{"id":556,"date":"2026-10-09T13:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T05:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deltafms.com\/blog\/?p=556"},"modified":"2026-10-09T13:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T05:42:47","slug":"can-by-machining-be-automated-4eec-7d1f64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deltafms.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/09\/can-by-machining-be-automated-4eec-7d1f64\/","title":{"rendered":"Can by machining be automated?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re reading this, chances are you\u2019ve heard of by machining\u2014maybe you\u2019ve used parts for a tool that went rogue, a custom component for a vintage car that\u2019s hard to replace, or even a medical device part that just didn\u2019t fit off-the-shelf. For over a decade, I\u2019ve been running a small by machining shop, watching clients come in with a sketch on a napkin and a deadline that makes their eyes twitch, asking the same question: \u201cCan this whole process not be so manual?\u201d By Machining<\/a><\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s cut to the chase here. I get it. By machining isn\u2019t just cutting metal or plastic\u2014it\u2019s the stuff that makes the impossible, well, possible. But it\u2019s also the kind of work that\u2019s tied to a human being standing at a lathe for 12 hours, holding a caliper, adjusting a feed rate, and hoping the vibration doesn\u2019t ruin the part. So, can it be automated? Short answer: Yes, but not in the way you\u2019d think if you only see the big corporate machining shops dropping six-figure robots on their floors. And no, it won\u2019t replace the human touch\u2014that\u2019s the secret no one tells you about automation in our side of the industry.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s talk about what \u201cautomated by machining\u201d actually means, because most folks mix it up with full lights-out factories where machines run 24\/7 without anyone touching them. That\u2019s for high-volume stuff, like engine parts that get made 10,000 times a month. By machining is usually low-volume, high-complexity. A client might want 5 custom brackets for a prototype drone, or a replacement gear for a 1972 sewing machine that\u2019s no longer in production. You\u2019re not doing the same thing 100 times. You\u2019re doing 10 different things in a week.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where traditional automation falls flat. A robot arm programmed to drill 10 identical holes isn\u2019t going to help when you have to machine a weirdly shaped titanium block with 3 different angles and a tolerance so tight, a human hair would throw it off. But what about the small, incremental automations we\u2019ve already been using in our shop for the last 5 years? Let\u2019s break it down. We\u2019ve got CNC machines that run on G-code now\u2014wait, no, hold on. I know, everyone says CNC is \u201cautomated,\u201d but for a lot of by machinists, it\u2019s just fancy computer-controlled manual work. You still have to set the material, test the tool, adjust the code when the machine\u2019s off, and fix the part if it\u2019s warped. But we started using offline programming software a couple years back. That\u2019s when you design the part on your laptop, write the code there, and send it straight to the machine. No more standing by the lathe, typing in code one line at a time. That\u2019s automation, right? Small scale, but it cuts our setup time by 30%\u2014big deal when we\u2019re working on tight deadlines.<\/p>\n

Then there are the tools that handle the boring, repetitive stuff. We used to have a machinist spending half his day measuring parts with calipers to check tolerances. Now we have digital comparators that automatically scan the part and flag if anything\u2019s off. It\u2019s not a robot, but it\u2019s automation that takes the tedious work off our plates so we can focus on the parts that actually require skill\u2014like figuring out why a titanium part is warping mid-cut, or adjusting a tool path to avoid a weird grain in the material. That\u2019s the stuff automation can\u2019t do, because it requires context that only a human who\u2019s worked with 100 different materials can pick up.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: We\u2019ve tried the big robot arms. Last year, we took a workshop on collaborative robots (cobots) that are supposed to work right next to humans. We set up a cell that loads raw material into the CNC machine, removes the finished part, and even changes tools when they wear out. For about a week, it worked. Then we got a part that was a weird shape\u2014sort of a triangle with rounded edges and a hole offset by 0.002mm. The cobot couldn\u2019t pick it up consistently. It was programmed for rectangles and blocks. By the time we re-programmed it, we could\u2019ve loaded the parts ourselves and finished the job. So we scrapped that cobot for our small shop. It\u2019s not worth it for low-volume, one-off work. That\u2019s a lesson most of the big automation companies don\u2019t tell you\u2014automation only pays off when the work is consistent and repetitive. By machining is rarely that.<\/p>\n

