AMB 2022:
The Fine-pitch Thread of Progress
For many years, the metal-working industry worked like a fine-pitch thread making small yet precise optimisations: fewer chucking processes in the machine, more precisely manufactured technical areas or optimised component feeds - in most cases, the innovations involved increases in productivity, some large, some less so. Every minute in the production process was celebrated. Yet if we take a look at the headlines, we have to admit that considerably more far-reaching and more existential challenges have been added to the mix.
Overnight, or so it feels, mechanical engineers and users have become stuck in a trapezoidal thread rather than in a fine-pitch thread: climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and now the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are generating frictional heat and an extreme increase in burdens and strains. Self-isolating employees, failing and delayed supply chains, shortages of raw materials and chips, as well as entire customer sectors undergoing a systemic crisis are affecting the entire economy, and the metal-working industry in particular, it seems.
German Growth
at Home and Abroad
In the face of these considerations, we have to rub our eyes in disbelief when we review the market figures: Chair of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW) Franz-Xaver Bernhard reports that incoming orders increased by 58 per cent during the 2021 pandemic year. A significant driver was foreign business, which rose by 62 per cent, but domestic orders also increased by more than half. In total, the machine tool industry produced machines and services valued at around 12.7 billion euros in the past year. And turnover for machining tools and chucking tools also saw a double-digit increase in 2021 despite challenging conditions, according to the VDMA Precision Tools Association.
The perceived contradiction is resolved if we consider the empty pages in the order books from 2019 and 2020 in particular. And presumably we will be looking at a more differentiated picture of the various challenges when we look back in a few years time. If we consider the individual transformation processes that are currently mounting up so precariously separately of each other, this reveals that the industry has responded to the different topics at an early stage.
Responses
to the challenges
To optimise processes for under-pressure automotive component supply companies, mechanical engineers are developing, for example, new hybrid machines which combine turning, grinding and other processes and are enhanced with automation components. For instance, gear components are fully machined in one machine and large volumes are being produced which satisfy the conflicting interests of huge cost pressures and high demands for precision.
Many manufacturers have also looked for - and found - replacement customers at an early stage which would make up for the threatened loss of their automotive client base. The energy transition, which has once again come into sharp focus since the start of the year, should mean that volumes of mechanical components for wind turbines, generators and compressors for heat pumps, and components for a future hydrogen economy will increase. A number of specialists in the tool manufacturing sector also made the early decision to focus on the high-precision manufacture of components for electric motors and have been enjoying rising demand here for some time. Last but not least, the anticipated huge investments in armaments will also have a noticeable impact on demand across the entire metal-working industry.
Digitalisation Remains a Hot Topic
The topics of Industry 4.0, digital twins and the use of artificial intelligence in machining processes have been on the to-do lists of many manufacturers and service providers for years. More and more users are bringing integrators into their companies to collect information on the status of a machine tool, its downtimes, energy consumption, vibrations and oscillations. These are key figures that can be used to determine valuable information about the state of a machine and the production process. Even demand for 5G services - for wireless data collection - has been increasing at an above-average rate ever since mid-2021, industry insiders report.
And the digital twin, which for a long time was only seen in the sketchbooks of planning departments, has already become a reality. Among leading manufacturers, the virtual model of each real machine tool is now developed in parallel. This helps users during installation, when engineering automatable production systems and when training staff. The positive effects on production include significantly faster production start-ups, the prevention of collisions and an overall reduction in machining process costs.
Software too is playing its part when it comes to progress: special simulation programmes help users to identify deviations regarding the zero point or tool positions before they become operational problems. Complex multi-axis machining is set to be simplified and users will automatically be offered the best solution to ensure perfect machining.