aticorp.com

Milling is probably one of the most prevalent of the machining processes used in manufacturing today. The advent of the CNC control has made milling a mainstay of manufacturing and a big target for production improvement and automation. Large-scale milling operations have been able to be automated for many years. Our focus, at ATI, Inc., is the small- to medium-lot-sized manufacturer. The company where no two parts are the same or machining priorities change daily making it impossible to consider automation for their application.

The difference in our approach to these customers revolves around the fact that we have extensive experience in the design and use of palletizing systems to eliminate the differences when gripping and loading dissimilar workpieces. We also have the software development side that allows us to manage real-time requests for NC programs making the automation of “one off production” a reality.

The CellMaster software also plays a big part in allowing CNC milling machines to be utilized in a low-lot-size manufacturing cell. This enables these machines to produce parts in lot sizes of 1, 2, 50 , or 100 parts with a click of a mouse.

“CNC automation is not something that is simply purchased,
but a process that you must apply to your entire shop!”