Posts: 36
From:Cincinnati, Ohio
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 25 July 2001 02:53 PM            

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Looking for some input.

Would CNC machine programs need to be controlled documents?

Obviously the engineering drawing needs control, and the measuring instruments need control, and the process hardware needs to be capable. However since the setup is checked against the engineering drawing before running, it wouldn't seem that the CNC programs would need to be controlled.

Any Views?

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Posts: 58
From:Romulus, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 25 July 2001 04:01 PM               

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Our CNC programs have headers which identify them just like our controlled documents. Part number, revision, author, date etc. They are also backed up on a server computer. Our autitor has audited this in the past.

Greg Dickie

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Posts: 36
From:Cincinnati, Ohio
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 25 July 2001 07:53 PM            

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>>>Our CNC programs have headers which >>>identify them just like our controlled >>>documents. Part number, revision, author, >>>date etc. They are also backed up on a >>>server computer. Our autitor has audited >>>this in the past.

Is the rev level you use the Part Rev or the program rev?

James

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Low tech is better than no tech.

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Posts: 31
From:Tipton, IN
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 26 July 2001 08:00 AM               

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>>Would CNC machine programs need to be controlled documents? <<
We treat our CNC programs as controlled documents. They are backed up on a server just for all the CNC machines we have. Our programs also have part number, print revision, date, etc. to identify them as controlled. If a line is added or subtracted from the program the operator fills out a change sheet, the Super signs it and turns it in to the CNC Programmer to document the change. Changes to existing lines are not documented. After a job is done it is uploaded to a que on the server to replace the old one.
Russ

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Posts: 58
From:Romulus, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 26 July 2001 08:20 AM               

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The revision in the CNC program is for the part level.

Greg

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Posts: 33
From:Southfield, MI
Registered: May 2001

posted 27 July 2001 07:59 AM               

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Does the operator have access only to the latest revision of the program? Are they being pulled from the same server if there are multiple machines running the same program?

I have used the procedure that the responsible engineer updates the machine program and deletes the old revision. The operator only has access to the correct revision. The file server is considered the master list, showing all current revisions. Auditors have never had an issue with this.

I also had one client (EDM company) that only allowed one program to be in the machine at a time. The engineer was responsible for loading the program. This way the operator could never pick the wrong program, since there was only one (assuming the engineer downloaded the correct file).

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