17 Recycling in the Precision
Machining Industry
18 PMPA Member Swissturn/USA
Finds Success in Customer Invest-
ment and Employee Training
19 What Did You Do for
Manufacturing Day this Year?
21 Three of My Favorite and Most
Shared Ideas to Get the Most
from Drills in Your Shop
22 Join PMPA—FInd out What
You're Missing
Features
ON THE COVER:
32 Filling Bins While the Building is Empty
Over the past decade, technology has advanced to the point that
lights-out machining is more seamless than ever before, with
built-in safety systems and even the ability to switch from one
part to another in the middle of the night. By Russ Willcutt
36 Reducing Production Times
with Robotic Automation
A complete overhaul of its processes using lean principles helped
this shop improve production by almost 90 percent.
Edited by Chris Felix
Columns & Departments
6 Turning Point
8 My Turn
10 Information Technology
12 News
24 Gardner Business Index
26 About Your Business
43 Products
50 Marketplace
55 Ad Index
56 Last Word
30
36
40
Tech Briefs
28 Optimize Spindle Performance by Analyzing Failure
30 Hard Scudding Improves Gear Production and Performance
Case In Point
40 Specialized Grinder and Software Speeds Part Production
NOVEMBER 2016
::
Volume 16 Issue 11
ABOUT THE COVER:
Slim Haney Machining produces a variety of parts from brass,
which is especially useful for lights-out machining because its
properties reduce tool wear, warding off tool failure during
unmanned operations.
CONTENTS
productionmachining.com :: 3