Process acceleration through virtual manufacturing

Large-scale production at Mayer Stahl- und Apparatebau. © Mayer

The Profi-CAM-Vericut link ensures 100 percent control with "real" NC programs after post-processor export - the open Coscom system architecture with the universal CAM and simulation interface Coscom TCI (Tooldata Cooperation Interface) makes this possible.

Seamless data process right up to the machine

The introduction of Tool-Director VM raised CAM programming to a new level of quality and at the same time ensured a seamless end-to-end process in terms of passing digital tool information through to tool presetting and the machine: tool lists, assembly instructions for complete tools and measured actual tool data were now immediately available throughout the entire process. "The provision of up-to-date data is extremely important because set-up and machining times of sometimes several hundred hours are involved. No errors are allowed. However, despite all the digitalization, the skilled worker is still needed at the machine because it is a matter of manufacturing individual parts. After all, each component has to be run in individually," emphasizes Dietmar Koch.

The details are recorded in the digitally captured clamping plans, for example. The exact positioning of a blank weighing several tons on the machine bed alone is the first, particularly important prerequisite for fast job processing. And it has to be fast, so work is carried out in parallel: "For example, a workpiece is machined on the left-hand side of the machine table, while the next workpiece is clamped on the right-hand side, protected by a mechanical and electronic separation, and prepared for the next machining process - provided, of course, the situation allows this," says Dietmar Koch, illustrating a typical machining task on large machines.

The end of paperwork

The dimensioning (in relation to the zero point) and the clamping plans were previously only available in paper form on the machine. However, there was always the fear that not all the necessary information or outdated data would reach the machine. Over the years, Mayer Stahl- und Apparatebau took further steps towards "virtual manufacturing" and introduced the Factory-Director VM to digitize all paper documents and visualize them on Infopoints. From Dietmar Koch's point of view, it was a big step forward when each machine was equipped with a PC and a monitor, putting an end to the paperwork: "All the data provided is now visualized directly in front of the machine with the Coscom Info Point VM. Even the simulation can be called up there, and the specific clamping situation can be displayed in 3D and viewed from all sides."

Communication via the VM Info Point

Development of the know-how database - The Coscom Factory Director VM guarantees optimized cooperation between design, NC programming, work preparation and the workers at the machines. Fine-tuning during machine run-in is essential in single-part production. © Coscom/Mayer

Everything that is needed on site can now be accessed completely digitally via the Info-Point VM: Tool lists, clamping plans, NC programs and simulations, which leads to a significant reduction in errors and an increase in precision during machining. However, the data flow at the Info-Point VM should not be thought of as a "one-way street", because in the expansion stage with a communication module, the worker can give feedback to the work preparation department or the foreman, for example if something is not in stock. This increases productivity, as a lack of information means machine downtime. The worker documents his work processes directly in the PDF drawings via the Info-Point VM, which guarantees the immediate traceability of the individual activities. This "digital marking" is a special feature of Mayer, as the responsible Coscom sales representative Peter Schrumpf emphasizes. The workers work in three shifts. Each colleague is assigned a color, which they use to mark the areas of the component that they are working on.

Digitalization thought through to the end - goodbye paper!

At Mayer Stahl- und Apparatebau, the Factory-Director VM serves as a central database for all production data and digital production documents. All technology data relating to a workpiece, such as NC programs, production drawings, setup lists and clamping plans, are now managed centrally in a database and made available to all process participants in accordance with the task at hand in work preparation and on the store floor. The Factory-Director VM also works in both directions: This means that the NC codes optimized during the production process, for example in terms of adapted feed rates or milling path corrections, are fed back into the database.

Production information is digitized without exception

"In the case of repeat part production, this production documentation means that the Coscom ECO system is a push-button solution based on sophisticated know-how backup from previous production," says Managing Director Martin Gentner enthusiastically. All production information is digitized without exception. In total, there are around 12,000 order-related technology data records to date - the result of an average of 250 orders per year, with an average of four to five NC programs being created for each order.

The Managing Director calculates: "Whereas a typical component machining operation used to take around 15 working days, it now takes less than ten. We have achieved a good 25 percent of the time savings through digitalization with Coscom." Marijan Lokner puts it no less succinctly: "We wouldn't be able to produce 70% of all parts efficiently and competitively today without digitalization!"

In other words, virtual production secures Mayer Stahl- und Apparatebau's existence as a contract manufacturer of large parts, whereby competitiveness should not only be understood in terms of minimum processing times, but also as the ability to continue to meet the increasing quality requirements of customers.