Inside office automation (OA) equipment such as printers, multifunction devices, and scanners are a great many small precision parts that move paper and components accurately.
CNC automatic lathes are used to mass-produce them.
In This Article
What Office Equipment Parts Require
Machining parts for office equipment has the following characteristics.
First, the precision that underpins accurate operation.
For a printer or multifunction device to feed paper accurately and print images precisely, its internal parts must be made to high precision.
The slightest wobble or play in a roller axle or shaft affects print quality.
Next, volume and cost.
Office equipment is produced in huge quantities worldwide, so small parts must be made efficiently and inexpensively.
And then, quiet, smooth operation.
Part precision also matters for suppressing operating noise and vibration.
A CNC automatic lathe meets these requirements because it can mass-produce small precision parts with both high precision and high efficiency.
Which Parts Are Made
Office equipment parts where CNC automatic lathes come into their own include paper-feed roller shafts, all kinds of axles and pins, gear shafts, and small parts such as bushings and collars (spacers).
These parts are small and round, require high precision, and are needed in large numbers — a perfect match for the CNC automatic lathe's strengths.
For long, slender shafts, the Swiss-type, which controls deflection to secure precision, is well suited.
Strengths in the Office Equipment Industry
For office equipment parts, volume and cost are paramount.
A CNC automatic lathe mass-produces unattended from automatically fed bar stock, and high-speed machining on a gang-type machine shortens the cycle time per part.
This secures cost competitiveness while maintaining quality.
Office equipment also sees frequent model changes, so flexible handling of a wide product mix is required.
A CNC automatic lathe, which changes parts by switching programs, adapts readily to these changes.
Responding to a Changing Office Equipment Market
The office equipment market is in the midst of change, driven by the paperless trend and the spread of remote work.
While demand for conventional printers and multifunction devices is shifting, new fields such as label printers, industrial printing, and 3D printers are emerging.
Amid these changes, what matters is the flexibility to handle a wide product mix.
The more market needs shift, the more frequent model changes become and the more diverse the parts.
A CNC automatic lathe, able to handle diverse parts by switching programs, is a machine that stands up well to such change.
Beyond mass-producing a fixed part, the ability to switch production flexibly in line with changing demand will become even more important in producing office equipment parts in the years ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. Which office equipment parts are they used for?
A. The small precision parts that underpin operation: paper-feed roller shafts, all kinds of axles and pins, gear shafts, bushings, and collars.
Q. Why is precision so important in office equipment parts?
A. Because the accuracy of paper feeding and printing, and the quietness of operation, depend on the precision of the internal parts.
Wobble or play in a shaft affects print quality.
Q. How is cost competitiveness secured?
A. Through volume production in unattended operation and high-speed machining on gang-type machines, which shortens the cycle time per part and keeps costs down while maintaining quality.
Q. Can they cope with frequent model changes?
A. Yes.
Because parts can be changed by switching programs, they adapt flexibly to office equipment production with its frequent model changes.
Summary
The office equipment industry demands the precision that underpins accurate operation together with volume and cost competitiveness, and CNC automatic lathes play their part in mass-producing small precision parts such as roller axles and shafts.
Their strength is combining high precision with high efficiency.
For other industries, see Industries Using CNC Automatic Lathes.