INDUSTRY LOCATION SWITZERLAND >> Production Technology

Automated Tool Presetting

>> The 350-employee-strong stamping machine manufacturer Bruderer AG from Frasnacht am Bodensee boasts one of the most advanced tool-

presetting systems in Switzerland. This is very indicative of the company's strong drive towards Industry 4.0. A total of 14 500 tools are completely digi-

tally mapped, managed and automatically measured by Speroni measuring machines.

Préréglage d’outils automatisé >> Le fabricant de poinçonneuses, la maison

Bruderer AG de Frasnacht avec ses 350 collabo-

rateurs, dispose d’un système de préréglage

d’outils des plus modernes en Suisse. Ainsi, l’entreprise fait un grand pas en direction

du concept Industrie 4.0. En effet, 14’500 outils

entièrement numérisés sont gérés et automa-

tiquement calibrés par des machines de

mesure Speroni.

Let's get to the crux of the matter, at the timeof its inception, the integration of automatedtool measurement at Bruderer AG inFrasnacht was anything but a self-evident step.This visionary project presented many chal-lenges and consumed countless work hours,but in the end, delivered handsome returns.

already thinking about how the systemcould be further perfected and fine tuned.This a prime example of how Bruderer AGhas consistently followed a strategy forachieving the goal of fully-automated pro-cess-integrated tool measurement.

Bruderer AG, founded in 1943, proudlyremains a family-run company to this dayand exports more than 90% of its stampingmachines, with Germany representing 40%of its customer base.

Remo Ackermann, Head of Productionand Member of Bruderer AG's executiveboard says the following about the familybusiness, "Technologically, our stampingpresses are at

Process-integrated tool meas-urement

Now that the tool measuring system is in place, with Speroni measuring technology integrated into the company's processes, the satisfaction of all the participants is more than obvious. People are

a very high standard. Our stamping presses are exceptionally efficient, delivering the highest stroke rate in the industry. We have a strong market position, but our competitors are certainly not resting on their laurels. In light of the prevailing currency situation, production at the Swiss-based facility is quite a challenge. Our investment into the three Speroni measuring machines in order to increase automation has certainly proven to be forward-looking, helped mitigate the impact of currency movements and all-in-all made us more efficient. Of course, we thor-oughly reviewed and analyzed this project from many angles before proceeding, but the achieved benefits have convinced executive management".

A Bruderer stamping press's massive cast iron machine housing, which provides for outstanding, balanced load distribution during the stamping process thanks to a special lever system 112

Bö

hm

30 percent reduction in

throughput time Daniel Bänziger, Department Head of Tool Management at Bruderer AG comments, "Our tool throughput is enormous. Some-times, up to 100 tools need to be provided for a tool set when we retool a machine.

Altogether, we have more than about 14 500 tools, which have to be regularly assembled from 7500 different tool compo-nents. Our target has been to reduce our tool assembly lead time by 30 percent". Only the best prerequisites At Bruderer AG, the implementation of such a project had outstanding prerequisites for success. The company has been using a tool management system from TDM Systems (Tool Data Management) since 1991. A large part of tool

Schweizer Maschinenmarkt 25 2015

INDUSTRY LOCATION SWITZERLAND >> Production Technology INTERVIEW

Innovations strengthen the company over the long haul

SMM: What is the current situation in your business sector and to which in-dustries do your machines go? Remo Ackermann: The repeal of the minimum euro exchange rate by the Swiss National Bank has severely impacted our country's predominantly export-oriented economy and once again we find ourselves under enormous pressure. Bruderer has optimized its cost structure as far as possible and has made promising parallel in-vestments. We're convinced that we're strengthening and securing the company for the long-term with various production innovations. Our machines go to a variety of sectors such as automotive, electrical, electronics, the watch industry, machine construction, textile industry, construction, aerospace, etc. Bruderer high-performance stamping presses are the right investment when high stroke rates and precision accuracy are required".

What role do the various software interfaces play in this project? R. Ackermann: Software development was, in fact, an important focus area within the context of the project. We had to further develop and adapt to the existing con-ditions, the standard Speroni interface for the TDM system as well the postproces-sors for the individual CNC machines. We - all four partners - have worked very closely and well together here.

How much time has passed from the first request to completion? R. Ackermann: After preliminary discussions at Prodex 2012, we ordered the three measuring machines in August 2014. They were delivered on December 24, 2014, a Christmas presents in no uncertain terms. Then we stepped on the gas in the new year. The level of cooperation between Kaiser, Speroni, TDM Systems and Bru-derer was exceptional.

