Tag Archives: state of manufacturing

The State of Manufacturing in 2022 – And Why Manufacturing Should Never Be The Same

This article is SHORT and SWEET … TOTALLY TRUE … and illustrates a point that if heeded … and you should … can help all size manufacturers and machine shops move forward with speed and confidence.

Let’s start with two main points :

  1. Today’s manufacturing is grappling with a multitude of issues … as listed below.
  2. Kipware® software can alleviate EVERYTHING listed below.

Let’s List the Problems :

  1. Constantly thinning margins caused by supply chain issues including sourcing raw materials. Even if they can find what they want … prices have increased to levels that are threatening margins. Profit Margins grow are thinner and thinner by the day … winning unprofitable work WILL ruin your business.
  2. A significant increase in demand … all those delayed products, plans, and purchases from last year are now happening all at once. Clients want their orders fulfilled NOW … or they’ll walk.
  3. The challenges of implementing new technologies into the production process are creating bottlenecks as manufacturers try to bring emplyees up to speed on new, complex technology. Software companies have shops bamboozled into thinking that only their products … overly complex, overly expensive, constant maintenance fees … can solve their problems. And they all come with huge learning curves … or lock you into finding employees who are familiar with them.
  4. Finding and retaining enough employees with the skills manufacturers need continues to be a top challenge. Instead of software helping inexperienced users grow and meet new challenges and become more helpful … today’s software requires more and more training and lock out good employees from stepping in.

Let’s See the Solutions … and Why Kipware :

  1. MARGINS are getting thinner by the day with the cost of raw materials rising and the ability to obtain raw materials getting more and more difficult. Manufacturers need to absolutely insure that jobs they are winning are profitable and KipwareQTE® cost estimating software and KipwareCYC® cycletime estimating software are essential tools for anyone quoting and estimating potentail work. Proven in the trenches since 1986 with constant innovation and improvements … Kipware® estimating software insures quality, profitable work … and stops the downward spiral of winning work that just loses money.
  2. DEMAND : Timeline for deliveries of manufactured goods are tight and manufactureres need to absolutely insure that any bottlenecks in the production process are removed. CNC programming models that rely solely on the “cad/cam guy” or the “programming department” should be a thing of the past. Relying on them for tasks like creating fixtures and jigs, boring jaws, simple part programming or in the case of Kipware® conversational, anykind of part programming … creates bottlenecks including editing or updating part programs as dictated by cutting conditions. KipwareM® and KipwareT® are real world tools that allow good chipmakers, novice CNC programmers and even advanced CNC programmers to create G code faster and easier than any CAD/CAM system … no CAD or CAD drawing experience required. With Kipware® conversational … you make chips … not drawings.
  3. IMPLEMENTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES : When deciding to add new technologies to your shop … one key fact to consider is the learning curve. How fast can I get the technology up and running … positively effecting my business … and what is my return on investment. Kipware® software … whether quoting and estimating or conversational CAM … are designed around intelligent interfaces so users spend more time doing and less time learning. Easy and intelligent user interfaces mean getting results faster and making a faster positive difference in your bottom line. Don’t be fooled … more expensive, more complex … does not mean quality or performance. ALSO … our innovative and pionerring G code conversion software can make acquiring new equipment and/or transferring G code seamlessly between different machines and controls … effortless. Got Fanuc controls/ Got Okuma controls? Got Haas controls? Our CNC XChange software will easily convert G code between these formats allowing for the quick and easy transfer of G code programs between different machines / controls. Eliminate the CNC control incompatibility issue and make your whole shop operate seamlessly.
  4. SKILLED PERSONNEL : Skilled personnel are getting harder and harder to find. Again, the easy and intelligent Kipware® software interfaces allow anyone … even with minimal skills … to create accurate cycletimes, accurate quotes and estimates and quality, efficient  CNC cutting programs. Kipware® conversational can turn anyone into a master CNC programmer … because the software does all the work automatically.  Kipware® quoting and estimating allows anyone to create accurate cycletime and cost estimates to insure the work you win is actually profitable work. And the routing sheets and road maps created from your quotes and estimates by Kipware® mean that the shop floor and estimators are in sync … a key factor for profitable quotes and estimates. Whatever you quote or cost out … must be able to be achieved by YOUR SHOP FLOOR. Book knowledge or pie-in-the-sky parameters only means more lost profits.

OK … that’s it. As stated in the beginning … short, sweet and all true. Kipware® is one of the fastest growing brands in machine shops around the world … fact … and it is because it is REAL WORLD software solving REAL WORLD issues and was designed and created by REAL WORLD developers.

And I can say I am proud to be :
Kenney Skonieczny – President
Kentech Inc.