UPSETTING NEWS: I HAVE JUST WITNESSED A MURDER

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I have just come back from a meeting with a client who left me upset.

We went for a stroll.

A little while ago I was sitting in front of my client.

We were dealing with the supply of different deburring machines for automotive pieces.

I was serious, formally dressed, and professionally started to analyse the project with him we were going to do together.

He, more serious, was surrounded by 3 engineers.

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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WHAT I NEVER EXPECTED, HAPPENED

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My client opened the production specifications of the piece.

To impress me he had printed everything. He held in his hands a small Bible, in which was written everything we had to do to make his piece:

• Areas to process

• Tolerances

• Quality specifications…

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I mean, I had never seen anything so detailed.

We read the specifications and meanwhile we looked at the piece.

After half an hour of reading this tome (… a very boring half an hour), the client told me:

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“LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE PRODUCTION SO WE CAN SEE THE ISSUES LIVE”

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He showed me the current process and talking with me, he seemed so satisfied with it!

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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He had a lot to improve and made me understand while talking:

• His margins were reducing
• Non-conforming pieces were no longer allowed by the client
• The client required a scientific system, to ensure him that all the pieces had been worked

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Back to my story…

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I had to wear glasses, fluorescent jacket and hard hat…

The only thing that was missing was the oxygen mask and then they would have mistaken me for a diver!

The deburring of this piece was manually done, in fact there were several operators who sequentially passed the piece during the working time.

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We stopped at the first work unit.

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The proud client, showed me the precision of his operators and praised the speed!

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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The worker was not constant! Each piece was done differently!

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Mistake was on the agenda.

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We went to the second work unit.

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We looked at the operation the operator was doing. Everything looked normal but there was a huge problem!

I looked at my client. He turned red and nervously began to smoke.

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Suddenly he stopped the operator with his hand!

He looked for something to stab him!

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He did not speak, but watched the pieces, and watched the containers ready for the next step; there were many.

He took a pointed tool in his hand!

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I was sure he wanted to kill him!!!!

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He had not followed the specification and had made a mountain of rejects!

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Everything had to be thrown away!

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INCALCULABLE DAMAGE!

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He was still as red as a tomato.

He asked the operator why he was not following the printed specification in front of him and the operator replied he had an idea for spending less time!

It happens all the time!

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If you insist that the operator reduces the deburring time….

….Then the result will be a mountain of rejects!

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The client saw me off, in spite of himself he had to immediately follow up this tragic situation.

One of the engineers steered me to the exit.

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I hope I do not have to read in tomorrow’s newspaper that the operator DIED!

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It was not the first time that such a situation has happened, even though I have never been so close to a murder!

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When your process is in the hands of the operator, you will always have these problems:

• Uncertain process
• Over running machine times
• Uncontrollable number of non-conforming pieces

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UNCERTAIN PROCESS

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Your hand process cannot be traced. Do not tell me that if you tell  the operator to do a certain thing with precision, you really expect that he does it!

Do not tell me you have never faced a similar situation which I have just related!

Maybe you can find an operator, that will listen to you………..

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

Your operator slows his rhythm, producing only half than before.

How much does it cost? How nervous does he make you?

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CYCLE TIMES FAR TOO LONG

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In deburring there is always a true equation: Machine time = operation cost

If you want to earn  you have to produce pieces, many pieces.

You have to insist that your operators  keep the rhythm in order not to waste time.

Insisting day after day…. Until the operator no longer takes the initiative, and to make it more quickly he changes the process.

You give him eggs and mascarpone and ask him to make a Tiramisù, but he prepares an egg flip!

A mountain of rejects! Damn!

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UNCONTROLLABLE NUMBER OF NON-CONFORMING PIECES

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When an operator touches a piece, by definition he makes a defect.

I have clients who absolutely do NOT  want the operator to touch a piece.

To err is human. If you want to avoid mistakes you must not involve a man in your process.

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If you continue with the manual process, who will ensure that all the parts have been properly processed? What do you guarantee your client? Do you ensure him that you are an attentive person?

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It all seems impossible and dramatic, but it is not too late!

You should invest in robotized deburring machines and choose the right solution through a Safe Automation System for your Production Process:

• Operator far from the process
• No more rejects
• Traceable performed operations.
• Guarantee that all operations were done according to your specifications
• Fixed machine timing

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OPERATOR FAR FROM THE PROCESS

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With my SOLUTIONS the operator becomes a spectator.

He is not involved in the process and can do No damage, without inventing imaginative solutions.

He is far from danger (also here I help you earn a lot of money ) and he is removed from the possibility of injuries.

MY SOLUTION takes care of everything.

The robot takes the piece, works it accurately (without forgetting the operations and without taking imaginative initiatives) and discharges the piece into the specially provided container!

• You reduce mistakes
• You increase  safety
• You reduce machine timing
• You increase your margins

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SIMPLE – EASY – FAST!

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NO MORE REJECTS

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With my SOLUTION you will not have any reject piece, EVERYTHING is programmed to do what is needed in the shortest possible time.

Every unit has a compensation system and every parameter of the process is under control.

You can decide exactly how much material to remove from each piece.

You can keep the tolerance that your client asks you to respect.

Working by hand, you have to be satisfied with the result and explain to your client that it is not possible to do any better :

• Zero rejects
• Constant, precise and efficient processing
• Automised phase which guides the operator through what he must do

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TRACEABILITY OF COMPLETED OPERATIONS

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Finally, from your office, you can control everything is working smoothly.

You can see what the robot is doing, where the production is, the efficiency of the machine and  most importantly,  you know who worked at the machine and who took the decision.    

You can also know which pieces were processed, which machine was used and with which parameters.

If tomorrow your client asks for an explanation concerning a piece with a certain serial number, you can give him every parameter.

You can prove that you did an excellent job, without a margin of error.

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GUARANTEE THAT ALL OPERATIONS WERE DONE ACCORDING TO YOUR SPECIFICATIONS

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Every piece passing through the machine is programmed and processed. The robot never forgets!

With my SOLUTION you have the guarantee that every piece has been processed in the same manner and no operation was forgotten or made in an imaginative way.

When you install one of my solutions, your happy client will call you immediately.

There is no comparison between what you can do by hand and what you can do with the robot.

Your client will notice it immediately!

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FIXED MACHINE TIMING

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When you have to calculate the production costs of a piece, you have to know the machining time. 

Maybe to calculate it is simple: you give the piece to the operator and begin to time him.

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Easy, but there is a problem!

Your operator is not constant!

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How do you decide a price for the operation?

During the day his attention drops.

In the morning he needs 20 seconds for a piece, while in the evening 30 seconds!

On Monday, he is tired because on Sunday evening he had a party, on Thursday he was tired because he watched the Champions league at the bar !!!   

He can be tired, of course, he is not a machine!

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BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM!

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We are not running a NON-PROFIT institution! The company has to gain!

And profit cannot depend so heavily on the operator’s rhythm.

So you have to invest in robotized machines!

When you set the machine timing, my solution is constant from morning to evening, day and night.

There is no Monday and no champions league for my SOLUTION!

You decide a margin for the operation and you are sure that you will get it!

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Piercarlo Bonomi
The Main Expert in Robotic Cutting and Deburring Machines