As an “Industrial mother machine”, machine tools are essential and key equipment for manufacturing enterprises. Today, with the continuous improvement of OEM and end users’ demands for machining accuracy, CNC systems have become the standard for high-end machine tools.
In the field of machine tool CNC system, Siemens has always held a pivotal position. Since 1960, many classic products released by it have been widely used in the industry.
In 2019, Siemens launched a new generation of “digital native” CNC system SINUMERIK ONE. Once released, it caused an unprecedented strong response from customers at home and abroad, and the orders were “hot” and even in short supply.
What’s behind the popularity of this product? To find out, CONTROL ENGINEERING China recently interviewed Duan Long, General Manager of Machine Tool CNC System Department, Motion Control Division, Digital Industry Group, Siemens China Co., Ltd.
Duan Long, General Manager of Machine Tool CNC System Department, Motion Control Division, Digital Industry Group, Siemens China Co., Ltd.
Manufacturing upgrades spawn higher-end CNC systems
Nowadays, under the wave of high-quality development of my country’s manufacturing industry, the requirements for processing accuracy in various downstream industries are increasing day by day. Duan Long said that the development trend of high-end and refinement of various products will inevitably promote the development of machine tools to high precision and intelligence. At the same time, the high-tech manufacturing industry represented by automobiles, energy equipment, aerospace, 3C, medical equipment and ships is ushering in a “golden age” of vigorous development, which also brings a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for machine tool iteration .
There is no doubt that at this stage, both machine tool manufacturers and end users are more and more eager to have a more powerful high-end CNC system. Taking the current rapidly developing new energy automobile industry as an example, with the continuous innovation of the manufacturing process, based on the consideration of the lightweight and safety of the car body, the overall die-casting has begun to replace the welding of the parts, which is very important for the machine tool to efficiently complete the complex and fine cutting. capabilities are in higher demand. It is foreseeable that if the future machine tools are not equipped with numerical control systems, or the system functions, flexibility and openness are lacking, it will be difficult to meet the needs of high-quality development of enterprises.
Looking at China, the machine tools used by most manufacturing companies are still dominated by 2-3 axes, and the level of numerical control is low. There is a lack of high-end product layout in key links such as numerical control devices, high-end tools, and spindles. Many high-precision machine tools still need Depends on imports. It is the industry’s strong demand for improving the efficiency, performance and precision of machine tools that paved the way for the subsequent advent and popularity of SINUMERIK ONE.
“Digital native” is born in response to the trend and rides on the trend
It is true that if a new product wants to gain a firm foothold in the market, reliable performance is the key. Indeed, compared with previous generations of products, SINUMERIK ONE has been significantly improved in terms of meeting the high demand for parts processing, the simplicity of system operation, or the convenience of maintenance and management. The secret to making SINUMERIK ONE orders “popular” lies in the advanced concept it presents to customers – “digital native”.
SINUMERIK ONE adds functions such as surface machining accuracy, dynamic load control, and position control
The so-called “digital native” means that with the help of SINUMERIK ONE, enterprises can easily apply advanced digital twin technology. The standard for defining a “digital native” system is whether it can achieve seamless interaction between virtual and reality. In this regard, Duan Long said that before the R&D and production of the SINUMERIK ONE hardware platform, R&D, design and optimization are carried out in a digital environment, and anything done in the virtual world can seamlessly interact with real devices.
In the process of actual use, SINUMERIK ONE can be used with various software, which makes it not only a one-stop software solution, but also a scene-driven innovative digital twin solution. Taking the software MyVirtual Machine as an example, all the presets made by the user in the software can be directly copied to the real machine without any adjustment. This not only lowers the digital application threshold for users, but also enables users to reduce trial and error costs and risks when faced with more new scenarios, and greatly shorten the launch cycle of machine tools.
SINUMERIK ONE significantly increases machine productivity and reliability
Of course, for an excellent machine tool CNC system, the accuracy, reliability and security of data has always been the primary concern of users. At the data collection level, combined with the production standard specifications and practical application requirements of enterprises, SINUMERIK ONE integrates its own powerful system functions and openness, as well as cutting-edge technologies such as industrial cloud and edge computing, and can carry out specific deployment of CNC machine tools. Distill and analyze the valid data needed.
In addition, in the process of data collection, SINUMERIK ONE will take different and complementary protection mechanisms and encryption measures. Duan Long said that Siemens can provide customers with multi-layer “defense-in-depth” software and hardware solutions. Through the “three-step” strategy of evaluation, implementation and continuous monitoring and optimization, it can effectively and comprehensively ensure the security of customer data, which also enables users to Enjoy the value of digital with greater peace of mind.
“Digital twin” Siemens’ trump card
If the leading concepts and functional upgrades mentioned above are the reasons why SINUMERIK ONE is so popular in the market, then the three “digital twins” are Siemens’ unique “trump card” for gaining users’ favor. In line with Siemens’ famous digital core value proposition, these three “digital twins” refer to the digital twins of design, process and production processes, which for the machine tool industry means virtual machine tools, machine tool machining and workshop production.
Siemens comprehensive digital twin solution
How can enterprises in the machine tool industry benefit from it? In the face of fierce market competition, being able to deliver machine tools faster and better is the top priority for OEM manufacturers. With the help of digital twin technology, enterprises can complete the simulation and verification from cutting to maintenance and fault diagnosis in advance in the digital world in the machine tool development stage. This can not only save the debugging cost of mature models and prolong the life cycle, but also improve the research and development efficiency of new models and reduce the cost of trial and error. The natural advantages of this kind of simulation verification based on the controller level are unmatched by traditional CAM simulation verification software.
For end-users of machine tools, with the help of digital twin software, enterprises can conduct trial cutting and proofing of parts without physical prototype and environment construction, which can significantly reduce the risk and cost of the processing process. In addition, both OEMs and users can use digital twins for personnel operation training. By simulating the operating environment, the risk of machine tool collisions caused by insufficient personnel experience can be greatly avoided. Duan Long said that in the post-service link, enterprises can also diagnose faults more flexibly and agilely, or make functional changes to machine tools, which can greatly save travel costs while improving customer satisfaction.
There is no doubt that the SINUMERIK ONE “digital native” CNC system launched by Siemens is providing a steady stream of core kinetic energy for the digital transformation of the machine tool industry. I think, based on the above, it is the reason behind the “digital native” CNC system SINUMERIK ONE’s “popularity” in the industry!
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