After the excitement surrounding the acrobatic debut of the Freeformer at K 2013, Arburg has enjoyed a year of taking additive manufacturing - or 3D printing - out of the hype-zone and into big industry.
Arburg
At Fakuma 2014, the Lossburg-based company was ready and willing to demonstrate how the additive manufacturing technology of the Freeformer - which goes on general sale in Europe in April 2015, with launches at both Chinaplas and NPE for the Asia and US markets - is taking plastic manufacturing into what it calls Industry 4.0.
But what is Industry 4.0? Managing Director Michael Hehl used functional integration as a way of explaining what this next sea change in manufacturing and production processing means.
Based on the example of office scissors, Arburg has demonstrated the interaction of injection moulding and additive manufacturing in the context of Industry 4.0 for the first time here at Fakuma.
In what is proving a highly popular display, the flexible, individual and transparent production of uniquely identifiable products is being used to showcase Industry 4,0 in action. The process data is collected via the Arburg host computer system (ALS) and transmitted to a central web server. The relevant internet page can be called up for each moulded part thanks to a DMC code applied by laser.
At the injection moulding station, visitors can choose between scissor versions for left and right-handed users, with pointed or rounded ends.
Human/robot cooperation
Injection of the scissor handles is performed on an electric Allrounder 370 E. It is equipped with a linear Multilift V robotic system, which is permanently monitored via a light curtain. In order to enable flexible and fast product changes, human and robotic system work interactively hand-in-hand. The operator places the desired scissor blank directly into the gripper. The robotic system then transfers the insert into the mould. After the handle has been moulded on, a DMC code is applied onto the part by laser. This enables individual tracking of each moulded part. The finished scissors can be measured at a testing station.
Individualisation of moulded parts
At the Freeformer station, individually configurable lettering can then be additively applied onto the scissors. This takes around two minutes at a layer height of 0.21 millimetre. The end product of this highly flexible manufacturing and processing operation are scissors in single-unit batches with individualised lettering.
Transparent, traceable manufacturing
The Arburg host computer system (ALS), which networks the various autonomous stations and records all the relevant production data and test results before transmitting these to a central web server, plays a central role in the entire manufacturing process.
Each visitor can call up the parameters for “his” or “her” scissors online from a personal web page via a DMC code using a mobile device.
