INDUSTRY 4.0 & AUTOMATION DOWN TO EARTH DEMONSTRATIONS
WinTool manages the complextity found in many companies, being particularly useful
in environments where set-ups are frequent and processes people-dependent
In addition, other bene ts take in less
scrap, re-work and operator sickness,
avoidance of coolant emergencies and a
boost to productivity. It all adds up to a likely
payback of under two years, he suggests.
Fitting the unit is simple, it just needs to
be positioned in the machine sump (there
are three lengths to accommodate different
depths), although an ancillary tank may be
required, as demonstrated on the Grob
machine (https://is.gd/ecexok) in June.
Connection to emulsion, water, shop air and
power supplies round installation off.
Another new-to-CIS offering is WinTool, an
established tool database/tool management
software system. With roots in 1980, tool
management efforts started in 1997, but
the Swiss system has had patchy support in
the UK market. There are systems installed,
however, at three major companies,
according to WinTool senior sales manager
Marc Holthuizen, who was at the CIS event.
Globally, the company has 500+ customers
on software maintenance. ‘Easy to learn’
and ‘easy to use’ are two key system
attributes he underlines.
The best targets for the system are
companies, large or small, where there are a
high number of machine set-ups and where
the process is very people dependent.
“It’s about the complexity of the work ow,
and you can have a complex work ow even
in a small company,” Holthuizen says. And
that means communication issues, he adds.
“There are two factories, the real one and
the digital one CAD, CAM, NC program, and
you have to manage both, but the person
running the real one is not the same as the
one running the digital one. That’s a
problem, because there are communication
and trust issues between people doing parts
of the job.
“At the end, the operator stands at the
machine and prays that the program is good,
that the tools were set up correctly and that
the measured data he entered into the
control is correct. This sort of complexity is
what WinTool is managing. We are the link
between the different people and systems in
the three key areas of planning MES/ERP,
programming CAM and off-machine set-up
tooling and xtures.” The result is delivery
of a package of hardware and information to
a machine such that it’s a set-and-go
situation, thus maximising machine time.
Within companies, cutting tool assembly
information is employed in multiple systems
and work processes, often with information
duplicated, Holthuizen states, meaning
wasted time and potential for error. WinTool
is the central repository for tooling
information and the system that connects to
all others (there are four WinTool modules,
each integrating to three areas).
Of course, the initial challenge is to
enter, in a concentrated manner, tooling
data, as opposed to in an ad hoc manner
that companies do time and time again as
part of an inef cient repeated process.
To ease that, WinTool integrates with cloud
platforms such as Machining Cloud, but the
data is not always of highest quality,
Holthuizen offers. Another way to enter data
is to apply a stock control approach alone,
just scanning tool bar codes into the
database without toolholder information,
which is then added at the CAM stage by the
programmer, thus building full information
over time. A further method is to undertake
a single-machine approach, employing
WinTool when programming that machine,
bene ting from WinTool tool descriptions in
the program, set-up sheets and 3D tool
assembly models for collision checking, for
example. The nal possibility is to employ an
outside resource to enter data.
Moving into more central and typical
Industry 4.0 territory and Grob’s UK
managing director, Louis Hill, was
highlighting the company’s GROB-Net4
Industry software. It is, he assured, aimed at
smaller rms, because larger companies are
likely to be using one of the larger platforms
that exist to support machine tool
connection and data insight. Already an
aerospace company in the UK with eight
machines (and another six on order) has
been using the software for 18 months, but
any new customer for one of Grob’s 5-axis
machining centres can bene t. Says Hill:
“Any machine we sell comes with six
months’ trial of the system.” That offer has
been live since the start of the year, in fact.
Third-party machines can also be connected,
but the level of data captured may vary.
SEVERAL MODULES AVAILABLE
Grob-Net4 Industry actually comprises 11
modules: GROB4Line connects a Grob
machine to the Internet, allowing its
monitoring and controlling via a smartphone
and supporting alert messages;
GROB4Analyze captures machine data,
identifying non-productive phases and
supporting continuous improvement;
GROB4Simulate provides a virtual machine/
machining environment model, allowing
collision-tested and veri ed NC programs to
be transferred to a machine; GROB4Coach
is an off-machine programming, simulation
and training solution; GROB4Interface
networks machines with other systems;
GROB4Connect links machines to ERP, MES,
PLM and TDM (tool management) systems;
GROB4Pilot supports a paperless
environment, allowing connection to other
systems and their data, such as CAM or
ERP; GROB4Automation is production control
software that controls and visualises a
exible production cell, facilitating
automation; GROB4Track monitors machine
state, avoiding unscheduled downtime;
GROB4Care gives access to machine spare
parts; and GROB4Portal permits access to
all GROB-NET4Industry products and
solutions via one central interface.
All in all, the CIS Industry 4.0 event
demonstrated workable shop oor solutions
to which many in industry could relate.
40 August 2019 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets
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