Industry 4.0 and the push to reduce setup time

Haimer President Brendt Holden speaks about the power of Industry 4.0, while attendees of the company’s open house watch how automated data transfer between a networked tool presetting machine and machine tool makes a quick and accurate tool setup possible.

North American manufacturers are beginning to recognize the potential of Industry 4.0, the new manufacturing age where automation and data exchange promise to bring new efficiencies to shop floors. Perhaps it’s because they see the inevitable benefits of the digitized enterprise.

Representatives from Haimer, a manufacturer of toolholders and related metal cutting tools and equipment, sought to share that message with guests at its annual open house event, May 14-16, in Villa Park, Ill. The focus on optimizing data transfer from a tool presetting machine to the machine tool control can make a huge difference in boosting machine uptime, according to Brendt Holden, Haimer president.

“The key thing is consistency. You need it in the data. As you collect it and analyze it, it needs to be consistent,” he said.

The most efficient way to do this is to have the tool presetting machine communicate directly with the machine tool. All the machine tool operator has to do is place the tool in the correct pocket. With this automated data transfer, manual inputting of information is eliminated. Inaccurate tools never enter the machine.

What kind of difference does this type of digital connection between machines make? Holden pointed to the hypothetical example of a 10-machine shop that required 10 tool setups for each machine per day. If the shop were to preset the tools manually inside the machine, it would spend about 7.5 hours per day and 1,875 hours per year (250 workdays per year) committing to that task. With a shop rate of $75, that’s a cost of $140,625 per year.

If that same shop were to commit to a digitized scenario where the tool presetting machine was connected to the machine tool’s postprocessor, setup time decreases to 210 seconds per day and 14.5 hours over the year. The cost attributed to tool setup drops to $1,098 for the year.

Admittedly, some shops may not be interested in committing to this type of connectivity, but there is an alternative that can still reduce setup time. Haimer has introduced its HQR Connect, where the tool presetter produces a label with a QR code on it that contains the tool setup information. The operator can take the tool, scan it at the machine tool, and have all of the information flow into the job program. Haimer officials think this approach can produce a 45 per cent time savings when compared to manual entry of the same information.

“It’s an inexpensive way to get with this [automated information transfer] without having the operator type in all of this information manually,” said Steve Baier, Haimer’s vice-president of sales.

Open house attendees had the chance to see the tool presetters in action during live demonstrations. Those demos also included the company’s new Power Clamp i4.0 shrink-fit machines, its new shrink and Duo-Lock™ collets, and new tool geometries for its Power Mill and Duo-Lock cutting tools.