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E D I TO R I A L
E D I TO R I A L
Lean focus If you ask for a definition of Lean management from five different people, you will likely get five different answers. The core idea is to maximise customer value while minimising waste. In other words, Lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. According to experts, Lean organisations have better systems and experience improved profitability. Customer satisfaction, of course, is considered the central focus in the Lean approach and the idea is to remove any activities that do not add value to the customer. The key is to have a plan and get started. But the biggest mistake that some people make is looking at Lean as only a set of tools or something that you do and then are done with – somewhat like a project. Instead, the real gains come with a consistent focus on getting the right things to the right place at the right time in the right quantity. Despite the enormous popularity of Lean, some recent studies say that failure rates for Lean programs range between 50% and 95%. Experts attribute this to failure to understand the theories and concepts of Lean and their relationship to the entire business. One has to learn that Lean is a fully integrated management and manufacturing philosophy and approach in which the human dimension is the single most important element for success. We interacted with a few Lean experts and users to understand the intricacies and real-time benefits of Lean manufacturing. Check out the Round-table feature in this issue that analyses the roadmap to achieve Lean and respond to the change effectively.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Shekhar Jitkar Publisher & Chief Editor shekhar.jitkar@publish-industry.net Sonali Kulkarni President & CEO Fanuc India Satish Godbole Vice President, Motion Control Div Siemens Ltd S Ravishankar Managing Director DMG MORI India Vivek Sharma Managing Director Yamazaki Mazak India
Vineet Seth Managing Director India & Middle East Delcam Plc
Dr K Subramanian President, STIMS Institute, USA Training Advisor, IMTMA
N K Dhand CMD, Micromatic Grinding Technologies
Raghavendra Rao Vice President Manufacturing & Process Consulting Frost & Sullivan
Dr P N Rao Professor of Manufacturing Technology, Department of Technology, University of Northern Iowa, USA
Dr Wilfried Aulbur Managing Partner Roland Berger Strategy Consultant
Overseas Partner: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong & South-East Asia
EM | May 2016
3
CONTENTS
Market
06
Management
NEWS
INTERVIEW 22
12
“Adopting a lean philosophy‌â€?
Interview with Mukund Bharadwaj, Managing Director, WIKUS India
METAL FORMING
“Opening up business opportunity for domestic forging industry�
Interview with Ranbir Singh, President, Association of Indian Forging Industry (AIFI) & CEO, GNA Axles Ltd
EVENT REPORT 56
Achieving best-in-class manufacturing
A post-event report on CII’s 7th India Opeartional Excellence Summit at Delhi 58
Focus
Dies & moulds take centre stage
30
Cold-forming with efficient material processing
The feature briefs on how cold forming has become a new computer-aided analytic tool, constantly being developed to facilitate efficient material processing
ROUND-TABLE 24
Lean manufacturing – responding to change
The round-table analyses the roadmap to achieve Lean, while addressing challenges to respond to the change effectively
A post-event report on the recently held DieMould 2016 India at Bengaluru
16
COVER STORY Small assembly robots
The feature takes a close look on the expanding choices of small parts robotic assembly, the comparison between the costs of ownership of different brands so as to guide the manufacturers, machine builders and system integrators to choose the right robot
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EM | May 2016
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CONTENTS
Technology
POWER PRESSES 36
40
Maintenance and thorough examination of power presses
CAD/CAM 46
The article briefs on what users of power presses and anyone who installs & maintains them have to do to meet their duties under PUWER 98
An application story on the usage of machining programming package to achieve greatly improved finishing and roughing performance
INDUSTRIAL PARTS CLEANING
MANUFACTURING IT
Optimsing efficiency of cleaning technology
48
A read on the various cost-impacting factors so as to achieve cleanliness standards at high throughput with minimised costs MACHINING 44
Incorporating accurate mechanism
Portable CNC machining centre
The article talks on indigenously developed CNC portable machining centres to increase the productivity and de-skilling of machining operations for locomotive underframes in the railway industry
EM | May 2016
Smart machines need smart engineering
The feature explains how the machinemaking industry needs smarter ways to work that are more collaborative, versatile and flexible 52
Adopting advanced simulation tools
The article discusses how simulation tools are important technology tools with which a number of benefits can be achieved in the manufacturing industries
New Products 62 Inverter scroll compressor; Solvent-based cleaning system; CAD/CAM nesting software; Detectable plastics 63 Milling tools; Quick-change chuck; Ceramic inserts; End mills for graphite machining
Columns 03 04 64 64
Editorial Contents Highlights – Next issue Company index
5
MARKET | NEWS
Positive momentum for manufacturing in India, China & Europe However, manufacturing in Japan dipped into contraction last month The latest global manufacturing growth figures for March show only a with a PMI of 49.1, and both South Korea at modest improvement in industrial 49.5 and Malaysia at 48.4 remained under performance for many countries the growth threshold. Turkey’s around the world, according to manufacturing activity dipped below the researchers Markit Economics. The growth threshold with a PMI of 48.8, while Global Manufacturing Purchasing Russia’s industrial performance continued Managers’ Index, created in to suffer with worsening contraction last conjunction with bankers JP month, down to 48.3 in March compared to Morgan, rose to just 50.5 last 49.3 in Feb. month, up marginally from its Europe, however, fared better with stagnant 50.0 level in February. mixed fortunes and a Eurozone PMI of In the US manufacturing sector 51.6 last month. This, however, is only a growth remained almost unchanged from its recent 28- As per the latest global manufacturing growth figures reports, there has marginal increase from its 51.2 level in month low with a PMI of 51.5 for been modest improvement in industrial performance for many countries Feb. Nevertheless, Ireland saw an 8-month high at 54.9, the Netherlands reached a March, up only slightly from 51.3 in Feb, although a faster increase in incoming new work and sustained growth 5-month high at 53.6, and both Italy (53.5) and Spain (53.4) recorded 3-month highs. France, however, dipped back into contraction with a of employment numbers were the main positive developments last month. In Asia, China’s increase in industrial activity clicked up in March with 7-month low of 49.6 and Greece remained below the growth threshold at a PMI rising to 49.7, up from 48.0 the previous month. India saw the 49.0. Outside the 18-nation Eurozone, The UK’s performance was also strongest surge in industrial activity in Asia in March, with a PMI at an subdued last month, with a PMI up to just 51.0, following its 34-month low 8-month high of 52.4. Improvements were also seen in Taiwan (up to 51.1), of only 50.8 in February. Overall, these mixed results around the world left the Global Manufacturing PMI up only slightly over Feb at 50.5. Indonesia (up to 50.6), Singapore (up to 52.0), and Vietnam (up to 50.7).
Christian Thönes appointed as DMG MORI’s chairman
Eaton to set-up innovation centre in Pune
DMG MORI’s Supervisory Board has recently appointed Dipl-Kfm Christian Thönes as the chairman of the Executive Board of DMG MORI Aktiengesellschaft. Thönes has already been a member of the Executive Board since January 2012 and headed the product development, production and technology areas. With immediate effect, Thönes takes over responsibility for sales, product development, production, procurement, corporate public relations and audit. He joined the group in 1998 and continuously Christian Thönes has took over more responsibility. As the already been a member Managing Director of SAUER GmbH, Thönes of the Executive Board has built up today’s successful Advanced since January 2012 Technologies division (Ultrasonic and Lasertec). From 2009 to 2011, he was the Managing Director of DECKEL MAHO Pfronten GmbH. In the past years, Thönes has successfully driven the optimisation of production plants and product lines. Through innovative technology and software solutions, he has positioned the company for the future. Speaking on the occasion, Thönes said, “I am pleased about the trust placed in me and look forward to the further global alignment of DMG MORI.”
Eaton has recently announced to establish a global innovation centre in India over a state-of-the-art 390,000 sq ft facility in Pune. It is a strategic program that is focused on enhancing organisational capabilities by leveraging high-end engineering talent and best-in-class infrastructure. This will create a The centre is focused on enhancing vertically integrated engineering organisational capabilities organisation that will deliver complete product design lifecycle management solutions for Eaton’s global businesses. Sudhakar Potukuchi, VP—Technology, will head the EIIC. Commenting on the significance of the EIIC, Ram Ramakrishnan, Executive VP & CTO, said, “EIIC will be an integral part of Eaton’s global engineering footprint. The establishment of this centre is in line with Eaton’s commitment to achieve global technology leadership through its focus on innovation.” Highlighting the opportunities that the EIIC brings in for the engineering talent in India, Potukuchi said, “The combination of virtual and physical labs at the EIIC shall provide engineers an opportunity to significantly enhance their engineering experience and capabilities and, thus, deliver greater value to our customers.”
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EM | May 2016
NEWS | MARKET
Striving for faster expansion of global market
Showcasing innovative manufacturing technology
After the successful refocusing under the umbrella of the Dürr Group, the Dürr Ecoclean Group has become the international market and technology leader in industrial parts cleaning over the last few years. Now, various strategic options for the future alignment and further growth of Dürr Ecoclean are reviewed.The goal is to strengthen the company’s international presence and the proximity to customers Various strategic options for the further as well as to enhance the growth of Dürr Ecoclean are reviewed spectrum of applications and products. “The heterogeneous target groups of the Ecoclean business require different structures in research, development, production and sales as well as in marketing than those present at the Dürr Group. In a strategic partnership with another company or with an investor, we see the opportunity to respond more flexibly to the demands of our markets and, therefore, to accelerate our growth”, Said Michael Förster, Chairman of the Board, Durr Ecoclean Group. The further global growth of the Ecoclean Group also requires a consolidation of the strongly fragmented competitive environment, probably by the acquisition of relevant companies.
Over 1,400 exhibitors from 30 countries will present their most innovative technology to face the challenges of advanced manufacturing at the 29th BIEMH, the machine tool exhibition on May 30—June 4 at Bilbao, Spain. 2,149 products, including over 1,000 machines, have been registered to date. The exhibition, this year, offers the new 5-axis universal machining centre with improved chip removal Main exhibition areas will include power and precision; the smallest machine tool, other machinery, tools, portable machining centre in the parts, components & accessories, etc world; the new Dynamics Active Stabiliser system, which reduces the risk of chatter during machining process and improves the machine cutting capacity by 300%; and the new trulaser Tube 5000 Fiber, replacing conventional manufacturing processes such as sawing, grinding and punching, among others. The main exhibition areas will include machine tool, other machinery, tools, parts, components and accessories, production system automation, manufacturing software, metrology & quality control, services, composites and digital factory. There will be participation from Germany, Italy, USA, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, France, the UK, Portugal, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Huaheng unveils its first facility in India
Milacron continues to invest in India
Huaheng Automation, the wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s Huaheng Welding, recently announced the opening of its full-fledged fabricationcum-assembly unit in Savli, Vadodara. Apart from providing standard welding systems like automated orbital welding systems, mechanised welding systems, robotic welding systems and automated CNC systems, the company also manufactures a number of customised welding systems to meet customers’ requirements. In India, the company plans to launch its Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and intelligent storage systems, which attracted huge attention and appreciation during the inaugural event. Commenting on the occasion, Xu Xujion, Chairman, Huaheng Group, said, “We are the leading player in China in the integrated automatic welding solutions domain and doing In India, the company plans to launch its business in India for the past AGV & intelligent storage systems 24 years. Seeing the increasing opportunities in India, we are expanding our horizon here.” Bhavin Dave, Business Head—India, Huaheng Automation, said, “We are hugely inspired with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and would like to partner with Indian manufacturers.”
Milacron Holdings Corp recently completed another round of expansions to their injection, blow and extrusion moulding machine manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad, as well as their hot runner manufacturing facility in Coimbatore. The completed addition to the Ahmedabad facility added an additional 9304 sqm bringing the total footprint to 65,000 sqm. The facility will enhance manufacturing capabilities and boost Milacron’s production volumes to meet the increasing demand for Milacron’s industry leading injection, blow and extrusion moulding machines. Milacron’s India machine plant manufactures a large variety of hydraulic, servo and electric injection moulding machines, blow moulding, PET and extrusion machines. Speaking on the occasion, Tom Goeke, CEO, Milacron, said, “The Indian plastic market continues to impress, and Milacron completed expansion in Milacron continues to grow Ahmedabad and Coimbatore alongside it to ensure we’re able to make our customers possibilities a reality.” In Coimbatore, Milacron’s hot runner brand, Mold-Masters, completed a 10,000 sq ft expansion in Q2 2015, and have recently added a large brazed furnace to manufacture Mold-Masters proprietary iFLOW manifold technology.
EM | May 2016
7
MARKET | NEWS
Siemens partners with Local Motors for 3D-printed cars Siemens and Local Motors have recently partnered to help advance the Labs program is providing the world’s makers with a way – both online and future of manufacturing by optimising the development and large-scale 3D offline – to create new technologies to advance the future of transportation,” printing of cars. The partnership combines the power of Siemens’ PLM he added. software technology with Local Motors’ leadership in co-created and Siemens’ Solid Edge® software has been in use at Local Motors for 3D-printed vehicles – a process called direct digital manufacturing. several years and has been crucial in facilitating its co-creation model. This With a shared vision for the future of product development, Local new partnership expands the use of Solid Edge and adds Siemens’ NX™ Motors plans to enhance software and its Fibersim™ productivity in its innovative portfolio to all Local Motors Local Motors (LM) Labs facilities around the world. DDM program by leveraging and digital twins save time, Siemens’ expertise in reduce costs and increase quality creating ‘digital twins,’ by integrating and streamlining while Siemens expects to the design and production further enhance its digital processes. “As part of this enterprise software suite to leadership, we recognise the support the latest advances The partnership combines the power of Siemens’ PLM software technology with growing importance of Additive in Additive Manufacturing Local Motors’ leadership in co-created and 3D-printed vehicles – a process Manufacturing and 3D printing called direct digital manufacturing and 3D printing. for the global manufacturing “We have been industry,” said Dr Helmuth partners with Siemens since 2011, and this announcement takes that Ludwig, Executive VP & Chief Digital Officer, Siemens PLM Software. partnership to the next level by enabling our community of co-creators to Local Motors plans to open three new facilities this year, all of which innovate even faster,” said Jay Rogers, CEO, Local Motors. “We developed will feature LM Labs. Siemens PLM Software plans to be a sponsor of all the world’s first co-created vehicle and 3D-printed car, and now our LM three LM Labs in Washington DC, Berlin as well as Tennessee.
