What Are The Benefits Of CNC Machining?

CNC machining is currently one of the best ways of manufacturing high quantities of complex components and products. There are a number of key benefits, including 24 hour productivity, increased productivity per employee, cheaper operation than manual machines, and more. In this brief guide we will highlight these key benefits.

Most importantly, CNC machining offers an opportunity to expand your firm’s productivity to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is because CNC machines have around a 99% up time, being able to be left turned on for days, weeks and months on end, only needing to be turned off occasionally for maintenance. This means providing you have staff to monitor the machines, you can dramatically increase your firm’s production with 24 hour operation.

This increased operating time can be facilitated for a number of reasons. The first is the very nature of CNC machining itself. Because these machines are operated by computers, the employee monitoring them does not need to be as active. As a result, it is possible for one employee to manage three, five or more machines at once. Say you have a workforce of ten people and ten machines, this means you can separate their shifts around the clock across several days of the week. This means someone can monitor the machines at all times, facilitating 24/7 operation.

The next thing to know is that these advanced machines actually require less knowledge to operate compared to a traditional manual manufacturing operation. As a result, advanced skills are no longer needed, which in many cases can mean a reduction in employee overheads. CNC machining can also be trained a lot quickly and simply than older, manual methods. This can be done via watching instructional videos, using training software, or completing short exams, rather than the hours of tuition needed to operate older, manual based machines.

One of the most valuable features of CNC machining to business owners in the manufacturing sector is that more complex products and components can be made using these machines versus older manual lathes and milling machines. This enables you to diversify your offering by expanding into other areas you currently do not operate in thanks to the new ability of producing new components for different sectors.

Finally, a key benefit for your customers is quicker turnaround from CAD drawing to finished product. Thanks to the power of modern CAD software, it is possible to simulate manufacturing of the product, without the need of a model or prototype. Once the designer or client is happy with their product, the CAD drawing can be emailed to you for inputting into your machining system. The machines will then automatically produce the product with minimal input needed from the machine operator. As a result, your clients can save time and money while getting a better product.

It is these reasons that makes this type of modern manufacturing one of the most useful and widely used across a number of manufacturing sectors. If you’ve not upgraded your manual lathes and milling machines yet, now is the time!