Lost tools cost money

Good tool management leads to production that is more profitable and sustainable

The earliest example of a vending machine dates back to the first century, when Greek engineer Hero Alexandria made a machine that dispensed holy water after accepting a coin. At temples where citizens worshipped their gods, the device ensured that people did not take more than they were entitled to. While vending machines have since become more sophisticated, their principle remains the same - providing streamlined, direct access to the product the user needs. Here, Andreas Nyberg discusses, CoroPlus® Tool Supply specialist at Sandvik Coromant, how tool dispenser software and hardware can improve a workshop's profitability, productivity and sustainability.

In many manufacturing plants, up to 60 percent of tools are never used, and about 15 percent of orders fall behind schedule due to missing tools. In addition, operators spend as much as 20% of their time searching for lost tools. These findings, based on Sandvik Coromant's own research prove one thing: Inadequate analysis of tool logistics drives up operating costs.

Even in highly competitive and technologically advanced facilities, tool inventory issues are often missed and the true cost of lost tools remains under the radar. But could something as simple as a dispensing machine, first created centuries ago, be the answer to better tool management?

Less visibility, less productivity

A machine shop, no matter how large, must always be prepared to work quickly and cost-effectively. To machine parts for various industries, based on a continuously growing portfolio of materials, a wide range of tools must be available. Another layer in terms of complexity is the large-scale amount of customization, as an increasing number of manufacturers create unique products on an ever-increasing scale. Making the right products at the right time and getting them where they are needed puts even more pressure on machine operators to work with tighter tolerances, quick-change tools and fixturing strategies. Access to the right tools, and at the right time, is essential.

All sorts of things can go wrong as a result of poor inventory management. Having little to no visibility into the tools on a shop floor and where those tools are located can lead to a facility overstocking. Another possibility is a stock-out, when inventory is used up at the time a particular tool is needed most. Other adverse effects include problems in measuring tool performance and increased costs for inventory management and order processing. These problems all ultimately lead to one ultimate consequence: machines without the right tools come to a standstill, and the facility faces unexpected but preventable downtime. And that time means money.

Having too much or too little in stock is largely the result of human error. When tools are not returned to their proper cabinets and left scattered around the workshop, operators simply do not know whether or not their tool inventory is running low. Sometimes those working in the workshop can cause excessive inventory levels when they take too lightly the use of new tools. For example, when an updated version of their current tooling system becomes available, manufacturers may automatically switch to the new option and neglect their current stock of perfectly functioning, only slightly older tools.

Inventory management goes digital

Having sufficient hardware, such as tool dispensing machines, can be a significant step for some manufacturers who do not have the physical space to store their tools. But for fully optimized, digital tool management, that's just one step in the right direction. To truly take dispensing machines to a higher level than the original water dispensing services, machine shops must equip their tool cabinets with an alternative to manual inventory management.

Sandvik Coromant's CoroPlus® Tool Supply combines tool storage hardware with software to automate the many common pain points associated with tool management. The software tracks each registered tool in inventory, shows stock availability and which tools have been chosen for which machine and by whom.

In addition to enabling operators to properly pick up and return their tools, the software can also manage inventory replenishment and maintenance, as tool usage on the shop floor adds data to the management and administration part of the software to support cost tracking, task scheduling and purchasing management.

On a practical level, tool-logistics software also controls tool-logistics hardware solutions, which are implemented as open shelves, drawer dispensers or as spiral dispensers, depending on the level of control desired. Shelves and drawers can have multiple numbers of tools that the user can take out, while spirals only release one tool at a time.

Leaner and greener

Automation software gives manufacturers an alternative to doing everything manually and can prevent downtime when urgency is required. Because employees can track tool inventories via a tablet or other smart device, they can rely on the software to automatically order and replenish the inventory of that tool when needed, purchasing teams are no longer burdened with the unnecessary paperwork that occurs when making multiple orders manually.

Because operators never run out of the tools they need, or have too many tools they don't need, machines never have to stop running because they run out of tools. And in addition to creating a more profitable and productive work environment, proper inventory management has another secondary benefit. It can help make the machine shop more sustainable.

Automating inventory management means that orders are shipped from one central location, rather than being based on the requests of multiple operators who may generate multiple tool orders per week. Therefore, the number of tool shipments can also be reduced and optimized to a single shipment, and purchase orders can be combined so that a new load of tools arrives once a week instead of every day.

In addition, automated tooling can also provide for the reconditioning and recycling of used tools. If we, as an industry, continue to consume the world's limited resources in an unsustainable manner, we will run out of the materials we need to produce solid carbide tools. For example, the estimated reserves of tungsten carbide are about 7 million tons, or 100 years of consumption. Having a workflow that automatically sends used tools for recycling can make taking steps for a more sustainable method much smoother for the end user.

In addition to supporting more streamlined recycling, inventory management software can also ensure that customers reconditioned tools get instead of entirely new ones. Not only are these often only half the cost of purchasing completely new tools, but reconditioned tools can support up to three uses of a single tool before they need to be recycled. Operators can build reconditioning into their tool management process, sending used tools for reconditioning after which they are received back for reuse.

Like Hero's invention, today's dispensing machines streamline the inventory management process and get users the items they need more efficiently. But today they can do much more. It is Sandvik Coromant's experience that users using CoroPlus® Tool Supply software can increase their machine utilization rates to 95%, compared to 50% when not using inventory management software. Having the right hardware and software to manage tools is not just about keeping the workshop neat and tidy. Implementing inventory management software makes the manufacturing environment leaner, greener and more cost-effective.