Connecting Design and Production

In a recent featured article in Fabricating & Metalworking magazine, our product manager Alan Miller discusses how creative and resourceful applications of tooling and accessories, such as angle heads, can get complex parts out the door instead of having to lose those parts due to design edits.

Alan mentions that “the power of modern design software and production machinery have manufacturers exploring the limits of what’s possible”. He further states that when these two sides struggle to meet in the middle, problems arise: you can draw pretty much anything you want, but that doesn’t necessarily make it something that can be manufactured efficiently, or at all, for that matter.

To expand on this statement, Alan shares how with the proliferation of multi-axis machinery, it was thought that an add-on accessory like an angle head would be rendered obsolete. That hasn’t proven to be true as BIG KAISER has seen a great interest in this accessory, and today’s vigorous push and pull between design and manufacturing is likely a big reason.

In the article, Alan provides some reasons as to why a relatively simple-to-integrate and inexpensive accessory like an angle head can assist in finding the delicate balance between design and production needed to deliver profitably. The reasons explained include:

• The ability to add an additional axis to existing equipment
• The ability to use shorter tools
• Eliminating multiple setups
• Eliminating unnecessary equipment
• Access to complex internal features

The value of angle heads is magnified by the fact that they are available at almost any angle, fixed or adjustable, for use in high volume production or prototyping. They’re also easy to integrate. While highly specialized applications can take longer, most simple machines that are ready to accept a stop block can be up and running in less than half an hour.

To read the full article titled “How to Bridge the Gap Between Design and Production” and learn more about the reasons highlighted above, click here.