Proving is a necessity to adding efficiency into the production cycle, and the promise elimination of manual proving could be beneficial to any manufacturing environment. Some of the advances are designed specifically with the lean manufacturing facility in mind, while others still incorporate concepts making them difficult to incorporate into such a streamlined production environment. No matter how you define lean manufacturing, it essentially focuses on the elimination of waste. Waste appears in many aspects including employee, material and the efficient use of space. Mistake-proofing is also a primary concern in a lean manufacturing environment.
Flexibility including quick set-ups is a necessity.
Therefore, look for machinery designed for short runs if your facility produces a number of different products requiring fixture and program changes. It is crucial, however, to first determine which features your operation actually needs. Every process or operation is only as good as its weakest link. With changes in machinery technology it is crucial for tooling to meet the new challenges. Fortunately, cutting tool manufacturers have developed tooling at a rate that exceeds the advancements of most machinery.