b'UnisigDeep-hole drilling and automation make for productive work cells.By Unisig Deep-hole drilling systems, which can produce holes that exceed a 20-1 depth-to-diameter ratio, are A cross every industry, manufacturers are workinga unique class of manufacturing equipment because to meet growing customer demand in a globallyof the focused tasks they conduct. An increasing num-competitive market. Despite a widening skills gap, byber of machining centers boast deep-hole drilling ca-organizing advanced technology into highly optimizedpabilities, but these machines simply cannot operate work cells, manufacturers are maximizing productivityat needed speeds, particularly for parts that require through automation. exceptionally high accuracy. Manufacturers that must Specialized equipment, like a deep-hole drilling sys- perform deep-hole drilling capable of rapid produc-tem, often is challenging to integrate, which quicklytion and high throughput should instead select ma-can create production schedule bottlenecks. To elim- chines designed for the task.inate the risk, shops that perform deep-hole drilling should seek out OEMs that understand the needs ofAutomating Holemakinghigh-production manufacturers and have the capabil- These shops increasingly opt for deep-hole drilling ities to bring technology into the factories and worksystems that also work with automation. In a typical cells of the future. deep-hole drilling work cell configuration, such as one 34DECEMBER 2020 DeepDrilling.indd 34 11/13/20 4:25 PM'