EPF launches EDM handbook – 2016
Highlighting metrology products
The recently concluded DieMould India 2016, saw the launch of India’s first EDM handbook published and released by EDM Productivity Forum (EPF). It is promoted by Prime Industries and supported by leading OEMs like Makino and others. EPF envisions promoting excellence and sharing best practices in the EDM industry. The handbook is a compilation of case studies by clients like Godrej Tooling, Renata Precision, Endurance Technologies, Videocon, etc, which were also showcased in the EDM summits. This is India’s first technical EDM handbook that documents some impressive case studies from The case studies explain how more than 10 tool rooms across these tool rooms have managed India. The case studies explain how improvements in their EDM section these tool rooms have managed breakthrough improvements in their EDM section, leading to improving performance in their machine shops. The EDM handbook was launched by A Dayananda Reddy, President, TAGMA. Commenting on the event, Reddy said, “The current scenario demands continual improvement on productivity by all tool rooms and EPF is well poised to help the entire Indian market in this regard.”
The recently concluded DieMould India 2016, witnessed Renishaw highlighting a range of process control solutions that help tackle the increasing drive to lean manufacturing, from new technologies for pre-process machine calibration, to on-line and off-line postprocess measurement. There was also a significant focus on the company’s Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) systems with the new PlusPac™ upgrade for its AM250 Additive Manufacturing machine. The company also Renishaw’s solutions help tackle the displayed RENGAGE™ technology increasing drive to lean manufacturing that is available with radio transmission in RMP600; with optical transmission in the ultra-compact OMP400 and compact OMP600; and in the miniature MP250, offering an unmatched combination of size and accuracy. At the exhibition, Renishaw highlighted Primo system: an entry level machine tool probing system that opens up the world of precision manufacturing to all types of manufacturing operation. Visitors also saw that the new range of modular fixturing that offers a wide choice of base plates and components available in M4, M6 and M8 thread sizes, and can be utilised for measurement applications across multiple industries.
8
EM | May 2016
MARKET | NEWS
Making Make-in-India Happen Indian School of Business (ISB)’s second batch of Management Programme in Manufacturing and Operations’ launch event was recently held in New Delhi. The launch was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Making Make-in-India Happen’, addressing the skill deficit that the country is facing at present.
The Management Programme in Manufacturing and Operations at ISB is a unique education programme that aspires to meet the increasing need for techno-business managers for the manufacturing sector. This programme is designed as a response to the key objectives outlined in the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. Pradeep Singh, CEO, Mohali campus and Deputy Dean, ISB, set the tone for the discussion by sharing the vision and efforts of the ISB to make an impact on education, practice and policy through its management programmes and research initiatives. Addressing the audience during the launch event, Prof Sridhar Seshadri, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty & Research, ISB, highlighted market, product innovation, competency and resources as the guiding principles of MPMO Programme, designed jointly by the Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing and the Centre for Executive Education at the ISB. The event saw a riveting discussion on the theme of the current government: “Making Make-in-India Happen”. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, a key driver of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, delivered the keynote address. The panel discussion was moderated by Sunil Kant Munjal, Joint MD, Hero MotoCorp and other members included Ipsita Dasgupta, Chief Commercial Officer, GE; Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI; and Prof Raj Srivastava, Dean, Indian School of Business. In his keynote address, Amitabh Kant stressed about India’s manufacturing potential and the challenges inflicting the sector. Adding that Indian entrepreneurs are second to none, he however opined that
10
protectionism would only generate mediocrity and third-class firms. India’s unparalleled ability to excel by combining innovation, skill and low cost products has been demonstrated by the increasing number of Indian startups led by dynamic young entrepreneurs in the past few years. On its part, the government is focused on making India an easy place to do business and is creating the right ecosystem that will give a thrust to the manufacturing sector in a big way. A significant step in this direction would be to push the states to become competitive and leverage their potential for a seamless integration with the global supply chain. India has an invigorating lever by way of a 48% increase in FDI against the global average coming down to 16%. To achieve India’s ambition of a double digit growth figure, this advantage can be leveraged by providing a strong push to the incubation centres and research parks. Lauding ISB for taking the steps forward, he stated, “Intelligent automated manufacturing will create a new job market and the programme started by ISB is very unique one. It will enable India to manufacture young innovators who will propel India to achieve potential growth rate at a much faster rate.” With over 70 eminent delegates representing various stakeholders from academia, government and industry, the launch event brought forth promising steps towards ‘Make in India’ initiative. The speakers were also confident of MPMO programme providing the right impetus to fill the skill deficit that the country is facing at present.
EM | May 2016
MARKET | INTERVIEW
“Adopting a lean philosophy…” …says Mukund Bharadwaj, Managing Director, WIKUS India. In this interaction with Megha Roy, he discusses the company’s partnership with KPIT and briefs on the ERP tool that ensures accuracy and speeding up of the entire process. Excerpts…
With the growing importance of technology across the manufacturing sector, how does your company strategise to lean philosophy as a part of the growth plan? We have a very lean production set-up. We also follow the concept of make-to-order and so our finished goods inventory, at any given point of time, is almost nil. We have the advantage that the cycle time in our manufacturing process is quite small. Taking advantage of that and with the lean concept as the underlying philosophy, we ensure that we ship out all our orders within 72 hours. The ERP tool comes in very handy in ensuring accuracy and speeding the entire process. Whenever a new customer gets added, or whenever we have a new product that gets added to the range, the initial steps till the masters are set up, appear to be a bit time-consuming, but that’s the investment we need to do for a quick, accurate and error-free processing. What are the latest technologies & innovations developed in manufacturing carbon steel band saw blades, bimetal band saw blades, carbide tipped band saw blades and diamond coated band saw blades? The manufacturing of bi-metal bandsaw blades was typically a job-shop processes. But, now the entire production concept is undergoing a change and becoming an in-line process, where all steps are being carried out in sequence in immediate succession. This is a new concept, is very investment-intensive, but is a lean process. How has KPIT proved to be a strategic technology partner in the successful implementation of Infor M3 for WIKUS India’s new plant? How has this ensured standardisation globally? After an initial search and survey in the Indian market, we were given the impression that KPIT had the resources to
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support the implementation of the application. We had a very tight timeline and we also had to ensure that we take care of all the requirements, as laid out in our project plan. Before the start of the project, we had invited a small team from KPIT to visit us in Germany to have a look at our facility and also to study the process there. This opportunity was also utilised to arrange interactions between KPIT and the key users in Germany. During these interactions, we were convinced that KPIT had the depth and experience for taking up the full implementation responsibility. That is where the ideas of making KPIT the project manager was born. We had handed over the responsibility of the entire project management to KPIT. They co-ordinated with the team at WIKUS India, and also with the team in Germany. They managed the timeline, defined to a certain extent the requirements as per the Indian taxation structure, etc. They did a good job to our expectation and enabled us live with our Indian operations as per the time schedule, and also ensured that we were able to manage the entire scope of our business activities through the ERP application right from day-one. Are there any plans for expansion in the Indian market? What are your expectations for 2016-17? Our project for the Indian operations has been planned in multiple phases. As part of the first phase, we have started our operations and we are focusing on the Indian market and are working towards catering the requirements of the Indian customers. In the second phase, we intend to supply to some nearbyAsian countries. Going further, we intend to increase the content of the value-addition that is being done in India. ☐
EM | May 2016
C O V E R S TO R Y
TECHNOLOGY
SMALL ASSEMBLY ROBOTS
Im a g es c ou r t es y : DENSO Robotics
A guide for choosing the right one
Small assembly robots create options for manufacturers of all sizes and for uses ranging from welding to packaging. The cover story takes a close look on the expanding choices of small parts robotic assembly, the comparison between the costs of ownership of different brands so as to guide the manufacturers, machine builders and system integrators to choose the right robot. 16
EM | May 2016
C O V E R S TO R Y
I m a g e Co u r te s y : DENSO Robotics
TECHNOLOGY
Six-axis robots assemble and test automotive components
This is truly a boom time for small assembly robots. More and more companies are discovering the benefits of using such robots in their manufacturing, packaging and other industrial processes. In addition, the number of different robots being offered in the marketplace continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. Never before has such a wide choice of competing products been available. Yet, the large variety of robots now being offered also presents prospective buyers with a challenge: How to evaluate and compare the cost of ownership of the numerous different brands, to be certain of making an informed investment decision? To answer this challenge, the following section examines the many factors – some obvious and some not so obvious – that determines cost of robot ownership, and gives buyers useful information to help guide them through the evaluation process.
Small assembly robots defined Small assembly robots are a class of robot arms consisting of four-axis (SCARA) and six-axis articulated robots. Despite their name, small assembly robots can carry out a much greater variety of tasks than just assembly. These include all the various functions involved in manufacturing, packaging and other industrial processes, such as assembly, dispensing, encapsulating & potting, grinding, insertion, inspection, labelling, loading & unloading, laser welding, machine tending, machining, material handling, material removal nut driving, package forming, parts finishing, pick & place, polishing, press fitting, product insertion, screw driving, soldering, spot-welding, surface finishing, test handling and ultrasonic welding.
EM | May 2016
In this article, small assembly robots are considered to be those with payload capacities up to 20 kg (44 pounds) and reaches up to 1,300 mm (51 inches). Larger robot arms have different types of motors, arm and joint construction, and maintenance requirements and, therefore, different cost-ofownership considerations.
Initial hardware and software costs As with any type of equipment, comparing apples-to-apples costs among robot brands means understanding which items are included in the initial quote and which are add-ons. Robot and controller: Some manufacturers sell the robot arm and controller as a set, while others do not include the controller in the basic price. There may also be an additional charge for the motor and encoder cable, power cable and electrical connectors. Controller features: With some manufacturers, the controller comes with all features activated. Others have software and firmware licenses, with additional post-sale charges required to activate individual features such as palletising, singularity avoidance and collision detect. Additional charges may also be required to extend the I/O (input/output) configuration, or obtain updates and license renewals. Teach pendant: One piece of hardware that is not strictly necessary, but which most robot users purchase, is a teach pendant, a convenient handheld control box used for programming a robot. Teach pendants are not usually included in the price of the basic robot set. End-of-arm tooling and vision system: All robots require some kind of end-of-arm tooling (end-effector). Depending on the application, a vision system may also be needed. Both of
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TECHNOLOGY
I m a g e C o u r t e s y : Owens Design Inc
C O V E R S TO R Y
Four-axis SCARA robots placing parts for a mobile device into high-precision fixturing carriages
these are usually priced separately from the robot. In addition to the hardware cost of the end-of-arm tooling and vision system, it is important to determine how easy it will be to integrate them with the robot, as this can add considerably to the overall cost. Electrical wiring and air piping: In order to run their end-ofarm tooling, robot arms require ‘dressing’ with electrical wiring and air piping that delivers electricity and air to the tooling. Some robots are designed with the wiring and piping installed internally, so there is no additional charge for these items; otherwise they may cost extra. Mounting-configuration firmware: If the robot is to be mounted in a horizontal or inverted position, it may need special firmware, often at an extra cost. Software: Some manufacturers offer programming-software packages with a low-base price, but have expensive upgrade options for individual features such as 3D simulation, remote monitoring, arm compliance, palletizing and dispensing. Other manufacturers include these features as standard. Training: Most manufacturers offer free training. The cost to the customer, however – in both non-productive employee time and travel expenses – can vary considerably, depending on the length of the training and the distance of the training centre from the customer’s facility.
Long-term costs Long-term costs accounts for most of the total cost of
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ownership of a robot. It is, therefore, crucial to understand each of these costs and ask questions about them early in the buying process: Maintenance: Robots can differ greatly in their maintenance requirements. In addition to the cost of the maintenance itself, production downtime due to overly frequent, time-consuming maintenance procedures can significantly increase the cost of ownership. Telephone support: Some manufacturers require a service contract before providing telephone support, while others will field routine telephone questions at no charge. Reliability and longevity: Traditionally, many manufacturers have used mean time between failures (MTBF) as a basic measure of robot reliability and longevity. Increasingly, however, the number of joint cycles between failures has begun to be recognised as a more meaningful figure. Obsolescence: Some manufacturers come out with new robot and controller models every few years, and quickly stop supporting older ones. Having to replace a robot due to premature obsolescence can be a major factor in increased cost of ownership. Other manufacturers offer support and upgrades for older robot models for up to 10 years after they are discontinued. Speed and productivity: All other factors being equal, robot speed counts. A robot that completes more cycles per hour over a given working lifetime will usually have a lower cost of ownership than another robot that costs less initially but has lower performance levels.
EM | May 2016
Super precision, high-performance endmill Ă˜ 20 mm with 4 flutes 27 mm flute length, 16 min. cycle time, variable helix and unequal index. Ground with the NEW GrindSmartÂŽ529XW
The smart choice.
www.rollomaticsa.com
info@rollomatic.ch
TECHNOLOGY
I m a g e C o u r t e s y : SureFire LLC
C O V E R S TO R Y
Six-axis robot applying labels to flashlight packages
Energy consumption: Lightweight, efficiently–designed robot arms require less power, so their motors draw less electrical current. This can result in significant long-term cost savings.
