Editorial
The heart of the industry ...
... beats in the metalworking industry in Germany. Reason enough to focus on this topic in the current issue. A major topic is networking and digitalization, as in the report on Pitmatec Zerspanung in Ellwangen (from page 10), a young company that was able to build its processes on Industry 4.0 principles right from the start.
In the article on Loka Metallverarbeitung (from page 24), you can read about how added value can also be created simply by cleverly repurposing existing systems. The Hüttenberg-based company can now also use its laser cutting system as an automatic welding machine.
However, added value also continues to arise from the integration of new production processes, such as at tool specialist Nachreiner (from page 14). The manufacturer traditionally relies on a high level of vertical integration and has now been able to bring surface processing at the highest level in-house thanks to the integration of HiPIMS technology.
We present an interesting tool from page 36 onwards. It is used by the plant manufacturer Zeta Group. It supports workers at customers in the process industry with maintenance and is based on the digital twin of the supplied system. Employees receive direct information and visualizations on a handy tablet.
Production logistics is also represented in this issue: A fully automated, production-related warehouse solution based on autonomous transport robots was created at Siemens in Karlsruhe. This has enabled Siemens to significantly increase the performance, reliability and flexibility of its PCB production (from page 43).
All these good ideas are also desperately needed: The order books of industry, and especially the metalworking industry, are well filled again at the beginning of 2022; supply problems are still an issue in many companies, even if the situation is slowly easing. What is important now is to process orders efficiently and to a high quality. This is precisely where the problem lies: qualified workers are becoming increasingly difficult to recruit. Technology can certainly be part of the solution.
I hope you find the good ideas you need to tackle the challenges in your own production chain among the 16 technical articles and numerous product reports in this issue. This is what we at the INDUSTRIAL Production editorial team work for,
Yours
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