Smart Tooling – Smart Tools and Smart Services

Related Vendors

HASCO Hasenclever GmbH + Co KG

Renishaw plc

DIPROFIL Diamantprodukter AB

WBA Aachener Werkzeugbau Akademie GmbH

Smart factories go hand in hand with smart tools

The first area of activity is, simultaneously, the basis for the second area of activity, as Smart Tools form the basis for Smart Services. In this context, Smart Tools are the first and most significant step in offering innovative, value-adding services. Smart Services can be defined as customer-specific, data-based services resulting from the analysis of large amounts of data for meeting customer-specific challenges. The difference to currently available services lies in the method of service provision, which is now a well-grounded data analysis. Therefore, the raw material for Smart Services is Smart Data – data that is collected, converted, analysed and interpreted from manufacturing processes. Here, a detailed analysis using current Data Mining algorithms enables tooling companies to identify patterns and unknown process anomalies, which can be used in various ways to develop Smart Services. In general, Smart Services have the potential to shift the business model of tooling companies from a product-centric to a service-centric perspective. To define the individual potential, it is advisable to start with a systematic repositioning of business operations, which can be reflected in different data-based business model types.

Tooling companies are urged to reconsider and redefine their future strategic positioning ahead of the development of Smart Services. Nowadays, tool companies already have a great deal of knowledge in terms of materials, technologies and processes, which they currently offer to customers as an add-on free of charge in order to secure the order for the manufacturing of a tool. With the systematic use of Smart Data from the customer, services can be and need to be refined towards Smart Services, addressing each customers’ specific needs on the one hand and capitalising on the efforts for the tooling company on the other. This can be seen as the fundamental advantage of Smart Services.

Markets

Tooling 4.0

Smart Tools and Smart Services show that theoretical solutions for how to implement digitised and interlinked technologies in the tooling industry already exist, so that the concept of Smart Tooling is not in any way out of reach. Together with the introduced approach on how to implement Industry 4.0, these areas of activity provide valuable orientation for tooling companies, promoting the development of new business models by utilising the market-based potentials of Industry 4.0. However, realising these solutions will pose a serious challenge for tooling companies, since they are currently lacking experience with digitised technologies. Nevertheless, the vision of highly interconnected and highly intelligent, self-optimising Smart Tooling is necessary to address the described challenges for the tooling industry while at the same time being vital for a strategic repositioning and strengthening of the tooling industry.

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