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8 things to look for when choosing a robot When choosing a robot, here are eight important things to consider: 1. Experience and expertise of the manufacturer: Look for a manufacturer that has established itself as an industry leader and whose robots have stood the test of time. Small, high-speed, high-inertia robots have their own unique design challenges. A manufacturer that specialises in such robots is likely to have expertise that others do not. 2. Type of manufacturer: Robot manufacturers fall into two basic categories: (1) those whose primary business is selling robots and (2) those whose primary business is producing and selling other types of products, which they manufacture with robots they design and build themselves. Manufacturers in the second category depend on their robots to keep their products competitive in the marketplace. As a result, they are likely to design robots that have the highest productivity levels, longest working lifetimes and lowest maintenance requirements. 3. High maximum allowable moment of inertia: Look for a robot with a high maximum allowable moment of inertia, the measure of how much force it can exert. The higher the maximum allowable moment of inertia, the more easily the
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robot can lift and move a given size of payload, putting less strain on its motors and resulting in a longer working life. Continuous-duty cycle time: When comparing robot cycle times, be sure to ask whether the figures given are for continuous duty or only shorter bursts of an hour or less. If the latter, the robot will have to operate at a slower speed in normal operation, reducing productivity. Compact, efficient robot design: A compact robot design with a small footprint makes integration easier and saves valuable factory floor space. In addition, designs with concealed air and electrical lines keep the lines from interfering with other equipment, as well as protecting them from wear and damage. Robot controller features: Desirable features to look for in robot controllers include small size and weight; fast processing speed; modular expandability, to accommodate additional peripheral equipment without having to purchase a new controller; ease of integration with a vision system, PLC or other devices; and ease of servicing. Affordable offline programming software: In general, most applications are not difficult to program. Be sure the offline programming software being offered does not include expensive, advanced features that are unnecessary for your needs. Safety codes: To protect your employees and limit your company’s liability, verify that the robot meets or exceeds all current safety codes. �
Courtesy: DENSO Robotics
EM | May 2016
MANAGEMENT | INTERVIEW
“Opening up business opportunity for domestic forging industry” …says Ranbir Singh, President, Association of Indian Forging Industry (AIFI) & CEO, GNA Axles Ltd. In this interview with Megha Roy, he discusses the current trends witnessed in the Indian Forging Industry, while suggesting immediate and rational steps to balance the economy. What are the current trends in the Indian forging industry, in terms of production and installed capacities, demand and supply scenario, employment levels, and overall challenges faced by the industry? With an installed capacity of around 37.6 lakh MT in 2014-2015, the Indian forging industry has a capability to forge a variety of raw materials like carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, super alloy, titanium and aluminium. The overall capacity utilisation of the industry has also improved, mainly supported by an increase in demand from automotive and auto component industry, while decline in infrastructurerelated capex, sluggish IIP number throughout 2014-15 witnessed stagnant forging demand from industrial sector. For earnings, the estimated turnover of industry in 2014-15 was `27,835 crore. Our key challenges remain to be inadequate support from the government, lack of modern equipment among companies in small & very small scale, shortage of skilled and un-skilled labour, inadequate supply of power and increasing power price, increasing cheap import from China and non-competitive prices of domestic steel.
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How can the current challenges be addressed vis-à-vis developments in the market and technology? As per the government’s ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25% of GDP by 2025 from 16% currently, it is imperative to revisit the existing policies for giving a push to the industry and making the scenario globally competitive. To overcome this challenging situation, Indian forging industry suggests to take immediate and rational steps to balance the economy. Also, the government should give waiver to the overseas steel mills which already have the country’s certification from getting the BIS certification. Value-added product with skilled labour involvement is the key for making the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Today, Indian forging industry is well equipped to meet this challenge. Implementing a mechanism similar to LME (London Metal Exchange) or AMM (American Metal Market) for Indian mills will ensure the pricing transparency and bring it in line with global standards, enabling us to create a robust and regulated market. Considering the high profitability of
EM | May 2016
INTERVIEW | MANAGEMENT
“An area of growth for forgings in near future, is in defence, aerospace and railway procurement” Ranbir Singh
NMDC (above 50%), the government should reduce the price of iron ore to help the steel industry to be more competitive. How is the forging industry increasingly addressing opportunities arising out of the growing trend among global automotive OEMs to outsource components from manufacturers in low-cost countries? The global OEMs are planning to make India a primary sourcing hub for their global operations and are looking at India as a manufacturing base due to low-cost advantage and shifting their operation to India. This will open up significant opportunity for forging companies to cater to the domestic and export markets. Can you give us the details on the key export markets for the Indian forging industry, export percentage, challenges & opportunities in the export markets, export incentives, etc? The Indian forging industry, as a part of the manufacturing sector, has played a significant role in the Indian economy, with an estimated turnover of around `27,833 crore in 2014-15. Of this, approximately `6100 crore was attributed to exports in the same period, recording a rise of 16% over the previous fiscal. In the recent downturn, global auto manufacturers’ financial performance was impacted on account of their high cost structure. This has caused these players to increase their sourcing (automobiles and components) from low cost countries like India. AIFI has linkage with similar associations in Europe, USA, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. What are the activities happening here to promote the Indian forging sector globally? AIFI’s key role is to promote and develop the Indian forging
EM | May 2016
industry so as to meet the demands and expectations of the stakeholders. Some key activities include building and strengthening the database/information base of its members through dissemination of trade and other information at home and abroad; develop, maintain and promote global standards to achieve customer requirements through seminars, training courses and workshops for its members; participate and organise national & international conventions, business and technical seminars, conferences, international trade fairs, buyer-sellers’ meets; lead developmental activities; regularly interact with suppliers of raw material (steel producers mainly), user industries (automobile industry primarily) and educational institutions in the field of forging technology; showcase the capabilities of the Indian forging industry to the world. What roadmap is the association planning to strategise further developments in the Indian forging industry in 2016-17? An area of growth for forgings in near future, is in defence, aerospace and railway procurement. The Indian government’s emphasis on defence and aerospace equipment as part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign to encourage manufacturing and attract foreign investment has led many companies to seek licences to make defence & aerospace equipment locally. This will open up more business opportunity for the domestic forging industry. Over the medium to long term, growth in the forging industry will be higher than the automotive industry growth given the increasing localisation by auto OEMs, rising export from India for both vehicle & component and ‘Make in India’ initiative. Forging production in India likely to grow at CAGR of 9.5% for the period of 2015-18 and reach to 29.7 lakh MT in FY 2017-18 from 22.5 lakh MT during 2014-15. ☐
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R O U N D - TA B L E | M A N A G E M E N T
Lean manufacturing – responding to change Today, Lean is a commonly used term across manufacturing operations. However, it is important to learn about the possible Lean manufacturing practices and the specific real-time benefits that Lean will have on individual processes and eventually the entire company. The round-table analyses the roadmap to achieve Lean, while addressing challenges to respond to the change effectively. According to Jim Womack and Daniel Jones in Lean Thinking, the five principles of Lean include specifying value, identifying value stream, making value flow, letting the customer pull and seeking perfection. A Lean management leads to the elimination of seven wastes—transport, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, over-production and defects using the principles of Lean. Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy that pursues the continuous elimination of waste in all business processes through Kaizen, also known as small and incremental
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Megha Roy Features Writer megha.roy@publish-industry.net
improvement. When an organisation walks through its Lean journey, it has to face a number of challenges, coupled with hiccups to reduce machine changeover times, reduce labour and meet just-in-time production goals. Sharing insights on how Lean manufacturing practices benefits an organisation are Michael Bremer, President—Cumberland Group, Chicago; Vinod Grover, Founding Partner & Director, Kaizen Institute India; Hussain Shariyarr, Senior Vice President—Operations, Godrej Appliances and Sanjeev Baitmangalkar, Strategy & Lean Management Consultant, Stratmann Consulting.
EM | May 2016
M A N A G E M E N T | R O U N D - TA B L E
“Implement 5S or 6S. Leadership needs to care about people and have effective Lean practices” Michael Bremer, President—Cumberland Group, Chicago
“Lean changes isolated islands of operations, working at their own pace, getting integrated with their internal suppliers & internal customers” Vinod Grover, Founding Partner & Director, Kaizen Institute India
Goal of Lean manufacturing The prime goal of Lean manufacturing is to continuously improve the quality, cost and delivery parameters for an organisation, thereby, enhancing customer satisfaction. “It is being individually focused, improving humanity and forming an organisational perspective to more effectively accomplish the mission,” believes Bremer. As per Grover, for too long, the goal of Lean has been improvement of manufacturing productivity and cost reduction. It has been a ‘Lean tools’ based approach. So, he suggests the addition of developing people— making them skilled, problem solvers and preparing to build a Kaizen culture, to the existing goals. Shariyarr explains it as ‘all stakeholder’s satisfaction’. He further opines that it should also achieve an intangible goal, i.e. continuously drive Lean thinking across the organisation since Lean manufacturing is not a one-time goal. “It has to be worked upon continuously involving all employees,” he says. According to Baitmangalkar, “With philosophy, processes, people and solving problems in a connected & continuous way, it will reduce waste paving the way for greater value addition & cost reduction.”
Taking steps towards Lean When a company decides to introduce Lean manufacturing on the shopfloor, there are important things that leaders must believe for Lean management to work for their organisation. Speaking on this, Bremer opines, “A good initial practice is to implement 5S, or preferably 6S. Start with safety, leadership needs to care about people and have effective Lean practices. The other Ss include sort, straighten, sweep, standardise and finally sustain.”
EM | May 2016
Lean is an end-to-end philosophy that starts from the customer and goes up to the last supplier and includes everything in between. “Many proponents of Lean advocate a process that people understand as universal, and yet this has not produced true great Lean results. If there was a universal standard template, then you would only have Lean companies today,” believes Baitmangalkar. He further focusses, “Lean is a strategy subject, and its success lies in both strategy and the tactical execution of strategy.” Highlighting the need to implement 5S and TEI (Total Employee Involvement) practices on the shopfloor, Shariyarr says, “5S should be implemented across shopfloors and become a part of our daily routine. TEI initiatives aim at creating a stress-free and fear-free environment for employees. These initiatives include two-way communication programme, Kaizen programs, quality circle participation, bonding and recreational activities, etc.”
Meeting just-in-time production goals According to Baitmangalkar, most companies falter with the practices to become Lean. “Reducing labour is not a goal of Lean. True Lean results are achieved only when you implement just-in-time production techniques and Jidoka, along with the Lean principles, and not when implemented in piece meal using random tools,” he elaborates. To reduce changeover time with Lean, Bremer suggests separating the internal and external time. Furthermore, he explains, “Having all parts nearby for the next job, having an easy place to set any parts being removed from the equipment and having a standard work process for doing the changeover are easy ways to get started. Headcount reduction should be handled through attrition and ideally absorbed through
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R O U N D - TA B L E | M A N A G E M E N T
“Lean manufacturing is not a one-time goal, it has to be worked on continuously involving all employees” Hussain Shariyarr, Senior Vice President—Operations, Godrej Appliances
“Lean is a strategy subject, and its success lies in both strategy and the tactical execution of strategy” Sanjeev Baitmangalkar, Strategy & Lean Management Consultant, Stratmann Consulting
business growth. Regarding meeting just-in-time goals, one should be more aware of what causes the JIT goals to be missed.” On the same, Grover vouches for the tool box consisting of SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies); 1x1 flow in lines/cells; Jidoka, poka-yoke, Kanban, load leveling & water spider internal logistics systems that is popular and well documented in several Lean books. Citing an example on the same, Shariyarr shares that Godrej Appliances has begun a structured Lean journey by joining the first hybrid cluster formed by CII in Pune. “The cluster program brought together the large-scale companies for the first time to share, learn and achieve together. There was a structure roadmap that included tools 5S, TEI, JIT, Jishu Hozen, flow manufacturing, integrated quality management, etc. Following the successful completion of this cluster program, we have now graduated to TPM,” he further adds.
TPS vs Lean manufacturing The difference between Toyota Production System and Lean manufacturing practices is debatable. According to Grover, Lean manufacturing is a western interpretation of TPS. “It leaves out the soul of TPS, including hidden people, leadership & cultural dimensions. It is these hidden dimensions, which cause TPS to keep evolving. Lean manufacturing ends up copying Toyota’s solutions to their problems, without understanding the latent practices, which permitted such solutions to come up in the first place,” he says. As per Bremer, Toyota is a role model for Lean manufacturing practices. “The hard part of Lean is figuring what you need to do. That is also where learning takes places. As a result of what you learn, you can become a better leader and more effective with your Lean implementation,” he suggests. Speaking on the
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same, Shariyarr says that TPS is one approach to achieve Lean manufacturing objectives. “It has been successfully implemented in Japanese companies. It has not seen the same level success in many other non-Japanese companies as these approaches have to be customised in context with the culture of the region and organisation it is implemented in,” he avers. Re-affirming the same, Baitmangalkar avers that Toyota Production System can only be used by Toyota; it’s applicable to meet their customer demands, their environment and variables, etc. “Other companies cannot use TPS as their set of difficulties will be different. So, the process that adapts Lean thinking behind the philosophy, processes, people and solving problems in an endeavour to produce similar results (as Toyota or better) is called Lean manufacturing,” he states.
Changes and challenges with Lean Lean transformation is clubbed with a number of changes. As per Grover, it changes everything on the shopfloor like isolated islands of operations, working at their own pace, getting integrated with their internal suppliers & internal customers & learn to start working together at a pace determined by customer demand, etc. According to him, challenges to employees working on the shopfloor are the need to become multi-skilled and disciplined, need to take charge of their processes – make a transition from operators, doing their operations to managing their processes together. Shariyarr believes that the biggest challenge is the resistance to change and the flexibility to adapt new systems and practices. “It’s important to work on cultural transformation before jumping into implementing any new practices. The employees are expected to be more flexible, adaptable and multi-skilled. Any Lean transformation journey
EM | May 2016
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R O U N D - TA B L E | M A N A G E M E N T
is based on two principles-continuous improvement and respect for people at all levels,” he says. Challenges pointed out by Baitmangalkar as faced by employees include need to change in behaviour, routine, attitudes, beliefs, thinking, identifying and solving problems continuously, improving added-value, reducing cost and improving profitability, etc. “The changes include tremendous (usually beyond conventional imagination) improvements in lead times, throughput times, quality index, inventory value, inventory turns, cost reduction, profits, improvement of all key ratios, very high employee motivation, etc,” he adds.
