Digitalization 4.0 in the sheet metal industry

The next industrial revolution is underway and will be an integral part of metal product manufacturers.

Digital technologies applied to the industry can provide many answers through methods and tools that define an intelligent sheet metal production unit. Now that the industry has changed, flexibility and efficiency are crucial requirements for managing small production batches within short delivery times.

Stefa machines are designed, built and sold as flexible equipment offering global systems for sheet metal production that implement the Industry 4.0 principle by providing sheet metal manufacturers with three vital elements in their production: Flexibility, Connectivity and Intelligence.

Flexibility

For Sucorema, flexibility means transforming coils of sheet metal into a variety of metal products with minimal operator intervention through various operations such as cutting, drilling, bending or profiling, on a single production line. Stefa machines are therefore able to respond to the needs of today’s market, where there is a progressive demand for greater supply and complexity in the end product, with equipment that allows for a variety of operations. An example of this is the innovative Coil Punching PRR unit, a rotary press for coils up to 750mm wide, equipped with a precise and fast servo punching disc, with a capacity of up to 10 tools to be applied to structural profiles which, combined with fast and flexible automation, can be integrated with the ElitePunch software, which allows the transfer of cad files for almost instantaneous production parameterization. In this way, the manufacturer is ready to respond to the increasingly challenging needs of the construction market, where metal architecture is breaking barriers every day.

Connectivity

Machines are moving from being static pieces of equipment to being “living” elements with extra production functions. In other words, the primary components of the machines will communicate their status to central software, whether it’s the completion of a manufacturing order or an alarm from a component, alerting it that it’s time for maintenance. This connectivity will give production owners greater control over production. Considering that production capacity corresponds to the sum of real work and wasted work, connectivity, together with automation, will have the ability to reduce, if not eliminate, redundant activities or those with little value that normally occur at the beginning and end of automated production, such as the handling of raw materials.

Decentralization is another key factor that will increasingly make a difference in the future. The production manager will have greater control: inputting what needs to be produced, on various pieces of equipment and with minimal intervention from the machine operator. This also ensures that the manpower factor is reduced, in terms of specialization, where the “masters” of the factory can easily get around the lack of specialized manpower or the necessary learning times. A practical example of this is the advanced EliteBender software equipped on Stefa VH Folding Machines, where it is possible to purchase an office license and create a network connection between an office PC and the machine. This makes it possible to create production orders and program metal profiles remotely, where the machine operator only has to worry about handling the material, avoiding programming errors and making unnecessary quantities.

Inteligência

Intelligence

One of the fundamental concepts in the Industria4.0 definition is Big Data. It means that a large set of data is processed in order to obtain valuable outputs. The data is obtained in real time, while machines are producing, and intelligent algorithms will solve problems or show production trends almost instantaneously. By obtaining this data and processing it, a new panorama of production chains is obtained. The valuable experience gained over many years of work by sheet metal producers takes on a new dimension, because Big Data will put the platitude “the way we’ve always done it” into perspective. We have already mentioned that there is a progressive shift in the industry in general from making stock for large productions to small productions geared to the orders that exist and in ever shorter timeframes. This philosophy is nothing new for sheet metal producers, who face these well-known challenges every day. Being competitive these days is not just a question of price or quick delivery: the real challenge lies in production efficiency, in achieving a quick fit, regardless of the geometry of the final piece, the mechanical characteristics of the material or even its thickness. The technology incorporated into the Stefa VH folding machines is the perfect example of this integrated intelligence, which adapts according to the work being carried out. For the comfort of its users, the machine automatically adjusts itself according to the thickness of the sheet it will bend, the cutting length is made for the specific part, saving production time, and the effects of sheet springback are neutralized through corrections obtained from the materials database, defined for any variety of material and adjusted progressively. This is what intelligence is all about, having solutions available and easy to use, focusing on control, optimizing production processes and eliminating all the invisible dead times that determine the efficiency and competitiveness of companies.