How Small Can Precision Equipment Go in Manufacturing

The manufacturing of goods is very important in today’s world and the business community. One aspect that’s essential to ensuring goods and products turn out is precision.

The higher the precision, the higher the quality, reliability, and performance you receive. There have been many advancements in high-precision manufacturing and technologies over the years. The question you likely have on your mind is just how small can precision equipment go in manufacturing?

What is Precision Machining

A wise first step when answering the question of how small can precision equipment go in manufacturing is to understand what precision machining is. In summary, it’s a type of technical manufacturing that is essential in creating and designing machines, parts, tools, and other hardware. This hardware is vital in modern manufacturing to maintain process controls and tolerances that are working under exceptionally tight specifications. It’s used to make components big and small that you’re likely to use in your everyday life. Precision manufacturing makes sure that the parts work together and fit together just so to function correctly.

How Does it Work

It’s a practice where custom software, engineered tools, and process steps come together with raw materials like plastic, metal, and ceramic to create very fine and small parts. Often, the work is directed and instructions are followed using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs. There are such tight tolerances that these programs are required to ensure the specifications are met. These requirements often start as hand drawings and turn into computer models and designs.

Necessary Tools & Materials

A few of the raw materials that are used in precision manufacturing are as follows:

·         Plastic

·         Ceramic

·         Metal

·         Composites

·         Steel

·         Bronze

·         Graphite

·         Glass

A combination of tools is often used to ensure precise cuts and to complete intricate removal of the raw material. A few of these tools you’ll frequently find when working with precision manufacturing are milling machines, lathes, Electric Discharging Machines (aka. EDM’s), saws, and grinders. To make finely detailed components and piece parts, the equipment is often heavy machinery that’s directed via computer controls. You may even find that high-speed robotics and photochemical processes are used in some instances when the cuts and parts need to be very small and precise.

Capabilities of Precision Manufacturing

A wide variety of parts and products can be produced using precision manufacturing, even within very tight and specific constraints. To get the results you desire, the tools and machines creating precise components need to be of high quality. They also need to be able to function under very stringent specifications. Every tool has different capabilities. Which you use and how small you can cut all depends upon the diameter in inches in size, the specific characteristics of the materials, as well as the shapes and dimensions of parts that can be created.

Conclusion

Precision manufacturing is made possible by having strict manufacturing guidelines specifications and critical tolerances in place. Precision equipment can go very small in manufacturing and it’s what allows companies to produce the products and goods you likely use daily.