Somewhere in the racking, a fixture for this part
A repeat order arrives for a part last made two years ago. The program and setup sheet say it was held in a dedicated fixture plate with two locating pins. Nobody can find it. The racking at the back has dozens of fixture plates, some labelled in faded pen, some not at all. A few sets of soft jaws in a crate have part numbers scratched on them.
After an hour of searching, the setter decides it is quicker to make a new one. A week later, the old fixture turns up under a bench.
Why fixtures get lost
Fixtures are made for a job, used, and put wherever there is room. They are often not in any system at all, because they are not stock and not an asset in the accounting sense. Their link to the parts they hold exists only in the setter's memory and, if you are lucky, a photo on the setup sheet.
- No register of fixtures, soft jaws or special tools.
- Labels are handwritten and fade or get machined off.
- Locations are wherever there was space.
- Customer owned fixtures are mixed in with your own.
- Fixtures are reworked for a new part without recording it.
What it costs
Time searching before a repeat job can start, while the machine waits. Fixtures remade when they already exist, costing material and machine time. Parts made in a fixture that was modified for another job, with its locations slightly changed. And awkward conversations when a customer asks for the tooling they paid for to be returned.
The fixture register we build
- Every fixture, set of soft jaws and special tool gets a durable engraved or metal tag with an ID and barcode.
- Each has a record with photos, a description, who owns it (you or the customer), and the part numbers and programs it is used with.
- Racking locations are labelled, and fixtures are scanned into a location when they are put away.
- When a job is planned, its workholding appears on the job with its location, so it can be fetched before the machine is free.
- If a fixture is modified, the change is recorded with a photo and the parts affected are flagged for checking.
- Customer owned tooling is listed per customer, which helps when they ask for it back or you need to return it.
| Linked to the fixture | Why |
|---|---|
| Part numbers and revisions | Find the workholding for any job |
| Programs and setup sheets | Datums and locations match the program |
| Location | Fetch it before the machine is free |
| Owner | Customer tooling returned when asked |
| Modification history | Know if it still suits older parts |
A repeat job that starts properly
The job's workholding is on the job, with a photo and a location. The setter or a labourer fetches it while the previous job is still running. Fixtures are not remade by accident, and ones that are no longer needed can be identified and cleared, which frees up racking. Customers asking about their tooling get a list, not a shrug.
It also helps estimators. If a new part could run in an existing fixture, the register shows it, and the quote can reflect it.
And when you need racking space, the register tells you which fixtures have not been used for years and whose they are, so the clear out is a decision rather than a gamble.
Is workholding a treasure hunt in your shop?
- Setters search for fixtures before repeat jobs.
- You have remade a fixture that was later found.
- Soft jaws are labelled with a scratch or a pen mark.
- Customer tooling is mixed with your own.
- Nobody could list every fixture you hold.