How can cutting time be reduced?
Cutting time doesn't consist only of the pure cutting time itself — material handling, positioning, machine downtime and maintenance all factor into the actual throughput time. It's worth thinking through the following considerations to identify where unused reserves lie.
1. Raising the automation level
Switching from manual material clamping to semi-automatic, and then to automatic material feed, directly reduces the dead time between cycles. This is the most common and most measurable way to increase productivity in high-volume series production — we cover it in more detail in our article comparing automatic and semi-automatic machines.
2. Integrating material handling
The saw itself is only one stage of the cutting process — the arrival, positioning and removal of the cut piece often takes at least as much time as the cut itself. By integrating roller conveyors, measuring systems and other material handling solutions (in MEP's range, the KK line systems), this dead time can be significantly reduced, especially on automatic machines.
3. Remote monitoring and Industry 4.0
MEP's machines equipped with the KONNECT platform (e.g. the SHARK 460 KONNECT, SHARK 662 H KONNECT) enable real-time, remote monitoring, and software updates can also be installed remotely, without hardware replacement. This reduces downtime spent waiting for diagnostics and intervention, since faults can be identified earlier — often even before a shutdown occurs.
4. Planned maintenance
Unplanned downtime is one of the biggest, often underestimated productivity drains. Following the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule and having fast spare parts availability (with local service support) significantly reduces the frequency and duration of unexpected shutdowns.
5. Choosing the right machine from the start
The fastest way to reduce cutting time is to choose the machine type and capacity that fit the task from the outset — an undersized machine or one with the wrong automation level constantly works at the limit of its capacity, which is slower and causes more wear over the long run than a well-sized machine. See: How to choose a metalworking band saw?