Verbal Instruction – Copy Existing Machine Components

Verbal Instruction – Copy Existing Machine Components

I will briefly touch on another problem which can occur when issuing Verbal Instruction to outside contractors, asking them to copy existing machine components.
I was contracting at a company who ran a production line with several “in line” pieces of precision equipment which had been purchased overseas. Over a period of time – lines of communication with the Original Equipment Manufacturer had evaporated and the company liked to use local contractors as much as possible. Therefore when the parts for the precision pieces of equipment started to wear – A worn part was removed and given to a local Toolmaker with the request to “Make Us Another One Of These”

•  Obviously there was no original Engineering Drawing
• It was a worn part – so what were the original dimensions?
• This is a precision piece – What are the required tolerances
• What is the material?
• What heat treatment or hardness requirements?

And of course there are some obvious questions –
How will a new part interact with any existing worn parts which are not going to be replaced

Whilst the toolmaker does the best that they can – there is a lot of guesswork. And hopefully the toolmaker keeps a sketch or similar for their own records.

The part may work – Or it may cause the mating parts to suffer – its all guesswork.
If an Engineering drawing had been created – There would be a record and if certain details were not correct – they could be adjusted in a logical rational manner – with follow up drawings being updated until the design was correct and a satisfactory part could then be manufactured every time.

 

 

When this type of situation arises – a second result could be that in the Toolmakers eyes, they now own the design for this component – which has been measured and produced by them. So, the company is pretty much locked into buying more of these from this Toolmaker at their price. The company is not able to get competitive prices from other Toolmakers. Or if the Toolmaker goes out of business or loses the record – It is back to square one. If there is a detailed Engineering Drawing – competitive quotes can also be obtained on a regular basis

Cross reference with Engineering Drawings For Minor Works

 

Not Only – But Also……

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