Innovative solutions are the driving force for the continuous creation of added value. In this respect the cooperation between science and industry plays a central role. A good example is the cooperation of the research department technological planning and grinding technologies at the machine tool institute WZL at the RWTH Aachen university (Germany) with the Rösler Oberflächentechnik in the field of mass finishing.
The RWTH Aachen is one of the 11 German universities that are recognised as “universities of excellence”. For decades the machine tool institute, one of the largest and oldest establishments at the Aachen university, has been a globally recognised beacon for future-focused research in the field of manufacturing technologies. One reason for this success has been the close cooperation between the four academic sectors “measuring technologies in manufacturing”, “quality management”, “manufacturing systems” and “manufacturing and machine tool technologies” combined with a balanced mix of basic and practical research.
Marius Ohlert, project manager for grinding technologies in the field technology planning and grinding methods, that is integrated in the academic sector manufacturing technologies, comments: “Through the close cooperation with a variety of industrial companies we make sure that our research projects are based on industrial needs and that the results can be quickly transformed into practical results”.
The mass finishing technology is a widely used system for all kinds of surface refinement tasks such as deburring, edge radiusing, surface smoothing, polishing, descaling and de-rusting. Despite the importance of this technology for many industries most mass finishing processes are still based on the knowhow of experienced experts. Mr. Ohlert describes one research goal as follows: “With our basic research we want to achieve that mass finishing processes are knowledge-based, thus allowing a quicker, more efficient and goal-oriented process development. For this purpose, we study in detail the physical effects of the various mass finishing methods”.
The UNITED GRINDING Group, a manufacturer of precision machines for grinding, eroding, lasering, measuring, and combination machining, is presenting a revolutionary innovation at EMO 2021 in Milan: UNITED GRINDING C.O.R.E. Each of the Group’s brands – MÄGERLE, BLOHM, JUNG, STUDER, SCHAUDT, MIKROSA, WALTER, EWAG and IRPD – will be on hand to see the innovation presented to the public on the first day of the trade fair (October 4, 2021 at noon local time).
No details about C.O.R.E. are being divulged ahead of the official market launch. Stephan Nell, CEO of the UNITED GRINDING Group, is only willing to reveal this much: “We have invested unwaveringly in research and development both before and during the coronavirus pandemic, to secure the future – not just for us, but above all for our customers. And when we talk about the future, it is inseparably linked to digitalization today and with an increasing work simplification in production.” In this connection, C.O.R.E. is intended to put the focus back on people – and in a truly revolutionary way. The brand name says it all: C.O.R.E. – Customer Oriented REvolution.
Experts from each of the Group’s three technology areas – surface and profile grinding, cylindrical grinding, and tool machining – worked within a joint team on this groundbreaking development. “This project reflects our bundled development expertise,” explains Christoph Plüss, CTO of the UNITED GRINDING Group. “Through C.O.R.E., we are laying the foundations for a new generation of machine tools to pave the way into the digital age.” The result is a world-first that encompasses all of the Group’s brands and machine types.
The wide range of milling discs, special techniques when milling by hand, as well as the use with hand angle millers and in (partially) automated processes. The milling discs are available in the three different kinds “milling disc”, “double sided milling disc” and “doubleworker”, which aim different areas of application.
For all of those the following applies:
The surfaces processed with the discs are metallic bright, and therefore prevent cavities while welding. While working, the discs produce neither (unhealthy) dust nor heat, and thus no structural changes that come with heat. The amount of material removed and the fineness of the result depend on the toothing. The fewer teeth, the coarser the chips and the greater the amount of material removed. The more teeth a disc has, the finer the chips and the smoother the surface, but less material is removed. The specific toothing depends on the material to be machined and the disc size.
The discs can be used for the following tasks:
The milling disc gets used for bevelling, deburr and flatten as well as working out weld roots.
The double sided milling disc (DMD) is used to open weld roots, according to the literal translation of the German original description, that would be “weld root opener”. Due to the teeth geometry, it is not made for the tasks performed by a single sided milling disc.
