Due to the instability and uncertainty of today’s economy, machine tool companies are facing enormous transformation pressure. They must move from low-cost competition to differentiated competition and gradually move from the status of machine tool manufacturer to that of industrial service provider. promote intelligent products to promote enterprise transformation. Industry 4.0 will completely change the way products are made and disrupt our traditional understanding of manufacturing. Although the current development of automatic lines is a transition product of Industry 3.0, Industry 4.0 for intelligent manufacturing is a long-term systematic process, although it cannot be. achieved overnight. But it is a new productive force for machine tool enterprises to serve customers, participate in market competition, continue operations and achieve high-quality development.
1. Development trend of automatic lines
1. The manufacturing industry is embarking on an intelligent transformation. Under the rise of Industry 4.0, the Internet and cloud computing, digital technology has penetrated all aspects of the manufacturing industry. National and local governments have vigorously supported smart manufacturing. and the integration of computerization and computerization projects. More and more large and medium-sized enterprises have embarked on the smart construction journey at the same time, with the aging population, increasing labor costs, recruitment difficulties and huge pressure from lack of staff; Professional technicians and increasing personalized needs of customers require manufacturing enterprises to transform and upgrade and promote intelligent construction. Over the past ten years, nearly 2,000 digital workshops and smart factories have been built to guide the development of the industry. Intelligence has become the only path to development of the manufacturing industry.
2. Automation has become a new trend in the development of machine tools. With the progress of times, the manufacturing industry has entered the era of meager profits; the pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness is increasingly the perennial theme of manufacturing companies. companies are focusing on technological transformation in automation and intelligence. In the past, automated production lines have become indispensable for users in technological transformation and investment upgrading before unmanned chemical factories and intelligent manufacturing technologies are fully mature. Improving customer demand has driven the machine tool industry to accelerate its transformation. The demand for single-process machine tools has gradually decreased, while the demand for flexible, multi-process manufacturing has gradually increased. and automation have become new trends in the development of the machine tool industry.
3. It has become a consensus among global machine tool manufacturing enterprises that industrial enterprises vigorously develop automatic online intelligent manufacturing. In the new industrial era, automatic lines can meet customers’ needs for rapid production changeovers, large batches of parts and short processing cycles. , reducing labor costs, improving production efficiency and improving product quality, etc., becoming the ideal choice for more and more factories;
International machine tools Mazak, DMG MORI, Okuma, EMAG, Chiron and other companies have generally launched automatic line products, demonstrating the digital path to intelligent production in the era of Industry 4.0. Domestic companies have also begun to explore it, including Haitian Precision, Heidemann, Dalian, Baoji, etc. Different types of flexible manufacturing units and automatic production lines have been launched to improve product quality and application levels. For details, see “Automatic lines are the best route to developing mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools”. “
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2. Basic situation of automatic lines. At present, automatic line products mainly include single-machine automatic lines and multi-machine automatic lines, which are equipped with truss manipulators (two-axis/three-axis), robots (six-axis /three-axis). seven axes), multi-pallet flexible lines (single machine/line), etc. Automatic lines are used to process parts in various industries such as bearings, automotive, petroleum, military and ships. Although each product in the automatic line has its own differences, it can generally be divided into four parts.
–The host equipment part is a single machine (special machine tool)/multi-machine CNC machine tool host, functional components and its operating system;
–The automation unit part mainly includes loading and unloading robots/hands, farms, logistics warehousing, online testing and supporting tools, etc. ;
–Supporting piece of equipment, including cutting tools, accessories, fixtures, hydraulic stations, cooling units, chip removal stations, etc. ;
–Part of the power system, mainly power system, data collection, real-time monitoring, etc., to realize the interconnection and intelligent manufacturing of the whole range of equipment.
3. Pressure to develop automatic lines
1. Significant occupation of capital. The R&D, manufacturing and acceptance cycle of automatic line series products is long, large investments are slow to be repaid, and the conditions for customers to repay the full amount are also relatively strict, requiring large quantity of capital. Take the 361 payment method currently commonly used in the machine tool industry as an example. After the user pays 30% of the payment in advance, the company pre-invests funds to arrange production and can only receive 60% of the payment until the payment is made. the goods are shipped and cannot be collected until final acceptance (or expiration of the warranty period). The general cycle from signing the contract to delivering the automatic line products is 3-6 months, and it takes more than 1 year from final acceptance. until the warranty period expires.
2. The technology is complex and highly integrated. Automatic line products have customer, process requirement and machine. The threshold for machine tool technology is not only difficult to develop and manufacture core machines, but also core machines. Tooling companies must also have the ability to integrate upstream and downstream resources to provide customers with turnkey projects; functional components, tools, systems, etc. Automatic line products rely on outsourcing and automation. units, support equipment and electrical systems depend on outsourcing. Taking crankshaft processing as an example, companies need to have efficient, full-sequence manufacturing capabilities and a complete set of solutions for main journals, connecting rod journals and end faces, from machining coarse raw materials, finish machining, hole system. from machining to weight removal and balancing.
