Page 21 - Metallforming Magazine December 2020

Phillips, manufacturing and sales engi- neer with Link Systems. “The greater demands to work from home, access the information from the road and play nice with ERP systems have driven companies to improve all aspects of machine reporting. Controls are not just being asked to report on machine conditions and provide for preventive planning, but these systems are adding elements of artificial intelligence to predict failures. Sometimes this occurs on the control side and other times is performed on the software or cloud side. Information today is at a premi- um, especially when we can’t access the operations due to safety concerns and the need to limit exposure of plant personnel.”
And, via the evolution in controls capability, according to F. Gary Kovac, president of Press- room Electronics, wire- less and paperless infor- mation gathering has improved and aided manufacturing perform- ance during the pandem- ic. This capability offers “simplicity of use and information gathering for the press operator and front-line supervisor,” Kovac says, “and elimi- nates the ‘touch transmis- sion’ of paper in this COVID time.”
Remote access and robotics are a couple con- trols-related areas where evolution has yielded a better way to navigate pandemic conditions in metal forming opera- tions, according to Kody Pratt, regional sales engi- neer for Toledo Integrated Systems.
“Companies like the use of remote access because it helps them reduce downtime in a timely fashion versus the alternative,” Pratt says.
In wholehearted agreement on the advantages offered via remote access is Jim Finnerty, product manager at Wintriss Controls Group.
“Most of our customers are operat- ing with smaller crews, and certain sub- ject-matter experts at these metal form- ing operations are not always physically available in the plant,” Finnerty says. “Remote access allows a look at machine status and the ability to correct application issues, troubleshoot and create setups for new tools—everything can be done remotely.”
Another remote-access plus: “It can be used as a training tool,” Finnerty explains. “An operator can see some- thing on the control’s user-interface screen that the subject-matter expert,
working remotely, is using to instruct that operator.”
The use of robots and automating lines, points out Pratt, is another con- trols-related feature that has become more sophisticated. “Within the past few years especially, robotics has become more popular. We have worked with customers to automate whole press lines by using robots to transfer parts from press to press.”
Indeed, robotic press tending offers the potential for productivity boosts in any setting, but brings a whole new level of value in the current reality of social distancing and sparsely popu- lated shop floors.
Expect More Remote Access, Virtual Reality
and Improved Delivery
How does our expert panel see con- trols and/or press-line operations evolving to adapt to what may be the new normal in a post-COVID-19 world?
Expect to see continued use of con- trol solutions that promote wireless and paperless data gathering, notes Kovac of Pressroom Electronics, with features incorporating “what is needed for less contact and social distancing within manufacturing facilities, and without reducing real-time information available to the management staff and the press operator.”
The metal forming industry should continue to lean heavily on remote access and robotic applications, rea- sons Pratt of Toledo Integrated Systems, and newer initiatives may take root.
“Another step might be to employ vision systems, enabling users to watch the line without physically being there,” he says. “And, virtual-reality ( VR) appli- cations are becoming increasingly pop- ular, albeit not necessarily in manu- facturing. With the new challenges introduced through COVID-19, I see great potential in using VR as a method to troubleshoot and possibly even fix issues remotely.”
COVID-19 undoubtedly has created many challenges for metal formers, reasons Dawley of Helm Instrument Co., who notes that many shops have
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