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Al Youngwerth

Mill Automation Enables Lights-Out Production for Machine Shop

Innovative Fabrication leveraged The Mill Automation System to fill labor gaps and increase revenue by over 20% Customer Profile VersaBuilt Automation Systems in Action at Innovative Fabrication. Project Requirements The customer needs to be able to integrate their own parts into the automation system with the workforce they have, and without significant training The solution…

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384 512 Al Youngwerth

Top 5 Mistakes Machine Shops Make Implementing Automation 

Automation is finally at the forefront of CNC manufacturing trends. Lack of labor is the main driver for automation today. For years, the justification for automation was almost always based entirely on financial return. Post-Covid, not only has labor become more expensive, but it may also not be available at all. For many CNC manufacturers,…

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2560 1707 Al Youngwerth

The Most Effective Quality Tool Most Machine Shops Have Never Heard Of

In 2005, Rekluse Motorsports was growing like mad. A new batch of high-performance, 4-stroke, off-road motorcycles fueled that growth. New bike models meant new part numbers and we quickly grew into manufacturing hundreds of unique parts that made their way into dozens of different products. All of that growth caused a lot of growing pains.…

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2560 2185 Al Youngwerth
Top Jaw Production

Part Picking vs Pallet Loading: Which Automation Strategy is Best for CNC Milling?

Historically, there have been two methods to automate the tending of parts in a CNC machine: part picking robots and pallet picking robots. VersaBuilt’s MultiGrip is a third method for automated tending of a CNC machine. We’ll look at how each technology works, some of the pluses and minuses of each, and how some of…

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952 1280 Al Youngwerth

Standard vs. Custom CNC Automation: What’s Right for My Shop?

Like most industries in the US, machine shops are facing historic labor challenges. Automating the loading and unloading of CNC machines typically represents the single best opportunity to reduce the amount of labor required to meet production demands. Modern CNC automation systems can be successfully deployed in almost any CNC machine shop to help alleviate…

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3840 2160 Al Youngwerth
CNC Stock Image

How to Get Started with Robotic CNC Automation: Part 1 – Adopting a Culture of Automation

CNC production targets keep getting missed. Scrap rates are high. We don’t have enough CNC operators to meet demand. Production costs are rising. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Experienced, reliable, and dedicated CNC operators are in short supply and the problem is forecast to get worse. Many CNC shops are foregoing opportunities because they know…

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1103 770 Al Youngwerth

How to Get Started with Robotic CNC Automation: Part 2 – Selecting the Right Automation Equipment for the Job

The market for CNC automation equipment has exploded over the past 5 years. Price points have come down significantly. Cobots have created new automation possibilities including DIY automation. A discussion of all possibilities could take weeks to write and hours to read. I’m going to narrow this discussion down to automation equipment targeted at high-mix…

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953 484 Al Youngwerth

June 8th Webinar Featuring VersaBuilt President, Al Youngwerth

Cobot Machine Tending: The Ideal Place to Start Automating Date: Tuesday, June 8th, 2021 Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Time Sponsor: Universal Robots Duration: 1 Hour Summary: Machine tending requires a person to stand for long hours in front of a CNC, injection-molding, or other similar machine and tend to its operational needs. The process is boring and tiresome…

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1115 606 Al Youngwerth
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