The Doubleworker (DW) combines the scope of single and double sided milling discs, without the need to frequently change the tools. The teeth geometry of the double sided milling disc had been adjusted to resolve the problem of chips getting stuck in the chip chamber.
Maija-Frästechnik GmbH, founded in 2012, develops, produces and sells high-quality milling tools made of hard metal. The company owns the patent for milling discs, which was registered in 2000 by the later company founder.
Cognizant has agreed to acquire TQS Integration, a privately owned global industrial data and intelligence company. TQS delivers manufacturing data intelligence, global technology consulting and digital systems integration to help manufacturers accelerate their digital transformations.
TQS helps nine of the top 10 global life sciences companies enable Manufacturing 4.0. Cognizant, which previously strengthened its life sciences manufacturing capabilities with the 2019 acquisition of Zenith Technologies, will combine TQS’s expertise with its own to help clients transition to Industry 4.0 and expedite the production of life-changing medicines.
TQS expands Cognizant’s presence in Ireland, a hub for the world’s leading life sciences manufacturing experts and an ideal location for delivering Industry 4.0 consulting and services to European manufacturing clients.
Joe Haugh, VP of Cognizant Life Sciences Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group said:“TQS Integration are an exemplary, world-leading industrial data and intelligence company. Like Zenith Technologies, their business started out in Ireland and has grown to be a leading global player, driving excellence in the field of data management and utilisation. Building on their fundamental knowledge of data historian and data analytics, this acquisition will help strengthen and complement our services in Life Sciences Manufacturing and enable us to deliver a broader, end to end digital solution to the marketplace.”
Máire Quilty, corporate managing director, TQS said: “Our world-class team of data intelligence and technology consultants have built a tremendous track record in helping our life sciences manufacturing clients transform their businesses. Together with Cognizant, we look forward to broadening our impact to manufacturing clients in other industries who are looking to embrace Industry 4.0.”
As the pandemic continues to grip countries in Southeast Asia (SEA), more workers are expected to set-up their remote office environment, if not continue to work virtually. This trend keeps the population safer physically, but also open vulnerabilities against enterprises.
Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has detected and blocked 382,578 mobile attacks against users in SEA during the first half of 2021. This is a 14% increase compared with the same period last year with 336,680 incidents. The mobile attacks detected and blocked covers the general Kaspersky users from the region.
Even though the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been a trend before the pandemic, its uses has increased exponentially since 2020 as companies adapted their IT infrastructure for business continuity. This, in turn, increased employees’ role in a company’s network security.
A survey done by Kaspersky last year revealed that a little more than two-thirds of respondents are using a personal device to work from home. Aside from this, employees are also using their work gadgets for personal activities such as watching video and educational content, reading news, and playing video games.
Most interestingly, 33% of the 6,017 employees surveyed worldwide last year admitted to using their office devices to watch adult content, a type of content that is often targeted by cybercriminals.
“Laptops are the main workhorse but mobile devices have also been used to access office emails and work-related systems even before the pandemic. It is a risky but a known practice that these same handsets are also being utilised for personal tasks and accessing guilty pleasures. With this trend being more rampant in a virtual home office, companies should revisit their policies, access rights, and security set-up to block cybercriminals from entering their enterprise network through infected smartphones,” comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.
Mobile malware refers to malicious software specifically targeted to infect mobile devices including handsets, tablets, and other smart gadgets. While mobile malware hasn’t quite caught up to its PC counterparts in terms of volume or complexity, experts are seeing more mobile-specific malware designed to prey on smartphone features or tablet vulnerabilities.
In the continuing era of remote work, a mobile malware can steal individual’s personal data but also be a launchpad for a targeted attack against a users’ employer.
Since 2020, Kaspersky’s telemetry has been monitoring and blocking no less than a hundred thousand mobile malware attacks in SEA per quarter. The first three months of 2021 logged the highest number since last year with 205,995 detected incidents.
Indonesia logged the highest number of foiled mobile attacks from January 2020 to June 2021 followed by Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia also ranked 3rd in terms of mobile malware detected in the second quarter of the year. Russia and Ukraine took the first and second spot while India and Turkey landed in 4th and 5th place.
