At IMTEX 2019, the global engineering company Renishaw will showcase a complete automation cell, demonstrating to manufacturers how intelligent process control is key to the operation of a successful smart factory. Additionally, the company will launch several new products to address the industry's need for automated process control. Renishaw will also showcase how it has taken the lead in additive manufacturing (AM).

 

Intelligent process control

By exhibiting a high-productivity machining cell, Renishaw will demonstrate how integrating smart factory process control can transform a machine shop's production capabilities, improving speed, ease-of-use and flexibility. The cell highlights how CNC machining operations can benefit from high levels of automation and connectivity and demonstrates process control techniques that Renishaw uses in its own factories for automated precision manufacturing.

 

Renishaw will demonstrate intelligent process control for larger parts, by exhibiting the Equator 500. The new, larger system enables the accurate gauging of larger parts due to a working volume of 500 mm in diameter and up to 400 mm in height, increasing the flexibility and range of applications for the Equator system. Accurate between 5 ºC and 50 ºC at any rate of temperature change, the system can achieve scanning speeds above 200 mm/s.

 

The new Equator 500 system is suited to applications such as the manufacture of car and truck transmissions, engine housings and drive train parts. Due to the introduction of Intelligent Process Control (IPC) software, manufacturers can automate process control and tool offset correction directly to CNC machines from any Equator gauge.

 

“IMTEX provides Renishaw with a global platform to launch several new products, as well as demonstrate many that are established,” explained Paul Weaver, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Renishaw in India. “For a manufacturer to remain competitive, they must be able to machine to close tolerances, provide parts for products with ever shorter lifecycles and adapt to changing consumer demands. Intelligent process control allows manufacturers to make checks and take measurements at all stages of the process to control variation.”

 

“By combining automation with measurement and feedback, process control can be achieved throughout manufacturing to improve part quality,” added Weaver. “Intelligent process control is a crucial part of the Industry 4.0 journey for companies in the metal cutting industry. Renishaw is a leader in automation for machine tool and will demonstrate to visitors a complete automation cell, so they can experience intelligent process control for themselves.”

 

Additive manufacturing productivity

Renishaw will have a separate additive manufacturing stand, where it will exhibit the four-laser RenAM 500Q. The machine significantly improves productivity, speeding up the process by up to four times in the most commonly used platform size, without any compromise on quality. Renishaw will also demonstrate its software for metal AM, including QuantAM build preparation software, remote process monitoring application, InfiniAM Central, and the InfiniAM Spectral application for the live feedback on energy input and emissions.

 

Increasing speed, without compromising on accuracy

The world's fastest workpiece set-up cycles on CNC machines are enabled by SupaScan and the latest OSP60 scanning probe, which will be on display at IMTEX. Exclusive to SupaScan, the QuickPoint macro cycle delivers market leading measurement speed. Differing from normal touch-trigger cycles because it measures using the analogue deflection of the OSP60 probe, SupaScan means there is no requirement to wait for the machine tool's trigger response – speeding up the process.

 

At IMTEX 2019, the company will also showcase a new version of SupaTouch, an intelligent optimisation routine as part of its Inspection Plus macro software for machine probing cycles, which leads to a cycle time reduction for CNC machine tools of up to 60 per cent. The updated software offers usability enhancements in the optimisation routing to give users full control of probing cycle feedrates.

 

Visitors to Renishaw's stand can experience the multi-sensor capability of the REVO 5-axis measurement system on co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs). The system offers a multi-sensor capability to provide touch-trigger, high-speed tactile scanning and non-contact vision measurement on a single CMM. Renishaw will also highlight the SFP2 surface finish probe, which increases the surface finish measurement ability of the REVO system, combining surface finish measurement and dimensional inspection into a single platform to give unrivalled advantages in time, part handling and return on investment.

 

Renishaw's new ultra-compact, highly repeatable radio probe, RMP400 will make its debut in India at IMTEX. Perfect for small 5-axis machine tools, particularly in mould and die and aerospace applications, the strain-gauge probe gives a reliable touch-trigger solution for part setting, feature measurement and machine performance checking.

 

Software suites

At the show, Renishaw will demonstrate the benefits of its new CARTO 3.0 software, which supports the XR20-W rotary axis calibrator to quickly capture and analyse data from rotary axes. This provides an easy-to-use and intuitive software solution for all Renishaw laser calibration products, reducing the calibration time of a 5-axis machine tool to several hours.

 

Visitors can learn more about Renishaw's popular smartphone apps including; GoProbe, which generates code for machine tool probing and the Trigger Logic app, which provides users with a simple way to customise their Renishaw probe settings.

 

Organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association (IMTMA), IMTEX is a flagship event for the metal cutting industry, showing technological advances from India and the rest of the world. IMTEX is hosted concurrently with Tooltech, where machine tool accessories, metrology and CAD/CAM cutting tools, tooling systems and current trends in the tooling industry will be on display.

 

Renishaw's technology provides manufacturers with measurement data to enable intelligent decision making, a crucial part of Industry 4.0. By providing equipment for machine calibration, on machine measurement, off-machine gauging and verification, Renishaw enables manufacturers to improve their processes and quality, while reducing CNC machine stoppages.