Page 12 - MetalForming November 2013

Tech Update
Bystronic Hosts Global New-Technology Event
From September 16 to 27, 2013, Bystronic Inc. held its Competence Days 2013 event, an opportunity for customers worldwide to see the firm’s latest prod- uct introductions—laser- and waterjet-cut- ting machines, press brakes, software and more. And, it even debuted a few not- quite-ready-for-prime-time product intro- ductions still in the testing phase. Metal- Forming editor Brad Kuvin accompanied a group of customers from the United States and Canada to the event, held at Bystron- ic’s headquarters facility in Niederonz, Switzerland. Here we present a few tech-update discoveries from that trip.
Hosted by Bystronic Inc. president Robert St. Aubin, vice president of sales Brody Fanning and Midwest regional sales manager John Fresonke, our tech- nology tour started with a look at the firm’s latest software release, BySoft 7. This modular CAD/CAM software com- prises four modules, including Plant
Manager (the others are Sheet Pro- cessing, Bending and Tube Processing). Using Plant Manager, fabricators can plan and monitor machine production and integrate plant-floor data to an existing ERP system. And, the integration of SolidWorks into BySoft 7 means that users now can create cut parts in one clean and simple workflow. Improved calculated cutting times are just one ben- efit from synchronization between the con- trol unit and the software. It means that with Production Manager in the office, users can be certain that cutting-time cal- culations are based on parameters actu- ally in use in the shop.
Company representatives also dis- cussed the firm’s “technology twins”— the BySprint Fiber 3015 laser-cutting machine and the Xcite 80 E electric press brake. The BySprint Fiber—notably quick when cutting thinner work—is the perfect companion in a sheetmetal-fab-
Bystronic Inc. president Robert St .Aubin introduced Competence Days 2013 attendees to the firm’s highly automated ByAutonom laser-cutting machine.
rication shop to the Xcite 80 E, designed to form sheetmetal parts to 1⁄8 in. thick. Compared to hydraulic press brakes, Bystronic officials say, it’s as much as 2.5 times more productive.
A cool and new option for press-brake control spied in the Bystronic show- room: Voice Control capability. Here, a press-brake operator can speak more than a dozen basic commands through a wireless headset to enable machine
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