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Computer numerical control or CNC machining for short offers a number of productivity benefits that can help speed up the turnaround batches of products, improve the security of manufacturing, and deliver prototypes quickly. We will examine all of these features in this brief guide. First of all, CNC machining can dramatically increase the speed of getting a new design to production. This is because a typical CNC lathe or machine accepts CAD drawings as it’s instruction set on how to produce the product. The CAD drawing is a 3D computer model of the component that needs to be made, and is imported into the CNC machine’s computer. This means it is possible for a product designer to design a complex product with many components on a computer, then send the instructions to each component to individual machines on the factory floor for production. This means it is extremely quick to turn a CAD drawing into a finished product. As a result of the increase computing power of the PCs found in most product designers’ offices, it is possible to send a CAD of a prototype to a factory equipped with CNC machining and produce the first prototype using the same machines that will produce the actual finished product. While it takes a bit of time to set up a machine to produce a prototype, it is quicker than producing a model first, and by creating this initial version of the product on a production machine, it is possible to eliminate any potential issues with the design early on in the process. The same may not be possible with a model, because these are not typically make using a production quality machine. Products ready for production are those that benefit the most from CNC machining. This is because the product designer can quickly and easily email a CAD of the product to their manufacturer and have it being manufactured that very same day. Compare this to older machines which may require paper blueprints to be sent to the manufacturer, and require hours of set up on the machine itself. With factories equipped with the latest generation of machines, it is possible to email a CAD of a product in the morning and have the first batch get shipped to the warehouse in the evening of that very same day. One of the major benefits of CNC machining equipment for any firm who outsources the production of their products to other manufacturing firms, is that production can be shared across a number of smaller providers. This is down to the ease of which one can simply email a CAD of a product to the manufacturer in order to start production as soon as possible. There are a number of benefits of doing this. Firstly, by spreading production across several smaller firms, you are not putting all your eggs in one basket. If you only had one manufacturer producing your product and it went bankrupt, you could be stuck for delivering to your clients. The other benefit is increased turnaround, as you can have more capacity when demand is high, rather than relying on just one manufacturers’ resources.
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