The benefits of using the same machine for milling, turning, drilling, etc. mean that multitasking machines are becoming increasingly popular. There is no need to switch between different machines, and the benefits of being able to machine parts on the same machine are obvious.
This not only increases the possibility of production on a just-in-time basis, but also increases the accuracy of the process. A new trend today is that the torque and power are increasing as the spindle rotates; another trend is that the control system becomes more powerful, more flexible, and can move in several directions.
There is another trend that is currently emerging in the automotive industry. Traditional automated semi-automatic production lines in small batches are being replaced by machining centers and special machine tools for greater flexibility and faster installation times.
As for the general machining industry, a similar trend is to replace several traditional CNC machines with multi-tasking machines.
In the face of the current situation of our industry, which direction will the future machine tools develop? Who will promote its development?
"Metal Cutting World" asked four large machine tool manufacturers - DMG, Makino, Yamazaki Mazak and Mori Seiki on this issue.
The first is the introduction of Makino. Uwe Speetzen, manager of the business department of Makino, said, “We mainly provide products for the high-tech industry. The demand for this industry has driven our product development. Our business focuses on the automotive and aerospace industries, as well as agricultural machinery and industrial zero. Parts, etc. What they have in common is the need for high productivity, quality and reliability."
Demanding customers like the German automotive industry have the greatest impact on product development. In addition to a cheaper model, Makino does not produce low-cost machines.
Speetzen said, “Even companies that even enter Eastern Europe require high quality products.â€
High-quality precision machine tools have formed an important area of ​​expertise. Makino is one of the exclusive suppliers of processing center equipment for the Airbus Group to produce aluminum structural parts. This requires precision machine tools with advanced spindle technology and motion control capabilities to provide high performance and high precision cutting capabilities.
Speetzen said, “There is a high market demand for mold machines with high requirements for motion control. In addition, we are moving towards micromachining applications through milling and electrical discharge machining (EDM) solutions. We offer self-developed software. And can integrate a variety of different robot systems. Our focus is on high precision."
Are all machine tools versatile?
Speetzen replied without hesitation, "Absolutely."
Les Pratt, Marketing Manager of Yamazaki Mazak, UK, believes that machine tool development is driven primarily by engineers and designers who are also responsible for integrating new applications.
But he said that customers are always able to adopt these machine innovations very quickly, while developers are always focusing on the needs of their customers.
Pratt said Yamazaki Mazak is moving in the direction of a five-axis machine that produces prismatic parts with multiple surfaces at once.
He said, "This reduces the number of times the clips are replaced. All the operations can be done in the same position. It can be said that it offers a variety of unlimited opportunities."
This type of equipment is a multi-tasking machine that can be produced in small batches with short production cycles and diverse operations. This technology is driving the development of machine tools, and in this area, the demand for increased productivity is also increasing.
“Customers demand that machines be as diverse as possible, and Yamazaki Mazak must respond to this. This diversity is a key to our success,†Pratt said.
But even the performance of a single machine is important. Machine tools must now have more utility, which means ensuring that the tool meets those needs. For example, today's turning centers are performing more and more milling operations, Les Pratt explains.
“It is important that the tool is developed with the new machine. We are asking the tool manufacturer about the power, speed and rigidity, and the tool is more versatile so that it can be applied in many ways. New Technology makes the machine with more functions available to the market at a reasonable price, which is another feature of the new improved machine tool."
Pratt said, “It is also important to step up development when customers are ready to accept these new machines, so they can invest money and have enough knowledge. But many customers can quickly absorb new technologies and benefit from them. â€
So what about the situation in Japan? Mori Seiki's marketing department answered this question in writing and explained that as a global company, its driving force is to continuously strive to become the world's largest and most respected lathe, machining center, multi-axis turning center and grinding machine. manufacturer.
The company stated that "product development plays an extremely important role in meeting customer needs and promoting the company's future development."