Will Lean strategies change in economic downturn? An economic downturn causes demands of products to reduce and capacities to become idle. Grover believes enlightened organisations realise that, and use this opportunity to execute strategies to strengthen their Lean muscles. “Today, Lean is a tool to achieve operational excellence,” believes Shariyarr. He says, “Unique competitive advantages are now created through innovative products, innovative business models, customer experiences, go-to-market strategies, etc. Hence, Lean practices would not change, whether there is an economic downturn or not. An already Lean company will be able to manage the downturn well.” As per Baitmangalkar, Lean strategies will address the problems of the organisation at any given time, and during an economic downturn, one can address their problems and evolve strategies to combat threats and barriers. “Economic downturns are economic balancing cycles and are the best time for organisations to implement Lean, complaining about the down turn gets one nowhere,” he opines.
Where do other tools fit in with Lean? “Some of these fall within the Lean tool box. Others are complementary,” says Grover. He explains, “Organisations should always be business-goals oriented. In pursuance of
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business goals, depending on problem to be solved, they should pick relevant tools, not try to fit a tool to their problem. Tool orientation amounts to ‘fad of the month’ implementation.” When asked Shariyarr, he says, “These are all different tools and approaches, which help make an organisation become Lean and meet the end goal of customer satisfaction.” Baitmangalkar believes that tools, solving problems in a connected way, along with Lean principles, Jidoka and just-intime techniques brings the system into balance across the value stream and in the right direction that will make a company Lean. “A tool only fits in when its time has come. Six Sigma is a statistical tool used to build reliable results from a process. It is not an end-to-end solution for a business process,” he highlights.
Considering Lean management To consider Lean managmenet, Bremer suggests creating an environment, where not only you learn & change, but can give space to other people to do the same thing, and then hold yourselves accountable for doing what learnt. Grover believes that if an operational excellence strategy is not followed, you are foregoing an enormous potential of higher customer satisfaction and higher profitability. “Begin the journey under the guidance of an experienced practitioner. That will save you from a number of false starts & a few years of learning,” he suggests. Shariyarr opines to first prepare a ground for implementing Lean by building discipline and enhance a team working culture. “Study your organisation environment and then decide the appropriate tools and modify or customise them to suit your environment. Lastly, implement it with your own people by involving everyone in the organisation to achieve success,” he shares. On the same, Baitmangalkar suggests not to embark on random implementation of a few Lean tools, not to contemplate on which is a good time to begin. “Becoming Lean and agile helps you to respond well to disruption and stay healthy in business,” he concludes. ☐
EM | May 2016
M E TA L F O R M I N G | F O C U S
Cold-forming with efficient material processing Historically, cold-forming has been an experience-based technology, but this is changing as new computer-aided analytical tools are constantly being developed to facilitate efficient material processing Cold-forming is a high-speed metal-forming process where coiled wire at ambient temperature is precisely sheared to length, and then passed through a succession of tool and die cavities to displace the working metal. Within a short period of time, a large number of cut-offs can either be upset, formed to be longer or shorter in length, or small amounts of material can be removed by trimming or piercing. In this process, metal is forced beyond its yield (elastic) limit and retains its altered shape upon removal from the die. The metal should not be
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forced beyond its tensile strength, otherwise cracks would occur (the exception is when trimming or piercing).
Cold-forming benefits Apart from large quantities due to the high production speed, forming to net/near-net shape is possible to eliminate or reduce secondary operations. Furthermore, the finely-tuned machines allow for a high volume consistency, leading to
EM | May 2016
F O C U S | M E TA L F O R M I N G
Materials that can be cold-formed include carbon steels, stainless steels, brass, copper, bronze, precious metals, aluminum and nickel alloys
material savings and reduced scrap volumes. The improvement in mechanical properties, e.g. greater strength-to-weight ratio, renders another positive effect. Because of these benefits, coldforming can be an interesting alternative to hot forging, casting, sintering, machining, welding or stamping. Cold-forming equipment is typically a horizontal press. Machines come in many variations, with diverse criteria being important according to the type of parts to be produced. Materials that can be cold-formed include carbon steels, stainless steels, brass, copper, bronze, precious metals, aluminum and nickel alloys. For cold-forming, the chosen material into a given part shape is governed by that material’s structural properties. They are all based on 3 basic forming methods: t Forward extrusion reduces the diameter, with the material either being open or trapped to flow into the cavity of lesser diameter t Backward extrusion has the material flow backwards around a penetrating punch, a method to form hollow spaces t Upsetting is a method to form heads on fasteners, where material is upset at the face of dies (e.g. bolts)
Innovation and stability In the course of over 140 years now, National Machinery has lived through some turbulent times, from which the company always emerged stronger than before. The foundations for the then-called National Machinery Company were laid in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874. In the early 20th century, the
EM | May 2016
company moved approx 145 km southwest to Tiffin, and received its accolade when the New York Daily called it a ‘mammoth concern’, being the only establishment in the world capable of equipping a bolt and nut factory with machinery. The key to their success as a machine manufacturer was their unerringly watchful eye on the requirements of an everchanging industry. The early 20th century was the era of a booming US automobile industry and full order books. Henry Ford was enthusiastic about the Automatic Tong Feed Forging Machine that he purchased from National in 1925. The 1960s carried an increasing demand for more complexshaped parts. Even in Europe, National Machinery’s market share was on the rise and, thus, 1972 saw the 1000th high-speed cold former ship from National’s expanded Nuremberg facility. The company continued to write record order numbers well into the 1980s. However, even the company felt the effects of the global recession only shortly later. A gigantic increase in sales numbers was necessary in order to get the machine inventory on stock into the market and once again, innovation in cold forming technology turned out to be the key solution.
The FORMAX® concept In 1989, National Machinery introduced its FORMAX® cold former for the first time at the International Fastener Exposition (IFE) in Atlanta, Georgia. FORMAX presented itself as an easy-to-operate system to the fastener and component industry that allowed for with high production speeds and simple and quick tool changes.
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M E TA L F O R M I N G | F O C U S
FORMAX® machines can be adapted to changes in the customer’s requirements
FORMAX®’s design was tailored to National Machinery’s production capabilities in order to economise production processes and standardise components. This allows for close tolerance control and takes away the ‘hand fit’, typically needed at assembly, so each machine is of the exact same high quality. FORMAX® features a core design with standard machine options on top and is the perfect platform on which to mount flexible specials. FORMAX® machines can be adapted to changes in the customer’s requirements. There is also a special FORMAX® design for warm-forming machines. The warm-former models of the FORMAX® line have all of FORMAX®’s standard features such as zero-clearance heading slide guidance, linear feed system, sealed heading slide guide liners and the Quick-Change FORMAPAK System. A FORMAX® warm-former machine may be either prepped for warm-forming with basic special features or it may be custom-tailored, particularly for the application and material requirements of a certain customer. For National Machinery, the FORMAX® line meant greater efficiency under production aspects, quicker production speeds and improved use of machine and tooling resources. The customers are particularly benefitted from the improved quality and production speed.
The future goes global From Nuremberg, Germany, NME National Machinery Europe GmbH, offers machine service, new machine sales and technical support for their customers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Nevertheless, apart from Canada, the USA and Brazil, NM
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machines are also located in the Far East. In 2007, National Machinery further expanded its presence around the globe by opening it’s new subsidiary in China. NM Group Technologies resides on a 4,000 m2 premises in Suzhou, PRC – and supports China for sales and service. National Machinery has a particularly large machine base in Japan, thus, making their Nagoya, Japan facility indispensable especially for this crucial customer base in terms of quick and inexpensive deliveries service within Asia.
Equipped with latest technology In December, 2015 National Machinery LLC announced that it had taken a controlling interest in SMART Machinery Srl. SMART Machinery is a new company formed to assume the business interests and assets of SMART Srl, the Tortona, Italy-based company that is a leading thread roller machine manufacturer and pioneer in using servo drive technology. Using its patented technology, SMART has developed a full range of flat die thread rolling equipment to serve the fastener industry. It also manufactures complementary equipment that includes planetary machines, washer assembly units and pointing machines. Smart machines have been widely accepted by the market, and operate today in many countries. National Machinery will become the global master agent for the sale and service of SMART equipment, using select sub-agents as well as company personnel. This addition to the National Machinery portfolio of products will give customers even more options of high quality, technologically advanced equipment for their production needs, and shows National’s commitment to the industry. ☐ Courtesy: International Metalworking News Asia
EM | May 2016
Image courtesy: SEYI
POWER PRESSES | TECHNOLOGY
Maintenance and thorough examination of power presses Power presses are dangerous machines, which have caused many accidents over the years. The causes include poor maintenance of the press, its safeguards and control system. The article summarises what users of power presses and anyone who installs and maintains them have to do to meet their duties under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98). The maintenance law requires that work equipment, which includes presses, is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, so far as health and safety is concerned. Your arrangements for maintenance should be adequate to meet this requirement. This will include ensuring that your employees or those who maintain your presses have the necessary knowledge, skills, time and facilities to do what is needed. Your duties as an employer under PUWER 98 have to ensure that:
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t t t t
Your power presses and all their guards, the control systems and ancillary equipment (e.g. automatic feed systems) are maintained so that they do not put people at risk; Maintenance work on power presses is carried out safely, i.e. machinery is shut down and isolated, and done by people who have the right skills and knowledge; Training is provided for the ‘appointed person’ to help them fulfil their role; Adequate health and safety information and, where
EM | May 2016
TECHNOLOGY | POWER PRESSES
Preventive maintenance is needed to identify potential failures before employees are put at risk of injury
t
t t
appropriate, written instructions are made available to everyone using the presses or supervising and managing their use; An inspection and test is done by the appointed person within four hours of the start of each shift or day that the press is used, or after tool setting or adjustment, and the certificate is signed to confirm that the press is safe to use; Any existing maintenance log is kept up-to-date, since it provides evidence that the power press has been properly maintained and; Your presses and safety devices are thoroughly examined by a competent person at the required intervals.
Preventive maintenance Preventive maintenance is needed to identify potential failures before employees are put at risk of injury. Worn or defective parts need to be repaired or replaced and adjustments need to be made at set intervals to ensure that the press will continue to work safely. What to maintain: Target your maintenance at those parts of the power press that could cause danger if they failed or deteriorated (e.g. brakes, clutches, guards, safety-related parts of the control system). When to maintain: This will vary according to the press design and the way the press is used, but take into account the instructions on maintenance from the machine manufacturer; your own experience of the way the press behaves, e.g. based on maintenance records and thorough examination reports; the usage and other service conditions, e.g. three shifts a day, single-cycle, heavy-duty or infrequent use for short periods; and discussing the frequency of your maintenance programme with your competent person or your maintenance contractor. Parts of the press and control system, which are essential to
EM | May 2016
safety at the tools need more frequent maintenance than other parts, especially where danger can result from a single component failure. Maintenance intervals can be broken down into daily, weekly, monthly and six-monthly checks, with some activities (e.g. removing the flywheel) at intervals of two years or more.
Using contractors If you intend to use contractors to carry out maintenance activities, you need to ensure that they are competent to work on your types of presses. To make sure any contractors you use are competent to work on your presses, you will need to ask them some questions, such as: t Their experience – have they worked on presses before, and what type? t Are they familiar with your type of press? t Do they have the necessary technical knowledge and skills that are needed to properly maintain the electrical, electronic, mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic parts of the safety-related control system on your types of presses? t Are they familiar with the statutory requirements, relevant standards and published guidance on the safe use of power presses t Who else have they worked for? t Can they send you a completed specimen of the report they give after carrying out maintenance or repair work? t What steps do they take to ensure that measurement and test equipment is properly calibrated? t What arrangements do they have for monitoring the standard of their own work? Daily inspection and test by the appointed person: The appointed person is someone designated by you (the employer) to inspect and test the guards and safety devices
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POWER PRESSES | TECHNOLOGY
Parts of the press and control system, which are essential to safety at the tools need more frequent maintenance than other parts, especially where danger can result from a single component failure
on each press every day when they are in use (within the first four hours of each working period); and after setting, resetting or adjustment of the tools. The appointed person has to be adequately trained and competent to do the work on each type of power press. Thorough examination and test by the competent person: The competent person is someone you arrange to carry out the thorough examination and test of the power press, its guard(s) and/or protection device(s). The competent person needs to have enough practical or theoretical knowledge and experience to detect defects and decide how far these will affect the safe operation of the press. It is also important for the competent person to be sufficiently independent and impartial to be able to make an objective assessment of the press. You need to check that they understand what is meant by a thorough examination, and what the law requires. Accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to the relevant standard (BS EN 45004:1995) for in-service inspection of power presses is an indication of the level of competence of an inspection body.
Purpose of the thorough examination and test The purpose of the thorough examination and test is to determine whether, at the time of the thorough examination, the press and its safeguards are installed safely, whether it is safe to operate and whether there are any defects that could make it unsafe in the future. The thorough examination is not a substitute for maintenance, but the information obtained can help you check that your maintenance systems are working properly. The following are the things the competent person will ask you to do: t Make the machine available and, if necessary, clear a safe working area around the machine and isolate it;
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t
Where required, dismantle and prepare normally enclosed safety critical components for examination, for example the key, clutch and brake unit; t Remove covers from electrical and electromechanical components (switches, relays, fuse boxes) if these are part of the safety systems on the press; t Provide information and/or assistance so that the guards, enclosures and covers can be removed safely to allow the thorough examination to be carried out. For jobs like flywheel removal, or for electrical parts, you may need to arrange for your maintenance contractor to do this; t Re-energise and run the machine to perform a functional test; t Make any immediate or time-dependent repairs and adjustments as required and sign the associated immediate or time-dependent defect reports. If the competent person cannot gain access to parts that need to be seen and examined, it may not be possible to complete the thorough examination and you will not get a statutory report. Remember it is illegal to use a press without a current statutory report of thorough examination.
