FORMING AND FABRICATING AUTOMATION
Is QDC recommended for all applications?
“QDC can be thought of as another way to soft-au- tomate production, and really should be considered as one part of improving efficiency and quality in the overall production system, while also reducing risk of injury and downtime,” says Mark Scanlan, VP and gen- eral manager of PFA, Inc. “I call this soft automation because human experience and talent is retained in the process to maintain flexibility and responsiveness. Not all automation involves robotics or software. Automa- tion can be anything that improves the process, removes complex manual behaviors, and replaces those actions with automatic improvements. Thinking about QDC as an automation process provides a different perspective. What does QDC as soft automation look like? “It has to do with finding ways to maximize the talents of staff using QDC hardware, such as hydraulic clamps, die lifters, bolster extensions and related equipment de - signed to optimize die movement and placement,” offers Scanlan. “Employing QDC not only results in the desired single-minute exchange of die (SMED); more importantly, it maximizes the efficiency of staff while reducing man - agement burden and risk. QDC practices must become so common that their absence in a manufacturing environment would be unimaginable. No one considers lifting pallets by hand; instead, we use forklifts without really thinking about them. The same needs to happen when it comes to QDC.”
The three basic components of a QDC application: clamps (blue), die lifters (red) and bolster extensions (yellow).
“Certainly, some method of safely moving dies to minimize risk is necessary,” Scanlan says. “On the other hand, in cases where a single die stays in the press for months, die loading can be performed safely, but slowly, and with less investment than highly efficient QDC systems. Seldom-moved dies don’t require SMED. In most production environ - ments, however, dies move frequently with hours spent changing a single die. This provides a great opportunity for improvement and savings at many levels.”
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This provides a great opportunity for improvement and savings at many levels. " "
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