“Connecting systems for intelligent production” is the official motto of the EMO 2017, and there are numerous ideas on the subject. HEIDENHAIN’s approach is to make the machine shop—and the machine control expertise available there—the focal point of the company network. This is because the machine is where the workpiece comes into being and where all the data needs to converge. Crucial information about the status and quality of a workpiece must also flow back from the machine into the production IT systems and thus into the process chain. The specialist responsible for workpiece quality and deadline fulfillment needs access to all the data and must be able to bring his or her manufacturing experience to bear on the process chain.
In Hanover, HEIDENHAIN will demonstrate live how its TNC controls and Connected Machining package of functions enable uniformly digital order management with ease and individual tailoring in an intelligent manufacturing environment. Twenty machines from various manufacturers scattered across the fairgrounds will be networked via Connected Machining to the HEIDENHAIN booth in Hall 25. Here, the StateMonitor software will provide a view of all the networked machines, their current machine status, and numerous other details regarding their ongoing processes.
At the VDW booth “industry 4.0 area,” HEIDENHAIN will also be cooperating with partners in the fields of CAM, virtual machines, tool presetting, tool management, and machine building in order to show how TNC operators can use Connected Machining in a real manufacturing situation to paperlessly plan and implement the production of a component on the TNC control. This includes digital exchange and the centralized management of tool data that are always up-to-date and available to all the connected systems. There will also be demonstrations of networking to ERP systems and using the TNC control to perform order planning from the shop floor. No further adaptation to the connected systems is necessary for this thanks to the open interface architecture. This provides planning freedom as well as security of investment since Connected Machining integrates flexibly with a company’s individual IT architecture.
The TNC Club Lounge will be the gathering place and forum for exchanging expertise on HEIDENHAIN controls. Here, everything revolves around the skills of the TNC operators so that they can take even better advantage of their controls’ potential. Within the scope of the TNC Club, HEIDENHAIN primarily provides opportunities for continuing education and training courses as well as special user support.
At the EMO, HEIDENHAIN will also be presenting the newest generation of its TNC 640 and TNC 620 controls with touchscreen. These combine the typical advantages of field-proven HEIDENHAIN controls with an intuitive operation that uses gestures already known from smartphones and tablet PCs. For each working step, the context-sensitive user interface displays exactly those elements currently needed by the operator. This makes the new generation of HEIDENHAIN TNC controls with touchscreen even easier to use, as well as reliable in operation and ideally suited for future requirements. The TNC user benefits from work simplification, time savings, and greater production efficiency.
Two live demonstrations at the booth will show what HEIDENHAIN controls can achieve in practice. A milling machine with a TNC 640 control using the Dynamic Efficiency and Dynamic Precision packages of functions will manufacture a salt and pepper shaker in very little time and with contours and surfaces so fine that no rework is needed. Using a turning machine with a CNC PILOT 640, HEIDENHAIN will demonstrate how a user can quickly and easily create an NC program using TURN PLUS and then implement the program in a machining process. All the user needs to do is specify the workpiece-blank along with the finished-part contour and select the material and clamping devices. Everything else is performed automatically by TURN PLUS, which generates the working plan, selects the machining strategy, chooses the tools and cutting data, and generates the NC blocks. This can also be done for drilling and milling operations with the C or Y axis on front-face and cylindrical surfaces and for machining rear-face surfaces.
The basis for manufacturing highly accurate workpieces with exceptional surface quality is provided both by the encoders for axis positioning (arranged ideally in a Closed-Loop system) and the systems used for making in-process measurements of the tool and workpiece directly within the machine’s working space. This is why, at the EMO 2017, HEIDENHAIN will be introducing the new HEIDENHAIN-SPECTO ST 3087 RC length gauge, the TS 460 and TT 460 touch probes with new interface technology, and the VS 100 camera system for monitoring the setup and machining situation. A demo unit will plainly demonstrate the difference in accuracy between a Closed Loop control and a conventional Semi-Closed Loop control on an axis.
HEIDENHAIN at the EMO: Hall 25, Booth D48
TNC Club Lounge at the EMO: Hall 25, Booth E52
HEIDENHAIN at the “industry 4.0 area”: Hall 25
HEIDENHAIN at the VDW-Nachwuchsstiftung (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association – foundation for young talent): Hall 24, Booth A01