Two trends are shifting traditional machine shop responsibilities, making such duties further transparent or altogether absent: the growing popularity of online machine shops, and non-machinists performing machining work outside of the traditional shop.

There are two machine shop trends that currently are increasing in popularity, and both take traditional in-shop responsibilities of workers out of the actual machine shop. Do not look at them as necessarily bad, nor as altogether excellent. But do look at them.

The first comes via Modern Machine Shop not too long ago, prognosticating that the way some manufacturers design components, obtain machining quotes and order parts for their products will change in the coming few years: the online machine shop.

A manufacturer ordering parts from an online machine shop may never directly communicate with the shop that actually produces its parts. In fact, says the article, the manufacturer may not even know the name of the shop. “All processes that go into part production, including secondary and finishing operations, will be transparently handled and managed by the online machine shop.”

As such, particularly due to the simplicity of the online ordering process, both manufacturers and existing machine shops can benefit from the alternate online business model. The newly designed business model soon is likely to catch traction, offering with it “not only a streamlined procedure for OEMs to get their parts, but also a potential steady work stream for a variety of job shops.”

For one, a manufacturer can develop a part design and obtain a job quote online — nearly instantly. As well, parts will be ordered and received directly from the online shop, thus eliminating logistics and multiple-vendor hassles that are common to the traditional quoting routine. Notes Modern Machine Shop: “As online shops grow, they will need additional support from ‘traditional’ machine shops, offering another avenue for those shops to gain new work.”

Despite the perspective advantages, there are some hurdles and considerations:

• “Existing shops must first not only recognize the potential that this new business model offers, but also be open to accepting it,” says MMS. “To partner with such online shops will require quality, reliable delivery and competitive pricing.”

• Consider confidentiality, given the inherent disconnect between the manufacturer and the parts-producing shop. Some manufacturers simply may want to have face-to-face contact with the vendors that make their parts.

• Manufacturers also may be leery about repeatable quality on repeat jobs, as the shop that machined a first batch may not machine the next one. If possible, specify that the shop which produced the first batch of parts produces successive batches.

Although the online machine shop model may not be best for big shops to obtain their parts, says Modern Machine Shop, “it may change the way many manufacturing companies think about developing prototypes or obtaining small- to medium-sized batches of parts. It likely will also change the way that existing machine shops think about how to bring new work in house.”

Surely, the trend of shops not communicating or even knowing their customers will continue to increase.

A second forthcoming trend sees machining work performed outside of the traditional machine shop by non-machinists. This is particularly true as machine tools continue to become smaller and less expensive and as CAD/CAM software and 3-D scanning technologies become easier to use.

One reason that machining technology is mobilizing outside of the metalworking industry is that it stands as a way to reduce or eliminate handwork that often is time consuming, says another Modern Machine Shop article. In addition, machining technology offers a chance to eliminate disconnects or delays that result from the separation of designer and machine shop. “This is accomplished by allowing the part designer to quickly create a prototype on a machine tool located in the CAD department. For some manufacturers, the capability to machine one’s own prototypes offers added assurance that proprietary concepts will be kept under wraps.”

Of course, the primary obstacles to having machine tools in an office or other such small space have been the equipment’s size and weight, as most machine tools are too bulky to fit through a standard doorway and too heavy for a typical freight elevator to handle. Now, however, some companies are providing machines and equipment small enough to fit into small spaces but powerful enough to accomplish their functions.

Further, the features these small offices are taking advantage of can also glean advantages for a shop or manufacturer that is currently using machine tools to create its parts. For instance, petite machines can be used for removing prototype machining from the shop floor and installing it into the CAD department. The result: quicker new-product development and speedier time to market.

An additional capability that will send machining work outside of the shop is that of scanning. Scanning systems “would be appropriate for developing new toys, sculptures and a variety of other artistic pieces,” says the article. The CAD/CAM developers also are helping bridge the gap between artists and machine tools, as many companies are offering artistic software that can allow users to turn a 2-D drawing or sketch into a 3-D piece of artwork — and the software then will generate the appropriate toolpaths.

Why should machine shops pay particular attention to this second trend, wherein machining work increasingly is performed outside of the traditional machine shop?

As Modern Machine Shop concludes:

Shops should take note of these new machining opportunities, but not necessarily because said shops should consider delving into these niche areas and producing their own product lines. What this trend should reinforce in shops is the concept of continuing to offer their customers more than a part completed on spec and on time. These offerings may be in the form of component assembly, combined machining and fabrication under one roof, successful management of a lean supermarket — whatever it takes to give customers more than they thought they needed from a single vendor.

As these two machine shop trends increase in popularity, the responsibilities traditionally taking place in actual machine shop jobs become further transparent or altogether absent. There are benefits and disadvantages to both. The key, like anything else new that impacts employees, is to understand the implications and effects of these trends.

Sources

An Alternate Contract Machining Business Model
by Derek Korn
Modern Machine Shop, August 2005

Machining Outside The Shop
by Derek Korn
Modern Machine Shop, August 2005

Additional

Machine Shop Dreams
by Thomas Wailgum
CIO magazine