Mori Seiki is currently focusing on the European market because the company's market share in the region is still small. In 2004, the European machine tool market totaled approximately $15 billion, 2.5 times the $6 billion Japanese market.
The most important machine tool developments in recent years include the new DCG series (machining center) and the NL series (lathe). Both of these series are critical in areas where Mori Seiki hopes to excel. DCG is the abbreviation of "Driven at the center of gravity".
Mori Seiki’s marketing department also pointed out that “because the pushed position is far from the center of gravity of the object, vibration is generated during acceleration and deceleration. Some small vibrations are generated during acceleration and deceleration because of the position and weight of the object being pushed. Not in the same place."
The marketing department continued to explain, “We put the two ball screws in parallel and drive them at the same time to achieve the effect of weight on the object. We solved all the vibration-related problems and improved the acceleration/deceleration and surface quality.â€
The NL series uses an innovative "built-in motor turret." This design achieves stable rigidity by reducing the heat generated by the drive assembly.
As for the importance of designing innovative tools to achieve the company's goals, the marketing department concluded, “We believe that it is vital for toolmakers and machine tool builders to work together to reduce the total tact time and increase customer profitability. Machine tools and tools make it even more realistic to increase productivity."
From the point of view of tool manufacturing, what do Sandvik Coromant experts think is driving machine development?
Chris Mills, Sandvik Coromant Application Development Manager, said, “I think this should be the same as the main problem facing tool development – ​​manufacturing flexibility, performance improvements and the application of new composites and parts.â€
He also pointed to the latest trends in multi-tasking machines, which, in addition to improving performance, combine flexibility to create new requirements for new tooling applications.
Chris Mills explains, “It’s clear when we look at the latest products. We have a combination tool that can be used for milling and turning operations, as well as a tool that can be used to replace the manual deburring of the back of the hole. Five years ago, we would have a hard time imagining that this would be one of the ways to increase productivity."
He also stressed that due to the emergence of new materials that are more difficult to handle and more complex shapes, they require better performance and new capabilities, resulting in more difficult parts processing.
Mills finally explained, “Therefore, continuous performance development and mastery of future trends and technologies are driving the development of processing applications.â€
This not only increases the possibility of production on a just-in-time basis, but also increases the accuracy of the process. A new trend today is that the torque and power are increasing as the spindle rotates; another trend is that the control system becomes more powerful, more flexible, and can move in several directions.
There is another trend that is currently emerging in the automotive industry. Traditional automated semi-automatic production lines in small batches are being replaced by machining centers and special machine tools for greater flexibility and faster installation times.
As for the general machining industry, a similar trend is to replace several traditional CNC machines with multi-tasking machines.
In the face of the current situation of our industry, which direction will the future machine tools develop? Who will promote its development?
"Metal Cutting World" asked four large machine tool manufacturers - DMG, Makino, Yamazaki Mazak and Mori Seiki on this issue.
The first is the introduction of Makino. Uwe Speetzen, manager of the business department of Makino, said, “We mainly provide products for the high-tech industry. The demand for this industry has driven our product development. Our business focuses on the automotive and aerospace industries, as well as agricultural machinery and industrial zero. Parts, etc. What they have in common is the need for high productivity, quality and reliability."
Demanding customers like the German automotive industry have the greatest impact on product development. In addition to a cheaper model, Makino does not produce low-cost machines.
Speetzen said, “Even companies that even enter Eastern Europe require high quality products.â€
High-quality precision machine tools have formed an important area of ​​expertise. Makino is one of the exclusive suppliers of processing center equipment for the Airbus Group to produce aluminum structural parts. This requires precision machine tools with advanced spindle technology and motion control capabilities to provide high performance and high precision cutting capabilities.
Speetzen said, “There is a high market demand for mold machines with high requirements for motion control. In addition, we are moving towards micromachining applications through milling and electrical discharge machining (EDM) solutions. We offer self-developed software. And can integrate a variety of different robot systems. Our focus is on high precision."
Are all machine tools versatile?
Speetzen replied without hesitation, "Absolutely."
