Saw a stat about how many parts we scrapped in the 90s vs now

I was reading through an old trade magazine from 1998 I found in a box. The article said the average shop back then had a scrap rate around 8 percent. Today my boss showed me our numbers last week and we are under 1 percent. Makes me think about all the material we used to just toss because of bad setups or worn tools. Has anyone else noticed how much tighter tolerances got since we switched to newer machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_scott1mo ago

Were you running carbide back then, or still on HSS for most jobs?

xena_miller311mo ago

Were you running carbide back then" - yeah mostly HSS still in the 90s at my old shop. Read somewhere that switching to carbide alone dropped scrap by like 3 percent just from less tool breakage and better finishes.