1. Home
  2. ⋐⋒⋐ Computer Numeric Control
  3. Production Q

Production Q

Awl --

I'm using a 6" piece of 1 3/4 x 3/8 wall round alum tubing in a gusset assembly.

Turns out instead of the full 6" piece, I could do quite well with three 1" pieces, spaced uniformly along the 6" span.

Clearly this saves material (and fairly hefty material, at that), but what about the increased mfg pita??

How are scenarios like this evaluated? Yeah, lotsa spreadsheet work and "what ifs", but it seems the decision almost always favors minimum material (and the cheapest material poss.), and I guess this really depends on quantities, tooling, machines, etc.

In my case, I think I'm going to go with the full 6" piece, just to save a bunch of futzing around with separate 1" pcs.

I guess this is what bean counters are for??

Reply to
Existential Angst
Loading thread data ...

What does your labor cost ?

Reply to
PrecisionmachinisT

Industrial engineers with manufacturing experience.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Heh, more-or-less zero, but my time is still limited. iow, I just gotta get shit done. :)

Yeah, I know, cost-comparison, for when my labor is not zero....

Reply to
Existential Angst

Fair enough...

Then...if you had to pay someone, which direction would you take ?

Reply to
PrecisionmachinisT

Proly the 6" (more expensive) material, to save on labor, and then I'd try to make the help pay for the more expensive material, as well. Does that make me a typical boss?

Reply to
Existential Angst

Old rule of thumb: 1/3material 2/3labor? if its more labor intensive than its a more costly product. waste material & getR done is cheaper in the end. In most (mold) shops I've been in material is noth'in compared to the amount of labor involved as that $25 piece of material gets finished. Less handling is best : Make 1 move instead of 3 - you are way ahead of the game, even thou you are shoveling chips into the gondola at a record pace.IE making things out of the solid & not inserting components =3D the recycle r man is happy - you are making money with reduced labor cost - bean counters are scratching their heads wanting to know how we can make more$ because we throw so much away?

-- the Industrial Engineers are busy sculpting some ergonomically perfect widget that will be a looser to manufacture because they are in the wrong "industry" for what they are designing things for- go figure?. Nay its not always like that, but that's they way it is with allot US manufacturing. & the world goes round - - hello China? we need this $100 widget for 5 bucks - shipped --- ok make 1 billion. Thank You!

Reply to
cncmillgil

Yup. How much does the extra labor cost? How much does the extra materials cost? Do the math.

If the work is being done in China then the equation leans toward less material, because the labor is dirt cheap. In the US it tends to lean the other way, particularly in really hifalutin jobs where the hands involved are as highly paid as engineers (or more!) and the material is just aluminum or other not-so-expensive stuff.

In your case, 'do the math' is expensive because you don't have a number for the labor cost of setting up for a weld and doing it. So it's not inappropriate to guess, although you could track your time for one or two operations and at least get a rough idea.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.