Tube mill machine line face a variety of challenges every day in their effort to produce high-quality tubing in a cost-effective and productive way.
This article examines some of the typical problems producers encounter, some common causes of these problems, and some ideas for how to solve these problems.
Lost Mill Time During Operation and Changeovers
Often, excessive downtime during normal operation or tooling/job changeover can be attributed to one or more of the following causes:
1. No written procedures for setup. Every mill should have written procedures for all operators to follow. The machine, tooling, and steel are fixed factors in the mill setup equation; the only variable is the human factor. This is why it is so important to have written procedures in place to control the process. Written procedures also provide a tool for troubleshooting when problems arise.
2. No setup chart. Tweaking the mill during setup loses valuable setup time. Operators must work the tooling the way it was designed. This means setting up to the parameters of a setup chart.
3. Lack of formal training. Formal training helps operators perform the procedures for carbon steel tube mill machine and maintenance and ensures that all operators are on the same track.
4. Disregard of parameters from previous setup. If the Galvanized tube mill machine has been set up according to the written procedures and setup chart, the operator can write down the numbers from the digital readout on the single-point adjustment (SPA) unit, allowing the next operator to set up where the first left off. Setting up to the numbers can save as much as 75 percent of total setup time, as long as all the other tips discussed in this article are followed.
