High-speed execution of programs is the key to reducing machining time.

"How to reduce machining time" is a constant problem in the machining industry. This issue, which governs our customers' production efficiency, is one which concerns machine tool manufacturers as well. The 2 key points in reducing machining time are increasing the speed of the machines and increasing the speed of program execution. No matter what kind of high-performance machine you have, if your program is inefficient, there's no way you will be able to shorten your machining time. By combining high–performance machines with programs to run them efficiently, you can achieve dramatic reductions in machining time. In this issue, we will explain how you can improve the speed of your program execution.

Programs to reduce the spindle acceleration/deceleration time

With conventional programs, because the spindle speed dropped whenever one machining process finished, you had to accelerate again before starting the next machining. The time required for this acceleration/deceleration was lost machining time. If you use programs to reduce machining time, however, there is no wasted time, because the spindle will accelerate (or decelerate) to the cutting speed for the next machining process before it starts. It's easy to see how lost time occurred with conventional programs, since the spindle speed fell to 191 min^-1 whenever machining was finished.

Reducing machining time with quick M codes

Quick M codes are ones which can command the start of the next block without having to wait for the "Operation complete" signal. In other words, by using quick M codes, you can run several operations in parallel. (The numbers for quick M codes are made by adding 1000 to conventional M codes.)

Starting up spindle and positioning simultaneously

Speeding up B-axis indexing

Speeding up ATC preparation

Executing B-axis and ATC operations at the same time

* Let's have a closer look, using the NH4000 DCG as an example.

In future, Mori Seiki will not just build faster machines, but will also look at increasing speed from all angles, including faster execution of programs, to meet our customers' needs for shorter machining times.