In terms of the percentage of users attacked by mobile malware, 4.42% users in Malaysia were targeted during the first half of the year, followed by Thailand (4.26%) and Indonesia (2.95%). Singapore is quite close with 2.83% of mobile users almost infected by this type of threat. The Philippines (2.27%) and Vietnam (1.13%) logged the lowest percent during this period.
The three most common mobile threats in SEA include:
Trojans – malicious programs that perform actions which are not authorized by the user. They delete, block, modify or copy data, and disrupt the performance of computers or computer networks.
Trojan-Downloader – downloads and installs new versions of malicious programs, including Trojans and AdWare on victim computers. Once downloaded from the Internet, the programs are launched or included on a list of programs which will run automatically when the operating system boots up.
Trojan-Dropper – programs that are designed to secretly install malicious programs built into their code to victim’s computers. This type of malicious program usually save a range of files to the victim’s drive, and launches them without any notification (or with fake notification of an archive error, an outdated operating system version, etc.).
“Both employees and CIOs in the region are embracing the current remote work and the future hybrid environment. It has its perks but its cybersecurity loopholes should be taken considerably. BYOD is here to stay and companies should take steps to beef up their defences. It is important to train their employees regularly, keep them informed about the latest threats online, and provide them with tools such as encrypted devices, endpoint protections and VPN. Most importantly, build a culture of trust and shared responsibility towards enterprise security,” adds Yeo.
Kaspersky experts also suggest the following tips for enterprises to better protect their networks and devices against cybercriminals:
Ensure your employees have all they need to securely work from home and know who to contact if they face an IT or security issue.
Schedule basic security awareness training for your employees. This can be done online and cover essential practices, such as account and password management, email security, endpoint security and web browsing. Kaspersky and Area9 Lyceum have prepared a free course to help staff work safely from home.
Take key data protection measures including switching on password protection, encrypting work devices and ensuring data is backed up.
Ensure devices, software, applications and services are kept updated with the latest patches.
Install proven protection software, such as Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud, on all endpoints, including mobile devices, and switch on firewalls.
Ensure you have access to the latest threat intelligence to bolster your protection solution.
Double-check the protection available on mobile devices. For example, it should enable anti-theft capabilities such as remote device location, locking and wiping of data, screen locking, passwords and biometric security features like Face ID or Touch ID, as well as enable application controls to ensure only approved applications are used by employees.
While there is a lot of responsibility on employers to keep corporate devices and networks secure, Kaspersky is also offering the following recommendations for consumers and workers during their time at home:
Ensure your router supports and works smoothly when transmitting Wi-Fi to several devices simultaneously, even when multiple workers are online and there is heavy traffic (as is the case when using video conferencing).
Regularly update your router to avoid potential security issues.
Set up strong passwords for your router and Wi-Fi network.
If you can, only do work on devices provided by your employer. Putting corporate information on your personal devices could lead to potential security and confidentiality issues.
Do not share your work account details with anybody else, even if it seems a good idea at the time.
Always feel able to speak to your employer’s IT or IT security team if you have any concerns or issues while working from home.
Follow the rules of cyber hygiene: use strong passwords for all accounts, do not open suspicious links from emails and IMs, never install software from third-party markets, be alert and use reliable security solution.
Mould and die machine manufacturers in Taiwan are firming up their solutions and technologies in preparation for the anticipated strong demand in line with the global manufacturing recovery.
The mould and die industry is a good indicator of the overall health of the global manufacturing sector, as it serves multiple industrial markets—from the aerospace to automotive, to the home appliances, electronics, and food and beverage, to name a few. For example, one of the biggest mould and die markets is the automotive manufacturing industry. Each car requires 1,700 sets of stamping die, 500 sets of plastic injection mould, and 1,000 sets of casting mould.
The global mould and die market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% from 2019 to 2025, according to Infinium Global Research. Mainly driving this growth is the implementation of automation in the die casting process, and the benefits offered by dies and moulds such as increased efficiency, enhanced flexibility and enhanced precision—which are, in turn, propelling the sector’s increasing adoption in the manufacturing industry.
One of the leading providers of machineries for the mould and die industry is Taiwan. Over the past six decades, the country’s mould and die industry has been a key sector that has made a critical impact on the development and expansion of its technology industries.
