Good morning everyone,
I'm not certain if this is the correct forum for this, but here it goes...
"I'm looking for a DNC program that works with a barcode scanner for an 8-machine shop. Can anyone help?" <--the short of it.
Here's the long of it:
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The company I work for has given me a task: Find a way to automate the 'loading' of programs into a shop of eight (8) CNC Lathes from Haas.
I've been looking online and I'm finding that DNC might be the way to go. However, they were explicit in asking me to look for something that would include a 'barcode scanner'.
I'm guessing they want to use the barcode scanner because our jobs here come not with a job sheet, but rather a job envelope with a barcode and they'd like the barcode to become a way for the operators to run jobs, rather than using the time-consuming typing in the control method (which is List Prog->Hard Drive ->Manufacturing ID->Oxxxxx.nc, select, Memory->ProgramLoad->Ready).
They've been running some studies here at work and we want to get into making small-order jobs. The problem is, since we are production-oriented (30 to 40 seconds per piece), the loading of a program can sometimes take longer than actually machining the thing because the manufacturing ID can be tough to find. I have arranged the files in the hard-drive in alphanumeric folders to minimize error and to maximize ease of finding the ID. Each ID has about 20 programs associated with it, so the Oxxxxx.nc files are easy to locate and use because the job envelope clearly says which one it is.
They find that running small jobs will not be worth the cost of the operator/machine because it would take longer to find/load a program than to make the piece, and they also noticed the obvious fall in productivity as a result.
Thus, they want to find a way to make the loading/unloading of programs easier. They want to use the barcode because the job envelopes already have one, being that the routing of jobs is done via an AS400-type database system, which they use for inventory control and B.O.M's (bills of materials) and pricing info, etc. The job envelope would have the manufacturingID and the part number (which becomes the Oxxxxx.nc number since I made them associated), so scanning that with a barcode scanner (to get the ID, and the part number) becomes 'the norm' for an operator.
My plan is to get a PC to become the 'server' and host all the code programs, and have it have a small database that would associate the manufacturingID with the folder containing the part numbers, and the part number with the NC file within. Then, the DNC would determine what file to pick, and send it to the CNC.
I do not know if I will need one barcode scanner or eight, or if the scanner would be located at the CNC or at the PC.
Anyway, that's the LONG of it.
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I've been looking into programs such as Predator DNC, Dostek DNC, etc. Does anyone have experience with them, such that they can tell me if such a feat is possible?
Regards,
Jorge