3. It is necessary to fully understand the complexity of the client’s process. The automatic line products are all customized products. They cannot function without user trust. Customers generally have high requirements for processing accuracy, product consistency and cycle time. For example, the processing cycle of friction welding electrode pillars is 15 seconds, multiplied by the machining of car pistons The cycle time is 60 seconds; most users require a Cp ≥ 1.67, which equates to a defective product rate of less than 6‰. This not only tests the overall organizational capabilities of manufacturing, but also requires the support of stable and efficient products. tool fixing systems. Provide customers with a complete set of solutions.
4. Extremely high quality requirements for employees The R&D, manufacturing and sales of automatic line products require extremely high professional quality from employees, who must not only have a solid technical foundation, but also be innovative and looking to the future. The product characteristics of the automatic line determine that the required middle and senior technical personnel and senior technicians need long-term training and self-learning. The integrated design, installation and debugging of automatic line products requires good mechanical and electrical designers, as well as senior technicians in installation, debugging, service and cutting.
4. Advantages of automatic line development Although automatic lines have problems such as large investment, slow payment and difficulties in R&D and manufacturing, its market has relatively low competition, premium rates on high revenues, strong profitability and stable market expectations; has core technology and serves the national strategy, and the development of mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools is the best way to solve the problem of “stuck neck”. It is also a “compulsory course” and a source of motivation for sustainable development. hospitality companies.
1. Policies to support intelligent manufacturing The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of intelligent manufacturing. The government has issued a series of policy documents to support intelligent enterprise construction, such as the “14th Five-Year”. Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing” and “Opinions on the Recommendation of Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Pilot Projects” and various guides, etc.; among them, the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing” The plan proposes clearly a “two-step approach” and strives to achieve digitalization and networking for most manufacturing companies larger than specified by 2025, with key companies in key sectors initially applying the intelligence by 2035, digitalization and networking will be fully popularized in the manufacturing sector; enterprises above the designated size, key enterprises in key sectors have become fundamentally intelligent The state provides financial support for projects. smart manufacturing projects and demonstration pilot projects, with grants ranging from 10 to 25% of the total investment. In addition, local governments provide subsidies in the same proportion.
2. Create profits with core technology. The automatic line pursues the technical core of “quality, efficiency and advantage” through the method of “strengthening the fortress and fighting stupid battles”, the company can overcome technical blocking points one by one; especially thanks to high efficiency cutting and automatic line electricity. Core technologies for intelligent manufacturing such as control and interconnection of the whole line, at the same time we will carry out technical research on cutting tools, accessories, systems and other technologies; for parts processed by automatic lines, which can focus on breakthroughs in high-speed processing, chip separation, improving surface quality and improving precision and consistency and other process technologies. By providing customers with comprehensive solutions, businesses can generate profits.
3. Improve the overall strength of the company. Customers of automatic line products have high requirements for technology, delivery time and service. Through the reverse forcing mechanism, the response speed and service level of the enterprise’s products and the support of the entire industrial chain can be improved; continuous improvement of product stability and system integration, process reliability can improve the quality and quality of enterprise supporting products, such as CNC lathes, vertical machining machines, processing machines Horizontal machining and other machine tool host products.
4. It is conducive to the development of professional talents for R&D, manufacturing, installation and commissioning, sales and service. Automatic line products require extremely high professional quality from employees. They must not only have a deep technical foundation, but also be innovative and forward-looking. The required personnel requires long-term culture and practice. Mechanical and electrical designers as well as installation and commissioning technicians of special machines and automatic line series products must have a thorough understanding of machine tool performance and manufacturing processes. This is impossible without long-term practice. Through the automatic line project, a group of front-line industrial workers and leaders in R&D, manufacturing, technology, installation, debugging, cutting and other disciplines can be trained as soon as possible.
5. Improve manufacturing capabilities of enterprises. If workers want to do their jobs well, they must first sharpen their tools. To vigorously develop automatic lines, it is necessary to create specialized workshops and sections. This requires coordination by technology, production and others. departments, replanning the company’s production capacity, purchasing production equipment, inspection and testing instruments, setting up production factors such as man-machine, materials, methods and environmental testing will help to improve the company’s manufacturing capabilities. If the existing factory is used for automatic online product processing and manufacturing, the factory structure can remain unchanged, and only the factory interior, workshop floors, walls, public facilities, air, water, electricity, gas, etc. Investments in technological transformation can be significantly reduced and rapid production can be achieved. Promoting the development of an enterprise’s automatic line business involves R&D and design, production and manufacturing, marketing, after-sales service, operation management and control, talent training and others aspects. It is a complex and systematic project. companies to build new productivity and face current competition. The process of reorganizing resources and business reengineering for future development.
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