According to The Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, the total export value of Taiwan’s machine tools reached US$1.27 billion in the first half of 2021, up by 14.4% compared with the same period last year.
In terms of exports, mainland China continues to be the top destination for Taiwan’s machine tools, with an export value of US$443.85 million, or 34.9% of total exports in the first half of 2021. The United States came in at second, followed by Turkey, Russia, and India. Thailand ranked sixth, with an export value of US$44.83 million. Vietnam ranked seventh, with export value of US$44.68 million, followed by Malaysia, with export value of 32.57 million. Rounding of the top 10 export destinations are Netherlands and Japan.
Taiwan’s machine tool exports is expected to grow by 15–20% yearon-year in 2021 amid the continuing recovery of the automotive industry, the slowdown of the pandemic situation due to continuing vaccination drives, and the opening up of more markets.
To strengthen Taiwan’s position in the global machine tools supply chain, the government is encouraging manufacturers to take advantage of the country’s technology knowhow to support the trend towards automation, smarter manufacturing, and digitalisation, as the global manufacturing industry recovers from the impact of the pandemic over the past year.
The following are some of Taiwan’s key mould and die machine manufacturers that are creating more advanced machineries and solutions to help manufacturers address issues such as fluctuating raw material costs, automation, and ramping up of capacities to address the anticipated demand growth, driven by industries including electric vehicles (EV), electronics, and medical equipment.
Kao Ming Machinery Industrial Co. Ltd (KMC)
Founded in 1968, Kao Ming Machinery Industrial Co. Ltd (KMC) is a leader in gantry type processing centre in Taiwan. With 53 years of experience, KMC provides their services across Asia, Europe and America at over 200 local service centres with more than 40 global agents.
While the ongoing pandemic has impacted the mould and die industry, KMC continues to provide support for its customers through adapting and innovating, bringing hope for its customers. Not only has the company lowered costs by introducing a one-flow manufacturing process, which cuts down processing time by four times, but it also connected with their customers via online social platforms and conducted virtual workshops to help manufacturers in need.
KMC machines are equipped with a wide variety of head attachments for multifunctional manufacturing purposes. “The essence of our machines are diversity and flexibility,” highlights Chiang. They serve a wide range of applications and industries including the aerospace and automotive industries. For example, the KMC-G Series gantry type machining centre is designed and engineered for heavy cutting capacity and high efficiency machining for large workpieces in these industries.
“The key considerations to investing in a machine includes speed of the machine, rigidity, precision, and quality. At KMC, we pride ourselves with prioritising and understanding our customers wants and needs—and providing the best service and experience for them,” concludes Chiang.
Ying-Han Technology (YLM)
Founded in 1987, Ying Han Technology Co. Ltd (YLM) has been one of the leading suppliers of advanced solutions for the metal tube forming industries, as well as in the manufacture of machine tool accessories and CNC machines. The company went public in 2017 and has grown to 400 employees across the world.
“Our motto is: provide immediate and reliable sales and technical services to customers,” said Tsai. With branch offices and a service network across the globe, YLM commits to technical developments and reliable services.
During these unprecedented times, YLM’s non-stop 24 hours global service is providing real-time difference, especially for rapidly changing industries. And in the future, YLM’s machines, combined with intelligent components and sensors, will feature capabilities such as self-processing accuracy, automatic parameter adjustment, and maintenance reminders, and help customers eliminate processing problems, reduce manpower maintenance cost, and achieve global uninterrupted operation.
For the medical industry, multi-cavity moulds require high precision accuracy and high dependence on the equipment. YLM ensures that the maximum error is in range to maintain accuracy and quality in mould manufacturing.
The company’s horizontal machining centres are helping automotive part manufacturers in their challenges. For one, the YMH630/800 has dual worktables to make the clamping method more flexible and can be used in unmanned automatic continuous processing.
Jainnher Machine Co. Ltd
Established in 1982, Jainnher Machine Co. Ltd is one of the leading manufacturers of highprecision grinding machines in Taiwan. For almost 40 years, the company has developed a complete machine series to cater to the many different grinding requirements in industries ranging from aerospace, automotive, bicycle, and other transportation industry, cutting tools, and medical parts.
