Page 14 - MetalForming February 2017

Tech Update
Technology Triumphs at FABTECH 2016
we present some of the new products and technologies spotted; look for more in coming issues.
In mid-November, FABTECH 2016, North America’s largest collaboration of technology, equipment and knowledge in the metalforming, fabricating, welding and finishing industries, welcomed to the Las Vegas Convention Center 1500 exhibit- ing companies and 31,000 attendees from more than 120 countries.
575,000 sq. ft., giving attendees the opportunity to see manufacturing’s latest innovations, interact one-on-one with key vendors and explore industry trends. Hun- dreds of live product demonstrations showcasing manufacturing’s most cut- ting-edge equipment and technologies took place daily on the exhibit floor, and MetalForming was there for it all. Here
Exhibit space spanned more than
Realtime Machine-Performance Communication
from Equipment to Human
At the Komatsu booth, MetalForming spied the Squeaks IIoT messaging plat- form from iGear, Louisville, KY, used to ‘squeak’ (think Tweet) real-time press performance, raw-material needs or assistance requests to human supervi- sors equipped with Apple watches. The same technology was on display on a robotic-welding system at the Genesis Systems Group booth.
company officials, and enables workers to respond quickly to broaden the understanding of an event root cause, and validate ownership and closure, with
IGear, a developer of supply-chain
and smart-manufacturing solutions,
showcased the Squeaks technology,
which ran live at each of the booths. In
practice, robotic systems and presses, along with other plant- floor machinery, squeak when raw material, such as welding wire, is running low or out; when help is needed—i.e., requests for engineering and maintenance support; to relay real-time performance information such as: strokes per minute, die height, tonnage, production target and pieces produced; to communicate operation modes—running, idle, faulted; and in instances of other critical alerts, such as die change, e-stops and robot collisions.
comes from a combination of generating insightful data from industrial equipment, and its ability to share this data among selected individuals, via mobile technology, to ensure clarity, ownership, accountability and interaction,” says Don Korfhage, IGear president and CEO. “When people and machines communicate as one and
Getting machines and robots to be team players and com- municate effectively with their human manufacturing-floor stewards is essential as the demand for industrial robots has accelerated considerably due to the ongoing trend toward automation and the continued innovative technical improvements in industrial robots, explain iGear officials.
Robots for Welding, Material Handling and More
Squeaks is a mobile-first industrial messaging app that facilitates rapid decision-making, and closed-loop collaboration, with machines as part of the conversation. It integrates messaging across machines and personnel, and enables algorithms, rules and analysis to be applied across multiple data environments to formulate insights and prescriptive actions. This keeps front- line workers and management in the know on events driven by both simple conditional alerts and complex event triggers, say
The FABTECH booth of ABB, Auburn Hills, MI, included more than a dozen robots and covered a range of applications, from arc, plasma and spot welding, to laser cutting, robotic gas-tung- sten-arc welding and material handling.
12 MetalForming/February 2017
www.metalformingmagazine.com
For more information on FABTECH 2017, taking place in Chicago, IL, Nov. 6-9, 2017, visit www.fabtechexpo.com.
timestamps.
“We believe the true power of IIoT messaging
in real-time, manufacturers benefit from: improved uptime and overall equipment effectiveness; Six-Sigma product quality resulting in less scrap and rework: lower operating costs (personnel, material management and flow, floor-space utilization); and continuous improvement and heightened
workforce engagement.
iGear: www.igearonline.com
Komatsu: www.komatsupress.com
Genesis Systems Group: www.genesis-systems.com
The centerpiece: a simulated material-handling and welding cell comprised of four ABB robots of differing sizes, reaches and payloads, highlighting the accurate coordination of complex motion patterns enabled by the MultiMove function of ABB’s IRC5 controller. Using a single controller, the MultiMove pro- gramming instructions moved all 20 robot axes in fully coordinated motion, allowing the robots to collaboratively work on the same