Die cutters play a crucial role in various industries, enabling precise and efficient cutting of materials ranging from paper and cardboard to fabrics and plastics. To ensure optimal performance and longevity of these machines, implementing a proactive maintenance strategy is essential. Preventive maintenance not only safeguards the equipment but also contributes to improved productivity and cost-effectiveness in the long run. Condition monitoring of die cutters and tooling will improve productivity, standard part quality and reduce costs for the user.
Methods of Condition Monitoring for Die Cutter Blades and Tooling
Single-axis MEMS accelerometers mounted in a tool holder sensor node, can immediately detect chipping of tooling when moving average root-mean-square (MARMS) and a peak power spectral density (PPSD) are measured and tracked. Accelerometers, however, are unable to predict or prevent blade chipping or other similar damage.
Motor Current Signal is already commonly monitored in many stamping and milling operations, but is typically not monitored as a measure of blade or tooling condition.
Temperature can be used to monitor blade wear in the milling process, infrared methods are not the most accurate method due to the emissivity of the blades. Temperature sensors are often not appropriate for harsh environments and have difficulty monitoring rotating components. Strain gauges can be mounted on tool holders and will give accurate torque measurements. Strain gauges are already commonly used in to measure cutting forces.
Spindle Rotational Speed Signal is not a reliable or repeatable method for condition monitoring since spindle speed fluctuations are normal along with shocks and friction between the tooling and work piece.
Vibration and acoustic sensors are preferred since monitoring with dynometers and strain gauges can be intrusive and costly to install. Acoustic sensors are also able to detect the beginning of cracks in the tooling when mounted on the spindle. Some experimentation must be done to determine the acoustic threshold for developing cracks.
Regular cleaning of die cutter components, such as blades, cutting surfaces, and moving parts, helps prevent the buildup of debris and ensures smooth operation. Proper lubrication of bearings and other moving elements reduces friction, minimizes wear and tear, and extends the machine’s lifespan.
Inspection of Blades and Cutting Surfaces
Periodic inspection of blades for dullness, chipping, or damage is critical. Dull blades can compromise cutting precision and quality. Replacing or sharpening blades as needed maintains optimal cutting performance.
Alignment and Calibration
Ensuring proper alignment of die cutter components and calibration of settings is crucial for accuracy in cutting. Misalignment can lead to defective products and increased material wastage.
Electrical and Mechanical Components
Regular checks of electrical connections, motors, belts, and pulleys are essential to identify any potential malfunctions early on. Addressing these issues promptly can prevent breakdowns and enhance safety.
Implementing a Maintenance Schedule
Creating a maintenance schedule tailored to the specific needs of your die cutter is crucial. This schedule should outline routine tasks, intervals for inspections and servicing, and responsibilities for maintenance personnel. Training employees on proper maintenance procedures is equally important to ensure compliance and effectiveness.
In conclusion, preventive maintenance is a cornerstone of efficient die cutter management. By adopting a proactive approach to care for these machines, businesses can optimize productivity, minimize costs, and uphold product quality, thereby gaining a competitive edge in their respective industries.
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IDCON INC provides side-by-side reliability and maintenance consulting and training designed to keep your equipment running. For over 45 years, they have partnered with hundreds of manufacturing plants around the world to eliminate the costs and the pressure caused by unreliable equipment.
They offer in person and online reliability and maintenance, spare parts management, planning and scheduling, shutdown/turnaround optimization, preventive maintenance and root cause problem elimination training; strategic consulting and coaching; and provide a number of free online resources. Run your plant, don't let it run you.
In this advisory, we are going to demonstrate how hazardous, documented, service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations have proliferated the fluid power industry, leaving unsuspecting persons vulnerable to possible injury or death. Unsafe service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations are running rampant throughout the fluid power industry - and there is no end in sight!
In this advisory, we are going to demonstrate how hazardous, documented, service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations have proliferated the fluid power industry, leaving unsuspecting persons vulnerable to possible injury or death. Unsafe service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations are running rampant throughout the fluid power industry - and there is no end in sight!
Hydraulic systems must store fluid under high pressure. Three kinds of hazards exist: burns from the hot, high pressure spray of fluid; bruises, cuts or abrasions from flailing hydraulic lines; and injection of fluid into the skin. Safe hydraulic system performance requires general maintenance. Proper coupling of high and low pressure hydraulic components and pressure relief valves are important safety measures.