Around half of Jainnher’s clients are automotive parts manufacturers, for which the company provides cost effective and more-advanced automated systems. While the company designs its machines inhouse, it also helps customers build automated equipment for mass production, based on their requirements and budgets. According to Export Manager William Lee, customers’ requirements—in almost every industry—are mostly focused on accuracy and grinding speeds. Either way, the company can provide solutions for both needs.
“It also depends on the workpiece type, as some parts need CNC machining,” said Lee. He noted that the company provides finishing services as a way of adding value to the service.
Jainnher went online to help customers address issues such as machine installation or troubleshooting and repair during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee said they had to develop new ways to address their customers’ problems.
Jainnher usually delivers in just four months. Now, it may need to add two more months because of the delays in parts. Which is why, if customers want a machine, they should book it now. “Raw material and shipping costs increase every day. If customers need a machine, they should order immediately,” Lee concluded.
Sigma CNC Technology Machinery Co. Ltd
Established in 2000, Sigma CNC Technology Machinery Co. Ltd manufactures CNC machining centres and custom grinding machines. It has 16 patents for CNC double column machining centres and eight patents for custom CNC grinding machines. Its products are sold to more than 30 countries through its more than 40 sales locations worldwide.
According to Daniel Chuang, Marketing Director, most machining companies in Southeast Asia lean towards vertical machining centres (VMCs) as compared to double-column machining centres, especially when it comes to motorcycle parts manufacturing in Vietnam and Indonesia. He also noted that some parts makers are moving from Thailand to Vietnam.
One future trend he is seeing is the need for spatial grinding machines, which Sigma has been selling to HIWIN and THK for 10 years now. “Five years ago, some Korean and Chinese manufacturers wanted to buy this machine because they want to manufacture linear guide inhouse to lower the cost,” said Chuang. “We even have customers from the UK who are building linear guides to be sold locally.” He said linear guides are expensive because they are high-precision components.
“We believe machine makers in Southeast Asia will want to manufacture their own linear guides,” Chuang said. “Just like in India, manufacturers are building machines domestically—therefore, this key component is very important for them. Which is why we want to promote spatial grinding machines.”
Because Sigma manufactures double-column machines, delivery to customers require disassembly for the machine to fit the containers, and assembly on the customer side. Amidst the movement restrictions due to the current pandemic, Sigma has been creating video tutorials on how to reassemble the machine to help customers, as well as train them on repairs. Its local agents help customers online or by providing video trainings as well.
Ready for Recovery
The pandemic has significantly upended the global manufacturing industry—and manufacturers now are realising the importance of upgrading their systems to smarter solutions. Answering this need are Taiwan’s machine tool makers who can provide precision components, digitally controlled machine tools, automation equipment, and smart controlling systems.
Taiwan companies have long been supplying machineries to manufacturers in the ASEAN region. The government’s thrust toward developing a much deeper cooperation with the industry in Southeast Asia, and a potentially new global supply chain pattern emerging post-pandemic, are expected to open up more opportunities for manufacturing cooperation between the ASEAN region and Taiwan.
Darktrace has announced that its Antigena ‘machine fights back’ technology has autonomously responded to an increasing number of attacks on cloud and collaboration applications this year. The company reports a 50% increase in AI actions taken during the first half of 2021 compared to the latter half of 2020, to thwart attacks on business-critical Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), collaboration and video conferencing applications hosted in the cloud.
Powered by Self-Learning AI, Darktrace’s Antigena technology is capable of taking precise and proportionate actions at machine speed to mitigate in-progress attacks across any SaaS application, without disrupting the business. With an in-depth understanding of the behavior of users across multiple environments, including Microsoft 365, Teams, Salesforce, Zoom, Slack, and Google Workspace, the technology protects users from both known and novel attacks, such as account takeovers, insider threat, data theft, and impersonation attacks.
In addition, Darktrace for SaaS now incorporates a context gathering capability for Microsoft 365 users, displaying contextual information about the user including their groups, assigned roles and licenses. This data on user’s roles within SaaS environments is fed back into Self-Learning AI for enhanced threat detection, and can also be used to escalate autonomous responses.
