Advantages of Computer Numerical Control - Coursework Example

Topic: Advantages of Computer Numerical Control Computer Numerical Control A computer numerical control machine is an ordinary numerical control machine that has an added feature of an onboard computer. The onboard control, which is also known as machine control unit, is used in the creation of command to the entire machine. The design of the control units for the numerical control machines apply the technique of hardwiring. This means that all the major functions of the machine are controlled using physical electronic elements that are built into the controller. On the other hand, the machine control unit is built in such a manner that it is soft-wired (Krar, Gill & Smid, 2001). This means that the commands in the machine are integrated in the computer through encoding at the time of manufacture and they cannot be erased in the event that the machine is turned off. The type of memory that holds the type of encoding is known as the read only memory. The onboard computer uses a numeric keyboard when imputing manual data using the manual input data sections of the programs. The programs are usually stored in the random access memory. Programs can be read, interpreted, and processed by the random access part of the computer. However, any program that it stored in the computer’s random access memory can be easily erased whenever; the computer numerical control is switched off. The programs have to be saved on auxiliary storage devices in order to recover them. The latest models of the machine control units has graphical display units that indicate the CNC program and the cutter paths generated by the program and any errors that may be affecting the functionality of the program. The use of computer numerical control has led to the development of possibilities and advantages that other numerical controls could not have attained. One of the most predominant advantages of the computer numerical control is that it is easier to use compared to the older numerical control. The CNC has the option of addition of new functional areas just by programming the entire system to accommodate the new functionality. In the older system, this was impossible since any additional functionality had to be dealt with by the addition of hardware. The process of addition of a new hardware component was cumbersome and expensive to the organization since there could be issues dealing with the functionality of the program (Valentino, Goldenberg & Valentino, 2003). This made it hard for any organization to accommodate a new functionality without having to by new components. The time taken during the change up of the numerical control was also a major source of loss of competitive advantage of the company. The other advantage with the machine control unit is that the language and other functionalities used in the production can be added onto the production system at will. A CNC program can be prewritten and stored in the machined (Kief & Waters, 1992). The instant that the program is stored; a programmer can access it and use it in the performance of a certain function. The traditional approaches towards numerical control was hard since the people used manuscripts to program the machine (Leatham-Jones, 1986). The process of programming the machine manually during production could lead to issues in the rate and quality of production such that there were significant instances of loss in the quality of output during the process of machine control change up. However, the pre-installed programs and other advantages of the machine control make the process of making the products in manufacturing work out to the smoothly. The new system of numerical control accord the programmer a lot of advantages that were previously nonexistent in the numerical control. One of the major functionality that the machine language accords the user is that of changing the programs and editing them to suit the needs of the production. Any section of the computer numerical control that is entered in the system can be edited and playback when the programmer needs to. The motions of the tools can be displayed on the display unit when the playback is made. This means that the production manager or supervisor has the capability of checking the previous production processes in the event that the products display massive disparities from the anticipated design. The ability to physically monitor the process of production makes the production efficient. There is also a lot of time that is saved that would otherwise be used to trace the source of defects in the production process that was used in the older versions of numerical control. The program that is used to develop the product can be evaluated and reprogrammed or edited to create the desired output. The management can use different variations of the program to produce differentiated product. The computer numerical unit can store various programs on the same computer control. This is a feat that was almost impossible in the previous systems of manufacturing. The numerical control could only store programs meant for the production of one product. This meant that the ability of the company to change the production of a said product due to the market changes or competition could not be effected at an instant since the programmer had to come up with new programs for that purpose. The above element of the numerical control made the entire process of production to assume a rigid approach whereby the manufacturing company had to deal with the rigidities in the production schedule. This made the production companies less effective in the creation of the right output rations. The rigid production system is a major source of loss for the companies that use the numeric system. Therefore, versatility in the production process has been attained by the effective use of CNC. The other advantage of the computer control unit is that it leads can be used by effective linking of the computer numerical units to the main computer (Valentino, Goldenberg & Valentino, 2003). The main computer is instrumental in the creation of direct numerical control. The linkage of the other satellite units to the main computer has been effective in the centralization of the production system. The management can align the soft aspect of the organization in such a manner that it is in agreement with the computer control system. For instance, the top-notch supervisors can be charged with monitoring of the production process from the main computer. Divisional supervisors can be charged with the monitoring of the production system through the use of the local computer control units (Krar, Gill & Smid, 2001). The above mode of organization can lead to the effective alignment of the technical aspects of the organization with the people aspect. In the event that the management has different satellite operations located in different geographical areas, the company can come up with the need networking of the production system to create a significantly large distributive numerical control system. The distributive numerical control system enables the management to monitor the production processes that take place in the organization (Valentino & Goldenberg, 2000). Therefore, the