1.  What Is "Tool And Process Monitoring?
2.  What Can Tool And Process Monitoring Do For You?
3.  What Are The Benefits Of Tool Monitoring?
4.  Does Tool Monitoring Work?
5.  Is Tool Monitoring Hard To Use?
6.  Do I Need Tool Monitoring If I Am Using A Tool Life Management System?
7.  What About My CNC OEM Power Monitoring System?
8.  Is Tool Monitoring For Me?
9.  What do you look for to implement a successful tool and process monitoring solution?
10. Will I Get False Alarms?
11. How can I determine the benefits of tool monitoring or process monitoring in my factory?
12. Will one sensor technology solve all of my monitoring needs?
13. What Is The Role Of Tool And Process Monitoring In R & D And Education?
14. What modern machining technology can I use with tool monitoring?

1. What Is "Tool And Process Monitoring?

Tool and process monitoring refers to data gathered by sensors that is used to determine the status and performance about:

• Machine tool
• Cutting tool
• The machining process

Monitoring systems are extremely precise in detecting changes in the monitored signals. These signal changes are used to determine process changes that can occur from variables in the manufacturing process. These variables can be as disparate as raw stock material variations, speed and feed rate changes, tool wear or breakage, improper programming, etc.

2. What Can Tool And Process Monitoring Do For You?

With the data from the monitor operators, engineers, quality, manufacturing, and management personnel can make decisions that will affect their manufacturing processes and capability. Their decisions will be based on hard data, not opinions that will enable them to:

3. What Are The Benefits Of Tool Monitoring?

Tool monitoring provides machine protection, tooling protection, and quality improvement, error-proofing and scrap reduction. It is an enabling technology for process benchmarking and optimization. Although the area of greatest payback is application specific, payback is typically in six months or less. In machine crash situations, it can be in milliseconds! 

4. Does Tool Monitoring Work?

In-process tool monitoring was first introduced in the early 1980’s and has gained wide acceptance as a necessary component of modern machining equipment. Monitoring works for major manufacturing companies and their first tier suppliers! 

Now, in the opening years of the 21st century, there are tens of thousands of successful installations word wide. Increasingly tool monitoring solutions are being installed in retrofit situations as well as new machines. These monitoring systems are used to protect lathes, machining centers, and dedicated transfer equipment within plants from Delhi to Milan to Chicago and beyond. 

5. Is Tool Monitoring Hard To Use?

Tool Monitoring isn’t hard to use. In use for more than 20 years, it has evolved like all machine tool technologies have. That’s not saying it’s completely “plug and play”. Like all technology new to a shop floor there is a learning curve. Using menu driven set-up menus and graphical feedback displays it’s easy to setup, modify, and monitor the machine tool process. The learning curve can be measured in hours rather than days or weeks. 

CNC technology is more complex, but it seems easier to use because most factories have the staff, infrastructure, and history to support it. Tool monitoring enables greater automation and faster, more aggressive machining. 

6. Do I Need Tool Monitoring If I Am Using A Tool Life Management System?

Tool monitoring is complementary to a tool life management strategy. Everyone attempts to design stable processes, but unexpected things will still happen. A tool may normally cut 500 cycles before it should be replaced, but sometimes it will break without warning after five cycles. The operator may intend to program an offset of 0.001 inch, but accidentally program 1.0 inch. Rough parts will be improperly made and incoming castings can be grossly oversized. 

7. What About My CNC OEM Power Monitoring System?

OEM CNC power monitoring systems are typically a “one size fits all” solution. Montronix systems utilize multiple sensor technology that work together with the OEM product but react 100 times faster! 

Additionally, Montronix provides crash detection during rapid machine moves, tool changes, turret indexes, and manual jogs. During these portions of the machine cycle, a typical OEM power monitor is ineffective at providing any level of machine protection.

A Montronix crash protection system can limit damage to a broken tool holder, rather than significant and costly damage to a turret or slide that puts your machine out of production or requires costly repairs in parts and time. 

8. Is Tool Monitoring For Me?

It depends. Tool monitoring will work on any type of machine providing valuable insight into a manufacturing process. But it may be least appropriate where those processes involving manually operated or low-cost machine tools, very conservative cutting conditions, or parts that have a low value or wide tolerances either in dimensions or surface quality.

Depending upon the application, tool monitoring can provide significant savings in :

Tool monitoring provides the safe use of higher speed machining by reducing the risk of damage to the machine and parts produced that can result from tool breakage, material variation, process variations caused by operators, coolant flow, temperature, or the other myriad variables that can occur in the modern manufacturing environment. 

You’re a prime candidate if your processes include even one of the following criteria:

9. What do you look for to implement a successful tool and process monitoring solution?

There are five elements required to be successful with a tool and process monitoring solution. 