“AI has been profound in highlighting threats that we may not have seen otherwise, and Autonomous Response acts across all of our data and applications,” said Jenny Moshea, CIO at Sellen Construction, a US Pacific Northwest construction company. “It buys us back time we wouldn’t have had otherwise, and helps us sleep better at night knowing all of our infrastructure across our cloud, SaaS, and Microsoft Suite is being kept safe.”
“The adoption of virtual collaboration tools and SaaS applications continues to rise, and is one of the key trends in Enterprise technology still,” says Dave Palmer, Chief Product Officer, Darktrace. “These platforms not only allow quick team calls or simple ways of sharing data, but are used by everyone from governments to global banks, and now house confidential conversations and critical data. This sharp rise in attacks demonstrates why organisations need Self-Learning AI to autonomously detect, investigate and respond to threats everywhere to secure the modern workforce.
German Edge Cloud (GEC), which specialises in edge and cloud systems, is cooperating with Schuler, a machine and plant building company. In this context, Schuler is offering a track-and-trace solution for press plants within the Digital Suite, based on technology from German Edge Cloud. The Schuler Digital Suite with the “track-and-trace application powered by GEC” is being used, among other things, in the Smart Press Shop, a joint venture between Schuler and Porsche.
The ability to trace components, driven by the automotive and aircraft industries, is rapidly gaining in importance. Through their cooperation, Schuler and German Edge Cloud are combining expertise in forming technology with skills in edge and cloud technology to achieve greater transparency and networking in production and across the entire value chain. This joint solution is already being employed in a pilot project: Smart Press Shop GmbH & Co KG, a joint venture between Porsche and Schuler with a fully networked press shop in Halle an der Saale, Germany, which is being used for the flexible production of body parts for Porsche and other producers.
“With our data-driven press shop and the associated Schuler Digital Suite track-and-trace system, we are responding to our customers’ call for easy-to-use total solutions,” explains Domenico Iacovelli, the Schuler Group’s CEO. As a companion on the path to digitalisation, the company is thus ensuring complete transparency in production: “In the event of any product recalls, for example, the entire supply chain can be traced – without any gaps – and the cause of the fault can be quickly identified.”
GEC supplied a central software module for the track-and-trace system while Schuler is also developing additional modules based on the “user-centred design” approach. The front end can be run on various mobile devices. This allows the two companies to optimally pool their resources.
“Both Schuler and the Friedhelm Loh Group with German Edge Cloud are driving innovation in industrial SMEs,” says Professor Friedhelm Loh, owner and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group. “Together, we are now combining state-of-the-art press technology with future-oriented edge and cloud expertise from a single source to achieve added value for our customers.”
Track-and-trace meets edge cloud appliance
German Edge Cloud brings its many years of expertise in the development and project planning of integration projects in manufacturing to the new collaboration and future-oriented industrial solutions based on Premise Edge ONCITE. One key benefit for users is full data ownership and sovereignty so that expertise and critical production data remain in the right hands. Furthermore, the track-and-trace system is compatible with the public clouds of major OEMs as well as hybrid clouds, such as the private Schuler Cloud.
Complete proof of quality
The joint solution from Schuler and German Edge Cloud is designed for complete production traceability. One key component is a track-and-trace system that guarantees full traceability within production processes, based on consistent data.
The track-and-trace system provides quality data and it enables continuous production status queries and full transparency of the current production process, among other things. Furthermore, parts can be identified rapidly in the event of a fault.
The scalable “Track & Trace powered by GEC” solution, which runs on Schuler systems and other presses, results in specific added value in quality, scalability, cost efficiency, and transparency during production. In the first stage, the application enables traceability. In the future, it is also to be designed for connection to such overarching systems and programs as SAP ERP and it will form the basis for artificial intelligence (AI) for production optimisation.
Implementation on a greenfield site: the “smart press shop”
The joint track-and-trace solution from Schuler and German Edge Cloud is already being tested in the Smart Press Shop, an intelligent, fully networked press shop for the flexible production of car body parts. The plant was built on a 13-hectare site in Halle an der Saale and started operation this June.
