Aggregate cycle time: why does nobody consider it?
THE DEFINITION OF AGGREGATE CYCLE TIME IS A TERM THAT IS NOT REALLY COMMON.
If you are in the industry, you are more likely to refer only to cycle time.
Let's step back a little and take the basic definition of cycle time referring to bar machining.
"The time in which the bar of material enters the machine until the finished part is ejected".
Which in itself is the correct definition but, in the cycle time, you should also calculate the retooling time of the multi spindle CNC lathe when changing the workpiece.
Most will tell me that set-up time is not counted because it means you are changing the workpiece and therefore does not count towards the performance of a turning machine.
The correct answer is ni.
Let me explain: cycle time is rightly calculated on the machining of a workpiece. This is correct if your production concerns a single part that you produce in tens (or hundreds) of thousands without ever changing and retooling the machine.
But if we consider a multi spindle that does not machine a single part but different parts that are changed frequently, then set-up time becomes a key point in the cycle time calculation.
Without taking this into account, the result could be a multi spindle that performs highly in production but has long set-up times, resulting in a much longer aggregate cycle time.
You who read me know very well that, nowadays, production and delivery times are tighter than in the past, all those who 'do' production have in common that they need precision machining in a very limited time.
But not only that…
Production prices have also changed, costs are rising every day but sales suffer from the very high competition that, sometimes you don't understand how, always manages to provide lower prices than yours. And this is precisely the time when you also have to reckon with set-up speed, this is the time when the combination of a high-performance multi spindle CNC lathe with very limited set-up times can make a difference in the production world, because every second saved makes a difference.
This concept is increasingly relevant when calculating production costs, as much of industrial production is increasingly moving in the direction of smaller batches and lean production logic.
It is becoming increasingly common that having only cycle time as a basic calculation for calculating production will no longer be sufficient.
The historical moment we are currently experiencing will make the time for the arrival of this concept even tighter.
The costs of energy and raw materials are increasing every day and are forcing many companies to limit production in order to maintain an already slim margin to sustain the business. The resulting equation is very simple: evaluate production costs by understanding the downtime of set-up changeovers and direct your choices towards multi spindles that take this parameter into account to arrive at exact margins.
I understand that not everyone considers this aspect when evaluating the purchase of a multi spindle, because the concept of cycle time based only on production has been a stable concept for decades.
But times change, they evolve and, I'm honest, in times that I thought were more diluted, everything travels at a speed at which it is really difficult to keep up and the difference, today, is only made by those who change.
