Please raise your arms if you are among the lucky ones who know what modular tool solutions are! Congratulations, you can now return to a normal position. If you belong to the other group, you should put your hands in the air now and don’t take them down again until you have finished this article, because you have missed something! Do you think that the concept of modular tool solutions is not yet fully developed? Or that it is not suitable for your business? Well, today we will show you why it’s time to rethink. After all, modular tooling solutions are one of the most effective tools that many manufacturing companies use in their efforts to compete. As current trends and developments are bringing the benefits of these systems all the more to the fore, it is time to take a closer look at them before you are introduced to one of the latest additions to the MySolutions Group’s offering: a unified interface for modular tool solutions.
Modular tool solutionsor Lego in production
When it comes to tooling, highly customized solutions can meet the exact specifications of a manufacturing operation, but can also be a significant investment. The other extreme is standard tooling, which is offered at a lower price, at the expense of certain capabilities or overall flexibility. In this context, modular tooling solutions can represent a compromise by offering a middle ground between expensive, highly specific solutions and cost-effective standard models. Modular tool solutions allow the assembly of an optimal application tool from standard modules. A clearly arranged stock allows a multitude of combinations and allows the use in the entire production. However, different requirements of different machines require a uniform interface between the individual components. And this is exactly where the new MySolutions product fulfils its purpose. More on this at the end of the article, let us first clear up a widespread misunderstanding.
The difference between modular and quick change
Although all quick-change systems are modular, not all modular tooling systems are necessarily quick to change. Modularity and quick-change capability also offer various advantages. For example, in some environments modularity is more important than quick change. Tools that can be easily changed to different configurations reduce the tool inventory and speed up tool preparation. A wide range of tools can be assembled from a limited number of interchangeable components. Quick change is usually a criterion for lathe tools. Firstly, the number of positions on a tool carrier is limited. On the other hand, due to the precision and repeatability of the coupling between the cutting unit and the clamping unit, the position of the cutting edge is known at all times, thus reducing set-up times between batches as well as test cuts.
Are modular tool solutionsthe right thing for you?
Change is good. It gets things moving, encourages creativity and ingenuity. A transition to modular, quick-change tools could well be the catalyst that leads to a company-wide upturn. That’s what the MySolutions Group thought and that’s why they developed a solution to balance different requirements from different machines by means of a uniform interface between the individual components. So there was probably never a better time than now to switch to modular tool solutions.
Transform an operational bottleneck into a productivity-enhancing innovation
Implementing a new approach to tooling trains all the skills and abilities that make a manufacturing operation strong and agile. The lessons learned in efficiency, teamwork, coordination and discipline could perhaps even be the basis for other, more challenging initiatives. MySolutions will be happy to assist you every step of the way in implementing your plans and looks forward to hearing from you.
