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Tool Crib for 3 shifts of Operators

masterlink517

Plastic
Joined
Sep 15, 2015
The company I work for is an orthopedic mfg. based in Northern Indiana. We've been discussing the idea of starting a tool crib that works better and that suits our needs. Right now we are using an honor system of the operators grabbing a tool from a drawer and filling out a requisition on a computer. The problem we are running into is that people are taking tools but not recording them. We've discussed having a vending machine system but that can become very costly.

What would your recommendation be for a tool crib concept. Understand that we run 3 shifts throughout the day and night. Could we get by just having an attendant on one shift? How would that work?

Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated.

Thomas
 
It sounds like the honor system isn't working too well.

Please clarify what you're trying to fix.

Is production being impacted by tool shortages or is there excessive consumption (pilferage?) due to no accountability? Or ???
 
Many incoming cutting tools will have barcodes already printed on their package labels, if you buy a laser scanner and software to read and tabulate tool usage per employee (who would have their own code read first, then tooling), that is a quick and easy method to record tool consumption. Those tools without codes (loose drill bits, etc.) would have generic codes associated with them, then a quantity and simple additional ID (size or length) added by keyboard or even jpg from a fixed camera.

Abuse could be checked by reviewing actual stock VS claimed usage, if done frequently during the initial implementation it could capture small enough groupings that tracing the abuser shouldn't be too hard. There would have to be accountability for those who err, but how to judge that and what leniency to have would be based on company culture and ease of replacing an employee.

Or have a big dog trained to sniff out scoundrels in the crib. Bite marks would count against an employee, with loss of limb leading to dismissal. Trying to bribe the dog with steak would be a "never seen again" offense...
 
Gate off the crib area and install an RFID magnetic lock on the door. Issue RFID employee badges (we use these for time clocks, so they already have those.) Then you can grant access to only who you want (i.e. supervisors or specific, trained personnel or everyone) But you get a log of who enters the crib. I'd also suggest a security video system installed in the crib to deter theft. Having them scan in and be video recorded will make people much more apt to perform the required procedures of filling out a transaction card.
 
The company I work for is an orthopedic mfg. based in Northern Indiana. We've been discussing the idea of starting a tool crib that works better and that suits our needs. Right now we are using an honor system of the operators grabbing a tool from a drawer and filling out a requisition on a computer. The problem we are running into is that people are taking tools but not recording them. We've discussed having a vending machine system but that can become very costly.

What would your recommendation be for a tool crib concept. Understand that we run 3 shifts throughout the day and night. Could we get by just having an attendant on one shift? How would that work?

Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated.

Thomas

Why have "people are taking tools but not recording them"? Just make one person responsible on each shift for keeping track.

You do have a major problem if you can't find one responsible person, and willing to take the responsibility, on each shift. Pay them extra as it'll probably be the cheapest solution too.

BTW it doesn't seem as if there is much planning if having to constantly get things from storage is common.
 
We put in a vending machine several years ago for inserts and taps. Works great. No cost involved other than the inventory (which we already had). No monthly fee, no maintenance fee, why do you think its expensive? Vendor owns the machine, they absorb the cost through increased sales. Product may be slightly above average cost, but well worth it for convenience, no down time because of out of stock tools, reordering can be automated. Prices for inventory are fixed and can be negotiated every year ( or at whatever time interval is agreed upon). If i don't like the prices, I can choose not to renew. It has worked great for us. Very happy with the whole process.
 
We put in a vending machine several years ago for inserts and taps. Works great. No cost involved other than the inventory (which we already had). No monthly fee, no maintenance fee, why do you think its expensive? Vendor owns the machine, they absorb the cost through increased sales. Product may be slightly above average cost, but well worth it for convenience, no down time because of out of stock tools, reordering can be automated. Prices for inventory are fixed and can be negotiated every year ( or at whatever time interval is agreed upon). If i don't like the prices, I can choose not to renew. It has worked great for us. Very happy with the whole process.

If you like what you have and it works for you then great. I'm left figuring out how what you have works.

Like a coke machine? Does it take money, tokens or something else? IOW who takes what and how?
 
I'm hesitating to see why you think the vending machine is so expensive when your current situation doesn't work and leads to downtime (in a three shift orthapedic manufacturer). And your other proposal is to add a tool crib attendant (one on each of three shifts, the most expensive option).

I could make a vending machine or two look real cheap pretty quick in that scenario. Bonus if it has an RFID reader integrated into it. Our was basically just a Vidmar cabinet with a touch screen, chip reader, and highly intelligent locks added to it.
 
vending machine the employee scans his badge
scans drawer compartment and enters quantity
clicks withdrawl and clicks sign out
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only problem is inventory sometimes messed up cause operator scan wrong bar code or dirty bar code is read incorrectly. incorrect scan does happen i have scanned bar code on my employee badge and it has said employee 1234 not found with 1234 not my employee number. basically it somehow misread bar code probably dirty.
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other way is employee gets tools out by the box of 10 or gets end mills out at least 4 at a time and just handles inventory in his tool box enough to last the time it take to reorder and receive it. that is if down to say 4ea 1" dia end mills he reorders 4 more. so he would always have anywhere between 1 to 8 1" dia end mills. but if each employee basically keeps there own vending machine it is like having 100 vending machine if you got 100 employees.
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with one common vending machine for most stuff the employee would need much less in his tool box as the vending machine has what he is suppose to need. also technically tools are not purchased until gotten from vending machine. so inventory in vending machine has not been purchased or paid for until signed out
 