What will be examined? The competent person will look at a range of items to determine if the press and its safeguards are safe to use. The items that will be included, the tests performed and the information that the competent person may ask for will vary, depending on the type of press and whether an initial or periodic examination is being carried out. As well as the usual mechanical aspects, the safety-related parts of the electrical control system will also be considered as part of the examination. � Courtesy: HSE
EM | May 2016
EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL PARTS CLEANING E IN D A M A INDI
» Minio 85C
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Dϋrr Ecoclean supplies equipment for almost every cleaning task in industrial parts manufacturing. Our compact standardized systems and reliable processes form the basis for tailormade solutions. With its philosophy, Dϋrr Ecoclean demonstrates responsibility for an efficient and sparing use of resources. Our solvent-based parts cleaning systems yield to sustainable processes, saving materials and per-unit costs while also attesting to unsurpassed technical competences. This German Engineering quality is now available Made in India. In order to find the right solution for your cleaning task and parts, we offer cleaning trials on a range of Dürr Ecoclean systems with different media (aqueous, hydrocarbon, polar solvents and chlorinated hydrocarbons) at our local Test Center in Pune.
» Universal 81C
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Dürr Ecoclean India
A Division of Schenck RoTec India Ltd. 198/1 Genesis Building, Fourth Floor Dhole Patil Road, Pune 411 001
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Phone: +9120 30585002-04 E-Mail: info.india�ecoclean.durr.com www.durr-ecoclean.com
I N D U S T R I A L PA R T S C L E A N I N G | T E C H N O L O G Y
Optimising efficiency of cleaning technology A cleaning process is said to be efficient if it achieves defined cleanliness standards at high throughput with minimised costs. Whether or not this objective is attained will depend on various cost-impacting factors. A read on... One key prerequisite of efficient cleaning is that the process is adapted to the given cleaning task in the best possible way. This must be true in terms of key criteria such as the material, size and geometry of the product being cleaned, the type and amount of contamination, the cleanliness specification for film-type and particulate matter, process throughput levels, and the requisite flexibility. As a general rule, cleaning costs will rise with cleanliness requirements. It may, therefore, be worth enquiring whether a specified residual contamination target is actually necessary for the specific part or manufacturing step. Another aspect to be considered when assessing cleaning efficiency is whether the amount of contaminants entering the process can be reduced in the first place.
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Doris Schulz Schulz Presse Text Germany doris.schulz@pressetextschulz.de
Investment cost is task-related For removing mineral oil-based (non-polar) contaminants such as machining oils, greases and waxes, a solvent will commonly be the preferred cleaning agent. For water-based (polar) types of contamination such as coolant and lubricant emulsions, polishing pastes, additives, salts, abraded particles and other solids, aqueous cleaning agents are typically employed. However, it is also worth considering machine workmanship standards and the materials used. The capacity, design and equipment level of a cleaning system are likewise task-related. Here, questions will focus on how many tanks or immersion tanks are required to achieve the specified cleaning resul; will it be necessary to use
EM | May 2016
T E C H N O L O G Y | I N D U S T R I A L PA R T S C L E A N I N G
ultrasound and, if so, how powerful should this system be; can the cleaning target be reached with standard equipment, or will custom engineering be needed; which fluid treatment or re-conditioning systems need to be integrated; how should the parts be dried? Most of the issues arises when it comes to selecting the right technology, equipment level and machine rating can be answered via cleaning tests of the type conducted by DĂźrr Ecoclean at its Filderstadt technical centre. An investment in new part cleaning equipment will be driven mainly by present cleaning objectives. Nevertheless, it will also be useful to think about the near future. Will there be changes in the product range and/or customer structure and will this cause any shift in cleaning requirements?
Labour-intensive cleaning process Labour may account for a portion of the cleaning process costs which is by no means insignificant. Especially with waterbased processes, bath quality control and maintenance activities must be carried out regularly. If this is done automatically, investment expenditure may rise, but cost savings will be gained in day-to-day operation due to the elevated degree of automation. The same applies to automatic feeder systems loading the cleaning machine.
Consumables as a cost factor The cost of consumables such as cleaning agents, filter materials, fresh/ waste waters, and disposal costs will likewise depend on the technology used. Basically, aqueous cleaning systems are more expensive in this regard. On the other hand, savings may be obtained by reducing the input of contaminants so that the service life of fluids and filters can be extended.
Energy efficiency – a ubiquitous buzzword Aqueous and solvent-based processes also differ, for technology- inherent reasons, when it comes to energy consumption. Solvent-based systems operate more energyefficiently. Depending on the cleaning task, it should also be examined, e.g. whether the use of a high-pressure spray pump is actually necessary. Another question that may lead to energy cuts is do the parts really need to be 100% dry for the next downstream process or can the high-energy drying effort be scaled down, e.g. through elimination of a vacuum pump? A reduced contaminant input will likewise have an effect on energy efficiency. Let us consider an example. A defined standard process in the metalworking industry is performed using an aqeous Advt
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EM | May 2016
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I N D U S T R I A L PA R T S C L E A N I N G | T E C H N O L O G Y
The efficiency of the cleaning process depends on various factors
Minio85C solvent based cleaning system, Made-in-India that takes minimal space
single-chamber cleaning system which runs for 2,080 hours per year. By reducing its fluid treatment throughput from 50 to 25 litres/hr, the associated electricity costs can be brought down from Euro 9,734 to Euro 4,867 (assuming average German power prices in November 2012). With a solventbased system, a reduction in fluid treatment throughput from 140 to 70 litres/hr will still save Euro 2,100 per year. Depending on machine type, impressive savings can also be gained by the energy savings package developed by Dürr Ecoclean for both existing and new machines. Its ‘smart equipment control’ technology switches high-energy components (e.g. vacuum pumps) to standby mode after an extended period without product input. Less effective is the widely discussed changeover from IE2 to IE3 motors, and this holds true irrespectively of the fact that these motors are not even available yet for many driven units.
Maintenance and risk tolerance Here again, costs depend on the technology employed, with solvent-based systems making a somewhat higher budget impact. In deciding on an application-specific maintenance approach, one criterion which plays a role is risk tolerance, i.e. the question of how expensive a sudden failure of the cleaning system would become. Various solutions can be adopted here. The options range from maintenance by the user’s trained inhouse personnel to the machine manufacturer’s after-sales service. Both solutions will result in improved plant availability and process reliability without affecting operating costs. But again, high process reliability is an efficiency benefit all by itself.
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Influence of cleanliness standards on cost Dürr Ecoclean has computed, for a specific application, the change in operating cost associated with varying cleanliness standards. This evaluation is based on a 2-stage cleaning process including washing, rinsing, hot-air and vacuum drying in an aqueous-type single-chamber system equipped with two tanks. The machine cleans castings weighing around 6 kg, which are contaminated with emulsion, chips and particles. The specification calls for no particles >500 µm to be present on the cleaned product. In a 2-shift operation handling eight batches per hour, the resulting costs add up to Euro 4.58 per batch. By changing from two to three shifts, all other factors remaining equal, the costs can be brought down to Euro 3.67 per batch. Raising the cleanliness requirement to >350 µm will drive up the cost of cleaning agents, and the system’s capability will be reduced to six batches per hour. Thus, in two-shift operation, the costs will rise to Euro 6.10 per batch. A cleanliness specification barring all particles >200 µm would create the need for a third flooding tank to implement a 3-stage wash-rinse-rinse process. Moreover, an additional ultrasonic system must then be used and there will be extra cost of special part carriers, personnel, and pro-rata laboratory and cleanroom use. At six batches per hour in twoshift operation, this will raise the costs per batch to Euro 9.80. So, there is no such thing as a standard solution for an efficient cleaning process. A system providing optimum efficiency can only be designed with reference to a given cleaning task and a specific set of process parameters. ☐
EM | May 2016
MACHINING | TECHNOLOGY
Portable CNC machining centre The article talks on indigenously developed CNC portable machining centre to increase the productivity and de-skilling of machining operations for locomotive under-frames in the railway industry Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd (Tooling Division) has three business verticals namely Die Casting Dies, Stamping Dies and Industrial Machines—of which first two are mainly catering to automobile industry. The third business vertical of Godrej Tooling – Industrial Machines business segment, provides specialised solutions in metal cutting machines, jigs & fixtures, material handling, automation solutions and robotics. In addition to meeting the captive requirements of its other business divisions, Godrej Tooling caters to the demands for automation solutions from external customers as well. To increase the productivity and de-skilling of machining operations for locomotive under-frames, the company indigenously developed CNC portable machining centre for
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Nagraj Pandit Head—Industrial Machines Godrej Tooling npandit@godrej.com
Indian railways with the support of CME (plant) and other officials from DLW, Varanasi.
Locomotive under-frame machining The under-frame machining for locomotives play an important role at the time of crucial assemblies of the locomotive components. Conventionally, all these machining used to be done with the help of manually controlled machines, which involved lot of setting times and were more dependent on operator’s skill. The milling operation used to be done by a deck milling machine by loading the machine on the job, which required
EM | May 2016
TECHNOLOGY | MACHINING
The CNC machining centre is specially designed and developed for machining locomotive under-frame
huge operator skills. After the milling operation, the deck milling machine was to be removed to perform the drilling and tapping operations as these have to be done with the portable radial drilling machine. The setting time of these machines were very high as it calls for multiple usages of cranes and manual settings with the multiple jigs at various locations.
Increasing demand As we all know ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, the increased requirements and design changes in locomotive had called for revisiting the current methodology of manufacturing. The challenge was to make the manufacturing method flexible enough to cater to the changes as well as to increase the productivity of the locomotive works. With the inputs received from S Katiyar, DLW-CME (Plant) and his team, Godrej Tooling division proposed the solution for the same and a new portable CNC machining centre was developed which was flexible to do all the machining operations and is capable to handle design iterations.
CNC machining centre The CNC machining centre is specially designed and developed for machining locomotive under-frame. This machine has the features like program rotation and does all the required machining operations on the under-frame in a single setting. As the name suggests, it is loaded with CNC controller 828D from Siemens which is capable of correcting the under-frame alignment with the machine which has been a nightmare job for an operator in past. The CNC controller is coupled to 3 servo motors for precise locations of the spindle head in X, Y, Z directions. This machine is capable of performing milling, drilling and tapping in a single setting as
EM | May 2016
the main spindle motor is servo controlled for programmable speed and feed rates. The main spindle motor is equipped with universal tool holder with hydraulic clamping arrangement to accommodate milling, drilling and tapping attachments. All the axis guiding elements are well lubricated and laser calibrated for repeatability and accuracy. Considering the size (13.5 m*3.5 m*4.2 m) and weight (45 tons) of the machine, the lifting arrangements are well designed for stability and portability as the working existing conventional deck milling machine. The de-skilling of the operator is done by simplification of CNC program. Any faults occurred in machine is visualised on HMI which will help the operator to address the same. As a result, the portable CNC machining centre with universal machining spindle head and interchangeable tool holders has significantly reduced setting time & manual intervention and improved positional accuracy & increased productivity by 300%.
Safety features Safety is the first and foremost criteria of designing a machine. Following the same, this machine also has certain safety features like lifting arrangement is specially designed to avoid any mishaps while handling such heavy machines. End limit switches are provided to prevent the machine head over travel. Alarming interlocks are provided to prevent the machine from malfunction.
Future plans The company’s plan is to maximise the indigenisation and to provide the solutions for the customer’s special requirements thus help them to maintain their position in the competitive market—on both the fronts: quality and cost. ☐
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C A D / C A M | A P P L I C AT I O N
Incorporating accurate mechanism An application story on the usage of the hyperMILL MAXX machining performance package, used by Heggemann AG, to achieve greatly improved finishing and roughing performance Heggemann AG, headquartered in Büren, Germany, uses hyperMILL machines to reduce machining times by up to one third on a range of workpieces. As per Robert Heggemann, Owner, Heggemann AG, he manages his company according to the motto ‘360° from engineering to production’. He explains, “We’re a service provider in the metalworking sector, and we’re in a position to cover the entire process chain from development right through to series production. Our customers are well aware of this. Most of them are in the aerospace and automotive industry and they also value our expertise, reliability, flexibility and quality.” To ensure it is possible to meet the high requirements of a customer industry known for being challenging, Heggemann employs highly qualified staff, both in its engineering and manufacturing operations. Employees define the most efficient manufacturing concept at an early stage during component development and construction. The engineering specialists
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have broad expertise covering a wide range of materials and production methods, and this is where their skills come into play. The company is well-equipped with machinery for working with sheet metal and solids. There is a total of 18 milling, turning and hybrid machines available for machining, with most coming from DMG Mori and Hermle. This puts Heggemann AG in a position to be able to respond to all requirements in terms of complexity and volumes.