management has better chances of managing the operations of the company from a centralized location. This means that the monitoring costs of the entire production system under the control of the organization are reduced in a significant manner. The top management can also access the information needed in the real time as opposed to the timed reports that one can attain from the traditional numerical control systems or the unlinked computer control system. The other advantage that accrues from the use of a computer control system is that the programs can be downloaded from the main computer or local computer numerical control units as per the needs of the people (Kief & Waters, 1992). Therefore, if a similar production unit is being installed in the institution, the management does not have to incur the direct costs of finding a new program. The time that could be used to make a new program is also reduced in a significant manner since the downloaded program has to be uploaded to the CNC for it to run. The time taken to upload the program to the main CNC portal is less than the time taken to program the old numerical control units. The programmer has to download the program from the local networks and later uploaded to another system. The management can use this approach to duplicate the production systems so that they fit into the organizational goals and productions forecasts. The CNC controlled machines can be responsible for the dramatic boost on the productivity of a manufacturing firm. However, the manager in charge of the CNC can only achieve the gains by addressing some issues that are extremely critical to the productivity of the entire establishment (Kief & Waters, 1992). The first consideration is focus on the quality of the equipment. Some organizations find themselves dealing with critical issue of quality due to the purchase of poor quality computer numerical control units. The decision making process that such organizations muse when purchasing the equipment id predominated by the price parameters. However, the management has to focus on the purchase of the machines that are of proven quality. Assessment of the quality can be attained by looking at the industry leaders as far as the use of the technology. Therefore, the management ought to ensure that it has allocated sufficient capital for the purchase and installation of the CNC controlled production units. The second consideration in the production process is ensuring that the equipment is maintained on a regular basis. As indicated in the earlier sections, the machines are important source of competitive advantage. The other aspect of the machines is that they are expensive for the organization. The company has to ensure that it looks into ways of ensuring that the benefits of the system are attained for the longest time possible (Leatham-Jones, 1986). One of the approaches that the management can use is ensuring that the maintenance of the systems is kept at the highest levels possible. The company can attain this by hiring an in-house technician to maintain the system or even contracting out the service ton an accredited contractor. The other aspect that will lead to the attainment of the maximum utility from the CNC system is training of the personnel. It is infeasible for the company to hire new specialists with each installation of the computer system. Therefore, the existing employees have to receive the necessary training in order for them to be able to operate the machines. The installation of the system may require different changes to be components in order for the production system to comply with the tolerances. The jobs demand that setups are made on the machining parts in order to reinforce compliance with the required tolerances. The machines can be credit for the reduction of the overall costs of productions. However, the trend indicates that the machine has a high likelihood of increasing the hourly costs of production. This means that the costs of running the machines in a normal day are significantly higher than the costs or running the conventional numeric control. In order to attain the competitive advantage of using the computer numerical control system of production, the management has to increase the effectiveness of the production planning. Material entering the system ought to be located at a central point such that the production system is effective in the creation of the competitive advantage. The production ought to be leveled such that the system does not suffer from overworking or underutilization. For instance, if the monthly demand for the output being produced using CNC is 30000 units, the daily production ought to be leveled in such a way that the machine is always operating at a uniform and optimal level. This means that the production system has to consider the maximum capacity utilization. The lead-time and slacks ought to be reduced in a significant manner such that the production of the materials does not end up being imbalanced. The Financial Advantages Of Using The System The investors in the manufacturing arena have to look into the issue of the CNC as a major source of production solutions that has immense saving benefits. The major saving that a production manager can attain is savings in the direct labor costs (Pusztai & Sava, 1983). The ability of the production system to make more than one output makes it the most desired element. The direct labor that the management could have used in the production of the same output using the numerical machines is significantly higher than the one that the production system uses when using the computer numerical control. Therefore, the savings made in the direct cost can be transferred into better pricing leading to improved bargaining position for the company. The training needed in the control of the conventional machines is higher than the one needed in running the CNC. The running of the system needs a program as opposed to a person operating the system manually. The program can be managed from a central place with a one off programming of the entire production system. The above elements disqualify the need of having an operator in all the places. As long as the personnel has the adequate training in the ways of operating the system, there is no further need of training the employees on new approaches to programming since they may be already put in the program or could be easily added. The reduced number of operators leads to the reduction in the number of operators and by extension costs related to the operation of the machines in the production system. The supervisory costs for each shop in the production floor is also reduced. In the system, the supervisor had to look into the ways of ensuring that they have attained the production levels. The standards of the product was also investigated using a manual and tiresome process (Valentino, Goldenberg & Valentino, 2003). In order to attain the needed level of production, there was an imperative need to come up with better supervision of the employees. The people that were involved in the supervision were also many since they had to cover all the shops in the production floor. However, the computer numerical control of production is unique in that the flaw in the