The CHIRON Group has put all our digitization activities into the “SmartLine“ brand. These include DataLine, ProcessLine and RemoteLine. Further modules are in preparation.
Digital networking is also shaping the future in machine tool construction – and it needs to be designed with innovation spirit, machine-oriented know-how and a keen eye for cost-benefit relations: “Digitization brings great innovation potential for our industry. But as with every megatrend, it is also important to systematically step forward and keep customer benefits in mind,“ says Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Markus Flik.
With SmartLine, the group is currently developing a suite of software and hardware solutions which control and optimize production processes, ensure the availability of systems, enable anticipatory maintenance and provide a wealth of evaluation options.
Close cooperation with the customer
Ever greater demands are made for availability of machining centers. For machine tool manufacturers, this means that they have to deal even more intensively and above all pro-actively with the wishes and requirements of their customers. “Using workshops, joint pre-development projects or the development of machine platforms in close cooperation with our customers, we can anticipate and pick up on specific requirements. We exchange information with our customers intensively about the planned production processes and jointly develop tailormade, preventive maintenance concepts. In this way, the expansion of digitalization means that real increases in availability can be achieved,“ explains Dr. Flik.
Digitization with a sense of proportion
The CHIRON Group pursues the philosophy of using existing sensors for digitization whenever possible. Instead of “Big Data“, the CHIRON Group relies on “Relevant Data“. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Flik is convinced that the mechanical engineers will be able to compete with the new players in the field of digitalization. “As a machine tool manufacturer, we have expert knowledge of wide-ranging technical domains that IT companies who want to conquer this market do not have. And this engineering expertise often saves sweeping big-data collections. The pure search for patterns and data correlations in large amounts of data is a viable approach when the interrelationships are unclear. But in our machining centers, we know these causal relationships very well and can gain the corresponding insights more effectively with less data,“explains Dr. Flik. He therefore calls for “digitalization with a sense of proportion – for the benefit of our customers.“
Lecture at the OPEN HOUSE on Thursday, March 30, 1:00 – 1:30pm, Room 4.6, Forum
“SmartLine – CHIRON on the way to the digital age – solutions and applications“