Modern software in all areas At Heggemann, the manufacturing management department makes use of a manufacturing execution system (MES) that complies with the latest Industry 4.0 standards. A product data management (PDM) system manages customer data as well as proprietary 2D and 3D CAD data. Once final approval is given by the customer, programmers
EM | May 2016
A P P L I C AT I O N | C A D / C A M
hyperMILL CAM workstation at Heggemann AG
can access the final data record and generate the required NC programs via CAM. Heggemann has used the hyperMILL CAM system from OPEN MIND Technologies since 2009. It particularly stands out thanks to the innovative hyperMILL MAXX machining performance package. “The 5-axis tangent plane machining strategy, in particular, has left a lasting impression at Heggemann, as it offers enormous potential for savings,” confirms René Reiffer, Head of Production, Heggemann AG. It was Dirk Lehmann, Technical Sales Consultant at OPEN MIND Technolgoies, who originally sparked the interest for the new finishing strategy among Reiffer’s milling team in early 2015 and asked the team to test the 5-axis tangent plane machining strategy. The metal removal team got the chance to do just that at the Hermle AG technology centre in Kassel. This is because Hermle, a leading manufacturer of 5-axis machining centres, is among Heggemann’s preferred suppliers. “The result immediately won us over,” explains Reiffer. “We now use the 5-axis tangent plane machining strategy as often as possible, as we can achieve a significant reduction in machining times.” A major component of the innovative finishing strategy is the tool it employs – a conical barrel cutter specially developed by OPEN MIND Technologies for this purpose. Its geometry has a large radius of 1,000 millimetres or more, allowing enormous line increments during finishing. “We regularly achieve time reductions of 70 to 90 per cent in test workpieces compared with the use of traditional ball mills,” adds Lehmann.
Reduction in finishing time Reiffer provides an example of the savings achieved at Heggemann. He explained, “We just manufactured a component with deep pockets measuring 155 mm and vertical walls. Until recently, we would have milled it with a 12 mm ball mill, which would have taken about 90 minutes of machining time. Using the new method and a barrel cutter with a lateral radius of
EM | May 2016
500 mm and a tool radius of 4 mm at the tip, the finishing process only takes 15 minutes. The surface quality was Rz = 3.2 µm in both cases.” The time saving is primarily due to the barrel cutter’s enormous line increments measuring 4 mm during the final finishing pass. With a ball mill, it would be more than ten times the number of lines at a distance of 0.35 mm. Reiffer’s team saves additional time when it comes to programming. It takes about 20 minutes to create a finishing programme for a pocket like this with a ball mill. It is possible to program machining jobs for the 5-axis tangent plane machining in five minutes.
Optimised roughing for 2D, 3D or 5-axis operations The new OPEN MIND performance package also offers other interesting high-performance cutting (HPC) strategies for roughing. For example, the hyperMILL MAXX machining roughing module allows the user to achieve a maximum stock removal rate by intelligently separating spiral and trochoidallike tool paths and dynamically adjusting the feed rate to suit the prevailing cutting conditions. What makes this special is that it can be used for any type of machining operation, be it 2D, 3D or 5-axis. Heggemann takes full advantage of this possibility. “We mostly use it for 2D components, as we can often machine these components with the entire shank length of the tool,” reports Reiffer, delighted with the time savings. “In cases like this, we are two to three times faster and we also benefit from less tool wear.” Heggemann also places great value on its excellent cooperation with OPEN MIND Technologies. “We receive a top quality service. When we have a question, we get a prompt response by e-mail or by phone. And if it’s really urgent, they’ll send over an application engineer to solve problems directly on site,” concludes Reiffer. ☐ Courtesy: OPEN MIND Technologies
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M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T | T E C H N O L O G Y
Smart machines need smart engineering In the industrial machinery market, the impact of new technology will see manufacturing computerised – with production lines featuring smarter, more connected and more complex machines. The article explains how the machine-making industry needs smarter ways to work that are more collaborative, versatile and flexible. Those of us who fondly remember the Terminator movie, franchise will recall the scene from Terminator 2 when a designer from Cyberdyne Systems realises that machines have become self-aware. While we’re not at the point of ‘singularity’ yet, machines are becoming more intelligent with the ability to do more things automatically. Take a shampoo production line or a PCB production line. Machines are available now that can work autonomously and continuously, changing the contents of bottles, and their labels, or components based on intelligent and configurable digital work instructions.
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Srinath Narayan Technical Director Siemens PLM Software
In the future, machines will also become part of an integrated production line – using sensors, connected over the internet to provide real-time data on production progress and the status of the machines themselves. For example, machines will be able to monitor their status, including variables such as temperature, hydraulic performance and pressure levels. They will auto-flag anomalies to engineers who can remedy the problem before it becomes a major and expensive, malfunction. Data collected from machines will be part of a wider data ecosystem with technology such as actuators, sensors, wireless
EM | May 2016
T E C H N O L O G Y | M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T
Operator runs CNC program on Siemens controller
video cameras and RFID readers in plants providing continuous information from the production line. This data, analysed and processed in the cloud, will give better operational intelligence on which people – and machines – can take better decisions. While these developments are to be welcomed, for machinebuilding companies, they massively increase complexity. In particular, advanced software – with millions of lines of code – is required to control machines, with the amount of software content in machines having grown “by 45% between 1970 and 2010”. Complexity is increased too, by demands from manufacturers. In key markets – from cars to consumer goods – people want ever more customised products. And customised products require customised machines to make them, with customers increasingly specifying machines that demand bespoke design. In addition, the costs of maintaining these machines and the required resources, processes and data have influenced the need of the manufacturer to ensure increased modularity. Indeed, the days of designing, building and supplying a standard model of machine, with a long life cycle are not only dwindling, but pretty much extinct. On top of these issues, the environmental agenda, coupled with changing safety standards, means that legislation is a moving target. To comply with demands, machine configurations need to be changed more often. In addition, the rise of machine makers in lower-cost economies means that globalisation is increasing margin pressure. With these issues in mind, as an industry, we need to find ways to do things differently. We need to cope with the ever-growing rise in machine complexity, find efficiencies to cut costs, and be more flexible – designing, developing and engineering machines in more agile and accelerated ways. In short, we need to move to more advanced machine engineering.
EM | May 2016
Touching machines To date, machine controls and interfaces have been somewhat ‘clunky’. But as technology advances, customers are interested in interfaces that are much more intuitive, such as touch-screen systems that require minimal training and allow greater control over the machine. This requires the development of more advanced software – another factor that’s adding to the complexity of machine design.
Machine-making the smarter way The cornerstone of advanced engineering is a digital platform that hosts all project work, enables collaboration between teams, and stores and catalogues all work, ensuring that IP can be easily reused. Moving to a unified system, designed for the project lifecycle of machine design, enables machine builders to take three key steps that enhance production processes: Adopt mechatronic design: Using systems engineering (SE) principles, a customer’s requirements can be traced all the way through from the requirement capture to finished design. Importantly, software is enabling the creation of more advanced functional models. The model provides a common framework for mechanical, electrical and automation disciplines to work together in parallel. For example, mechanical designers can use concept models for detailed design; electrical designers can use model data to select the best sensors and actuators for each machine; and automation designers can apply cams and operational sequence data from the models to develop software. Engineering to order: Digitising project management also supports a move to modular design – using software to break customer specifications into discrete parts that can be worked
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M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T | T E C H N O L O G Y
Virtual models are now capable of commissioning mechatronics so physical testing of the machines can be minimised
on separately. This capability of modularisation and configurability of the product and the machines that build the product will accentuate the need of very versatile mixed model, mixed variant manufacturing lines which in-turn will help save manufacturing cycle times. These modules are likely to be reusable and, therefore, reduce the number of design cycles required to build a new machine. This approach also mitigates the cost and time issues that arise when customers specify a bespoke machine. Virtual commissioning: Perhaps the most interesting area in the evolution of machine design is the creation of ‘virtual machines’. Complete and detailed, 3D digital virtual clones of machines can now be built to design, test and commission new products. Design concepts can be built quickly and the software has the capability to simulate the effect of variables such as gravity, friction and the performance of electrical systems, fluids and pneumatics. The model can also be connected to controllers in the physical world to bring hardware into the loop of the design process. Our software connects with a wide range of controllers from different vendors and supports the simulation of a shop floor Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The use of virtual commissioning helps to make the development cycle more efficient by allowing testing to start before a machine has been built. It helps identify issues earlier in the process, so preventing unidentified problems causing expensive delays further down the line. Some organizations have adopted the approach of committing capital expenditure (CAPEX) purchases for new production lines, equipment and
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big ticket purchases based on the results of virtual simulation and commissioning models.
Engineering time savings Customers we speak to that are using Project Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools with the capabilities described above estimate that development time is cut by between 20 and 30%. The savings especially come from the re-use of IP and the use of virtual models that make it easier to design, test and commission machines. For instance, the team designing the PLC software can be given a conceptual design to kick start their programming and they can start to simulate their software’s performance much earlier (in the conceptual phase) to avoid errors and greatly ease the software design process. PLM tools also provide the real-time digital collaboration framework that’s needed to coordinate global teams across different disciplines. It seamlessly integrates the work of different groups and creates alerts when a change to a design in one area may have implications elsewhere. This improved integration can also save considerable time. As machines become more connected and autonomous, the designing and building of them will only increase in complexity. To create these advanced machines, advanced software is needed: software that’s dedicated to the task in the hand and which, through intuitive collaboration tools and interfaces, makes it easier, more cost-efficient and faster to build the customised machines of today and tomorrow. ☐
EM | May 2016
M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T | T E C H N O L O G Y
Adopting advanced simulation tools A simulation tool has to be reliable, should offer all capabilities, cover a broader range of applications and should have the ability of chaining different technologies together. It is very important that all these qualities are backed up by high performance, i.e. optimum simulation time with a given hardware configuration. Today, process simulation has become a well-established technique due to the increasing precision and reliability of simulation results, shorter and more practical calculation times (due to faster hardware and more efficient software), and the improved usability of the simulation software – at least for metal forming processes. As per a study by Ehrenfeld et al, 70% of the overall life-time-cost of a manufactured product is determined during its development phase, whereas the development efforts themselves contribute with less than 10% to the life-time-cost. Therefore, virtual development, pre-optimisation and validation becomes more and more important.
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Ralph Bernhardt Director Simufact Engineering GmbH Germany ralph.bernhardt@simufact.de
As per ‘Next Generation Forging’, a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the company identifies the use of simulation software as one of the three driving forces for the development of the forging industry.
Process chain simulation The knowledge of the physical correlations and about their targeted control becomes ever more important, in fact, at an interdisciplinary level. A modern tool to exemplify and visualise these interactions is numerical process simulation. Simulation tools are already applied very successfully, but
EM | May 2016
T E C H N O L O G Y | M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T
“Designed as manufactured”
individually, in the different disciplines. By means of integrated process chain simulations feasibility and sensitivity studies can be carried out prior to any physical try-outs. Followed by process optimisations, manufacturing sequences can be improved and made more efficient substantially in a virtual environment. It is very important that while selecting a simulation tool, one must consider the right software for the purpose. Other important criteria are reliability, not just of the software, but also of consulting capabilities and the offered perspective – a broad range of applications that can be covered with the solution. This includes the ability to chain different technologies and an appropriate development speed of adopting latest trends in shortest possible times. Last but not least, although the core product is software—the developers should be able to talk the manufacturing language. Only if the everyday problems are well known and understood, it can be solved effectively. In today’s globalised world, where technology is evolving at a much faster rate than before, it is essential that the simulation tool keeps pace with the latest technology trend by accommodating them into the tool. This can be ensured only by faster development by highly-qualified engineers. Another important aspect is bridging the gap between simulation technology & actual shop-floor practices. The biggest challenge for any manufacturing process simulation software is accounting all the practical aspects of manufacturing process that happens on the shop-floor. To address this challenge, it is very essential that the development team of simulation software has the experience of all the practical aspects of manufacturing process. That is the only way one can make the simulation tool more realistic. Simufact can be taken as a key example of a company that leverages this combination of hard and soft skills. Earlier, the company used powerful existing modelling software from the United States (MSC Software Corporation), but continuously
EM | May 2016
improved and enhanced this software. Now, with the acquisition of Simufact by MSC Software, they can combine the world of product design, part manufacturing & assembly and, thus, offer a complete simulation solution.
Who benefits? The investment into a simulation tool has to be justified by good returns on it. For manufacturing companies, the following average savings are reported by customers: t Cost reduction for process/tool design: 50% t Overall cost reduction of production by robust serial processes: 30% t Improve product quality: 20% The ultimate important advantages include better lead times, safety in logistics and production planning, increased reliability & product performance, and shorter time to innovations.
Benefits of manufacturing process simulation tool The following section includes the case studies that prove the application benefits of manufacturing a process simulation tool: Cold forming – virtual development of new forming technologies: Sieber Forming Technologies, Germany, used to perform on a high level, but rising competition forced them to drastically increase production throughput for fastener elements. The conventional way was a multi-stage cold forming on high-speed cold-forming machines with very short cycle times, followed by a sophisticated thread rolling process. But this had two big demerits—source of defects (complicated set-up) and bottleneck (cycle time). Motivated by the high reliability and predictability of the
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M A N U FA C T U R I N G I T | T E C H N O L O G Y
Sieber study : Simufact forming
company, the forming engineers explored, “what if we could create the thread with the same cycle time like cold forming without additional machines? We could form the thread with dedicated tools in the same machine?” Finally, they carried out a complete virtual process development with Simufact forming, implemented the same and then launched it. The new innovative forming technology has been established under serial conditions successfully. Downstream study – manufacturing of a crash box (real case demonstrator) in automotive manufacturing: Passenger safety is one of the most critical criteria in process, part and design approvals. Every safety-critical component has to pass several enhanced testing cycles, including virtual crash tests. This example shall illustrate the importance of deploying virtual process chains. It’s a fact that most crash simulations do not consider the manufacturing history of the parts and components within the assembly. They are using averaged and locally homogenised material properties as inputs for their calculations. Similar statements can be given for welding simulations. Usually, modelling uses CAD geometries assuming material properties from a database. In a case study from a German OEM, the complete manufacturing sequence of a crash box was investigated. Starting with sheet rolling, followed by a rollforming operation, the cold metal forming stages were simulated by means of Simufact forming, the leading software approach in metal forming. Work hardened half-pipe bodies with residual strains and stresses from cold roll-forming were taken and a 2-stage welding simulation was performed by using Simufact welding. Welding sub-stage 1 contains welding of the two half-pipes, welding sub-stage 2 represents the welding of the previously
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welded half-pipes against a ground-plate. From stage to stage, the local distribution of the mechanical properties from the previous stage was used as an input for the subsequent stage. Finally, a crash simulation was performed. For this purpose, an impact energy was applied to the manufactured crash box and the energy consumption, represented through the impact height was calculated. This final stage was carried out with two approaches: on one hand the ‘classical’ way of using just CAD data with averaged material properties was performed. On the other hand, the entire manufacturing history of each components was considered. The crash box, which owns its forming and welding history consumes the impact energy faster (blue curve) and provides a larger impact height compared to the crash box using a CAD model with initial material properties from a data base (red curve). The results of this investigation were validated against test models. As such, the consistent consideration of manufacturing chains in the virtual development will lead to more accurate results and will contribute to more safety in component and process design.