At our facility the vending machine was a dirty word for a long time, me included. We didn't like the looks of Integration companies getting a foot hold and mark-ups on what I consider low services, (vending machine, stocking labor) but we needed inventory control, signout control, usage control. We kept with our one major and local distributor for perishable tooling. This was important since they know our needs and help us engineer tooling needs, like having an extra project engineer. We shared what the integration companies proposed with the distributor, what consignment costs would be, and any other add-ons that would come with their service. Our distributor was more than happy to keep our business, placed 4 vending machines in the plant, (90% of our perishable turns) stock the machines, and invoice us once a week. Vending machines themselves can be rather inexpensive in the big picture, it's the inventory and who is carrying that cost that breaks deals. There is no secret that consignment has a cost, whether it's worth the cost is where the road of opinions split. For us that had little value, we purchase and the distributor stocks the machine, manages our turns to not over stock or run us out. They even breakdown our insert packs, so a pack of 10 turning inserts is stocked in the machine as a pack of 2, most milling inserts as packs of 7. We can now run reports to discipline our operators, take only what is needed for the day, no toolbox stashes. We can also roll-up perishable tooling cost by specific job, or which operators use more tools than another running the same job. The vending machine can be as simple or all encompassing as you want. We have barcodes on employee badges and our job packets for the part number and the operation number. From there any report can be made and manipulate in Excel for meaning to your shop.

Our spend is now controlled, inventory is in check, less paperwork is being handled, our buyer is freed up to work more magic, and most importantly, the distributor is invested even more in our success without finger pointing when a machine is waiting for a tool, or rushing something in. It really was a win for both sides, and saved vendor and customer money and stress.
 
3 shifts of operators is how many? What are the crib man's duties? If 20-30 machines running and he should be preparing set up kits for up coming jobs, possibly doing some sharpening (drills come to mind), in addition to checking out individual items then he is pretty busy.
 
We have over 300 employees and utilize about 100 machines. Planning is taken into effect but we run numerous jobs and eat through a lot of tooling. The problem I see with vending machines is that we already have strong relationships with our suppliers and would like to continue to keep those. I'm thinking the best option right now would be to have a tool crib attendant for each shift. Ones who actually sign for the electronic requisition for tools, checks in/out fixtures, and keeps a running tab on inventory.
 
........ I'm thinking the best option right now would be to have a tool crib attendant for each shift. Ones who actually sign for the electronic requisition for tools, checks in/out fixtures, and keeps a running tab on inventory.

What is the fully burdened cost for 3 full time employees per year vs buying as many vending machines as you need?
As with any machine tool you buy, how long is the payoff? One year, three? How long does a CNC lathe take to pay for itself?

Okay 2.5 employees, you still have to stock your own machines but maybe some cost savings in purchasing as the machines can order stock by themselves.

Commodity managers and such will put them in for free but rest assured that the machine gets paid for and plus somehow.
They have a bottom line P&L statement just like you.
If you own the machine you can put any darn thing in it you like.
Bob
 
vending machines cost my company nothing. tool distributor running tool crib gets computer printout and auto reordered material is restocked in machine twice a week. when tool signed out then it is purchased
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only problem we have is inventory count sometimes is off. a compartment will read empty and it isnt or empty compartment is empty but reading that there is tools there.
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i believe either operator scanned wrong compartment barcode or it misread barcode. i have seen it happen often scan beep barcode and it shows it read a different part number. now why a employee would put his big dirty hand on barcode reaching in to grab tool is hard to understand but i often see many barcodes dirty thus maybe why they wont scan or scan incorrectly
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so ocassionally we have to scan barcode and sign out a few tools as compartment reads there are tools there and until we sign them out to zero inventory they dont get reordered
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this forces a small inventory of tooling outside the vending machine so if vending machine not refilled in a week we got time to complain at tool crib and ask why it isnt being filled. forman wanted no tooling outside vending machine but it just more practical to have a weeks supply outside of vending machine if there is a restocking problem which happens occasionally. when foreman says stop the job and wait til tool crib does its job refilling vending machine. from a practical stand point once fixture and part is in machine not going to stop and remove fixture and part from cnc to put it back in in a week. i just use emergency supply and finish job and give tool crib time to restock machine. delays restocking of a week are not uncommon
 
If you have 100 machines and run jobs that burn through tooling, I think your vendors need to worry about keeping YOU happy, not the other way around.

Amen. I'm a distributor sales man and I would kill to give away free vending machines to a medical account with 100 machines. It blows my mind that your current suppliers haven't offered.
 
If you're looking at getting tool crib attendants, consider ways to make them better than a vending machine. If all they do is hand out drill bits and mark down who they gave them to, that's a job that a vending machine can do. I've seen very successful setups at aerospace companies where the tool crib preps the entire job. You go up to the crib and tell them what job you're doing. They hand you a tray with a fully set up Quackenbush drill and all the other tools and fasteners you need. The guys on the floor don't have to mess with getting the tooling right.

For a machining center, a tool crib attendant could know that a job is coming up and kit up the drill bits, taps, gauges, etc. that will be needed on that job.
 








 
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