Advertising in MoldMaking Technology offers
Issue link: https://mmt.epubxp.com/i/498250
moldmakingtechnology.com 13 Prospective NCTAP apprentices get an education in machining during an orientation session at Superior Tooling in March. After a rigorous application process, the company hopes to accept its frst apprentices into the program in August. Superior's third press, a recently installed, 320-ton model from Negri Bossi, offers more than just capacity for a wider range of tool sizes. Its all-electric configuration makes it a better equivalent to equipment used by customers, and it pro- vides more data about the process. Along with a newly hired plastics engineer who oversees these operations and various supporting technology (temperature controllers, metrology instruments and so forth), this facilitates a value-add that goes beyond just testing for fit and function. "In the past, we'd just make sure the plastic would fall out, and that was pretty much the extent of it," Earnhardt says. "Today, customers want gate studies, water flow analysis, different process conditions. They want us to help dial in the process." That means measuring and documenting everything. Plastic material viscosity and shear rate, water pressure and turbulent flow, packing pressures—finding and testing for the correct values requires following predetermined processes to the let- ter, with little room for individuals to do things their own way. Tools must be adjusted to fit the customer's process, not the other way around. There can be no on-the-fly parameter tweaks to make the process work. This transition to more scientific sampling was a natural extension of a transition to a more scientific production pro- cess on the shop floor. As is the case with sampling, few criti- cal decisions are left to individuals. Rather, the entire manu- facturing process for any given job is worked out in advance in a team setting. Proper execution depends heavily on five-axis machining centers, pallet systems, robotics, standardized workholding and other technology that limits human inter- vention, thus avoiding levels of variation that are simply no longer acceptable. Time, cost and other metrics are thoroughly documented at each stage of the build. Mistakes are rarely repeated, and best practices are incorporated into future jobs. Increasingly, these best practices result from issues detected during tool qualification. Examples range from ergonomic improvements, such as eliminating sharp edges that might nick a press operator's finger, to functions that affect how the tool runs, such as the orientation of conformal cooling lines. These benefits extend both ways, Earnhardt points out. Just as more scientific sampling contributes to better toolmaking, a more scientific production process helps ensure molds run right the first time. Training to a Culture Adopting a more scientific process has required significant investments in new equipment on both sides of the operation, but technological change isn't enough by itself, Earnhardt says. For Superior Tooling, cultural change has been just as important. "You can't think of a mold as a piece of art that one person builds," he explains. "You have to drive it through the shop like a production item." This change in thinking has been evolving for more than a decade at the company, Earnhardt says, and he expects involvement in NCTAP to accelerate it. After all, apprentices start while they're still in high school. At that age, they'll bring none of the preconceived notions that might come with a more experienced new hire. "We're going to be developing a new generation of toolmakers here, and we can groom them to our process," he explains. As an example, he cites an apprentice the company hired a few years ago, prior to its involvement in NCTAP. "He leaves here at the end of the day with the robot full of electrodes and ready to run all night. He really gets it." However, grooming people to a process requires putting that process in place first. Earnhardt says his own apprentice- ship decades ago would never have prepared him to work at Superior Tooling today. Back then, the goal was to train employees in all aspects of building a mold. Given the sophisti- cation of modern technology, that's much more difficult today. Moreover, an approach that treats a mold more like a pro- duction item than a piece of art is more effective when each employee is a specialist in his or her particular area. That's why incoming apprentices undergo structured training that helps them move toward specific areas where they show the most promise and interest. At the time of this writing, for example, the aforementioned apprentice was transitioning from run- ning sinker EDMs to a specialty in milling the electrodes. "We find what they're good at and what they want to do, and we work them in that direction," Earnhardt says. Building a Pipeline NCTAP's promise of a steady stream of apprentices to train in this manner hasn't come to fruition yet. In the program's first year, Superior Tooling didn't accept any candidates.