RFID Presetter – Tool change optimization here we come!

November 19, 2021

We are extremely excited to share great news for our customers and associates!  We have recently made the strategic decision to invest in the upgrade of our cutting tool presetter.  This upgrade will bring many new leading-edge technologies to the shop floor and greatly enhance our quality.  This new presetter will provide our machinists with the ability to pre-program commonly used cutting tools, automatically set Z-Lengths for heat shrink holders, completely clamp the cutting tool during the measurement process, and has a fully programmable rotary axis.  Millat Industries is no stranger to the advantages of accurate cutting tool presetting and heat shrink tool holders; however, we are very excited to add the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tool data technology to our repertoire.  New cutting tools will have an RFID chip embedded in the tool holders.  All pertinent information for the tool (serial number, cycle count, length and diameter offsets) will be automatically written from the presetter to the RFID chip.  This RFID chip will then be read by the CNC control and automatically input all pertinent information into the CNC program.  This technology is bound to prevent commonly made data entry errors which can result in scrap parts, fixture damage, or machine tool damage and will provide our Engineering Department the data they need to make well informed processing decisions.