Achieving competitiveness is a priority for manufacturers and users of machine tools in Europe. This goal goes hand in hand with digitalization and the implementation of Industry 5.0, where automatic tool changers (ATCs) play an important role. Thanks to robotics, ATCs can help OEMs to develop competitive machine tools that meet the most pressing needs of end users. Serhat Volkan Yilmaz, General Manager for Robot Technologies at Tezmaksan Robot Technologies, explains this in more detail here.
According to data from Cecimo, the European Association for Manufacturing Technologies, orders for machine tools fell by 20% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year. The association also estimates that consumption will fall by 1.8% and machine tool production by 5% by the end of 2024. To become more competitive, machine tools must meet end users’ demands for efficiency, productivity and accuracy. Here, the rationalization of labour-intensive processes, such as machine operation, through automation can be a decisive step.
Maximizing competitiveness through easy-to-implement robotics
Routine operations such as loading and unloading CNC machines remain largely manual in many manufacturing applications. This outdated approach can hinder productivity and efficiency while leading to high labor costs. Manual operations can also lead to human error, such as incorrect tool placement or damage, which affects part quality and creates unnecessary waste. The result is reduced competitiveness. The most advanced ATC systems implement robotics into existing machine tools, emphasizing intuitiveness. Visual elements, drag-and-drop functions and predefined templates allow employees with no programming knowledge and minimal training to program robots to perform routine CNC operations. Modern ATCs such as Tezmaksan’s CubeBox Tool-Pro system enable seamless operation of multiple machines without interruptions from manual loading and unloading. This uninterrupted workflow leads to an improvement in night shift efficiency of up to 50 percent compared to manual CNC machine operation, according to tests conducted by Tezmaksan. With this technology, OEMs can develop machine tools that enable end users to achieve higher productivity and shorter delivery times.
Retrofitting is the key to competitiveness
Advocating the principle of automation is easy. In practice, however, it is often out of reach for many European machine tool manufacturers and end users. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited financial resources, implementing complex automation systems involves significant overheads. One solution to this problem is to retrofit existing machines with intelligent functions thanks to hardware-independent ATC solutions. Machine tool manufacturers can expand the capabilities of their existing product lines without having to redesign them. End users can operate legacy machines intelligently, extending their functional life and delaying costly replacement processes. ATC systems such as CubeBOX Tool-PRO maximize flexibility as they are compatible with all CNC machines and control units and can be adapted to all robot brands. In addition, the system’s plug-and-play functionality makes it 20 percent less expensive than vendor-specific robot integration systems.
Maximizing competitiveness on the road to Industry 5.0
Digitalization is one of the core principles on which Industry 5.0 is based. Early on, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded research into the communication networks of the future. The aim of this research is to enable innovative applications for industry and society. Real-time monitoring certainly plays a decisive role in achieving this goal. By integrating IoT-enabled ATCs into a smart factory environment, users can monitor the operation of machine tools in real time. For example, monitoring the energy consumption of multiple components within the system enables operators to take corrective action to optimize energy efficiency. Another core application of digitalization is maintenance. Modern ATCs already enable operators to carry out predictive maintenance work. However, advances in AI are opening up huge opportunities for even more sophisticated predictive maintenance in the machine tool sector. Digital twins are one example of this. By setting up a digital twin for an ATC system, maintenance technicians can perform critical predictive maintenance work from remote locations while providing a range of customer services, from troubleshooting to spare parts management and online monitoring. The ability to prevent most faults and immediately rectify problems as they arise drastically reduces machine tool downtime. This is a win-win situation for machine tool manufacturers and end users. The former can gain a competitive advantage through better machine products that meet their customers’ requirements. The latter can maximize efficiency and productivity, reduce costs and make real progress towards Industry 5.0.
Background
Tezmaksan is a European robotics, machine tools and industrial equipment company founded in 1981. Tezmaksan manufactures its products such as CNC machines, machining systems, lathes, milling machines and more in-house in Europe. Tezmaksan’s headquarters are located in Istanbul and the company has a strong presence in the European market.
Web:
www.tezmaksan.com