An integral part of the Pfronten open house is the annual press conference and this year things were a little different. DMG Mori president Masahiko Mori usually attends in person, chairing the conference with fellow Executive Board member Christian Thönes, but this time he made a ‘virtual’ appearance, via satellite video link live from Japan.
Dr Mori emphasised DMG Mori’s significant worldwide presence with 165 sales and service locations in 76 countries, 14 production plants and nearly 12,500 employees. For greater operational efficiency, he advised that the company had recently realigned its worldwide sales and service structure: since January, DMG Mori Aktiengesellschaft, with its headquarters in Bielefeld, Germany had assumed responsibility for markets in Germany, EMEA, India and China; whilst DMG Mori Company Limited, based in Tokyo, Japan was responsible for its home market, the USA, Korea, the ASEAN region and the Americas.
As part of the rationalisation process, Dr Mori announced that three facilities are to close: the Dixi factory in Le Locle, Switzerland with technology being transferred to Pfronten and Iga, Japan; the Chiba plant in Japan which will also be absorbed into the Iga factory; and the Shanghai facility in China. He also advised that the Tobler factory in Louvres, France is no longer under DMG Mori ownership.
Despite a challenging market environment, business held up well in 2016 for DMG Mori. An order intake of €2,369.9 million signified a new record high, although sales revenues of €2,265.7 million were slightly below the previous year (€2,304.7 million).
“I believe the 2017 open house will be the best yet,” declared Christian Thönes during his presentation at the press conference. “This year we’ve focused less on introducing new machines and concentrated more on automation, Industry 4.0 and the digital factory.”
This was reinforced by the eight broad subject areas that made up the focus of the open house: machine world premieres; Celos; Technology Cycles/Powertools; Digitalisation; Automation; Additive Manufacturing; Technology Excellence; and Service Excellence.
Less but more
A DMG Mori Pfronten open house simply wouldn’t be the same without new machine introductions and despite the shift in emphasis, three world premieres were unveiled at the event.
DMU 50 third generation
The DMU 50 combines more than 20 years’ experience, proven technology and low investment costs and the new third generation model adds even more capability in five-sided, 5-axis simultaneous machining with an extended swivel range, more powerful SpeedMASTER spindle as standard and innovative cooling technology.
With the latest incarnation, DMG Mori has combined a modern design with user-friendly operation. The large 876mm wide smooth opening door enables unrestricted access to the machine even when automated systems are used and the table has an ergonomic loading height of 800mm.
Travel paths of 650mm x 520mm x 475mm and the capability to accommodate workpiece weights of up to 300kg means the DMU 50 can process a wide range of components and it’s new NC swivel rotary table with an enlarged swivel range of -35°/+110° boosts this versatility.
Rapid traverse of 42m/minute and 30rpm in the swivel rotary axis provide the dynamics necessary for effective five-sided/5-axis simultaneous machining. Motor spindles up to 20,00rpm are available as well as an option for an expanded tool magazine with up to 120 pockets. There are 30 tool pockets in the standard version.
A one-piece machine bed, integral cooling of guides, drives and table bearings, direct drive ballscrews and direct path measuring systems in all five axes round off the machine’s high specification.
A 21.5 inch ERGOline with Celos and Siemens 840D solutionline or a 19 inch ERGOline with Heidenhain TNC 640 are available as control options. Automation options include workpiece and pallet handling systems.
CLX 350
With a footprint of less than 5m2, the second world premiere showcased at the open house was the CLX 350 universal lathe which can accommodate bar material diameters of 51mm as standard with 65mm available as an option.
The maximum turning diameter of the CLX 350 is 320mm with travel paths of 242.5mm in the X-axis and 530mm in Z. The VDI 30 turret has space for twelve tools – powered as an option. With a speed of 5,000rpm the dynamic spindle can machine complex, high quality components and the labyrinth structure and air cooling prevent the penetration of coolant resulting in high levels of productivity and a long-life cycle. The replacement cartridge means the spindle can be changed quickly and simply, even during servicing.
Through its Siemens 19-inch multi-touch control, the ergonomic CLX 350 offers users rapid operation in a compact package. In addition, the new 19 inch DMG Mori SLIMline multi-touch control plus software solutions such as ShopTurn for fast, simple and error-free programming on the machine and advanced simulation possibilities, round off the offer. What’s more, DMG Mori technology cycles, including Easy Tool Monitoring, make working with the CLX 350 even easier.
Lasertec 75 Shape
Enabling complex laser texturing from a compact footprint machine, the Lasertec 75 Shape was the third world premiere on display.
Laser texturing of geometrically defined surface structures, such as those found on the fittings of cars or electronic housings, is more environmentally-friendly than conventional etching, offering freedom of design and optimum repeat accuracy. The compact (8m² footprint) Lasertec 75 Shape joins the ranks of DMG Mori’s laser texturing portfolio and is equipped with a 100W fibre laser and the Celos machine interface.
