All-In-One: LT5 and ELECT40
A defining concept of the fourth industrial revolution is the interconnection of production systems understood as the possibility of having them communicate with each other and with corporate management information systems. All-In-One is certainly an example of interconnection between production systems that the BLM GROUP promotes for some time, well before the subject of Industry 4.0 was discussed. During INTUBE XVII it will be possible to see multiple examples of this concept.
Levico Terme, September 18, 2017. The integration and interconnection of production systems allows for broadening of the focus from the individual machine to the whole production process to gain an economic advantage. This is what the BLM GROUP intends to communicate at INTUBE XVII, by showing the full process of producing a tubular frame for a bookcase. This example will clarify what it means specifically to shift focus from individual processing to the product as a whole.
The frame of the bookcase is a multi-technology product produced by the lasertube LT5 system and ELECT40 bending system which operate according to the principles of All-In-One and two anthropomorphic robots to manage the handling automatically.
We start by importing a 3D model of the entire bookcase into Artube, the powerful CAD/CAM from the BLM GROUP. Artube is capable of automatically identifying the various tubular components with the related cutting and bending processes, then generating the work programs already optimized for the LT5 laser system and the data for the VGP3D system of the ELECT40 tube bender.
The design of individual components can include an industrialization of the product. The Artube libraries contain specific functions to generate cut-fold, couplings and joints that allow saving a lot of time and ensuring greater reliability and precision during the following stages of assembly and possible welding of the product. The result is usually a significant reduction in the cost of the entire process.
Next the Partviewer application from the BLMelements “software suite”, provides an accurate estimate of the time and cost of the processes that must be executed.
At this stage, Protube (also a part of BLMelements) creates the work orders and can even check the availability of the raw material, send the cutting program to the LT5 system and the necessary data for bending on the ELECT40 to the VGP3D. Multi-technology work orders are generated for the components that require bending and laser cutting processes, while a multi-piece order is created to take into consideration the overall work of production of the entire frame.
Protube, in its most comprehensive version is a veritable MES (Manufacturing Execution System) able to interface with the ERP systems and more generally with the factory’s management system.
During production, the LT5 and ELECT40 systems produce the components while communicating with each other. ELECT40 recovers from its database the elongation and elastic recovery data of the material and uses them to bend correctly, but first communicates them to the LT5 which will take them into consideration to position the processes and calculate the final length of the piece so that it is correct after bending.
The humanlike robots manage the automation of the unloading from the laser and bending systems using a rack that serves as buffer storage.
Meanwhile at the office, Protube remains in constant contact with the production systems and will be able to provide on demand updates and detailed information about the progress status of the individual orders and the global order for the frame.
Another example of a process that is substantially similar displayed at INTUBE XVII is in the cutting machine department where a full TS72 cutting line including deburring, measurement and collection, cuts tubes to measure then curved on a E-TURN40 system. The All-In-One principle is identical in both cases.
This is an application model of Industry 4.0 in which the “smart factory” is not just an abstract model of computer and virtual communication to strive for, but an actual productivity and efficiency improvement tool for the productive system.
This is the model for Industry 4.0 in which the BLM GROUP believes.
For more information:
Giovanni Zacco – Communication BLM GROUP
E-Mail: [email protected]
Tel.: +39 031 7070200
BLM GROUP
BLM GROUP is a global partner for the entire tube fabrication industry with a worldwide presence and thousands of successful installations in a wide variety of industries.
- BLM SPA, based in Cantù (CO), specializes in the production of CNC tube-bending machines, end forming, wire bending equipment and related automation devices.
- ADIGE SPA based in Levico Terme (TN), manufactures systems for laser-cutting tubes and machines for saw cutting tubes, bars and sections. The range is augmented with wire brushing machines, measuring systems, washing systems and collectors.
- ADIGE-SYS SPA based in Levico Terme (TN) specializes in the production of "hybrid" laser-cutting systems for cutting both tubes and sheet metal, plus a line of large capacity laser tube cutting machines and related part handling.
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