Titan’s Tips: Organizing Your Shop [Part 1]

Titan Gilroy from the TV show Titan’s of CNC is back with another tip for machinists and job shops across the world in our second installment of Titan’s Tips.

“Time is money, you have to be efficient – do not Rush Things and become mistake prone, instead, move at a good solid pace with very little wasted movement,” says Titan. It’s this theme that plays through his methodology of shop organization. Organizing your tools, machines, and optimizing your workflow is one of the most important thing you can do when setting up your shop. When you are working on precision parts, your entire focus needs to be on the part and how it moves through the shop. You can’t do this if you are constantly wondering where to go next and where your tools are. These problems can be eliminated with just a few tips from Titan himself.

First, you need to create a job router sheet that stays with each part all the way through the shop. This sheet should have what machines the part will run through, inspection checklists, where it enters and exits the shop, along with anything else you need to improve the efficiency of your job shop. Titan is sure to point out that “anytime there is a waste of time, you lose money.” The job router should answer all questions and list all concerns in notes including past inspection problems. We do not want any repeat problems!

Next, you should lay out your shop in a manner that makes sense and allows production to continue seamlessly. Titan lays out his shops in a U shape that he says “just flows.” Exact layout will vary for each shop, but Titan starts with receiving, moving through the shop to machines, cleaning, then all the way on to inspection and shipping. Whatever variance you apply to this methodology, Titan stresses that inspection shares a wall with shipping. This will help you keep the final movements of your completed parts efficiently timed.

Lastly, you need to make sure that your tool cribs and stowage areas are properly organized. For Titan, he has certain drawers laid out with tools for each process. The drawers only have the tools needed for the certain process – nothing more. This allows him to always know where the next tool is and cut down on the amount of time a worker has to look for tools. Everything stays just where it needs to be.

Organization is key to the success of a job shop. Without this vital process, wasted time and lost tools will run your efficiency into the ground.

This is only part one of Titan’s Tips on organization, so make sure to check back soon for the second part of this installment of Titan’s Tips.