We are going to be increasing our capacity in our component company next year and I am looking for a little advice. We are thinking about using our loader/unloader cnc for cutting part outlines only and doing the secondary machining on either a vertical cnc or a skipper machines. Here are my questions about both machines.
VERTICAL MACHINE:
1.Is the depth accuracy of these machines right on? We are not just drilling holes but have a joint that has to be right on the money depth wise.
2. Do they run parts quickly or will it just be the new bottleneck since you are only running one at a time?
3. Any other pros or cons on these would be great to know

SKIPPER
I like the idea of the skipper because it can process 2 parts at a time.
1. Is it hard to control depth since you are stacking 2 panels?
2. How does the post work from cabinet vision?
3. Any other pros and cons would be great

It seems the trend is vertical cnc machines for what I am talking about I am just having a hard time seeing the efficiency but there again I have never ran one. Thanks in advance for input.

Jeff,
I now that you were specifically asking about CNC processing but it struck me as odd that you would consider using your flat table machine to cut out parts like it is a panel saw. A panel saw is so much more efficient at this than a router. The purpose of a flat table router is to cut the shape and do secondary machining at the same time. A single vertical machine should have no problem keeping up with what a router can cut out even if machining is eliminated. If you are cutting parts on the router and then machining you will have a good deal of sorting prior to the secondary machining and then you must call up and load the correct program on the secondary machine. This takes time that you must account for. If you can print labels at your flat table and scan for the secondary machining it will save some time but i am struggling to see a better solution here. Have you considered just getting a second router? That might do the trick especially if you are using fastenlink or some other hidden fastener (which is what it sounds like). Vertical machines are plenty accurate but not as accurate as a well executed flat table that is referenced regularly.

Yes i have thought about just getting a second cnc and honestly have not given up on that idea entirely. The problem with the fastener joint is we are subordinating the entire sheet time to just the parts that have the fastener joint in them. The reasoning for keeping the CNC in lieu of a beam saw is that I could cut out part shapes exact on the CNC including toe notches and just have the secondary CNC doing fasteners joints and drilling. We do label at the CNC and will soon add the auto label station so sorting is not much of an issue. I have never watched a vertical cnc in a production environment but it sure seems like they move around pretty quickly.
Do you use a beam saw or router? Do you have a vertical machine by chance?

Jeff,
We have a Holzma panel saw and a pod and rail Weeke. We have used this combination since 1999. If i started over today i would probably purchase the panel saw and a flat table router with intent to add a vertical machine to the mix when i could. This combination appears to be the latest trend and seems to make the most sense for a lot of companies. That being said it would be hard for us to give up the versatility of our pod and rail machine. I have several friends that own vertical machines and they love them. One is at a closet franchise and it is their only cnc and the other is a component manufacturer that has a pod and rail as well. You would need to run some test parts on a vertical to determine if they are accurate enough for what you are doing. I am not sure what kind of sheet count you would get on a flat table if you removed machining but doing a time study when you run the test parts would tell you if the vertical can keep up. My gut still says 2nd router but i have not seen your operation or visualized your bottlenecks. I would contact your equipment company of choice and see if they can help you run the parts somewhere.

We currently have panel saw, and 3 different machining centers. A Morbidelli pod and rail, a Morbidelli Uniflex (similar to skipper), and a Biesse Eko902 (vertical).

I like the horizontal and vertical machines with clamps best as no setup from panel to panel (no cutting pods by mistake), but you cannot let any cutoffs fall into machine (must make all cutoffs into dust).

The vertical is the slowest of all as you can only have one part in machine at a time. But the vertical is the best at machining small parts as the clamps hold great.

Only one we don't have is nesting, not sure any advantage to it for the products we make.

Each has different strengths feel free to contact me to discuss pro's and cons of each it really depends on what you make.

I have a nesting router, beam saw and PTP.
The router can cut out a sheet faster than a beam saw IF you are single sheet cutting on the saw. The saw wins hands down when the job allows stack cutting. I'm going to replace the PTP with another flat table with auto off load. All machinging that can be don in the flat is done on the router. We dowel & case clamp so use a bore & insert machine that is very fast and can handle parts to 8' and do both dowels and Confirmat holes and vertical KD holes w/o any change overs. (3 drill motors) 4 positioning stations. The machine is faster than the operator can keep up. The machine uses glue, no problems. Case clamp is a Gannomat Concept Primus 90, no setup or change over needed. It is not automatic but we do use it as a feed thru. Time in the clamp = the time it takes the operator to install hardware, glue and knock the next case together. There are lots of ways to skin a cabinet but this one works pretty well.