FEATURE
LINEAR MOTION
How to make customised linear motion affordable
Machine designers today are having to do more, faster and with fewer people, so the more uncertainty they can drive out of the process, the greater their chance of success. Here, Thomson Industries explains why customisation expertise is such an important criteria for machine designers to consider when selection a motion control vendor
W
hen selecting a motion control vendor, machine designers often hope they will find exactly what they need in the
catalogue to avoid what they believe to be the higher costs, delays and risks associated with customised solutions. However, as
more than 25% of motion system projects end up requiring at least some degree of customisation, it could be beneficial to prepare for that eventuality from the outset. Including customisation expertise on the
list of vendor selection criteria could therefore help to avoid higher costs and delays if the application should require some modification down the road. The different customisation capabilities available could result in the designer finding that customisation can be much faster, less expensive and not as risky as they first thought.
considerations
The most important question to ask before closing on any motion control purchase is: What happens if my needs are met by standard products? A few key factors to consider include: 1. Commitment. For some vendors,
customisation is part of their business model, while for others it is something to be avoided. If the vendor website has dedicated customisation pages with detailed lists of characteristics that can be customised, you are probably in good hands. But if there is little or no mention of customisation, you should find out why. 2. Experience. How often have they had to
modify a product? Can they give examples? How did the need for customisation impact cost and delivery? 3. Capability and scale. Do they have any
special equipment for customisation? What does it do? What is the minimum number of potential products for which they would consider customisation? Are they set up to handle smaller batch runs or will they customise only for large product runs?
Left: Online resources such as the Ball Screw Selector Tool from Thomson Industries allow designers to narrow their ball screw search, download a CAD file, make real-time adjustments per defined filter parameters, and receive lead time immediately, or alternatively upload their drawing for a customised solution, thereby saving them costly time and keeping projects on track
2 DESIGN SOLUTIONS NOVEMBER 2021 0
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