Cut my cycle time by 18% just by switching to a slower feed rate

I know that sounds backwards, but hear me out. Been running these aluminum parts for a client in Detroit, about 200 pieces per run. My old setup was cranking at 120 IPM but I kept having to stop and change inserts every 15 parts, plus the surface finish was always borderline. Buddy at the shop suggested I drop down to 75 IPM. I figured it'd kill my production rate but my tool life tripled and I stopped having to run a cleanup pass. Total time per part actually went down. Has anyone else found that slowing down somehow speeds things up?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry117d ago

Detroit's 75 IPM cost me two days of lost production on a steel job last month.

jakef6617d ago

Switched to a slower feed rate around 50 IPM with a shorter stepover and the cut quality actually improved. Ran a test piece on some scrap first to dial in the numbers before going back to the real job. Lost some time upfront but saved way more in rework and scrapped parts down the line.