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Z|magazine 01.2015
Intelligence
in production
Christoph Zoller on the topic
What is the status of the lead topic at the EMO 2013 to-
day? How is the topic being implemented? Which intelli-
gent solutions are available, and above all: what are they
contributing to the manufacturing industry?
Mr Zoller, is „Intelligence in Producti-
on“ still a topic for you or was it just
a buzzword?
In principle it does not matter whether
you call it „Intelligence in Producti-
on“, „Industry 4.0“ or „Smart Factory“
– what is always meant are more flexi-
ble, adaptable manufacturing proces-
ses with consistent, verifiable data
and a high level of user-friendliness.
Obviously, combined with the greatest
possible efficiency – so therefore the
topic is still current for us.
Can you describe for us, how „Intel-
ligence in Production“ correlates to
the solutions from ZOLLER?
Today, significant increases in pro-
ductivity are no longer possible
through the further development of
machines, equipment or tools. There-
fore, the existing systems must com-
municate better and faster with each
other. This is where ZOLLER provides
the link: TMS Tool Management Solu-
tions, tool presetting and measuring
machines. The tool data are proces-
sed in such a way that everyone in-
volved in the production process can
access and use the required informa-
tion: to create a CNC program, to have
the tools available in time, to conduct
the inspection of the tools, tool pre-
setting and provision to the machine.
The major variable in the manu-
facturing process lies between the
machine spindle and the workpiece:
the tool! And ZOLLER manages this
variable with linked systems.
Intelligence is a broad term. What
does „intelligent“ actually imply at
ZOLLER? Does this only cover the
software, or does it also relate to the
machines and the service?
For ZOLLER, intelligence means that
all our products have contributed to a
proven increase in productivity at the
customer in their respective require-
ments and that the potential of the
ZOLLER products can be utilized fully
by the customer. And this across all
company sizes – it could be a solution
for a business with one CAM worksta-
tion and 3 CNC machines, or a large
company with 200 CAM workstations
and hundreds of machines. Utilizing
the full potential of the products in
all its applications – that is what we
mean by intelligence.
To be concrete: for example, what
does intelligent manufacturing mean
in the field of inspection and measur-
ment?
Someone who inspects tools either
manufactures them or buys them in.
In both cases the tools need to be
checked according to specifications
and the results provided for further
processing.
I NTERV I EW