“If autonomous driving is possible, then surely so too is autonomous manufacturing”, says Dr Jens Buchert, owner of Karl Walter Formen- und Kokillenbau GmbH & Co. KG. His goal is to achieve fully networked production. And he’s got MAPAL on board to make this happen – not only as a tool specialist, but as a complete provider. Including services covering process optimisation and networking.
Karl Walter Formen- und Kokillenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Walter) is located in the industrial area of Ursenwang, a suburb of Göppingen in the Filstal region. On a site covering approx. 3,000 square metres, the company manufactures moulds and dies for aluminium wheels and other cast parts and is regarded as one of the leading manufacturers in this field. The company was founded in 1960 and the mould maker today employs 32 staff.
Moulds for wheels like these are manufactured at Walter Formenbau.
Dr Jens Buchert took the reins of the company in 2016 and has big plans for the future – he wants to introduce end-to-end digital production. That is his aim. Nothing less will suffice. Because: “If autonomous driving is possible, then surely so too is autonomous manufacturing.” It should even be much easier: “There are no other drivers involved in the manufacturing process, there are no kids running on the road. If everything is planned properly, there can be few surprises”, says Buchert. Yet at the same time introducing ful-ly end-to-end networking and automated manufacturing into an existing company is not an easy task.
Dr Jens Buchert at one of his autonomously working machines. He has set himself the goal of achieving completely networked manufacturing.
First steps have been taken
“We’re gradually digitising and networking, and working hard towards achieving optimum manufacturing”, explains Dr Jens Buchert. To this end, the entire process from the incoming order to delivery of the finished moulds must be considered. This also includes the machining work itself and all asso-ciated processes. “I’ve been looking for a partner with expertise in both these areas, a partner that takes a complete overview of matters.” And in MAPAL he’s found that partner: “MAPAL is the only tool manufacturer that can map the entire process chain. Covering the tool itself, clamping technology, tool management, tool presetting and with c-Com even the networking of the machinery.”
Alfred Baur provides support in production on all questions relating to tools, machining and the processes relating to tools. Here in conversation with David Frommhold \(left\) from Walter Formenbau.
Quality and performance impress
Today, Walter procures 80 % of its chucks and tools from MAPAL. “It’s not just the quality and performance of MAPAL products that impress-es me. The chucks and tools come from a single source – meaning that both components are perfectly matched to one another”, says Dr Jens Buchert. In addition, the fact that MAPAL displays expertise and flexibility in this specialist area is a huge plus for him: “If we need special geometries, for example, for ball-nose cutters made of solid carbide, MAPAL manufactures these tools for us quickly and without any fuss.”
Prepared tools waiting to be used in the machine. Clearly identifiable via a barcode. Walter Formenbau purchases 80 per cent of its tools and chucks from MAPAL.
In addition to the products, MAPAL is also supporting the mould maker in its goal of achieving networked manufacturing. One issue has been the com-plexity involved in tracing tool data. “We spent 1.5 man-years searching for and compiling tool information”, admits Dr Buchert. UNIBASE software pro-vided the solution.
Walter has two UNIBASE-M dispensing systems from MAPAL in production. This saves a lot of time that was previously spent searching for tools.
Dispensing system for order and transparency
“We integrated the data from the CAM system into the software and in-stalled two UNIBASE-M dispensing systems”, explains Stephan Köstler, Mechatronic Systems Engineering Manager at MAPAL. “Köstler’s team also connected some of our existing cabinets to the system”, adds Buchert. The software now contains accurate information on existing tools and available dimensions and where they are located. If an employee takes a tool out of the UNIBASE-M system, this is registered by the software.
c-Connect for networking and automation
In order to maximise automation, Dr Buchert also made the networking of his machines a top priority. However, this proved to be a difficult task for the mould maker due to the variety and diversity of machinery. “Here too, we provide the optimum solution”, explains Stephan Köstler. As a pilot project, Buchert completely automated two of his machines, even the loading tasks being performed by a robot. MAPAL experts connected a c-Connect box to both machines. c-Connect is a product from MAPAL subsidiary c-Com.
A c-Connect Box is connected to two machines at Walter. This is used to transfer the measurement data from the tools to the machine.
The machines are connected to the open cloud platform c-Com via the c-Connect boxes. This platform is in turn also connected to the setting fix-ture UNISET-C, which is integrated into Walter’s CAM system. This allows the setting fixture operator to directly display and start the measurement programme for the respective tool from the CAM system. The measurement data calculated in this way is fed back into the machine directly by the UNISET-C via c-Com and the c-Connect box.
Walter nutzt einen weiteren Vorteil der c-Connect Box – über Sensoren wird der Zustand der Maschinenampel überwacht.
Vernetzung wird weiter ausgebaut
Neben der Übertragung der Daten bietet c-Connect weitere Vorteile für Walter. Beispielsweise werden die Standzeiten der Werkzeuge erfasst und die Bedarfe registriert. Und: Walter nutzt die Zusatzfunktion der c-Connect Box – die Maschinenüberwachung. Über Sensoren erfasst die Box den Zustand der jeweiligen Maschinenampel. So erhält Dr. Buchert schnell und einfach eine Auswertung über die OEE (Gesamtanlageneffektivität). „Sobald diese beiden Pilotmaschinen reibungslos autonom arbeiten, ziehen wir unsere weiteren Maschinen nach“, sagt er.
Es sind nicht die einzelnen Bestandteile, die die Zusammenarbeit von Walter und MAPAL bestimmen. Es ist viel mehr das große Ganze und das Lernen voneinander. „Durch die enge Zusammenarbeit, haben wir die Branche des Werkzeug- und Formenbaus sehr intensiv kennengelernt“, bestätigt Alfred Baur. Dr. Jens Buchert unterstreicht: „Die Flexibilität von MAPAL hat mich überzeugt. Für mich bietet es einen Mehrwert alles aus einer Hand zu bekommen und genau einen kompetenten Ansprechpartner zu haben“.
Arbeiten partnerschaftlich zusammen. Von rechts: Dr. Jens Buchert, Eigentümer und Geschäftsführer der Karl Walter Formen- und Kokillenbau GmbH & Co. KG, und Alfred Baur, Außendienstmitarbeiter von MAPAL.
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Beim Automobilzulieferer Schabmüller verantwortet MAPAL bereits das Toolmanagement. Nun hat der Aalener Werkzeughersteller auch die CAD/CAM-Programmierung der Bauteile inklusive Simulation übernommen.
