Cost savings in high-volume production are today found within upstream and downstream process stages such as set-up, measurement and communication between machine and measurement equipment. Here, the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) puts forward the Kapp Niles platform, which can tie together and automate these processes to streamline productivity further thanks to open standards such as umati and GDE.

“Instead of integrated machines, we rather envision integrated production chains with as little manual handling between individual chain links as possible,” says Konstantin Schäfer, head of product management at Kapp Niles.

This ethos becomes apparent in the growing measurement technology sector, Kapp Niles Metrology. What’s more, the existing portfolio is being optimised for production systems to communicate with each other. In particular, through the new KN assist platform, Kapp Niles and ETG can support the user from project planning through to production with KN grind control system software.

As part of the project-related configuration, all required processing options are combined in one workpiece project. With the step-by-step intuitive user interface, concrete project data is collected. In a virtual set-up process, the user selects the gear type and suitable tools from a component set. Upon request, KN grind also offers technological suggestions.

Another factor has been the lack of consistent data transmission standards to allow for secure data integration. For this reason, Kapp Niles has developed solutions that no longer require the installation of invasive software and thus allow users to retain control over their data at all times. The result is the KN assist platform. Thanks to HTML5 programming, KN assist runs without any further software requirements on a PC and mobile devices alike. The only requirement for the user is to call up a single address on the Intranet, after which access is granted to the system through a browser or app.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com