What possibilities do you see for the future? R. Ackermann: A further potential innovation would be the inclusion of data stor-age media on the tools themselves, with information about time remaining until fu-ture downtime stored individually on each tool. We currently define downtimes according to our experience-based indicators; they're stored in the TDM. A spe-cialist has to swap out the replaceable cutting insert when the tool expiration peri-od expires. If we were to think further in terms of Industry 4.0, then we'd have to go in the direction of power consumption and oscillation measurement to investi-gate tool wear dynamically. But those are all future projects.

>> If we were to think further in terms of Industry 4.0, then we'd have to go in the direction of power consumption and oscillation measurement to inves-tigate tool wear dynamically. But those are all fu-ture projects. <<

Remo Ackermann, Head of Production and Member of Bruderer AG's Executive Board

Tool data must be prepared Daniel Bänziger adds, "When you decide for this type of system, you need to be aware of the fact that tool data has to be continuously stored and maintained. This can quickly turn into 'dog work'. 'Dog work' means that dur-ing the first few years, the TDM database has to be 'fed' with tool data. Today, this task is essentially much more straightforward because manufacturers now provide us with such comprehensive tool data. With all factors taken into consideration, the TDM system has substantially reduced our tool costs because it offers an outstanding over-view of our tool portfolio". The new Speroni tool measuring machines have automated tool measurement, providing a software interface through which the TDM system's data can be accessed directly. When a tool is measured, it is clamped into the measuring machine's tool receptacle where the tools are always drawn in with exactly the same pull-in force. The measuring device recognizes the tool via the ID number uniquely assigned to it and stored in the TDM system, and can thus measure the cutting edge autonomously. Automatic tool recognition can be retrofitted using RFID chip technology or a data-matrix laser. Assembly errors recognized The new system-integrated tool measuring technology optimizes process safety and reduces the incidence of faulty tools. An example: The measuring machine recognizes when an employee has incorrectly assembled a tool (specified measurement tolerance range) and issues an error message to the operator. So effectively, only tools that actually meet the requirements stored in the TDM system are used. Measured values go directly to the CNC controller

data was already being stored digitally. Michael Fankhauser, Systems Support / Systems Engineering at Bruderer AG: "In 1991, we were one of the first companies in Switzerland

to integrate a TDM tool management systemand to consistently expand it thereafter. Today,we remain at the forefront of implementingbleeding-edge technologies".

The actual measurement of a tool by theSperoni machines takes about as long as theprevious manual measurement. A drill bit ismeasured in about 30 seconds. With multi-edged tools, it takes about two minutes in-cluding run-out measurement. The Speronimachines transfer the measured values to thetool machine's CNC after a single postpro-cessor run.

114 Schweizer Maschinenmarkt 25 2015

INDUSTRY LOCATION SWITZERLAND >> Production Technology The production team is very impressed with the results of automated tool measurement (from left to right): Michael Fankhauser (System Support / System Engineering, Bruderer AG), Daniel Bänziger (De-partment Head, Tool Management, Bruderer AG), Armin Landolt (Product Manager Speroni, Big Kaiser AG), Remo Ackermann (Head of Production and Member of Bruderer AG's Executive Board), Daniel Stadelmann (Technical Consultant, Big Kaiser AG).

Imag

e: M

atth

ias

Böh

m

A glance into the hallowed halls of tool reconditioning. Good to see: the three networked CNC Speroni tool measuring machines.

TDM system and the postpro-cessor interfaces Armin Landolt, Product Manager Speroni, Big Kaiser AG, "Existing standard software interfaces for the TDM system and for the individual tool machines' postprocessors must be further custom developed and ad-justed to conditions on the ground. Specific tool data must also be loaded into the sys-tem".

To answer SSM's question about the kind

of data that is required for this system to

operate, Daniel Bänziger says the following:

"The Speroni measuring machines need the

precise positions of the cutting edges so that

the system knows where it has to take away

the contours of the tool's edges. You don't

need such data when measuring manually,

the technician takes care of that. Now we've

completely updated that with our 14 500

tools so that

the Speroni measuring machines are able to recognize and automatically scan each tool".

Remo Ackermann: "To be honest, we had previously underestimated this aspect and have had to do a great deal of homework and integrate the missing tool data". Mountain of work continually reduced Remo Ackermann is convinced by the end result: "Today, we've got all the tool data cleanly stored. But when you're at the be-ginning of a project like this, it seems like the mountain of work is insurmountable. The decision to take the difficult first few steps of this long journey has made things much easier today and will continue to bear fruit in the future.

