Business Situation

The customer is a supplier of CNC bending machines to the top automotive companies in Japan. The end customers or their suppliers use the metal bending machines to make complex and accurate bends needed for a variety of departments within the company.

The bend parameter for any specific job is set and then a batch processing is done. In certain cases of bending, the machine operation can cause the work piece to collide with the machine parts resulting in wastage of material. In such cases the operator has to manually try out various sequences of machine movements to avoid collision resulting in increased setup time. Usually this could result in some undesired effects such as:

• Wastage of materials
• Increased setup time
• Frustration of the operator

In addition to the above, the success of the manual setting depends a lot on the experience of the operator. TA was approached by the customer to suggest and implement a solution to address the above situation

Solution

TA's solution was to develop a 3D simulation software for the customer. The machine operator can use the simulation software to run the machine operation sequence before actually loading the work piece on the machine.

The simulator simulates the movements of the machine in details. It detects any collision that can happen during the process. It also makes corrections in the sequence to avoid collisions during the operations, at the same time without compromising on the work piece design.

Finally, the modified operation sequence can be loaded in to the actual manufacturing machine.

Benefits

Benefits and Business Impact:

• Reduction in raw material wastage.
• Reduced setup time for a new job.
• Strong edge above competitors.
• Serves as an excellent sales tool of the machines

Business Impact:

• Reduces material wastage. 5% to 8% wastage reduction reported by end customers.
• 10% reduction in machine set up time for a batch processing impacting overall productivity.
• Developed using Open Source Technologies. No associated royalties to be paid.
• Serves as an excellent sales tool. Functionalities & Operations of the machine could be effectively demonstrated to prospective customer