Quality is a crucial aspect in all industries, regardless of the range of products or services offered. This is no exception for the rapid prototyping industry. Every custom parts manufacturer aims to meet customer expectations, industry regulations, and business standards.
Therefore, it is important to learn how to perform quality control when manufacturing CNC prototypes. In this post, you will learn the importance of quality control and how to perform quality control for CNC machining. Let’s go straight to it!
What is quality control?
During CNC machining, the final quality of the product is the top priority. Manufacturers carry out quality control using specific tools and instruments to meet industry standards and customer demands. The goal of quality control in the manufacturing space is to ensure that each product meets company guidelines. In general, a quality control system works to measure parts and everything else that goes into production. In this way, manufacturers can reduce production costs and increase efficiency.
You carry out quality control while maintaining the quality guarantee of each product. Therefore, machinists must be sure of the best time to implement quality control programs. Any incorrect implementation can be dangerous in terms of quality. Another important part of quality control is the communication system. This helps with back and forth reporting of potential problems or discoveries during the CNC machining process. That way, your customers stay informed of developments during the process.
Why is quality control important for CNC machining parts?
When it comes to CNC machining, the importance of quality control cannot be underestimated. Quality control is essential to ensure that manufactured products meet industry standards and company requirements. It also aims to ensure customer satisfaction by meeting or exceeding their expectations.
In addition, proper quality control of CNC machined parts helps to avoid the production of defective parts. Minimize risks while ensuring quality and dimensional accuracy. With quality control, you can reduce costs, conserve resources, and improve efficiency.
In the manufacturing industry, quality control is advantageous to both manufacturers and customers. Therefore, an effective quality control system must begin by defining each quality standard and establishing it for each part. It should also involve professional inspection and quality control personnel.
Steps to ensure quality control of parts and CNC machining processes
The following steps will help you perform quality control for CNC machining more effectively.
A crucial part of the quality control process is the verification or validation of the design. This is aimed at helping clients achieve maximum visual results from concept to reality. There is also an engineering verification aspect. This is vital during the development phase of every CNC machined product.
An engineering prototype is a great way to help customers test whether products meet design specifications. Also, you can easily test the material used for manufacturing, its mechanical and optical properties. When you realize tighter tolerances at this stage, you can easily verify in-use and assembly functionality.
Finally, you should check for low volume production. At this stage, you test the production line, including volume and time. Here is the stage where you also identify defects in the parts and start optimizing. Similarly, conducting a survey or research to get market feedback is a key way to determine the quality of downstream production. At this stage, your goal is to maximize control of product appearance and accuracy of tolerance.
Sometimes it is vital to implement quality control inspections when the CNC machined part is still in operation. There are possibilities of changes that you may need to install in parts. When the machined part is produced, you can easily identify problems early. Early problem identification ensures early rework of the part prior to finishing.
It is possible to perform some operations that adjust the CNC machine to hold tighter tolerances. For example, you can adjust tool offsets to retain excess material. In addition, you can leave the tool to perform the machining of the part. You can then measure the operations of the tool and how well it has performed. This quality control technique is useful for all newly developed products.
Once the final parts are ready, the next action is to have a skilled measuring machine operator work on them. CNC machining manufacturers use advanced measurement tools with precise calibrations that will help a lot in this regard. CNC machining prototyping companies like RapidDirect, usually provide full dimensional inspection reports on request, including hardness, dimensions, thread and tolerances, colors, etc. Below are some of the most common tools and equipment used to measure:
- go/no go indicator
- micrometers
- Probing meter in process
- air meter
- Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM)
Many manufacturers overlook communication as a quality control process. This is quite wrong because timely and effective communication with customers is key to ensure that their demands are met. Therefore, it is important to maintain the proper line of communication during the manufacturing process and even after sample shipment. Customers and buyers tend to have clear requirements for the specifications and functions of their intended products. Therefore, the first step in quality control should be instant and free quotes.
Here, you can notice when something is not right and adjust the situation as soon as possible. Also, a good line of communication will keep clients informed and aware of the process. There are several ways to communicate effectively with customers. It can be through email, a 24/7 support chat or any other means. In this way, you can learn about customer needs, new information about parts, inclusions or exclusions, and many others.
final thoughts
Each industry has its set of regulations that must be adhered to after a manufacturing process. Failure to follow such regulations or standards could be costly. It can cause an unwanted increase in demand for the product with little supply. There is also a direct impact on the quality of the products.
This is why it is vital to carry out quality control for CNC machining. Quality control helps to carry out inspections before, during and after a process. This ensures quality end products that meet the standards set by regulators. Overall, it eliminates bottlenecks in the manufacturing process.
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Categories: Technology
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
