Page 28 - MetalForming April 2017

Innovation and
Lean Service–
A Fabricator’s Guide to Independence
New solutions to quicken equipment-maintenance response times and improve machine diagnostics promise to improve service efficiency and support lean manufacturing. An example with laser-cutting operations: integrated sensors within the slat cleaner to notify users when maintenance is required.
BY ALEXANDER KUNZ
Remote service technology leverages mobile communication between the tech- nician and the technical-service professional. Via hands-free “smart” glasses worn by the technician, he can share live, annotated images and videos (top screen of the photo to the right), engage in dialogue, and receive instruction.
Service is a valuable component of business, particularly when it relates to the add-on or after- sales services required once a machine has been installed. Machine-tool providers understand the value of keeping services to a minimum while providing superior performance. Such services enable sheetmetal fabricators to best maintain a fleet of fabricating equipment that runs with maximum uptime at minimum cost. To that end, machine-tool suppliers strive to pro- vide highly productive solutions, rather than just pieces of equipment that per- form a function.
Since fabricators rely on service to keep their machine tools operating at peak performance, the quality and breadth of these support services have become critically important and often a differentiating factor. This includes the training of service technicians and
Alexander Kunz is group manager— TruServices at Trumpf Inc., Farmington, CT: 734/454-7200, www.trumpf.com.
26 MetalForming/April 2017
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