Siemens shines at IMTS 2018

The digitalization experience in the world of machine tools  

How can users and manufacturers of machine tools tap into the new potential offered by digitalization? Siemens provided exciting answers to this question at the International Manufacturing Technology Show.

In a space of more than 7,000sqft and under the motto “Digitalization in Machine Tool Manufacturing,” Siemens presented end-to-end showcases that demonstrated how the  digital thread is woven through the digital machine shop advancing productivity and efficiency in part manufacturing with machine tools, robots and additive manufacturing technologies.

With thousands of visitors and hundreds of exhibitors, IMTS 2018  set a new record. Never before have so many attendees been at the International Manufacturing Technology Show.

The latest digitalization solutions are opening up innovative potential to help maximize production productivity. The integrated, consistent, and open offering of various digitalization platforms from Siemens provides the technical basis for these digitalization solutions.

Innovations for the digital machine shop  

The digitization offering for machine users covers the entire value chain, from part design and production planning to engineering, the actual production, and digital service. With this comprehensive approach, Siemens is the only company that can consistently map the actual process chain of the machine operator in the virtual world as a digital twin.

During the development process of a drone and its injection molding tooling, we explain the topic of digitalization to machine users: from the design process with NX CAD/CAE/CAM, NX mold design to production planning and implementation, to services.

Especially for the machine tool industry, Siemens groups its digitalization portfolio into the CNC Shopfloor Management Software. CNC Shopfloor Management Software includes applications that are based on a graduated IT infrastructure and offer tailored functionalities for engineering and production – from machine-oriented solutions with SINUMERIK to the cloud-based, open IoT operating system MindSphere.

Digitalization in machine building  

With this unique offering, Siemens presented how companies in the machinery industry can use digitization to significantly increase flexibility and efficiency in design, engineering, simulation and production to significantly reduce their development and market launch times, and thus further consolidate and expand their competitiveness in global markets.

Following the development process of a machine tool and it’s components, we explained the topic of digitalization to machine builders: from the design process, to engineering, virtual commissioning, virtual machining through services.

Innovative technologies like additive manufacturing and robotic machining increase the attractiveness of this use case. To be able to quickly and flexibly respond to market and customer requirements, machine builders are increasingly developing new machines in virtual environments and in parallel. The precondition to achieve this is the consequential use of all the possibilities offered by digitalization – from the first idea up to commissioning the finished machine.

Digitalization in additive manufacturing  

The manufacturing industry is changing.  Additive Manufacturing (AM) allows for revolutionary products and totally new business models. But an industrialized implementation comes with high demands, such as quality, stability, reproducability, traceability and security.  There was a lot of interest in Siemens’ breadth of solution for manufacturing at IMTS 2018.  Our ability to talk about enterprise level Design, CAM, CAE, and AM software, plus hardware was something that few other companies can match.

Our partner Identify 3D got quite a bit of interest as the security of the digital thread is something that many companies are beginning to take seriously.

It was great to talk with various companies, some of which are already customers, and some of which are not yet customers about our end-to-end additive manufacturing solution.

The example parts we printed in collaboration with EOS were very well received.  The technique of using the support structures as a fixture for later CAM operations is a unique idea and sparked many good conversations about the possibilities of AM and the importance of an additive manufacturing mindset during design.

Please enter a comment below if you’d like more information about solutions presented during IMTS 2018.

Enjoy a few more pictures featuring our presence at IMTS 2018.