Daniel Stadelmann, Technical Consultant, Big Kaiser AG, "I'd say the way that Bru-derer has integrated tool measuring into its operations, has given the company the most modern tool-presetting station in Switzer-land".

Remo Ackermann: "Mr. Stadelmann is probably right, though I would be a little more modest. Nevertheless, we have certain-ly taken a big step into the future and Indus-try 4.0".

Tool upgrade: From three days to two It was mentioned right at the start that the investment must pay off. Daniel Bänziger explains what the three automatic measuring machines deliver each and every day

Bö

hm

Here a Big-Kaiser boring tool is being placed into the Speroni meas-uring machine for fully automatic measurement including data trans-fer to the CNC.

Bö

hm

The system recognizes the tool by its ID number and invokes the corresponding measuring program. The system issues an error mes-sage if the tool isn't correctly assembled.

116 Schweizer Maschinenmarkt 25 2015

Production engi-neering >> INDUSTRY LOCATION SWITZERLAND

Imag

e: M

atth

ias

Böh

m

The Speroni machine's measurement work station is neatly ar-ranged. All necessary data is available on demand.

Fully automatic measurement of a multi-edged milling tool takes about two minutes.

as follows, "The lead time for assembling a complete tool set for a larger tool machine had previously been three days because only one employee had been able to work on a tool set at any one time. With the Speroni measuring machine, its ready in two days. The three measuring machines are net-worked, meaning that all the machines can be used to work on the same set. That deliv-ers a time saving of 30-percent".

Speed is one thing, but as was already pointed out above, process safety has also improved significantly. Earlier, if an error had crept in-to the tool assembly process then that was how the tool went on to the machine. In the worst case scenario, a crash occurred with the typical consequences. Today, scenarios likethat are a thing of the past. Remo Ackermann notes, "We're clearly marching in the direc-tion of greater process safety

and zero error tolerance. With the systemintegration of Speroni tool measurementincluding data transfer, we've clearly taken adecisive step in this direction".

Simulation brings protection from collisions Michael Fankhauser, "Let's not forget pro-cess safety. Before we go into solid material,the

Advertisement

Providing special steel solutions

Swiss Steel, Emmenbrücke (Switzerland)

The SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH Group is one of the leading pro-ducers of high-quality special steel long products. We are number 2 worldwide in tool steel as well a rust-, acid- and heat-resistant steel and number 2 in Europe in engineering steel. Wefocus on the specific needs of our customers worldwide with our sales and service network.

Production Sales and Services Deutsche Edelstahlwerke WorldwideFinkl Steel Steeltec Swiss Steel Ugitech

www.schmolz-bickenbach.com

INDUSTRY LOCATION SWITZERLAND >> Production Technology A complete success: the process-integrated tool measuring method convinces the whole team.

Bö

hm

Bö

hm

All of the data necessary for assembling tool components and au-tomatic measuring has been stored in the TDM system, which was a considerable but worthwhile effort.

A glance into one of the largest measuring machines in Switzerland, which Bruderer also uses for contract work.

AG

programmer needs to use Vericut software to check whether or not the workpiece can be produced without collisions. The exact control image and the machine's kinematics are stored in Vericut. We have the NC pro-gram analyze everything and check the production process for collisions. Our pro-cess safety has once again seen significant improvement due to the fact that today, the tool matches 100% with the data stored in the system. These too are factors that have had a very positive impact on the entire production process". Long-term success in the workplace SSM's editors wanted the head of production to articulate exactly how the new measuring system had benefited Bruderer. Remo Ackermann: "A perfect fleet of machines with slow tool measurement gets

you absolutely nowhere. The new Speroni measuring machines have strengthened our workflows and the return on investment is very fast indeed - of that I am certain". << Information: Bruderer AG

Egnacherstrasse 44

9320 Frasnacht

Phone: 071 447 75 00

info@bruderer.com

www.bruderer.com Swiss Speroni representative: Big Kaiser Präzisionswerkzeuge

AG Glattalstrasse 516 8153 Rümlang

Phone 044 817 92 00

Fax 044 817 92 01 info@ch.bigkaiser.com www.bigkaiser.com

Advertisement

Tenba AG CH-4710 Balsthal

Phone +41 (0) 62 386 60 80 Fax +41 (0) 62 386 60 85 Email: info@tenba.ch www.tenba.ch

118 Schweizer Maschinenmarkt 25 2015