production can be traced directly to their source using the playback option in the system. The need of many supervisors is reduced such that the overhead costs of producing a certain output is reduced. The other form of saving that using the computer numerical control accords a production system is in the tighter production schedules. The use of the machines to schedule production leads to few instances of losses of the planned capacity. Therefore, the production system is capable of producing the required level of output. Fewer machines are needed in the production process that uses CNC compared to the conventional machines that use the other approaches to production (Pusztai & Sava, 1983). Therefore, the company can make immense saving on the space needed to produce. The CNC machines are also efficient in the power consumption (Valentino & Goldenberg, 2000). They are able to achieve maximum power utilization since they have the most minimal motor idle time compared to the other machines used on the conventional production systems. This means that the reduction of the lead-time has a cost connotation (Krar, Gill & Smid, 2001). The elimination of the idle time in the production system can be an effective measure in the elimination of costs of production. The machines have the advantage of immediate feedback response more so for the one with visual display. The paths in the production process are well displayed and data on production can be accessed easily through the playback functionality (Pollack & Robinson, 1990). This means that the past data on the production levels and defects can be easily accessed and used in the forecasting of the future costs of production. The cost estimation can use the above functionality to develop the needed level of production (Lynch, 1993). The pricing of the products that come from a production system based on CNC is competitive compared to the one for the products that come from the conventional production system. CNC has a potential of increasing the savings from the reduction in the construction of precision jigs. The system can work with the existing system such that there is no need of coming up with new fixtures to accommodate the plant. The related maintenance and storage costs of the special fixtures and precision jigs is also nonexistent in the production system. This makes the production system to assume the competitive outlook that the conventional systems lack. The management is at liberty to select the production system to use to increase the effectiveness of the entire system (Moorhead, 1980). The savings made on the fixtures can be directed to other parts with the goal of increasing the effectiveness of the production system. Savings can also be made in the tool engineering and documentation. The CNC system is so universal that the need for the development of special tools to handle the production is eliminated (Luggen & Luggen, 1994). The time and effort that the organization has to put in the design of the tooling is saved and it can be used in the production of new products and other improvements need in the production system. There is no need of special form tools, boring bars, and thread cutters when using the CNC system. Finally, the CNC system help the production to make savings in inspection time. The accuracy of the CNC production system is higher than the one in the conventional production systems. The need for inspecting the products that come from such systems is thwarted in a significant manner by the recurrent accuracy in the production achieved by the system. The only inspection that is warranted in the production system is the conduction of the occasional spot checks on the critical areas to identify defects. CNC Machining Centers Machining centers are the latest development in the computer numerical control technology. The system are equipped with automated tool changes with the capability of changing more than 90 tools. The machines are also fitted with rectangular worktables that are known as pallets (Pollack & Robinson, 1990). The role of the pallets is to automatically load and unload the work pieces. A single set up of the machining center can be used in the performance of operations such as milling boring, tapping, and counter boring. In addition to that, the machines can use indexing heads at some centers to execute the tasks mentioned above on different angles and faces on a part. The advantage of the machining center is that it can save the time taken in the production of the unit by using the indexing heads (Lynch, 1993). The use of indexing saves the time taken by a part on a particular section of the shop floor. This makes the congestion and lead times in the production floor to reduce in a significant manner. Other Parts Of CNC In addition to the use of the technology in the CNC machining centers, the technology can be used in other parts of the manufacturing firms such as the wire electrical discharge machines or even laser cutting machines (Luggen & Luggen, 1994). In the wire discharge system, the CNC technology is used in the control of the movement of the table in a horizontal manner. In the laser cutting machines, there is a beam of intensely focused light that is used in cutting off a part. The material that is under the beam has a rapid rise in temperature till the point of vaporization. The use of laser leads to the reduction of wastes and distortion. The laser is guided by the CNC system. In conclusion, CNC system have helped most of the organizations attain their required level of production with minimal costs. The advantages of the production system emanate from the general flexibility of the system. The company using this system can save on supervision time, the costs incurred in the inspection of the products and lead times due to the use of the machining center technology. It may also be used in other parts of the production system to increase the efficiency of the production system. It is imperative from the advantages mentioned above that adoption of the CNC in the production is a desired outcome. References Kief, H., & Waters, T. (1992). Computer numerical control (1st ed.). Lake Forest, Ill.: Glencoe. Krar, S., Gill, A., & Smid, P. (2001). Computer numerical control simplified (1st ed.). New York: Industrial Press. Leatham-Jones, B. (1986). Introduction to computer numerical control (1st ed.). London: Pitman. Luggen, W., & Luggen, W. (1994). Fundamentals of computer numerical control (1st ed.). Albany, N.Y.: Delmar. Lynch, M. (1993). Computer numerical control (1st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Moorhead, J. (1980). Numerical control (1st ed.). Dearborn, Mich.: Computer and Automated Systems, Association of SME, Marketing Services Dept. Pollack, H., & Robinson, T. (1990). Computer numerical control (1st ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Pusztai, J., & Sava, M. (1983). Computer numerical control (1st ed.). Reston, Va.: Reston Pub. Co. Valentino, J., & Goldenberg, J. (2000). Introduction to computer numerical control (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Valentino, J., Goldenberg, J., & Valentino, J. (2003). Introduction to computer numerical control (CNC) (1st ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Read More