How much does finishing cost your business?
A fundamental principle of lean manufacturing is that anything that doesn’t add value is waste. This is a gray area when it comes to cosmetic finishing activities like grinding, sanding, and polishing. Many fabricators regard finishing as an essential step to their production, but is it necessary?
Parts formed on older machines with outdated processes often require extensive finishing work. This is especially important where cosmetic appearance is critical, but it also represents a considerable cost to your business depending on how much time goes into making parts presentable that could go into production instead. In a worst case scenario, finishing can even lose customers who decide to shop elsewhere for a more cosmetically appealing and perhaps less expensive product.
It doesn’t have to be this way. With the right machine tool you can substantially reduce or even eliminate your finishing labor and put that effort into making more parts.
A perfect example is fabricating stainless steel tabletops for the restaurant industry. Before they discovered the ACF cornerformer, many of our customers invested massive amounts of time welding, grinding, finishing, and polishing their corners because their customers required a smooth, seamless surface. Finishing their corners was an arduous process that can’t compare with the results from an ACF:
Neither does the time investment:
Customers who sell automotive panels, doors, toolboxes, and other welded parts don’t want to see burn marks or other welding imperfections on their parts, so finishing is an important step in production that Koyo Giken’s MySpot welder can completely eliminate.
MySpot high speed welding technology combined with inverter power and 3.8 kN enhanced welding pressure makes an astonishing difference in part quality that in many cases can eliminate costly finishing work.
How much time do you devote to finishing parts instead of making more parts and how much longer are you willing to keep spending? If you have a corner fabricating or welding application and want to see the difference one of these great machines can make, give us a call. We’d be delighted to test your parts and get that finishing monkey off your back!