To be successful, you first have to eliminate as much labor and as many operations as possible. By having the correct tools, whether cutting tools, the machine itself and/or the software, these items are necessary for the speed and accuracy required in today’s market.

If you can do all of this and run unattended, then your cost will go down and the better quality and accuracy will go up as a result. The bottom line is making a better product for the customer.

Simply put, the older the technology, the more manual labor is used which costs more money in the long run. Whether the labor is in operating the machine, secondary operations such as polishing or hand work, the best way to reduce costs and get the piece delivered more quickly is to cut as much manual labor as possible.

The older technology refers to CNC machines usually eight or more years old with slower rpms and that have no software on the machine to control acceleration and deceleration. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t new machines still made using this outdated technology. Making large heavy cuts at slow feedrates was the norm at one time. However, the slower spindles with the higher horsepower cause poor tool life and poor surface finish. Old-style toolholders include ER collets systems and the endmill holders with set screws. The runout and balance on these holders is not suitable for tool life or surface finish.

That is when it’s time to replace that outdated CNC with a new or high-end machining center with features that create labor cost savings through the use of toolchangers, tool lasers and proper cutting techniques, which means more volume with the same staff.

In a typical production-type environment, cost justification for a per-part piece is fairly black and white: A shop needs to produce X many parts, so they purchase X equipment. However, in a moldmaking environment, it’s much more difficult because the end product goes through many different areas throughout the shop.

If you look just at the machining portion, faster is not necessary cost efficient. It’s not just the hours on the machine; it’s all the secondary hours or operations such as EDM or polishing that need review. The true cost of ownership is the total cost to produce your mold insert and that includes how much money is saved reducing secondary operations.