Hydraulic systems must store fluid under high pressure. Three kinds of hazards exist: burns from the hot, high pressure spray of fluid; bruises, cuts or abrasions from flailing hydraulic lines; and injection of fluid into the skin. Safe hydraulic system performance requires general maintenance. Proper coupling of high and low pressure hydraulic components and pressure relief valves are important safety measures.
Hour after hour, in businesses of all sizes, these workhorses respond to the men and women who operate them – by pounding, cutting, crushing, welding, stitching or whatever other task they were designed for, to fashion the products that will be marketed to hungry consumers. But there is a fearful downside to this scenario: the machine cannot distinguish between a piece of wood, steel or fabric and the operator’s body.
Hour after hour, in businesses of all sizes, these workhorses respond to the men and women who operate them – by pounding, cutting, crushing, welding, stitching or whatever other task they were designed for, to fashion the products that will be marketed to hungry consumers. But there is a fearful downside to this scenario: the machine cannot distinguish between a piece of wood, steel or fabric and the operator’s body.
"Listen: I’m a mechanic, not a clerk. Do you want me to do the work OR fill out these work orders? If I wasted all that time filling in those silly blanks on your paperwork I’d never get caught up! Besides, I don’t know why we need ‘em anyway. Let’s just do the work like we’ve always done.” Sound familiar? Maintenance work orders are often seen as an extra burden to the maintainers as well as those who are requesting the work to start with. “Paperwork. Needless paperwork. That’s all it really is anyway. I just want to call the mechanic and get this work done fast!” But without work order history, the maintenance organization is at risk and equipment problems will likely worsen.
"Listen: I’m a mechanic, not a clerk. Do you want me to do the work OR fill out these work orders? If I wasted all that time filling in those silly blanks on your paperwork I’d never get caught up! Besides, I don’t know why we need ‘em anyway. Let’s just do the work like we’ve always done.” Sound familiar? Maintenance work orders are often seen as an extra burden to the maintainers as well as those who are requesting the work to start with. “Paperwork. Needless paperwork. That’s all it really is anyway. I just want to call the mechanic and get this work done fast!” But without work order history, the maintenance organization is at risk and equipment problems will likely worsen.
This column is likely to create a lot of reactions from the academia of reliability and maintenance management, and all comments are welcome. Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) has its place, but many times plants jump into training programs and attempt to implement RCM long before they are ready for it. This application makes RCM more of a trap, than a helpful tool to implement.
This column is likely to create a lot of reactions from the academia of reliability and maintenance management, and all comments are welcome. Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) has its place, but many times plants jump into training programs and attempt to implement RCM long before they are ready for it. This application makes RCM more of a trap, than a helpful tool to implement.
There is a saying: “What you can’t measure, you can’t improve”. The saying are not necessarily always true, but it is interesting, because I think a derivative of the saying is true: “What you measure, is usually what you get.”
There is a saying: “What you can’t measure, you can’t improve”. The saying are not necessarily always true, but it is interesting, because I think a derivative of the saying is true: “What you measure, is usually what you get.”
Results-oriented organizations focus first on the quality and volume of production throughput, followed closely by the cost to produce the required quality and volume. This approach will improve reliability performance, which will drive manufacturing costs down.
Results-oriented organizations focus first on the quality and volume of production throughput, followed closely by the cost to produce the required quality and volume. This approach will improve reliability performance, which will drive manufacturing costs down.
It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what industry you are in or how big or small of a company you work for, success is dependent on the ability to find, attract, hire, manage, develop and retain the right people. I continue to see companies disproportionately dedicate more focus and investment into non-people issues such as technology or equipment than focusing on getting “the right people on the bus.” I haven’t quite figured out why, but I believe it could boil down to one of three reasons:
It never ceases to amaze me that no matter what industry you are in or how big or small of a company you work for, success is dependent on the ability to find, attract, hire, manage, develop and retain the right people. I continue to see companies disproportionately dedicate more focus and investment into non-people issues such as technology or equipment than focusing on getting “the right people on the bus.” I haven’t quite figured out why, but I believe it could boil down to one of three reasons:
There are numerous issues influencing our economic engine-many real, many politic, and many mysterious. We could discuss capital formation problems, balance of trade politics, over-wary management, and so on. However, I want to focus on the part that professional development plays in this scenario. And more importantly-the role that professional development will play in the future performance of our economic engine.
There are numerous issues influencing our economic engine-many real, many politic, and many mysterious. We could discuss capital formation problems, balance of trade politics, over-wary management, and so on. However, I want to focus on the part that professional development plays in this scenario. And more importantly-the role that professional development will play in the future performance of our economic engine.
