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Shop Strategies 44 MoldMaking Technology August 2015 • Less benchwork. Wear plates typically contain grease grooves to catch lubricants and other contaminants during mold operation. Machining these channels left sharp corners at the top of each side, an unfortunate detail that didn't escape the scrutiny of the team at A1. However, rounding off those cor- ners on the bench took too much time and left the edges too rough for the team's liking anyway. Using a ballnose cutter as an extra step in the robot-fed machining process has proven far more efficient and improved edge quality. Meanwhile, polishers have more time to focus on other work. • Streamlined processes. Baffles for waterlines were once cut to size and profiled from brass sheets, separate operations involving manual equipment (a bandsaw and a knee mill). Now, the shop orders raw material in coils instead of sheets. Armed with a stamping press that cuts and profiles each baffle in a single cycle, employees can cut virtually any length in seconds instead of minutes. • More efficient workflow. Until recently, certain machines weren't performing at full potential because their operators were spending too much time waiting for cranes. Installing a new lifting system (the Erowa Lift) has not only alleviated the bottleneck by eliminating the need to share a crane with other machines, but also the strain associated with repeatedly Cutting baffes on a punch press has proven more versatile and more effcient than the previous process of cutting the stock in two operations on a bandsaw and knee mill. Improvement ideas like this are often a result of departmentalizing the shop and specializing the staff.