Smart Tooling – Smart Tools and Smart Services

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Adaptability is a key element of Industry 4.0

Whereas horizontal networking is the use of the “Internet of Things” for linking different stages of the value creation chain, vertical integration describes a change of the product architecture from a mechatronic system to a cyber-physical system. Moreover, the structured use of real-time data makes possible the extended organisation of complex value creation systems. Industry 4.0 combines significant potentials for the entire manufacturing industry, seemingly making it the solution the industry is looking for. However, while its content – the three elements described above – is clearly and understandably defined, the question of how horizontal networking, vertical integration and the organisation of complex value creation systems can be realised by the means of digitised technologies remains open.

The universal method of how to achieve adaptability provides a helpful process breakdown regarding the implementation of Industry 4.0: Visualizing, Understanding, Predicting and, ultimately, Adapting.

Process steps are characterised by an increasing ability to collect and use data to produce the additional value we are looking for. Accordingly, the process begins with visualisation, which when carried over is the identification of what is actually occurring while tools are manufactured and used in serial production. This monitoring process precedes any well-grounded understanding, which follows as the second step. Applied to the present case, understanding describes the complete comprehension of the cause of certain states, the interacting variables and all the influencing factors. Successful accomplishment of the first two steps will enable tooling companies to predict events and consequently undertake necessary preparations. The implementation of this capability represents the third process step. At this point, tooling companies can predict events such as tool breakdowns. However, in this stage, preparation in advance to predicted events is still performed manually, whereas it has to be fully automated in the vision provided by Industry 4.0.

Applied to the tooling industry, the potentials of Industry 4.0 can be used both on the internal value-creating side within a tooling company and on the market-based side that defines new business models. Two specific areas of activity for creating new business models are the development of Smart Tools and Smart Services.

Smart Tools collect and leverage manufacturing data, with the aim of raising productivity and reliability, thereby lowering manufacturing costs and improving profits for customers of the tooling industry. This goal can be achieved if conventional tools are further developed to suit cyber-physical systems (CPS). For this purpose, tooling companies have to upgrade physical tools with intelligent components such as sensors, actuators and control systems. These components have to be integrated to enable communication with other objects in the serial production process and to allow for the reception and processing of measured data and information from of the production environment. Subsequently, cause-and-effect relationships have to be determined in order to facilitate the selection of an appropriate actuator solution. This so-called “digital refining” of tools enables tooling companies to monitor tools remotely. The networking of various production systems in particular distinguishes Smart Tools from existing automation solutions, since the matching of historical and current data makes possible foresighted adaptation and, ultimately, self-optimisation of the system. Smart Tools use data to enhance their utilisation by adjusting automatically in order to avoid a decrease in quality of the parts to be produced caused by possible abrasion or even tool breakdown – being only one of various applications.

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