software | Industry 4.0
going on to record all associated process and test data via the ALS system to an individual part web page. A standard QR code reading app allowed access to the part web page to view all recorded process data, including time of production, cycle counter, cycle time, ambient temperature and humidity at the time of moulding, together with recorded dimensions and photos captured by a camera-based inspection system. “We are manufacturing a part that is collecting data
throughout the process – and it is all stored,” explained Dr Thomas Walther, head of Arburg’s Application Centre in Lossburg. “This is data integration at the highest intelligence level. If this was a safety critical part for the automotive industry, for example, this would be really valuable.” The collection of data within an Industry 4.0
Above: Arburg demonstrated “single-unit batch” production of customised scissors using Industry 4.0 principles at last year’s Fakuma
the part using a laser marking system. This machine- readable code allowed the individual moulding to be identified and all process and subsequent measurement and test data to be recorded to an individual web page, accessible via any web-connected device. The next step in the process involved transferring the
scissors to a Freeformer 3D printer, where personalised three-dimensional lettering was applied to customise the parts (customisation is a key attraction of Industry 4.0 production). It took around two minutes to apply the 0.21mm high raised lettering to the surface of the handles using the Freeformer’s 3Dprinting technology. The Arburg ALS host computer system provided the
Below: Application of custom decoration to these PP scissor handles using Arburg 3Dprint technology
link between the autonomous stations and recorded all the relevant production data and test results before transmitting them to the central web server. The end result of the production process is described by the company as a “single-unit batch”. Arburg demonstrated a similar “smart factory” solution at its annual Technology Days open house event at its factory at Lossburg in Germany in March last year involving moulding, assembly and testing of a uniquely-identified toy car. The process, which will be demonstrated at the NPE show in the US in March, again started out by assigning the part an individual machine-readable QR code before
environment can involve a lot more than just the factory floor, potentially linking in all the way to point of sale and perhaps beyond. This does present some potential challenges, however, not the least at a legal level. Speaking at an European Union event held last year in Germany to promote EU adoption of Industry 4.0 manufacturing methods, Manfred Wittenstein, chairman of the supervisory board at German industrial automa- tion specialist Wittenstein and former president of the VDMA engineering trade association, said politicians and law-makers must be aware that the digitalisation of industry will be totally different to the spread of digital products in society we have seen up to now. Much more data will be created in industrial
manufacturing environments than we are used to seeing from private users, Wittenstein said, so law makers will not be able to simply replicate today’s approach when regulating companies in the future. And the legal position on who owns data created by interconnected machines and machine components must also be determined.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.arburg.com ❙
www.vdma.org ❙
www.wittenstein.de
Office scissors showing customised 3D printed decoration and unique laser coding
58 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2015
www.injectionworld.com
PHOTO: ARBURG
PHOTO: ARBURG
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