Conclusion Simulation tools are important technology tools in the manufacturing industries. With India, now positioned as the next manufacturing hub, it is very essential that the manufacturing companies in India now realise the benefits of it and embrace the technology. Simufact, now has its technology centre in India (Pune, Bengaluru) and is well-positioned to partner with the Indian manufacturing companies for providing simulation technology. ☐
EM | May 2016
Image courtesy: CII
EVENT | REPORT
Achieving best-in-class manufacturing The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), along with Breakthrough Management Group India (BMGI), recently organised a summit ‘Make-ing India the global hub of best-in-class manufacturing’ on the platform of the 7th India Operational Excellence Summit in Delhi. A post-event report… As much as the ‘Make in India’ programme provides a huge opportunity to the Indian industry to grow, it is imperative for Corporate India to increase its competitiveness and take the lead so as to ensure that it capitalises on the opportunities that a growing India offers. With this in mind, CII recently hosted a summit titled ‘Make-ing India the global hub of best-in-class manufacturing’, along with Breakthrough Management Group India (BMGI). The event gathered thought leaders from across the world with senior management representations from organisations like Maruti Suzuki, Ingersoll Rand, Punj Lloyd Group, Coca-Cola and Exxon Mobil. S Y Siddiqui, Summit Chairman & Chief Mentor, Maruti Suzuki India, opened the inaugural session with an introduction to the key speakers, where he spoke about the importance of
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excellence for all businesses today. Citing Maruti’s example, he shared that it would not be possible for the company to export cars to Japan as well as lead customer satisfaction ratings in India, without a strong focus on excellence.
Highlights The one-day event witnessed several sessions focused on making India a manufacturing hub across the globe. Speaking on the occasion, Naresh T Raisinghani, CEO & Executive Director, Breakthrough Management Group India, introduced the theme of the summit and touched upon the three ‘I’s for inculcating excellence in business. He stressed on the need to integrate strategy with excellence, wherein excellence projects
EM | May 2016
REPORT | EVENT
The one-day event witnessed several sessions focused on making India a manufacturing hub across the globe
are identified by the leadership team. The second ‘I’ was to ‘integrate excellence in the organisation culture’ by creating a critical mass of improvement practitioners. The third ‘I’ was for the need to ‘innovate’ with disruption in new products, services and business models being essential to complement excellence. Dr Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, GoI, also present at the occasion, provided an economist’s view of the ‘Make in India’ programme and excellence’s role in it. “The programme has been launched to move India from an agricultural economy to a modern industrial economy with the emphasis to generate employment and to give a boost to the economy,” he shared. Neeraj Munjal, Past Chairman, CII Haryana State Council & Managing Director, Shivam Autotech Ltd, concluded the inaugural session, where he re-emphasised the key points from the opening session, highlighting the importance of operational excellence in business and the need to integrate operational excellence efforts with achieving the strategic goals of the organisation.
pillars for sustainable development: economic, environmental and social. Talking about the five truths of sustainable development, he shared what is required to ensure your organisation operates in a sustainable manner, such as use of renewable resources must proceed at a rate that enables replenishment to be sustainable. Why is there a need for sustainable manufacturing? Answering this, Akshay Deep, Head—Technical Services, Gabriel India Ltd, shared his insights on how sustainable development is needed today more than ever before. Further, he discusses some challenges that Gabriel India has faced, using ideas such as green manufacturing and orbit shifting innovation to addressing them in pursuance of sustainable development, under the 3 P’s: process, product and people. He elaborated on how Gabriel India has re-designed a product by replacing a solid bar with a hollow tube, leading to a more sustainable product design.
Achieving manufacturing excellence
In the last session, Padma Shri Dr Pritam Singh, Noted Management Thinker & Chief Executive officer, LEAD Centre, talked about the need to build resilience across the Indian businesses if they are to survive and thrive at the global stage. He offered his insights on how one could build resilience, i.e. by building strong leadership and looking within to understand what we did well today, and planning what we will do tomorrow. He emphasised that leaders need to build an Olympian mind-set, wherein they encourage their employees to set their sights on new records and help them achieve those records. Dr Singh also stressed on the need for Indian companies to look at the world as their market, i.e. have a global mind-set. Lastly, he exhorted Indian businesses to work hard on the development of their employees and ethical governance. ☐ Courtesy: CII
The second session focused on a panel discussion titled “Is ‘Make in India’ possible without manufacturing excellence?” The discussion was moderated by Naresh T Raisinghani, CEO & Executive Director, BMGI, with various industry leaders in participation. Moving ahead, there was another session titled “Designing a best-in-class manufacturing setup: From good to great manufacturing”, which was chaired by Deepak M Muthreja, Principal Consultant, BMGI. The third session on “Sustainable Manufacturing” was chaired by Susmita Narayan, Senior Business Leader, Keysight Technologies International Pvt Ltd. Sharing an example, Anil Gupta, Vice President—Platform Strategy, DataWind, explained about a new CSR practice that helps drive sustainable development. He talked about the three
EM | May 2016
Towards creating a global stage
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EVENT | REPORT
Image courtesy: TAGMA India
Dies & moulds take centre stage Taking a step forward towards achieving manufacturing excellence by contributing to the growth of India’s manufacturing GDP, the Tool and Gauge Manufacturers Association India (TAGMA India) recently organised the 10th biennial DieMould India exhibition on April 06-09, 2016, at Bengaluru. A post event report‌ Today, the die and mould industry in India faces acute challenges of slow adoption of advanced technologies, lack of fineness in the finished products and a severe competition from the Chinese market. The Indian industry needs to be internationally competitive so as to reduce delivery times and achieve an operational excellence in productivity and maintenance standards. Catering to such growth possibilities in the Indian market, DieMould India 2016 was recently held at BIEC in Bengaluru. Organised by TAGMA India, the fourday exhibition served a platform for all businesses, related to
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Maria Jerin Features Writer maria.jerin@publish-industry.net
tooling industry and enabled opportunities to display and market their products and services. This was the 10 th biennial edition for the exhibition, which was inaugurated in the presence of industry leaders like KS Sankaran, Vice President, Makino Asia Group Companies; N Reguraj, Director, Nettur Technical Training Foundation; A Dayanand Reddy, President TAGMA India & Managing Director, Vasantha Tools Crafts Pvt Ltd; R Sree Prakash, Vice President, TAGMA India and Anil C Kilachand, Chairman, STIACK Engineering Pvt Ltd.
EM | May 2016
REPORT | EVENT
“Despite high import duties and capital interest rates, the tooling industry is progressing at the growth of the GDP” A Dayanand Reddy, President, TAGMA India & MD, Vasantha Tools Crafts Pvt Ltd
Highlights The die & mould industry is a key constituent of the vital capital goods trade that is considered the mother of manufacturing. The event displayed an array of products in dies & moulds, press tools, die casting / moulding machine, rapid prototyping & modelling, CAD/CAM system related to dies & moulds, measuring machines, mould-base and standard parts of dies & moulds, hot runner systems, machine tools for making dies & moulds, CNC milling/machining centre and EDM machines. Addressing at the opening ceremony of the event, Reddy said, “The event has 289 exhibitors from India as well as abroad, showcasing cutting-edge technologies and demonstrating their latest technological trends in the tooling industry, along with cost-effective solutions for die and mould makers.” Compared to the number of exhibitors in 2014, there has been an increase of 32%, showing a positive recovery trend in the overall economy and tremendous growth prospects in the manufacturing industry. Also for the first time, TAGMA India has organised a B2B pavilion, for buyers and suppliers to come closer to each other on a common platform.
Showcasing new technologies The exhibition witnessed new innovative products and manufacturing processes covering the entire supply chain to the tooling industry, providing a wide spectrum to meet faster deliveries and quality demanded by customers of competitive manufacturing sectors. Speaking on the
EM | May 2016
technology-display at the exhibition, Reddy opined, “In every field, the niche technologies available today were displayed at the show.” Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW) launched a new series of vertical machining centre, KRYPTON for the die & mould industry. Explaining this, Praful Shende, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, BFW, said, “In hard part machining, the need for accuracy & repeatability, extreme dynamics, superior surface finish and better ergonomics are the challenges faced by die & mould industry. To meet these challenges, we have launched this new series.” The company also showcased its Matec brand of 5-axis machining product lines with its application in the die & mould industry. Currently, there are very few suppliers in India available for high-performance graphite electrode machining. “To tap into this market, Ace Manufacturing System has launched a graphite machine for making electrode and other parts in the die & mould industry,” said Dr Vishwas R Puttige, Business Development, Ace Manufacturing System Ltd. Besides, Lakshmi Machine Works launched Precimold machine for super fine finishing of die, which is on a higher platform with 15,000 rpm direct drive spindle. The CAD/CAM industry is working constantly to improve the customer experience and provide them with tools to become more efficient and precise. The exhibition also saw the release of PowerSHAPE Pro software by Delcam that helps users to complete complex-tooling designs more quickly and easily. Speaking further on this, Vineet Seth, Managing Director – South Asia & Middle East, Delcam, said, “The focus for us was the Delcam Electrode solution, which is a wizard-based electrode design, machining and inspection
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EVENT | REPORT
The exhibition witnessed new innovative products and manufacturing processes covering the entire supply chain to the tooling industry
module that helps machine shops produce accurate electrodes quickly and efficiently.” The company also demonstrated the CAM software PowerMILL 2016 for machining of moulds and PowerINSPECT for accurate inspection of complex assemblies, including mould tools. Today, accuracy is related to timely delivery. This cycle gives returns in terms of enhancing labour capacity, lowering labour cost and keeping updated technology in factories. To cope up with this need, FARO has come up with Cobalt Array 3D Imager, displayed at the exhibition. Speaking on this, Harkiran Sandhu, Country Head, India, FARO Business Technologies, said, “FARO has launched Cobalt Array 3D Imager, which is an automated, non-contact variable field coordinate measuring sensor that is easily deployed within manual or automated manufacturing workflows.”
Performance of the tooling industry According to Reddy, for the past few years, the market sentiment was down. “But now, the momentum is picking up. It would take some more time to come up from the down level. Despite high import duties and capital interest rates, the tooling industry is progressing at the growth of the GDP,” he added. Further, Sandhu highlighted, “The tooling industry is one of the major contributors in any machining and auto assembly. OEMs, major B2B organisations prefer quick and stable solutions for production.” In addition to the event, TAGMA India announced that it has set up a common facility centre (Excellence Centre) for the tools, moulds and dies industry at Chakan, Pune, which is being funded by Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) and TAGMA under the scheme on ‘Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector’. This centre is being set up with the project cost of `51.92 crore,
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wherein contribution of DHI is `26.27 crore.
The way forward… With exhibitors from India and abroad, displaying their latest proven technologies, incorporating features to improve productivity, quality and reduce costs, the event witnessed quality visitors like CEOs, consultants, and decision makers. Sharing insights on the responses received from the exhibition, Seth shared, “We received some decent enquiries from companies in the south, and we continue to address these through our local offices. The new EC at TAGMA is taking the right steps and we look forward to more collective successes in future.” As per Reddy, “After 8 years, we have shifted the exhibition to Bengaluru from Mumbai. Initially, we were uncertain on the number of visitors, but we have witnessed quality visitors who are showing interest in business. We were very happy with the responses.” Talking on the further plans of DMI, Sandhu suggested, “It is good that DMI in coming years will happen in different cities of India, where manufacturing processes are more capsulated.” Lastly, during the event, there were discussions to create tooling standards, comprising the owners of four mould base manufacturers and NTTF Institute. “This team would make the standards, and with the help of foreign companies who are into standard component manufacturers, the quality standards of the tool will be upgraded. Further, we also want to audit tool rooms, which are supplying to automotive sector. We want to engage consultants from abroad and want to form code of business ethics. We want to focus more into our flagship activities like International Tooling Summit and DMI,” concluded Reddy. ☐
EM | May 2016
TA L K | T E C H
Overall equipment effectiveness
OEE, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness, is a brilliant invention that, in a single number, tells you how much waste there is on the shop floor. It is merely the ratio of what you produced to what you could have produced – the actual output to the theoretical maximum capacity. It is a direct measure of your profitability and return on investment. OEE is calculated with the formula: Availability x Performance x Quality Availability: Is the machine operating or not? It states the ratio of the time that the machine was running to the time that it could have actually run. The difference is because of idle time caused by breakdowns, set-up, shiftchange, etc. Performance: How fast is the machine running? It states the ratio of the number of parts produced to the number of parts that theoretically could have been produced in the time that the machine was running. On a CNC machine, the difference could be due to using the feed rate or spindle speed override. Quality: How many good parts were made? It states the ratio of the number of parts that pass quality inspection to the total number of parts made. The difference is the number of parts rejected. OEE allows you to measure and reduce waste (of available time, machine capacity, raw material) on the shop floor. It is a single number that you can communicate to, and is understood by everybody from the machine operator to the top management of the company. It can be tracked month-onmonth, improved upon. For example: Available time in a day=20 hours (minus meal breaks and shift changes)
EM | Apr 2016
G V Dasarathi Director – Applications Cadem Technologies das@cncetc.in
I m a g e c o u r t e s y : Cadem Technologies
Many manufacturing lines are only 60% productive, meaning there are opportunities for improvement. The article talks on why OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is a ‘best practices’ metric that identifies the percentage of planned production time that is truly productive.
