Autonomous machine optimisation software

Productive Machines, a provider of autonomous machine tool optimisation technology, is making its core technology available in a fully automated software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. The company says that its SenseNC Finesse software is the world’s first to provide automated optimisation of all milling operations, enabling manufacturers to set up each machine tool and run production without chatter at every cutter location across the tool path.

The software uses an artificial intelligence (AI) model to optimise machine processes and is deployed at more than 10 major manufacturers already, including Renault and MASA Aerospace. By making it available as an automated SaaS product, Productive Machines aims to help many more manufacturers eliminate trial and error iterations on machine tools, reduce waste, and deliver better and faster products.

According to the company, machines configured with the technology not only demonstrate the ability to produce parts in half the original time, but also to improve surface quality significantly and reduce waste by up to 25%. In addition, users report a substantial decrease in tooling costs, up to 20%, on optimised machines.

SenseNC Finesse is now available to manufacturers using Siemens NX CAM software via a software plug-in, enabling them to improve the performance of existing machines within their chosen CAM environment. Productive Machines will launch a plug-in for Mastercam users this summer and make its software available to users of CAM software from other vendors in the coming months. 

Dr Erdem Ozturk, CEO at Productive Machines, says: “Since the beginning of our journey, manufacturers have told us they needed an optimisation solution that doesn’t require extensive experience to use. We’ve poured more than 100 years of our cumulative machining dynamics and software engineering expertise into creating our autonomous, easy-to-use solution for users of all levels.”

For further information www.productivemachines.co.uk

Bryken trebles automated milling capacity

A long-time user of two automated machining centres that exchange parts fixtured on pallets, in 2022 subcontractor Bryken installed a Hermle C12 machining cell with an integrated RS05 robot for loading billets directly into the working area and unloading finished components. It was supplied by Kingsbury, the sole sales and service agent in the UK for the German machine manufacturer.

The installation was followed one year later by a second cell, this time with drawer rather than tray storage. A similar, even more advanced system with gripper exchange and vice jaw change system arrived in early 2024, allowing multiple different parts to run without operator intervention overnight and at weekends.

Bryken purchased the first Hermle cell after an oil and gas OEM placed an order for 600 new types of manifold, bringing the total number of different parts produced for this customer alone to nearly 1400. Almost all manifolds are made of 316 stainless steel.

The company’s director Phillip Taylor explains: “We don’t have any allegiances to machine tool suppliers, always choosing the most appropriate, high-quality kit for the intended purpose. We opted for an automated cell from Hermle as it was the only solution that was a true billet-handling, five-axis machining cell with a fully integrated robot. The other systems offered either had bolt-on component handling or were pallet-exchange configurations.”

At Bryken’s Knowsley factory, the Hermle cells work 24/7 and delivers an OEE above 90%. Taylor says that the machines hardly ever stop. The first two cells produce around 2000 parts per month. One machines about two-thirds of these components spread across 15 different part numbers, while the second has a more diverse workload involving smaller batch sizes.For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

A high-end HMC inside a small footprint

To accommodate the diverse needs of the marketplace, Starrag Heckert has introduced its new H Compact series of horizontal machining centres (HMCs). The benefits of HMCs can sometimes be overshadowed by the sizeable footprint of the machines in comparison to their vertical counterparts. However, with its H Compact Series, Starrag Heckert says it is delivering the benefits of a horizontal with a compact footprint that will appeal to manufacturers.

Looking at the merits of the new machines, Lee Scott from Starrag says: “These horizontal models feature a trunnion table with five-axis capability. We can also incorporate a high-speed table for turning, a configuration that gives us the ‘T’ range. In its basic guise, it’s a twin-pallet HMC with a monobloc mineral cast base that is very vibration-absorbent and stiff.”

The machine column has positive-leveraged ratios that are credit to maximum guideway distances, while weight compensation improves the performance, accuracy and efficiency of the ballscrew-driven Y axis.

Alluding to the pallet system on the new series, Scott says: “It’s a twin-pallet machine where the ground pallet surfaces ensure perfect interfaces for the fixtures, whether it be on a trunnion or a standard B axis. Outside of the machine, we have the set-up station. Thus, while the first pallet is working inside the machining area, the second pallet is either loaded by a robot, an FMS or an operator.”

Taking a closer look at the operator interface on the new H Compact series, the machine incorporates the latest FANUC or Siemens control.

“Operators love our system, it has a touchscreen and multi-screen facility that offers the perfect solution for engineers who want to get the maximum amount of data from the machines,” concludes Scott.

For further information www.starrag.com

XYZ machines elevate stairlift specialist

XYZ Machine Tools is helping Handicare to maintain the accuracy, rigidity and quality of its stairlifts by machining the mating surfaces of its tubular components using an XYZ RMX 3500 bed mill for straight sections and an XYZ RMX 4000 bed mill for curved sections.

Among Handicare’s UK manufacturing facilities is its Kingswinford, Birmingham plant, where the company designs and manufactures straight and curved stairlifts, producing more than 50 every day. The key element of each stairlift is a pair of tubular runners with welded gear racks. These support the seat and, with its pinion drive and rollers, allow it to transport the user smoothly and safely between floors.

Nabil Mohamed, production engineer at Handicare, says: “For straight stairlift sections, the tubes and gear racks are welded together by  a robot and cut to length. We leave an excess of 0.5 mm which we machine off using the XYZ RMX 3500. This process ensures that the gear profile on the rack is perfect when we join the tubes.”