Les Pratt, Marketing Manager of Yamazaki Mazak, UK, believes that machine tool development is driven primarily by engineers and designers who are also responsible for integrating new applications.
But he said that customers are always able to adopt these machine innovations very quickly, while developers are always focusing on the needs of their customers.
Pratt said Yamazaki Mazak is moving in the direction of a five-axis machine that produces prismatic parts with multiple surfaces at once.
He said, "This reduces the number of times the clips are replaced. All the operations can be done in the same position. It can be said that it offers a variety of unlimited opportunities."
This type of equipment is a multi-tasking machine that can be produced in small batches with short production cycles and diverse operations. This technology is driving the development of machine tools, and in this area, the demand for increased productivity is also increasing.
“Customers demand that machines be as diverse as possible, and Yamazaki Mazak must respond to this. This diversity is a key to our success,†Pratt said.
But even the performance of a single machine is important. Machine tools must now have more utility, which means ensuring that the tool meets those needs. For example, today's turning centers are performing more and more milling operations, Les Pratt explains.
“It is important that the tool is developed with the new machine. We are asking the tool manufacturer about the power, speed and rigidity, and the tool is more versatile so that it can be applied in many ways. New Technology makes the machine with more functions available to the market at a reasonable price, which is another feature of the new improved machine tool."
Pratt said, “It is also important to step up development when customers are ready to accept these new machines, so they can invest money and have enough knowledge. But many customers can quickly absorb new technologies and benefit from them. â€
So what about the situation in Japan? Mori Seiki's marketing department answered this question in writing and explained that as a global company, its driving force is to continuously strive to become the world's largest and most respected lathe, machining center, multi-axis turning center and grinding machine. manufacturer.
The company stated that "product development plays an extremely important role in meeting customer needs and promoting the company's future development."
Mori Seiki is currently focusing on the European market because the company's market share in the region is still small. In 2004, the European machine tool market totaled approximately $15 billion, 2.5 times the $6 billion Japanese market.
The most important machine tool developments in recent years include the new DCG series (machining center) and the NL series (lathe). Both of these series are critical in areas where Mori Seiki hopes to excel. DCG is the abbreviation of "Driven at the center of gravity".
Mori Seiki’s marketing department also pointed out that “because the pushed position is far from the center of gravity of the object, vibration is generated during acceleration and deceleration. Some small vibrations are generated during acceleration and deceleration because of the position and weight of the object being pushed. Not in the same place."
The marketing department continued to explain, “We put the two ball screws in parallel and drive them at the same time to achieve the effect of weight on the object. We solved all the vibration-related problems and improved the acceleration/deceleration and surface quality.â€
The NL series uses an innovative "built-in motor turret." This design achieves stable rigidity by reducing the heat generated by the drive assembly.
As for the importance of designing innovative tools to achieve the company's goals, the marketing department concluded, “We believe that it is vital for toolmakers and machine tool builders to work together to reduce the total tact time and increase customer profitability. Machine tools and tools make it even more realistic to increase productivity."
From the point of view of tool manufacturing, what do Sandvik Coromant experts think is driving machine development?
Chris Mills, Sandvik Coromant Application Development Manager, said, “I think this should be the same as the main problem facing tool development – ​​manufacturing flexibility, performance improvements and the application of new composites and parts.â€
He also pointed to the latest trends in multi-tasking machines, which, in addition to improving performance, combine flexibility to create new requirements for new tooling applications.
Chris Mills explains, “It’s clear when we look at the latest products. We have a combination tool that can be used for milling and turning operations, as well as a tool that can be used to replace the manual deburring of the back of the hole. Five years ago, we would have a hard time imagining that this would be one of the ways to increase productivity."
He also stressed that due to the emergence of new materials that are more difficult to handle and more complex shapes, they require better performance and new capabilities, resulting in more difficult parts processing.
Mills finally explained, “Therefore, continuous performance development and mastery of future trends and technologies are driving the development of processing applications.â€
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