AMB: Contribution to digitalization

With the trade show expansion, manufacturers of machining tools and clamping devices occupy neighboring Halls 1 and 3 and are no longer separated by the East Entrance and the Atrium.

The general trend is digitization. This is also reflected in the trade show program. For the first time, in addition to the already established fringe events, the special show "Digital Way" will be held with an associated two-day congress on September 18 and 19. The showcases - Elabo Smart Factory and the Gewatec Learning Factory - will also provide information on how industrial companies can exploit the potential of digitization with the help of the latest information technology.

Full of optimism to Stuttgart

Precision tools from Germany are in demand worldwide. It is often family-run small and medium-sized companies that drive the industry forward with their innovative products. For the first time, the ten-billion-euro mark was clearly exceeded in terms of sales volume in 2017. Markus Heseding, Managing Director of the Precision Tools Industry Association within the VDMA German Engineering Federation, explains, "All key figures for precision tools, from order intake to production and exports, were significantly higher in 2017 than the corresponding figures for the previous year." For example, machining tools increased sales by seven percent, while clamping devices even achieved a plus of nine percent.

With a twelve percent increase, the export-rich industry was once again able to rely on foreign markets - primarily thanks to the two major customer industries of mechanical engineering and automotive. The main driver was China, but the USA also made a strong contribution to exports of precision tools despite protectionist tendencies. Exports were also the growth driver for clamping tools, especially deliveries to China, which increased by more than a third.

Accordingly, the industry is looking to Stuttgart in a positive mood, despite all the risks and uncertainties. Heseding: "The situation of the German tool industry continues to be at a record level in the first months of 2018." The trade association expects a renewed increase of seven percent in cutting tools and eight percent in clamping tools for the current year. The reason: "Many customers are working at the limits of their capacity and are looking for tooling concepts with which they can increase productivity. AMB, as a showcase for such concepts, therefore comes at the perfect time."

New challenges from e-mobility and lightweight construction

The demand for new tooling concepts has grown not in spite of, but even because of the emergence of electromobility, as the head of the association explains: "In the automotive industry, in addition to the development of unit numbers, the shift to highly efficient engines and hybrid concepts has also become a key growth driver." This is confirmed by Reiner Wendt, Sales Manager Southern Germany at the machining specialist Paul Horn: Although "pure electromobility reduces the components to be machined, hybrid drives, on the other hand, increase the proportion of components to be machined."

Andreas Enzenbach, Vice President Marketing and Product Management at Mapal Dr. Kress, sees "new challenges for the machining industry due to new components in fully electrified vehicles or those with hybrid drives; when machining the housings for electric motors, the highest precision is required during machining due to the high speeds."

E-mobiles also require, at least in part, different components than vehicles with combustion engines. According to Markus Kannwischer, Head of Technology and Member of the Executive Board at Paul Horn, for example, high-precision plug connections, new transmission components, electric motors and elements in the area of cooling would be required. Although e-mobility almost inevitably requires lightweight construction, however, Kannwischer does not believe that there will be a further increase in the use of CFRP and GFRP. Instead, hot-formed steels have caught up significantly.

In general, lightweight construction leads to a variety of new materials that can only be processed in an economically viable manner with adapted tools. Kannwischer cites examples: "The use of nano-hard metals for machining high-temperature alloys or new developments in the field of coatings and machining processes."

Machine tools and tools themselves also benefit from such lightweight design concepts. For example, reaming tools with long projections are already partly designed with CFRP shanks.

Other methods for slimming down tools include the use of components made of lightweight materials such as titanium, aluminum and CFRP, or welded designs and additive manufacturing. Andreas Enzenbach: "The reasons for using lightweight tools are machine requirements due to speed, maximum tool change weight, spindle compliance and the improved axis and spindle dynamics. For external reamers in floating holders, the motivation is improved workpiece quality."

Tools and clamping devices become digital

Dr. Niklas Kramer, Product & Industry Segment Director at Sandvik Tooling Germany, sees digitization as an opportunity "to provide our customers with application knowledge directly and in a targeted manner." However, it is still unclear which channels and platforms are best suited for providing information to customers. The prerequisite for good advice is in any case precise knowledge of the initial state; "concrete context data from the machine tool is a huge step here, and the simpler and more uniformly it is available to us, the greater the user benefit.

Markus Horn, Managing Director of Paul Horn, sees an important role for tool specialists in digitization and automation in metalworking: "We see most of the benefits in the digitization of tool data and the seamless connection of a tool in the process chain. The digital twin is the basis for productivity increases, such as the simulation of turning and milling processes, which is often in demand."

The clamping device manufacturers also make their contribution. "We have to look at the complete machining process, because this is the only way to eliminate unnecessary setups and setup times," Stefan Nitsche, Head of Product Management at Hainbuch, is convinced.

One possible approach is "intelligent clamping equipment". For example, with an appropriate chuck, the clamping force, the clamping diameter in the hundredths of a millimeter range and the workpiece layout can be electronically recorded and transmitted to the machine control system. "To make the clamping system even more intelligent and smarter, we are looking at independent compensation within the chuck using actuator technology." This would then make it possible, for example, to even intelligently compensate for roundness errors of the workpiece in the area of the workpiece clamping.

Another major manufacturer of clamping equipment is Schunk. Henrik Schunk, managing partner and CEO of the company, sees the "trend towards high-tech clamping devices and networked, fully automated solutions in which clamping devices, gripping systems, magazines and loading systems form a single unit", especially in Europe. In digitalization and networking, the clamping devices and grippers play a special role due to their exposed position 'closest to the part': "They enable a flexibilization of the processes as well as permanent process monitoring and optimization."