Automate your machine tools

The implementation of Ellistat APC in our manufacturing facility has enabled us to make a shift towards Industry 4.0 and to make a smooth change towards a better organization of our production workshop. The "APC" module is very ergonomic and easy to use, which enabled us to deploy the solution quickly. Today, six months after deploying the software in our workshops, we are seeing a reduction in production rejects and a reduction in the costs incurred by machine adjustments. For the first parts processed with Ellistat, we have gone from a Ppk < 1 to a Ppk ≈ 1.4 and we can now set up our machines in 1 piece. The software has convinced everyone working with the APC, in their opinion: "Despite the fact that Ellistat has changed the way we set up and control our machines, it's nice to no longer have the stress of making mistakes when calculating offsets, whether when setting up or changing tools. What's more, we can really see the improvement in quality and comfort in the field.

Equipping our workshops with Automated Process Control via Ellistat has radically changed the way we set up and operate our machines. We can now develop a new, more dynamic and efficient culture of variability control, with tangible results in terms of quality and productivity. Production staff gain real working comfort, and we can easily envisage greater complexity - the possibilities are enormous!

At LISI's Melisey site, the Ellistat APC module interfaces with LISI's MES, and corrections are transferred directly to the multispindles. The implementation is fast and the software is intuitive to use. The LISI team was pleasantly surprised by how the APC module was able to render the manufacturing process autonomous. Adjustment used to require several iterations, consuming several parts to reach the required level. Now, a single part is enough. The saving in set-up time achieved by using APC represents around 75%. By January 2021, the scrap rate had fallen from 3.5% to less than 0.1%. This is because the algorithm auto-corrects the machine tool in near-real time as soon as it deviates, resulting in a reduction in scrap rate of around 95 %. In early 2021, the APC solution was deployed on some twenty CNC machines of different brands and generations. Deployment is rapid, requiring little hardware and investment.

All you have to do is measure the part, enter the data into the APC, which automatically makes all the corrections at once. This makes the employees' work much easier. Before APC, if the drift remained within tolerance, the setter had two options: recenter the dimension or leave it within the acceptable limit. With APC, the dimension is always centred. We've achieved our quality objective and improved our productivity: set-up time has fallen by around 50%, and the company's overall scrap rate by around 30%.

With the implementation of APC on our multispindle lathes, we have achieved very convincing gains on several levels: reduced machine downtime, improved OEE and a clear reduction in the scrap rate. What's more, our scrap rate has fallen from 4% to 1.5%, and we can now space out inspection times, as the software guarantees us stability in machine variability.