(1.) Multi-Sensor Capability
You don’t have one cutting tool to perform all your machining requirements! Don’t expect one type of sensor to solve your entire tool and process monitoring solutions either. Accurate and reliable sensors designed and field proven to withstand the rigors of the harsh machining environment are a must. Sensors must be sealed with cables that can withstand coolant, chips, and have the mechanical strength to withstand the normal machining processes in addition to the unplanned events that occur in the typical machine. Anything that goes into your machining cell must work 

(2.) Process Algorithms
Look for a suite of proven algorithms that not only condition the sensor’s signal but provide answers to the questions that your machining process requires! You need to be able to easily teach and modify the setups based on the variables that will be introduced to the machining cell. A self-teaching routine and the ability to determine set points and limits will make it easy to learn, easy to monitor, easy to modify, and easy to use

(3.) Machine Tool Interface
The CNC controls on your machine and the process monitor solution have to communicate as quickly and easily as your eye communicates with your brain! The monitoring solution must be fully integrated with the CNC controller, be absolutely bullet proof in reliability, and be flexible enough to handle all the applications you might throw at it as your business grows. 

(4.) Support
When you start out you’ll need comprehensive help in determining the best solution to deal with your specific problem. Montronix has a knowledgeable and experienced worldwide staff capable of helping you in the design, installation, and ongoing support you’ll need. Your success is our objective and we’ll be there to help you all the way.

(5.) Training
Whether it’s the first system you’ve ever installed or your 100th system, Montronix’s experienced training staff is available to meet your needs. From the initial introduction to tool monitoring to the in-depth expert level training course, you will receive detailed information delivered by an expert in a professional manner. You’ll receive full documentation on everything to help you learn and maintain the equipment so you can gain the most from your investment. 

10. Will I Get False Alarms?

You may get alarms where you can’t identify the cause, but the monitoring system will be reporting that something in the process changed. It won’t be a “false” alarm, just a process alarm. Accurate and timely information from the shop floor can be an extremely difficult item to acquire. Most manufacturing environments are optimized to produce parts. Montronix’s internally maintained event log will keep time and date logs of all process events. The graphical interfaces provide a rapid and accurate ability to visually observe process changes. These features allow an operator or engineer or manager to quickly set up, observe, modify, or track process changes. 

11. How can I determine the benefits of tool monitoring or process monitoring in my factory?

The benefits can be estimated by comparing the cost of accidents or quality problems known against the potential savings (or avoidance of costs) using monitoring. Tool and process monitoring will return the machine to a normal operating condition much quicker under normal comparative conditions.

Things to evaluate are as follow:

   1. Catastrophic damage resulting from a machine crash

   2. Tooling wear

   Low utilization of existing tools

   3. Poor part quality

   4. Warranty issues resulting from downstream problems created by non-conforming 
       parts manufactured

   5. Rework of manufactured parts

   6. Scrap of manufactured parts

   7. Direct / indirect labor costs

   8. Inventory adjustments resulting from scrap rates, downtimes, just-in-time 
       manufacturing methods, etc.

12. Will one sensor technology solve all of my monitoring needs?

(See the question “What do you look for to implement a successful tool and process monitoring solution?” Refer to item 1 in this section.)

University research and thousands of hours on shop floors have shown the value of using different sensor technologies to completely monitor machine tool processes. Whether it’s academic or empirical data, the conclusions are the same: each type of sensor exhibits certain strengths and weaknesses. To properly monitor the dynamics of machines, tools, and the manufacturing processes a combination of sensor technologies are required.

13. What Is The Role Of Tool And Process Monitoring In R & D And Education?

For research and development and education there is no substitute for gathering all the data on the processes in question. Following Francis Bacon’s scientific method, gathering data about all process parameters in an objective fashion is the first approach to truly answering the question to a problem. And then having confidence that the data gathered is consistent and repeatable provides you the confidence that your setup and variables are stable. This practical and logical approach to problem solving can’t possibly be accomplished without a solid approach to resolving the many variables in machine tool applications.

Utilizing common setups researchers learn about the mechanics of machining and chip formation. The effects of changing speed rates or feed rates, depth of cut, rake angle, cutter materials, stock materials, or any other parameter of interest, a researcher may quickly, accurately, and confidently make conclusions about the research. Additionally, experimental results can quickly be gathered and conclusions be determined by using modern statistical approaches. Students obtain a much better understanding of the machining process through studying the sensor outputs and the correlation to other variables in the machining process.

By understanding the application issues in tool and process monitoring, focused research topics can be developed in the areas of sensor design, signal processing techniques, machine interfacing, and system design.

14. What modern machining technology can I use with tool monitoring?

Tool monitoring allows for the use of the most modern machining technology. High speed spindles, ceramic inserts, high speed, aggressive machining, dry machining, etc. can all be evaluated and optimized using tool monitoring techniques. With continued pressure from global competition, tool monitoring is the only way to evaluate and determine what you can do.