tools are used in which jobs (as we are a job shop, we have literally thousands of parts in our job pool).
I was hoping to get some insight into what others are doing to manage this. What software are you using? What are your methods and process? What would you do better if you could? How much is automated, and how much manual time has to be put into your inventory management?
We have about 40 machinists across two shifts so we're not a massive shop, but we have a lot of inventory to take care of. We currently use a MSC CAP system for the heavy moving consumables, so if you guys have experience with that, what software do you use to interface with it externally?
Any input is appreciated, even from people who don't have a solid management system but have good ideas.
Thanks in advance.
In the files page of the machine group properties, click on Edit Operation Defaults ( the ! icon). In the operation tree that pops up, click the files tab at the top, set them to what you want, then green check out.
You don't want to do that--the "space width max actual" is the max tooth size.
Try it like I have shown below. Then, draw a circle equal to your minor diameter and trim anything that violates it.
Why would you need to "push" the stock back into the main spindle? Unless I'm misreading that.
You can do pick off/ transfer with Lathe, no problem, without having to create a new machine group. As long as the mach. def. is setup properly.
You can buy an RS232 to RJ45 (ethernet) cable converter with the correct pinout for your machine. You'll still need a proper DNC software to transmit programs however.
You need to set your root diameter to the "base dia ref" dimension. Basically, your spline tooth should look twice as tall as it shows. A 12/24 spline is cut as a full-tooth spline (24/24) but then either turned or bored to a special diameter--the "minor dia" dimension on your chart.
This is awesome news. We use both religiously and if Harvey can apply their business practices to Helical, it's a major win for both Harvey and us lowly machinists.
True, but really only necessary for pre- OSP100 controls
Our OSP100 programs don't contain any delimiters or whosits and whatnots. They look like this:
OTOP1234
And to really blow your mind, since we don't store programs in the machine (except subs and macros), our OSP200 - 300 programs don't even have program numbers!
You might be having an acceleration/deceleration issue. 1" IPR is moving pretty fast and if the turret isn't up to speed by the time it starts cutting, you're going to get some major variance in helix angle. Are you threading up to a shoulder? If not, I would change my end point to be past the part.
The factors are numerous. What kind of lathe are you talking about? The biggest concern we have with spindle speed is bar whip. Slightly bent bars at 6000 rpm = no bueno.
Also I don't think your logic is correct. Right now you're saying, if 40 is bigger than ten, set VC123 and VC124 to 40. Try this:
VC81=10 VC82=40
VC121=VC81 VC122=VC82
IF[VC122 GE VC121]GOTO N1
VC123=VC121
VC124=VC122
GOTO N2
N1
VC123=VC122
VC124=VC121
N2
VC125=[[VC123-VC124]/2]+VC124
You need brackets. Remember PEMDAS from school; it works the same way here. I usually end up bracketing the sh*t out of my macros just to make sure they work in the exact order of operations I want.
VC125=[[VC123-VC124]/2]+VC124
I've got three, laptop is in the middle with another on either side.
Back to your question, I'm not sure about the video card supporting multiple monitors, but if it's a relatively new computer it should be able to.
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