Repair or replace?
It is one of the staunchest questions machine tool manufacturers have to answer.
If you want to reduce costs and improve efficiency in the manufacturing facility., machine reconditioning and retrofitting seems a cost-effective solution. It not only refurbishes your old equipment but saves big bucks in time. It will take note of all the bad bearings that slow down its performance while costing way less.
So, before buying a new machine, consider how regrinding can help you bring your existing investments back to life. The cutting tools, end mills, carbide drills, and other machine tools used in metalworking and milling applications aren’t cheap. These tools take a lot of beating in the workplace and wear down in time. But often, these tools are beyond new purchases or replacement.
Tool reconditioning is gaining too much popularity these days since companies want to balance operation costs and higher productivity and project completion rates. That said, processes like machine tools reconditioning, tool grinding, and end mill regrinding are all viable options for large and medium-sized facilities.
More so, metalworking tools add a new lease on life while providing several benefits. Such prospects extend tool life and help justify the initial cost of high-performance cutting tools. Machine reconditioning translates into increased efficiency and productivity.
How Does Machine Tool Reconditioning Work?
Machine reconditioning services bring your cutting tools back to factory quality, condition and performance. Top examples of tool modifications include chamfer, radius, neck relief, shank flats, and more.
The machine reconditioning services are a big save on your income while sending out service tools, monitoring lead time, and ensuring quality services. With consistent operations, equipment does undergo wear and tear due to age, accidents, and breakdown. It increases maintenance costs and affects production rates as well.
In the long run, machine fatigue causes huge dents in finances. To maintain production volumes, some might prefer buying a new machine. However, such prospects require a high investment and a higher recovery time. But by reconditioning these tools, you resolve all your concerns economically.
The following are some reasons why you must go for machine retrofitting and reconditioning.
1. It Restores Your Machine Tool’s Strength
Machine tools hold immense importance in a manufacturing unit. And machine reconditioning restore them to factory condition. The process usually comprises a thorough check, change of worn parts, cleaning tools, re-erecting them, re-commissioning, recalibration, and repainting of the machine if that is in focus.
Depending on your tool requirements, reconditioning takes a deep dive into the current condition of the machine. Moreover, once the checkup is complete, you’ll know the repairs and replacements required to bring the equipment back to production capacity.
2. Machine Reconditioning is Cheaper
If you already have a machine that can do all the production, why let it sit idly clouded by operational issues? Instead of forging a new investment and incur additional expenses, you can recondition the machine that costs 30% less than buying a new one. Not only is this a smart business decision, but it makes production easy and hassle-free.
3. Machine Reconditioning Increases Machine Life
Machine reconditioning can increase its life by five years or more. It is a huge money saver, and it increases the mileage of the ROI per equipment. It increases your machine lifecycle and leads to better sales and more revenue generation.
4. Machine Reconditioning Ensures Better Productivity
When you restore the machine to its fullest capacity, it translates to better productivity. It also ensures product safety, precision, and accuracy. Since all machine tools work fine, there is no chance of any production mishap.
5. Machine Reconditioning Betters Machine Value
When your machine’s value restores, so does its value, which will provide you monetary aid. That said, reconditioning increases production value and efficiency and lead to sales, revenue, and ROI. Since you work with the old machine, you save more and make more money.
What to Look For In Machine Reconditioning Service?
The better the original quality of the tooling, the better the results are from retrofitting and reconditioning. Companies hoping to cut costs feel surprises when lower quality tools end up costing more down the road. There are often more errors in the original manufacturing, and fixing it with the wrong tools isn’t going to serve the purpose. Far too often, it results in reducing the life of a machine and higher reconditioning costs.
So, look for reconditioning services that understand its design and build and maintains its efficiency. That means when you send in a tool for service, it is just about its re-sharpening but gives it the original point, proper geometries, and complete reconditioning back to its factory specifications.