CNC – What is a CNC machine simulator ?
“Machines I can buy, any number, but where do I get operators ?”
A commonly heard statement. We don’t get operators, and we can’t train them ourselves because it is too expensive, and is problematic:
– Training needs a dedicated machine, or involves machine downtime if a production machine is used for training.
– The machine may get damaged due to collisions caused by a trainee.
– The trainee may get injured.
– Training needs consumables
– raw material, tools, etc.
So we hire poorly trained operators in desperation, and suffer the resulting machine damage, part rejections and low productivity.
Here’s how aircraft pilots are trained: 90 % of a pilot’s training is on a flight simulator, and only 10 % is on an actual aircraft. Why ? Because pilot training has the same problems as CNC operator training: Machine downtime, machine damage, human injuries or death, consumables (fuel). However, with a simulator, that costs a fraction of the cost of an aircraft, there is no machine damage or human injury during training, and there is no consumables cost.
Flight simulator
So why not train CNC operators on simulators, the way pilots are trained ? The good news is that YOU CAN !
CNC simulators are commonly available today. They work on regular PCs. The controller console is exactly replicated – the various modes, screens, etc. The machine is shown graphically. The trainee operator does exactly what he would on an actual machine, no difference. 9 hours on the simulator, 1 hour on the machine, and you have a well trained operator at very low cost.
CNC simulator
The simulator costs 2 % of the cost of a machine. Minimal machine time, no machine damage by a raw hand, minimal consumable cost.
Action point
If operators are a bottleneck, just acquire a simulator like CADEM doNC CNC simulator software and train your own operators whenever required, in a day. Makes more sense than hiring poorly trained operators of unknown skill. Simulators are so cheap that they make sense even if you just have 2 or 3 machines. If you have a training centre, you can get multiple seats of doNC on a LAN.
