PACON
Assembly Line
Refining Shopfloor Processes for Mission-Critical Parts
Even a Top Shop can benefit from process refinement, and in the four years since Pacon Mfg, Inc. (also called PACON after founders Paul and Connie) qualified as the 2020 Top Shops Honoree in Shopfloor Practices and Performance, the shop has continued thriving due to its enduring focus on the same ideas that led to it becoming a Top Shop. In addition to its automated five-axis workflow, this has involved the acquisition of a second location to offload operations better suited to other types of machining processes, as well as an increasing investment in software to meet the ever-evolving needs of its customers.
Walking onto the shop floor of PACON’s original location in Livermore, California, the 60-pallet Makino MMC2 flexible machining system (FMS) commands a lot of attention. The system is connected to two Makino a500Z horizontal five-axis machines, each with a 313-tool magazine and tool breakage detection systems. The different pallet slots have different vise configurations for different types of part configurations, with the FMS running “air traffic control for the machine,” as McClure puts it, by keeping track of which program goes to which pallet.
PACON’s other big automation push centers on its quality department and its software. With 75% of parts requiring evidence of quality beyond a certificate of conformance and defense customers wanting full inspection reports on every unit of every part number, the shop has needed to juggle a large paper trail for every one of these parts. Accomplishing this efficiently has required the automation of front office tasks and the digitization of the material chain of custody. To do so, the shop has sought after an ERP to match the lean philosophy of its shop floor.
In 2023, this led PACON to adopt Microsoft Dynamics Business Central as its ERP system. This system has the power to capture part documentation and quality records from their point of origin, connect these documents to the correct shipments and lots, automate basic communications such as advance shipping notices and carry forward the barcode-driven production monitoring the shop began under its previous ERP. McClure also says that Windows 11 and the Microsoft 365 environment are useful for meeting CMMC requirements, with features like built-in support for document encryption and Multi-Factor Authentication access control on user devices.
Beyond ERP, PACON manages its part quality through a Hexagon CMM programmed using customer models and a repeatable program to take critical dimension inspection reports. It also relies on a combination of Mastercam for CNC programming and Vericut for NC program simulation.