The project aims to raise to a new level the production efficiency and digitalisation of important process stages in automotive production for forming technology. In addition, shorter logistics routes reduce production-related carbon emissions and will, eventually, permit a “zero impact factory”. Parts are pressed and assemblies are manufactured for Porsche and other brands of the Volkswagen Group in the Smart Press Shop. Other OEMs are expected to follow suit.
Seco Tools has expanded its portfolio of digital services in collaboration with online Lean management training platform 7-Shapes and Automated Process Control (APC) software provider Ellistat.
Seco Tools leverages more than eight decades of manufacturing experience to address issues beyond the cutting tool. In collaboration with partners who are leaders and experts in their respective fields, Seco ensures that customers can access the best solutions to challenges on their journey to operational excellence.
These partnerships enrich the Seco portfolio in employee training and machine setup, major concerns for customers who face labour shortages and the skills gap. “This is the next step in a customer centric approach,” said Helga Dekempeneer, Director of Seco Manufacturing Transformation. “Our educational process focuses on machining itself and the physics and economics related with it, so these partnerships complement what we offer.”
The 7-Shapes online training platform offers 24/7 access to Lean management courses for operators, managers and engineers, with courses ranging from White Belt to Green Belt. Trainees test theoretical knowledge through a game-like interactive simulation of a virtual factory.
“This partnership is a great opportunity to offer Seco customers a whole new way to learn about operational excellence,” said Julien Charles, CEO of 7-Shapes. “We share the same vision: Whether you are an operator, a manager, or an engineer, your contribution is important, and you must have all the tools in hand to give your best.”
One-step machine-tool setup with precise process control
Ellistat provides APC software for one-step machine setup with greater precision than traditional SPC or manual methods. APC limits process drift, and the system learns from its corrections to improve over time. With complete integration into the digital chain, the system compares data from a measuring machine with a corresponding 3D part file, calculates corrections and feeds them back into the machining centre.
Davy Pillet, CEO of Ellistat, stated that “We are very pleased to develop this partnership with Seco, combining the best of both worlds – knowledge of physical cutting tools and expertise with digital tools such as machine learning – to automate critical processes.”
According to a survey conduct by PwC’s Vietnam Digital Readiness report shows that 89% of local respondents believe automation will bring more opportunities thank job risk. While the Industry 4.0 transformation was brought up by Germany in 2015 and expected to take more than a decade to be commonly adopted, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly pushed the schedule much forward.
As temporarily lockdown and diversion to work method are being conducted at all places, factories in ASEAN are expressing a much interest to transform their factories to allow more flexibility on production in the midst of pandemic which is bringing more uncertainty to labor working schedule. “Over 84% would learn new skills now or completely retrain in order to improve on their future employability” shared by PwC.
Taiwan, a place gathered with compact electronics and metalworking machinery supply, is also experiencing more digitization at the level that was never seen before the pandemic, including from smart monitoring system on machine tools, predictive maintenance, automatic storage system. The 6 speakers will include the machine tools total solution expert-FFG, smart stamping solution provider-Chin Fong, conveying and smart machine component supplier-Toyo, robotics expert-HIWIN, Logistic and AS/RS planner-iAmech, and smart IIoT solution-Delta.
On 8/13 webinar, these 6 speakers will not only deliver their ideas on manufacturing automation, but they have prepared some great case studies focusing on how digitization has been transforming the Vietnam local electronics production.
Smart Factory Components & Conveying:
Take Your Production to the Next Level with Smarter Manufacturing Solutions Stanley Yeh, Vice General Manager
Toyo Automation Co., Ltd.
https://www.toyorobot.com/
14:35-14:45
Robotics & Automation Components:
HIWIN-Your Best Partner for Smart Manufacturing Simon Liao, Manager
HIWIN Technology Corp.
https://www.hiwin.tw/
14:45-14:55
IIoT Total Solution:
Smart Factory-IIOT Application for SME Ernest Pan, Project Manager
Delta Electronics (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
https://www.deltaww.com/en-US/index