Its ergonomic design with a door opening width dimension of 1,310mm ensures convenient access to the generously dimensioned work area, which offers ample space for workpieces weighing up to 600kg (1,000kg with the optional tandem drive), diameters up to 840mm and heights of 520mm. It has travel paths of 750mm x 650mm x 560mm in the X-, Y- and Z-axes.
The core of the machine is the 100W pulsed fibre laser and 3D processing optics with an F-Theta lens. The laser provides the power for efficient layer-by-layer 3D laser material ablation and, in combination with the NC swivel rotary table, offers contour-parallel laser shaping for rapid, trouble-free laser texturing, even in 3D free form areas.
From a control perspective, the Lasertec 75 Shape utilises the Siemens 840 D solutionline, which when combined with DMG Mori’s Celos interface enables complete integration into a company’s production system. User-friendly and application-specific Lasersoft software is also included.
The digital domain
Underpinning the Pfronten open house this year was DMG Mori’s Smart Factory and Industry 4.0 technology, supporting customers via software through every process step.
DMG Mori is expanding its digitalisation drive through new Celos solutions, exclusive technology cycles and powertools as well as start-up methodologies for digital production. The trend towards networking machines, products and services to form digital process chains is relentless. Consequently, sensors and software are becoming vital, particularly in the machine tool industry. DMG Mori’s primary objective is to offer added value for customers, supporting them in the early stages of their digitalisation process through to full implementation if required.
This is demonstrated via 26 exclusive DMG Mori technology cycles for rapid and simple shopfloor programming as well as new Powertools for the automatic creation of programs. Similarly, the company is reinforcing its app-based control and operating system, Celos with the addition of new, targeted applications and solution packages.
The Celos interface is integral to DMG Mori’s digitalisation plans. More than 100 machines in the company’s portfolio already ‘speak’ Celos and the number is rising. Customers operating in a wide variety of industries can monitor, analyse and optimise the processes in their Celos machine via app-based operation. There are now 26 Celos apps.
Sequences in the machine environment can also be continuously controlled, monitored and organised with Celos Manufacturing Solutions, and also, through standardised communications interfaces, Celos users are guaranteed compliance and compatibility with existing and future IT and manufacturing systems.
In accordance with this classification, DMG Mori’s spectrum of digital products and services is orientated towards three top level stages of factory automation: Celos Machine; Celos Manufacturing – enabling intelligent workflow; and Digital Factory – the wider production environment.
Perfect partners
To assist with this element of its business, DMG Mori has acquired an interest in start-up company ISTOS (Innovative Software Technologies for Open Solutions) based in Düsseldorf. ISTOS will be developing digital projects for DMG Mori, its customers, partners and suppliers.
In collaboration with DMG Mori Software Solutions GmbH, ISTOS will also be supporting customers with fully integrated digitalisation systems. The first specific products and solution approaches are expected to be presented at EMO later in the year.
“We have an 85% stake in the company and ISTOS will assist us with the wider aspects of digitalisation and data management that don’t run directly on the machine,” Mr Thönes explains. “We’re very pleased about the partnership; for our customers, ISTOS will be the connecting link from an open network across all machines to an integrated digital factory.”
Of course, automation goes hand in hand with digitalisation and this, not surprisingly, was a key feature at the open house where two systems were showcased – the LPP (Linear Pallet Pool) and Robo2Go.
The former is an automation solution designed to connect NHX 5000 and DMC 60 H linear HMCs together with the LPP system effectively keeping the two horizontal machining centres fed with workpieces. The LPP 24 system shown in Pfronten provides a total of 24 pallet spaces on two levels but because it’s a modular arrangement, this is optionally upscaleable to 99 spaces.
Robo2Go is a mobile automation system introduced by DMG Mori specifically for turning centres. Controlled via Celos, it can be used with up to four machines.
It all adds up
DMG Mori continues to develop its additive manufacturing technology and a recent announcement that it now has a 50.1% majority shareholding in Realizer GmbH based in Borchen, Germany will strengthen its offering.
DMG Mori already has extensive know-how in the field of laser deposit welding with powder nozzles through Sauer GmbH and now, through Realizer, it will have access to Selective Laser Melting (SLM). In this process, the material is applied in powder form in very thin layers and melted by laser.
As a pioneer of the powder bed process, Realizer has consistently developed SLM technology over a 20-year period, elevating it to mass production levels. In future, development and assembly will take place in Borchen and at DMG Mori in Bielefeld. The two leading production technologies enable complex, metallic components to be produced from powder.
DMG Mori www.uk.dmgmori.com
