From the Laboratory to the Production Floor: Experiences in Implementing Precision Control

The book shares the author's experience in bringing precision control technology from the laboratory to the production line, and covers process optimization, the difficulties of converting technology, and strategies for improving precision in industrial production.The book illustrates through real-life examples how to balance theory and production needs, and how to help businesses achieve large-scale, high-precision, low-loss production.

Why do lab results always "shrink" when they get to the production line?

Many engineers have experienced this headache: In the laboratory, an accuracy of 0.01 millimeters is measured, but in the workshop, it becomes 0.05 millimeters.The problem often lies in the neglect of environmental variables. For example, the metal parts in a factory will expand and contract with the temperature, which is typically 28 ° C. The data collected in a laboratory, where the temperature is a constant 22 ° C, is not grounded in reality.

Three key steps in making a plan work.

First, make a list of what's needed.

Don't be in a hurry to copy the parameters from the lab. I recommend that you take a tape measure and a thermometer and spend three days in the workshop recording the amplitude of vibration of the equipment under actual working conditions and the range of temperature and humidity changes in the environment.One automobile parts manufacturer discovered that a 3 ° C temperature difference caused by turning off the air conditioning during lunchtime directly resulted in a 40 % increase in the error rate of the assembly of precision bearings.

Designing a flexible space.

Smart solutions leave some slack.For example, the compensation algorithm for the CNC machine is set to a dynamic adjustment range of ± 0.02 millimeters. This allows for both tool wear and small differences between batches of raw materials.Remember: a rigid standard of perfection is not as effective as a flexible system of error tolerance.

Establishing a fast-track feedback mechanism.

In one injection molding factory, I saw a scene where a worker discovered a mold had been misaligned by 0.1 millimeter, but it took time to go through the proper channels to report the problem to the engineering department, and by the time the problem was fixed, 200 defective parts had already been produced.I suggest installing a terminal with a red emergency stop button at a key workstation, so that frontline staff can trigger the calibration process directly.

Don't step in these traps again.

Last year, an electronics firm spent NT $ 2 million on a visual inspection system, but the flickering of the LED lighting in the factory resulted in an extremely high rate of false positives.Only after they added a special light shade to prevent flicker did the problem get solved.Another caution is to avoid overcompensation. A precision parts factory sought absolute precision by increasing the frequency of inspections to once a minute, but ended up increasing the time the equipment was down for maintenance by 30 %.

The secret of continuous improvement is to get in touch with the earth.

He suggested that every month technicians and line managers hold an "accuracy brainstorming meeting" to bring up those unexpected problems that the lab never thought of.For example, workers found that the accuracy of the machines was always lower at night than during the day. Finally they discovered that the cause was fluctuations in the power supply at night.These are the most valuable experiences for improving the plan.