In focus: BERG Spanntechnik and smart products
05.11.2020
Industry 4.0 is no longer the topic of tomorrow. Rapid technological progress is boosting the demand for digital product solutions – also in the area of clamping technology. Three questions to our managing director Klaus Wehmeyer.
What potential does smart clamping technology hold?
Due to their perfect position close to the tool and workpiece, clamping systems are virtually predestined to monitor process-relevant parameters and to generate important data. A complete condition monitoring in connection with the analysis and visualization of the data leads to a more stable, good planned and controlled production. The result is an efficiency-optimized production process with consistently high workpiece quality and minimal downtimes. In a word, smart clamping technology enables securing and increasing productivity.
What challenges do clamping device manufacturers face in the development of intelligent clamping technology?
Collecting data is one thing. To evaluate and pass on the enormous amounts of data in a meaningful way is another. However, that’s not all in the long term. In future, I assume that intelligent clamping technology even has to be able to recognize disruptive factors in advance. Afterwards, it has to regulate them by networking with the machine control.
Machine manufacturers and users always want simple plug-and-produce solutions. This means that clamping device manufacturers, whose core business has been the development of mechanical clamping systems for years, have to deal with new fields of competence and technologies, e. g. embedded systems. This is a real task, especially for small and medium-sized companies.
Where does BERG Spanntechnik stand in the 4.0 quick check?
Definitively, we regard the digitization of industry as an opportunity to a further development of our existing product and service business. I strongly believe that the demand for smart products and the ability to collect, process and pass on data will increase seriously.
We are currently in the process of developing a product service management for digital solutions. At present, we focus on using intelligent, space-adapted sensor technology in combination with associated evaluation units. First product prototypes are already equipped with sensors and are successfully in use. This includes our tool clamp PSP 4.0 “Tool Assist” and our intelligent clamping heads of types SPM-SC or SPM-FC with their associated energy and data coupler.