Oh "Overall Equipment Effectiveness", I've heard about that before! Unfortunately, in many facilities, that's all OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is to the personnel. Something they heard of, talked about or read about. Many maintenance departments today still do not effectively utilize the OEE tool even though it's widely used among the world class companies.
Oh "Overall Equipment Effectiveness", I've heard about that before! Unfortunately, in many facilities, that's all OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is to the personnel. Something they heard of, talked about or read about. Many maintenance departments today still do not effectively utilize the OEE tool even though it's widely used among the world class companies.
The work process we call maintenance planning can almost always be improved in any given mill or plant. In fact in most plants we visit maintenance planners don’t plan. Planners do all kinds of tasks except work order planning.
The work process we call maintenance planning can almost always be improved in any given mill or plant. In fact in most plants we visit maintenance planners don’t plan. Planners do all kinds of tasks except work order planning.
The purpose of this article is to raise questions and challenge plant leadership on strategy, vision and execution of plant reliability and overall maintenance management. To start, we need to define reliability. Often times companies want to improve reliability but when you ask them to define reliability and how it's measured, it's unusual to get a comprehensive answer.
The purpose of this article is to raise questions and challenge plant leadership on strategy, vision and execution of plant reliability and overall maintenance management. To start, we need to define reliability. Often times companies want to improve reliability but when you ask them to define reliability and how it's measured, it's unusual to get a comprehensive answer.
A custom blueprint for streamlining internal processes, Lean has helped to increase production at many plants. Except, all too often, these plants don’t enjoy the maximum return on their investment. This is because managers often limit their Lean implementations to production-related processes. Such applications provide only a fraction of the benefit Lean is designed to offer and often deprive plants of achieving the true potential for growth and development.
A custom blueprint for streamlining internal processes, Lean has helped to increase production at many plants. Except, all too often, these plants don’t enjoy the maximum return on their investment. This is because managers often limit their Lean implementations to production-related processes. Such applications provide only a fraction of the benefit Lean is designed to offer and often deprive plants of achieving the true potential for growth and development.
When a forced layoff takes place in a unionized environment, the latest employees, in this case the apprentices were laid off; the plant had to lay off its future employees. Even sadder is that only four months after the lay offs the plant had to hire back many of the people they laid off. Many of them worked for a contractor who had contracted them to the plant after they were laid off! Soon this plant will start talking about a new improvement initiative and new management will wonder why it is so difficult to get people committed to improvement initiatives.
When a forced layoff takes place in a unionized environment, the latest employees, in this case the apprentices were laid off; the plant had to lay off its future employees. Even sadder is that only four months after the lay offs the plant had to hire back many of the people they laid off. Many of them worked for a contractor who had contracted them to the plant after they were laid off! Soon this plant will start talking about a new improvement initiative and new management will wonder why it is so difficult to get people committed to improvement initiatives.
The goal of every lubrication program should be to ensure that all equipment receives and maintains the proper levels of lubrication such that no equipment fails due to inadequate or improper lubrication. In order for this to happen, we must follow the 5R's of lubrication - right lubricant, right condition, right location, right amount, right frequency.
The goal of every lubrication program should be to ensure that all equipment receives and maintains the proper levels of lubrication such that no equipment fails due to inadequate or improper lubrication. In order for this to happen, we must follow the 5R's of lubrication - right lubricant, right condition, right location, right amount, right frequency.
Proper planning and control of spare parts inventory is a critical component of an effective asset management program. If the right parts are not on hand when needed for routine maintenance or repairs, downtime is prolonged. If too many parts are on hand, the enterprise absorbs excessive costs and the overhead of carrying the inventory.
Proper planning and control of spare parts inventory is a critical component of an effective asset management program. If the right parts are not on hand when needed for routine maintenance or repairs, downtime is prolonged. If too many parts are on hand, the enterprise absorbs excessive costs and the overhead of carrying the inventory.
Now that the best EAM/ CMMS application for your business has been selected, the deployment phase begins. But an EAM system is not a plug-and-play application. Will you miss out on some real operational savings? Will the data be clean enough to provide value in a production environment? Will processes be tailored to match the new system, or will they be optimized to improve business? Is the vendor knowledgeable about your specific industry or regulatory requirements?
Now that the best EAM/ CMMS application for your business has been selected, the deployment phase begins. But an EAM system is not a plug-and-play application. Will you miss out on some real operational savings? Will the data be clean enough to provide value in a production environment? Will processes be tailored to match the new system, or will they be optimized to improve business? Is the vendor knowledgeable about your specific industry or regulatory requirements?
