Replacing steel: using CFRPs reduces the mass
of the Z-axis by 60 per cent. (MAP Werkzeugmaschinen)
EMO 2017

Inspiring ideas for lightweight construction

Lightweight construction is often difficult. When even researcher teams have problems to predict the behaviour of a certain material, it is even harder for manufacturers. MAP Werkzeugmaschinen has now teamed up with Fraunhofer IPT for examining how a component made of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic behaves during machining.

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Senior Engineer Alexander Epple from the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University: “In the aerospace industry, we’ve succeeded in raising productivity by almost 30 per cent, and at one German manufacturer of large machines by nearly 150 per cent.” (WZL)
Q&A

The Knowledge of experts will not be obsolete in Industry 4.0

The term industry 4.0 is hyped especially at trade fairs, but the digital transformation is also met with fear among manufacturers and their professionals: will their expertise become obsolete in the age of digitalisation? Alexander Epple and Michael Königs explain, why the knowledge and experience of experts will still be needed in the future.

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The Induterm M96 is based on the heat shrink clamping technique. (Gewefa)
EMO 2017

Gewefa presents shrink collet system

Toolholding innovator Gewefa will have a new taper toolholder on show. Other presented innovations are the Hydropin hydraulic chuck with a fixed stop pin, the Easy Fix boring bar toolholder and a new shrink collet system, called Induterm M96.

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With Machine Tool 4.0, Schaeffler is moving along a start-to-finish path towards digitalised production. The data collected is evaluated both locally and in Schaeffler’s own cloud before sending the results back to the points on site. (Source: Schaeffler)
Industry 4.0

When machine tools communicate with each other

Germany - Two prototypes of a machining centre show the way towards digital production. The networked machines are equipped with sensors which initially supply the data. Intelligent evaluation in correlation with other data provides a new quality of statement of the machine status. By Jörg-Oliver Hestermann, Schaeffler Technologies

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For the concept of Industry 4.0 to work, inline metrology, integrated into the production process, is essential. (Schulz)

Industry 4.0: inline metrology on the up

Germany – Machine to machine, or M2M for short, is the magic spell for the factory of tomorrow. Only when machines can communicate with other machines without any problems will the vision of Industry 4.0 come true. But for this to work, inline metrology, integrated into the production process, is essential. Experts from the academic community and the industrial sector will be showcasing the current state of the art at the Metav in Düsseldorf from 23 to 27 February 2016.

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