Zoller customers are well-positioned for the future when it comes to a networked production environment, a task there is no way around in light of increasing digitalization and Industry 4.0. All Zoller solutions, including the proven “genius” universal measuring machine and the new Smart Cabinets tool-storage cabinets, operate on the basis of a shared data and are connected via a central database.
The smart factory operates with the data that is available. When it comes to tool management, the goal is to have the right tool with the right data, in the right place and at the right time. The aim is to link real and virtual tool data over the entire production process and to allocate it to the physical tool to provide the right information regardless of location.
Zoller offers a combination of tool management software and software-supported tool storage cabinets for transparent and efficient storage of individual components, complete tools, consumables, and accessories in order to quickly find the right tool or grinding wheel with the corresponding data for incoming production or grinding order.
The tool storage cabinets, known as ‘Smart Cabinets,’ are structured and transparently displayed in the software interface. The user is guided quickly and easily to the exact storage location of a tool via Zoller’s intuitive software interface. Upon customer request, settings can be configured so that individual components can only be removed from the Smart Cabinets once the tool has been digitally checked out from the software. This ensures that stock is constantly up-to-date and accurate.
Zoller offers a grinding wheel management package in its software range specifically for grinders. This package offers everything that grinders need for measuring and managing grinding wheels. Thanks to the connection to Zoller Smart Cabinets, long search times are no longer required to find the correct grinding wheel. Single components required for grinding wheel packages can be stored and managed safely and systematically. Having the right grinding wheel in the right configuration saves costs and allows your machines to grind more efficiently.
Once the user has all components together, the “Tool Assembly Assistant” software module in the tool management software ensures that the grinding wheel package is correctly assembled. The software module can be accessed directly at the Zoller workbench and displays the parts list, a drawing and a 3D model of the assembled tool.
Once the tool has been manufactured, it can be measured directly on the Zoller measuring machine next to the grinding machine. In an increasingly complex world of networking, Zoller attaches great importance to one thing: the simplicity of operation of all software and hardware solutions. The intuitive software interface of the “pilot” measuring instrument software and the TMS Tool Management Solutions software guides the user simply, quickly and precisely to the (measuring) result.
A further requirement for the measurement technology of the future is having impeccable tools and a matching digital model. After measuring the real tool with proven Zoller measuring technology, the tool data can be created and managed as individual components directly on the Zoller measuring machine on the basis of the characteristic structure DIN 4000 / ISO 13399. Tool grinding customers therefore benefit not only from the real, high-precision ground tool but also from the “digital twin.” The characteristic data, including 2D and 3D models, can be easily and quickly output as XML or CSV files to almost any tool management system.
“Automation is the future of tool preparation” said Alexander Zoller, president of Zoller Inc. at the EMO Hannover 2017 trade show. The Zoller ‘roboSet 2’ automation solution for tool measurement is ideal for tool manufacturers and grinders with very high tool throughput and a claim to 100 percent control and logging. When networked directly with the Zoller universal measuring machine, the roboSet 2 can load tools around the clock, completely autonomously. Thanks to a multi-pallet system and double gripper, it can process and document large numbers of tools fully automatically.
Zoller offers numerous interfaces to make the transmission path of the measured actual data from the tool measuring machine to the grinding machine as efficient as possible. The interfaces form the basis for smooth processes and open up major potential savings. With the grinding program, the data set for the measuring device is generated at the same time and the fully automatic measuring sequence is generated from it. Depending on the type of interface, the measured data is transferred back to the programming system or the grinding machine and the grinding program is temporarily corrected for this tool. This reduces programming effort and machine downtimes to a minimum. Users save time and money — and also avoid errors during data entry and the creation of a new grinding program.
Zoller offers everything for efficient and process-reliable cutting tool handling in the manufacturing process. An international network of subsidiaries and agents ensures the highest level of service quality with personal customer care.
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