b'Palletization and other lean methods reduce the time spent not making chips.By Christopher Tate in the popularity of tools and approaches like trochoidal milling, variable-helix endmills and L ean manufacturing principles are based onhigh-feed inserts.the concept of eliminating waste. Lean ex- Machine tool builders and cutting tool man-perts have categorized waste in various ways,ufacturers will continue to bring technologi-such as over-processing and inventory. Wastecal innovations aimed at improving machining is generally anything that does not add valueprocesses and eliminating waste. However, to a product. demand for improvement always will outpace Many shops do not practice lean manu- advances in technology, so machine shops facturing but still work to eliminate waste. Itneed to find other ways to eliminate waste.is easy for machinists, programmers and en-gineers to understand why reducing cycleKeep Chips Flyingtimes, increasing tool life and boosting spin- One of the most effective ways to reduce dle utilization are important to improve thecosts and improve bottom lines is by eliminat-bottom lines of organizations. ing noncutting time. It is amazing how much Cutting faster is often the default methodtime is wasted at a machine tool with activi-for eliminating waste at a machine shop. Ma- ties that do not add value to the part being chinists and programmers are usually keen toproduced.try the latest high-performance cutting toolsWhile at a previous employer, our team or programming techniques aimed at reduc- worked to eliminate noncutting time by ad-ing cycle times. Evidence of this can be seendressing everything that kept a machine from 44MARCH 2020 Palletization.indd 44 2/14/20 6:01 PM'