OEE is calculated with the formula: Availability x Performance x Quality
Running time=16 hours (4 hours lost due to breakdowns, set-up change). Theoretical production=200 parts Real production=180 parts Good production=160 parts Availability= 16/20=0.8 Performance=180/200=0.9 Quality=160/180=0.88 OEE=AxPxQ=0.8x0.9x0.88=0.63 Inspite of having great numbers for A, P and Q, the calculated percentage for OEE is 63%. This means that only 63% of the available capacity is being used, and there is a 37% wastage. That’s awful, but it’s slightly better than the number in an average shop floor. You cannot improve your OEE unless you consistently measure and track it. There are machine monitoring systems like Cadem LEANworks available that enable you to do this automatically, 24/7. ☐
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TECHNOLOGY | NEWS
Inverter scroll compressor
Solvent-based cleaning system
Danfoss has extended its inverter scroll compressor range VZH with permanent magnetic motor, with three new models. Designed for rooftops, air handling units, close control, process cooling and ground source heat pumps, the new inverter scroll compressor, VZH, delivers cooling capacities between 4-7 tons and up to 13 tons in manifold configurations and between 3-25 kW of heating VZH capacity. The Indian market is witnessing growing demand for energy-efficient infrastructure like green buildings, net zero buildings and also IT infrastructure in terms of data centres and cloud computing – all these require high-efficiency air conditioning. Danfoss Inverter Scroll Compressor technologies help to meet or exceed the new standards and, thereby, achieve lowest energy consumption. The company’s VZH is the second generation of scroll compressors offering variable speed technology for commercial applications in air conditioning with a mature, existing inverter scroll platform ranging from 13 to 26 TR. The expanded range is now from 4 to 26 TR (14-94 kW) and up to 52TR in manifold configuration.
Dürr Ecoclean has developed an innovative solvent-based cleaning system, the large-chamber EcoCDuty. Heat-treating contractors, metal forming shops and companies from the automotive and aircraft industries in particular require cost-efficient part cleaning and degreasing equipment capable of handling high capacities. Addressing this demand, EcoCDuty is designed for loads measuring up to 1250 x 840 x 970 mm and weighing up to 1 tonne. Operating with hydrocarbons or modified EcoCDuty alcohols, it provides high cleaning quality and process reliability at fast cycle times. Its benefit includes exceptional ease of operation and attractive design. EcoCDuty uses hydrocarbons or polar solvents (modified alcohols) and operates under full vacuum. Its modular design ensures adaptability to individual user needs. Configured as a steam degreaser in its standard version, the system is additionally available with one or two stainless steel flood tanks – e.g. for a process comprising steam degreasing and injection flood washing or steam degreasing, injection flood washing plus a preserving step. Vacuum drying is standard on all three versions.
Danfoss Industries Pvt Ltd | Chennai Email: danfoss.india@danfoss.com | Tel: +91-44-67151000
Email: info.india@ecoclean.durr.com | Tel: +91-20-30585002
CAD/CAM nesting software
Detectable plastics
Hypertherm has announced a major version upgrade to its ProNest advanced CAD/CAM nesting software for automated cutting. The new version, ProNest® 2017 contains a number of improvements designed to make customers more efficient and profitable. It includes manual nesting improvements, including drag array, anchor part to cursor, and automatic bumping functionality for greater control and faster nesting. It features colour by part property that fills ProNest® 2017 parts with different colours based on a designated attribute (name, priority, work order number, due date, etc) and ProNest reports that show fill colours in part images making it easier to locate parts. It has re-designed drill machine interface for plasma or oxyfuel machines that incorporate drilling, tapping, and other spindle operations. It allows native 64-bit support to take advantage of the extra accessible memory available on a 64-bit CPU/ Operating System. In addition, ProNest 2017 contains more embedded cut process expertise in the NC code, allowing our customers to leverage patented technologies like True Hole®, True Bevel™, and Rapid Part™. ®
Hypertherm India Thermal & Cutting | Chennai Email: info@hypertherm.com | Tel: +91-44-23845361
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Dürr Ecoclean – c/o Schenck RoTec (I) Ltd | Pune
igus offers plastic products that are lubricant-free and at the same time, detectable for maximum safety in the food and packaging industry. This guarantees that no lubricants and no plastics enter the production chain during operation or in the event of a system failure. Magnetic, lubricantfree motion plastics aid in preventing foreign substances from entering foodstuffs. The company’s development of this special highperformance plastic can easily be traced with standard metal detection methods. The material is used today Detectable and lubricant-free plastics in selected products in the igubal series, which includes rod end bearings and clevis joints, flange bearings, spherical bearings and pillow block bearings. Both the housing and the spherical balls are made of the detectable plastic. This characteristic is sought after in other areas of bearing technology. For example, xiros M180 is a lightweight polymer ball bearing, whose material is also detectable. In addition, these highperformance polymers do not require external lubrication. The materials are compliant with the EC Directive 10/2011 for repeated contact with food. igus (India) | Bengaluru Email: santhosh@igus.in |Tel : +91-80-45127810
EM | May 2016
NEWS | TECHNOLOGY
Milling tools
Quick-change chuck
MAPAL has expanded the OptiMill solid carbide programme for trochoidal milling. With trochoidal milling, significant improvements in terms of tool costs, clamping, processing times and load on the machine components can be achieved in many applications compared to conventional milling. The company’s expanded OptiMill product range allows the machining of titanium and high-alloy steels as well as for hard machining. As a result, new fields of application have been developed, such as structural components. A specially engineered extremely unequal positioning of the five cutting edges in combination with an innovative geometric layout of the cutting wedge reduces vibrations. Counterbalancing conducted during the manufacturing process (balancing grade OptiMill product range 2.5) lowers the risk of vibrations even further. Consequently, the milling cutters of the OptiMill family can be used without problems even at high speeds. In order to avoid the jamming, which results from the long chips produced through the sizable depth of cut, a chip breaker is integrated which divides the chips in half.
SCHUNK offers jaw quick-change chucks that pay off very quickly for turning smaller and medium-sized series. After the success of the SCHUNK ROTA THW plus wedge bar power chucks, the company transfers the principle of the fast jaw change to CNC lathes with short stroke cylinders. The universal SCHUNK ROTA NCX power chuck can replace conventional lathe chucks of Asian manufacturers without jaw quick-change system 1:1 without any conversion on the machine and without an adapter. It minimises the effort for set-up up to 80%, and extends the productive machine running times. Within 60 seconds, a new jaw set is retrofitted with a repeat accuracy of 0.02 mm. For ensuring maximum operational safety, it is equipped with a jaw locking system, and a jaw presence monitoring. Due to the individual base jaw system, it is particularly ROTA NCX interesting for users who do not yet work with a jaw quick-change chuck. Every type of standard top jaws with tongue and groove can be used as top jaws.
MAPAL India | Bengaluru
SCHUNK Intec India | Bengaluru
Email: info@in.mapal.com | Tel: +91-80-41782500
Email: info@in.schunk.com | Tel: +91-80-40538999
Ceramic inserts
End mills for graphite machining
Seco Tools has expanded the roughing and semi-finishing performance capabilities of its Secomax™ CS100 sialon ceramic grade by adding inserts with T-style edge preparation to the line. Featuring a free-cutting, extremely sharp geometry, the new inserts bring stability and performance longevity to the machining of nickel-based superalloys in unstable conditions. Well suited for turning applications that require tight tolerances and low cutting forces, the T-style (chamfered) CS100 inserts are available in 20° chamfers that range from 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm in width. The sharp, negative reinforced cutting edges on these inserts help absorb some of the high cutting force and pressure that would otherwise be placed on the machine setups and workpieces. As Ceramic toolholder CS100 a result, these inserts eliminate the risk of workpiece deformation, especially in thin-walled components, as well as reduce excessive vibrations that shorten tool life and negatively impact surface finish. The characteristics of the T-style inserts also complement the S-style CS100 products designed to handle high cutting forces in rigid, stable machining conditions.
TOTEM has launched a full range of end mills for graphite milling. The target market is being those customers who are using EDM to machine graphite electrodes and dies. In many die and mould shops, the choice between EDM and CNC milling is far less clear than it was 15 years ago. Evolving technology is changing the rules for machining these complex profiles. Today, the comparison is between milling and high performance milling rather than between milling and EDM. Totem high performance milling cutters for graphite can be used for textured surfaces, where the finish requirements are not very critical; components where the L/D ratios is small less than 15 times; cavity milling and for parts where high accuracy is required. The company’s extensive Diamond coated end mills & ball nose cutters and versatile range offers end mills and ball nose cutters in stub, regular, long, extra-long and long reach lengths, catering to the soft machining as well as hard machining upto 70 HRc for the die and mould industry.
Seco Tools India | Pune Email: seco.india@secotools.com | Tel: +91-2137-667300
Email: sales@forbes.co.in | Tel: +91-22-28471861
EM | May 2016
Forbes & Company Ltd | Mumbai
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H I G H L I G H T S | C O M PA N Y I N D E X | I M P R I N T
Highlights - June 2016 IMPRINT Publisher / Chief Editor Shekhar Jitkar shekhar.jitkar@publish-industry.net Features Writer Megha Roy megha.roy@publish-industry.net
» Aerospace Manufacturing Aerospace industry creates extraordinary machines amalgamating the knowledge of structural design, guidance, navigation & control, instrumentation & communication. With the help of CAD, robotics, lasers, and advanced electronic optics, aerospace manufacturing embodies technological advancement in today’s age. The next issue highlights the emerging trends in this industry.
» PLM/Digital Manufacturing Digital manufacturing represents an integrated suite of PLM tools that supports manufacturing process design, tool design, plant layout and visualisation. The up-coming issue will feature upgrades and innovations in this sector. » Surface Treatment Surface treatments often are used to prolong tool life. These treatments increase surface hardness and wear resistance while reducing the coefficient of friction. The next edition will talk about the broad range of industrial processes that alter the surface of a manufactured item to achieve a certain property.
» Safety & Security With technology driving the manufacturing sector, major industrial installations, R&D units are now looking at enhanced solutions to ensure safety & security of machinery, people and data. Catering to these challenges through in-depth articles, the subsequent issue will feature system safety and availability, industrial safety & security and health & fire prevention in the industrial environment.
Features Writer Maria Jerin maria.jerin@publish-industry.net Advertising Sales Sagar Tamhane (Regional Head - North & East) Contact: +91 9820692293 sagar.tamhane@publish-industry.net Dhiraj Bhalerao (Regional Head - West & South) Contact: +91 9820211816 dhiraj.bhalerao@publish-industry.net Prabhugouda Patil Bengaluru Contact: +91 9980432663 prabhu.patil@publish-industry.net Advertising Sales (Germany) Caroline Häfner (+49 - 89 - 500 383 - 53) Doreen Haugk (+49 - 89 - 500 383 - 27) sales@publish-industry.net Overseas Partner Ringier Trade Media Ltd China, Taiwan & South-East Asia Tel: +852 2369 - 8788 mchhay@ringier.com.hk Design & Layout Jogindar J Dumde (Graphics Designer) jogindar.dumde@publish-industry.net Editorial & Business Office publish-industry India Pvt Ltd 302, Sarosh Bhavan, Dr Ambedkar Road, Camp, Pune 411 001, Maharashtra, India Tel: + 91 - 20 - 6451 5752
COMPANY INDEX Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page Ace Micromatic Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 AFM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 AIFI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Blaser Swisslube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 CII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Comsol Multiphysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Cumberland Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Danfoss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 DENSO Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 DMG Mori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Durr EcoClean . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 39, 40, 62 Eaton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Espirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Forbes & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 63 GNA Axles Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Godrej Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page Godrej Tooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 HSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Huaheng Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Hypertherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Hyundai WIA India . . . . . . . Back Inside Cover igus ( India ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 62 ISB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Jyoti CNC Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Kaizen Institute India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Korloy India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Mapal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Markit Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Milacron Holdings Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 MMC Hardmetal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 MotulTech India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 National Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page Open Mind Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Prime Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Renishaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Rollomatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Schunk Intec India. . . . .Front Inside Cover, 63 Seco Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Siemens PLM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 Simufact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Stratmann Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 TaeguTec India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover TAGMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Wikus India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12 Yamazaki Mazak India . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,35 YG1 Cutting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,15
Board of Directors Kilian Müller (CEO - Worldwide) Hanno Hardt (Head - Marketing & Business Development) Frank Wiegand (COO - Worldwide) Shekhar Jitkar (Publisher / Chief Editor) Subscription Cover Price: `100 Annual Subscription Price: `1000 em.india@publish-industry.net Tel: +91-20-6451 5754 Printing Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd, S.No: 185, Kondapur, R R District, AP 500 133, INDIA Copyright/Reprinting The publishing company holds all publishing and usage rights. The reprinting, duplication and online publication of editorial contributions is only allowed with express written permission from the publishing company. The publishing company and editorial staff are not liable for any unsolicited manuscripts, photos and illustrations which have been submitted. Internet http://www.efficientmanufacturing.in Digital edition http://issuu.com/publishi/docs
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EM | May 2016
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HS Series
• Heavy Duty Motion Roller Guidways • Powerful Dual Wound Spindle Motor • Heaviest Maximum load in its Class • Big Plus Spindle (BBT)
HYUNDAI WIA India Office
#4/169, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, (OMR), Kandanchavadi, Chennai - 600 096, Tamilnadu, India Tel. +91 44 3290 1719 Mob: +91 9840999094 e-mail. sales@hyundai-wia.com, service@hyundai-wia.com