Deburring Machinery – Increasing Quality and Consistency Through Automation
Deburring machinery helps remove sharp edges from metal parts. For any manufacturer that deals with custom or high-end metal parts, the finishing process is as important as the engineering process. Without the right finish, the products they produce. Stand the test of time and could cause other problems with the new machine. Some manufacturers deal in high-volume quantities of certain parts while other manufacturers deal in custom jobs with small volumes of parts. In either case, it is very important to get the right finish on the part manufactured. There are a few ways of doing it. Most of the modern methods of burrs providing excellent final product finish.
In years past, humans performed most deburring operations. Human eyes can detect the rough edges and put the part into the polisher in order to smooth down the rough spots. However, it takes a long time for a human operator to get to a skill level that most manufacturers want. For smaller companies, a single deburring operator leaving can cost a great deal of money. Training takes a long time and retaining those skilled employees takes more money than many other jobs in the manufacturing process. With rising labor costs, most companies want to find ways to cut the amount of labor paid every week. That is why companies burying so many machines into plants to replace human workers. That is the case with deburring operations.
Purchasing deburring machinery is not a perfect solution though. The company must integrate the machinery into the complete manufacturing process. Sometimes it is completely integrated allowing robot loading and removing human loading completely. Other times, it is required for humans to load parts. It all completely depends on the manufacturing process and the parts produced. For companies that deal in large volumes of a single product, robot loading makes the most sense. For companies that deal in small quantity jobs, human loading often makes more sense.
No matter how a piece of machinery loads, human eyes do the final inspections in most locations. This allows for a constant level of quality control. By introducing the proper machinery for the deburring operations, companies can save money. They can use part of the savings towards improving their quality operations. Most companies reported an increase in quality and consistency after they install deburring machinery. It is a long-term investment for the company to make. It is not a decision a company should make without thorough investigation of options.