Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
What a CNC Job Shop Should Settle Before Moving Job Cards Off Paper
Settle five lists first: part numbers with revisions, operations per part, inspection points, bar stock by grade, and open job work challans. Software then has something accurate to hold. GullySystem’s Manufacturing Production Management Software follows this order for machine shops. A shop with two machines and one buyer may not need it yet.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Part numbers and drawing revisions come first
Every job on a CNC floor starts from a buyer’s drawing. Before any software goes in, list each live part number with its current revision and the buyer who owns it. Older revisions with open orders go on the list too.
This list decides whether a system can keep the wrong print away from a machine. If two people disagree about the current revision, settle that now. Software will not settle it for you.
- Part number and description as the buyer writes it
- Current drawing revision and when it changed
- Material grade and bar or forging size
- Open orders still made to an older revision
Write down the operations and the machine for each part
In many job shops the routing lives in the setter’s head. Write the sequence for each regular part: turning, milling, drilling, grinding and any outside process. Name the machine each operation normally runs on.
Keep the words the floor already uses. If operators say “first op” and “second op”, the job card should say the same. A routing written in office language gets ignored beside the machine.
Decide where inspection happens and what gets recorded
First-piece, in-process and final inspection each need an owner. Agree which dimensions are recorded at each point, and with which instruments or gauges. Readings without a fixed place get skipped.
Agree a short list of rejection reasons as well. Undersize, oversize, thread damage, finish and burr are a common start. A free-text reason cannot be counted later.
- Who approves the first piece on each machine
- How often in-process checks happen per part
- Reasons a supervisor may pick when rejecting
- Who can release a lot that was put on hold
Count bar stock and open job work before go-live
Opening stock is a common place for a new system to start wrong. Count bars, forgings and castings by grade and size, and note offcuts long enough to reuse. Material already on the floor belongs to its job.
Then list every challan still open with a job worker. Note the part, the quantity sent, the process and the date. Hardening, plating and grinding vendors should confirm what they hold.
Skip this count and the first reports show shortages that are not real. Staff then stop trusting the screen.
Who marks the job card, and when to wait
Decide who updates each card. Operators can mark quantity passed and rejected from a phone or tablet, or a supervisor can enter it at shift end. Either works if it happens every shift.
A shop with two machines, one buyer and no outside processes may manage well with a register. Software starts to matter when several machines, buyers and job workers share one queue.
Start with one product family. Check its cards against paper, then add the rest.
Part and routing worksheet
A worksheet listing each live part number with its current revision, material grade, bar size, operations in order, machine per operation and inspection points. Fill it in with the setter and the inspector together. Blank cells show what the floor still keeps in memory.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can the software schedule our machines automatically?
No. The product described here shows the lots queued on each machine. Your planner sequences them and moves target dates by hand.
Can a lot be traced to the heat number of its bar?
Not on its own. The standard set-up links each lot to its work order and the material issued against it. Heat numbers and mill certificates against each issue are added during implementation.
How long should paper and software run side by side?
Until the counts agree. Compare stage quantities and stock on screen with the paper register each shift. Stop the register once both match across a full run of your regular parts.