Wait, but let\u2019s not act like automation hasn\u2019t changed our game at all. What about when a client sends us a 3D model of a part, instead of a hand-drawn sketch? We can import that model straight into our software, generate the tool path in 10 minutes, and run the part. A few years back, we\u2019d have to have a machinist manually measure the sketch, calculate the angles, write the code, test it on a scrap piece, then run the real part. That\u2019s 4 hours of work, now it\u2019s 30 minutes. That\u2019s automation, just not the flashy kind with robots. It\u2019s the automation of the design and coding steps that used to be the bottleneck for small shops like ours.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s talk about quality, because that\u2019s what our clients care about most. When a human does all the work, there\u2019s room for error\u2014fatigue, a missed adjustment, a bad day. Automation eliminates a lot of that, but only if you set it up right. We had a job last month where a new machinist set up the CNC code wrong, and the first 3 parts were off by a full millimeter. If we\u2019d run that on a hand-operated lathe, we might have caught it after one part. Automation isn\u2019t a set-it-and-forget-it deal. It\u2019s a tool that still needs a human to babysit it, adjust it, and fix the mistakes it can\u2019t even see.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the part most people don\u2019t get: By machining\u2019s superpower is its flexibility. You can make anything, from a tiny sensor part to a large steel bracket, in small quantities. If we automated the whole process\u2014making every part the same, like a factory\u2014we\u2019d lose that. A client called us last week with a part that needed to be machined from a scrap piece of old steel they had in their garage, because the new steel had a different grain and wouldn\u2019t work for their vintage tractor. A robot can\u2019t find, load, and machine a random scrap piece of steel. A human can. That\u2019s the value of by machining, and it\u2019s why full automation will never take over our industry. At least not for the small shops. The big companies can automate high-volume stuff, but the stuff that makes by machining meaningful? That\u2019s human work.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t use automation to make our work better. We\u2019re testing a new tool right now that automates the heat treatment step for small parts, so we don\u2019t have to send them out to a third party and wait a week. It\u2019s a small unit, costs less than $5,000, and cuts our turnaround time by half for those parts. That\u2019s the sweet spot for automation in by machining\u2014small, targeted tools that eliminate the stuff no one wants to do, while keeping the human control over the stuff that matters.<\/p>\n

I know some folks will read this and say, \u201cAutomation is taking all the jobs.\u201d But in our shop, it\u2019s the opposite. When we got that offline programming software, we didn\u2019t lay anyone off. We re-trained our machinists to focus on complex jobs, not writing code. We actually hired two more people last year, because we could take on more jobs with faster setup times. The boring, repetitive work was holding us back. Automation freed us up to do more of the work clients actually need\u2014custom, one-off parts that can\u2019t be bought anywhere else.<\/p>\n

So, to circle back to the original question: Can by machining be automated? Yes, but not fully, and not the way the tech companies want you to think. It\u2019s not about robot arms replacing machinists. It\u2019s about using small, smart tools to take the tedious stuff off our plates, so we can do what we do best: problem-solve, adapt, and make parts that matter. The future of by machining isn\u2019t all robots and lights-out factories. It\u2019s machinists sitting at computers, using automation to get the boring work done, and putting their skills to use on the parts that actually require a human touch.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a by machining job, whether it\u2019s a one-off prototype, a replacement part no one else can make, or a small batch of custom components, don\u2019t let anyone tell you automation will make it impossible. We\u2019ve got the tools to speed things up, cut costs, and keep the quality you need. If you\u2019re ready to talk through your project, hit us up\u2014we\u2019d love to hear what you\u2019re working on and how we can help.<\/p>\n

Valve Balls<\/a> References<\/p>\n

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  1. By Machining Association. (2023). Small-Scale Automation Trends in Custom Machining.<\/li>\n
  2. Industrial Robotics Industry Report. (2022). Cobots in Low-Volume Manufacturing.<\/li>\n
  3. Journal of Precision Machining. (2021). Tolerance Control in Hybrid Human-Automation Machining Systems.<\/li>\n
  4. Custom Parts Magazine. (2023). Flexibility vs. Automation: The By Machining Advantage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Zhejiang Jigong Valve Co., Ltd.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Address: Dongou Industrial Park, Oubei Subdistrict, Yongjia County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province (within Zhejiang Yinhe Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)
    E-mail: Sales@cnzjsk.com.cn
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.ball-china.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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