The XYZ RMX 3500 is dedicated to straight sections and has a set of fixtures on the bed, each designed to lock into the gear profiles and position the tube in the exact position required to mill across the end and generate an accurate gear profile and tube length. The open design of the bed mill makes it possible to work with long tube sections that overhang the bed.

For curved profile stairlifts, the process is similar with tube sections machined on the XYZ RMX 4000. This machine has a larger bed of 1474 x 355 mm and fixtures loaded to suit the end-machining of curved sections.

For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN FULL FORCE AT HIGHLY AUTOMATED SANDVIK COROMANT PLANT

The Gimo, Sweden production facility of Sandvik Coromant, a specialist in the design and manufacture of premium metal-cutting tools and machining technology, is tapping into the benefits of VERICUT Force from CGTech. The company is using this physics-based software, which analyses and optimises cutting conditions during component machining, to deliver savings in both cycle time and energy consumption.

Sandvik Coromant’s Gimo production plant manufactures tool bodies (holders) for indexable-insert cutters used in milling, drilling and turning operations. The facility produces a catalogue of around 15,000 standard products, as well as customised tools. However, Gimo is no ordinary plant. In 2019, the World Economic Forum recognised the factory as just one of 16 digital ‘lighthouses’ worldwide for the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). And it is clear to see why.

The Gimo site is up and running 8760 hours per year and features extensive automation. In fact, the whole night shift is unmanned, operated by hundreds of industrial robots and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). Furthermore, a digital ‘thread’ runs throughout the factory that automates everything from customer order to despatch, with data feedback from production to the company’s systems supporting process analysis and continuous improvement.

“When a customer places an order it triggers an automated design process based on parametrics,” explains Sandvik Coromant production engineer Björn Ljunggren. “The next step is preparation for production, namely the automatic generation of programs for robots, measuring systems and machine tools. Machine programming includes comprehensive verification and simulation using VERICUT.”

VERICUT ensures stable processes, which are essential for unmanned operations. The site has been a VERICUT user for over 10 years, recording no machine crashes in that time. Now, the Gimo factory is introducing VERICUT Force for program optimisation to this part of its automated process.

At Gimo, the whole set-up simply runs by itself in the plant’s specially created automated batch mode environment. There are no design engineers or production engineers sitting in front of CADCAM stations. Instead, the system determines everything automatically, including workpiece material and lead-time requirements.

While machining optimisation using VERICUT Force serves to reduce cycle time, the Gimo site wants to leverage the benefits of this software to help with a bigger ambition: becoming carbon-neutral by 2035.

“Our goal is energy-efficient manufacturing: reducing energy consumption and increasing sustainability,” explains Ljunggren. “That’s why we’re moving beyond simulation and verification to optimisation with VERICUT Force. Reduced production time and energy-efficient manufacturing go hand-in-hand.”

The reduction of program time using VERICUT Force relates to less spindle time, fewer motors running, less coolant pumps in use and so on. As a factory, Gimo monitors its energy consumption very closely. This busy site currently consumes 56-58 MWh of electricity every day. To draw a comparison, UK energy regulator Ofgem estimates that a typical household in England, Scotland and Wales uses 2.7 MWh per year.

To assess VERICUT Force, Sandvik Coromant requested a trial involving the machining of a popular drilling product, CoroDrill DS20. The material for this drill is a premium tough steel with a high hardness value. Machining took place on a new STAMA CNC vertical machining centre featuring a number of sensors that help monitor electricity consumption, not just of the machine, but also the compressed air system, high-pressure coolant pumps and so on.

The trial involved the use of VERICUT Force on roughing operations, predominantly adaptive milling and slot milling in the chip space and flutes of the drill, while running the VERICUT Air Cut Optimization module on remaining compatible operations. Advanced data management software at the Gimo site logged all machine data for comparison purposes.

“When running VERICUT Force optimisation we saw a 15% reduction in energy consumption: that was our bottom-line result for the whole machining process,” states Ljunggren. “Of course, it depends on what components we run, our running hours and the price of a kWh.”

To provide transparency, the calculation was based on machining three drill holders per hour, with the machine running 16 hours a day. Comparing data from before and after VERICUT Force optimisation revealed a 0.59 kWh saving per workpiece: a 15.3% reduction. This equates to a saving of 1.77 kWh per day and more than 10,000 per year. At an electricity price of 28 cents per kWh the financial saving would translate to €3,000 per machine, per year.

This outcome shows that a typical machine shop running 10, 20 or 30 machines can achieve savings of up to €30,000 (10 machines), €60,000 (20 machines) or €90,000 (30 machines) per annum based solely on reductions in energy consumption. Further savings will result from faster cycle times, extended tool life and increased capacity.

With the trial based on just one machine, the potential net effect for Sandvik Coromant’s Gimo facility is huge, both in terms of financial savings and sustainability. The factory is home to around 400 machines.

“Of course, some extra savings come from a reduction in cycle time,” explains Ljunggren. “With Force optimisation our trial showed a total cycle time reduction of 12% for the drill bodies.”

The Gimo facility is now in the process of rolling out the use of VERICUT Force optimisation to other drill product families. Two cells housing six machines already run the software; this will rise to 11 machines by the summer of 2024.

“Force doesn’t take long to learn: you basically select the material, specify some optimisation parameters and just run it. We had great support from CGTech throughout the adoption process, both globally and here in Sweden, which really helped ensure the success of this project.”

For further information www.cgtech.com