CNC grinding machine developer ANCA will present its Industry 4.0 integration suite AIMS at IMTS 2022 – booth 237406. AIMS, or ANCA Integrated Manufacturing System, approaches the shop or factory as a single machine. “Rather than separating workflow into many different elements of design, blank preparation, grinding, laser marking, washing, packing and shipment – AIMS streamlines the entire tool manufacturing process and complementary technologies.”
An interactive and fully operating AIMS cell will be on display in Chicago. The demo showcases the main modules of the AIMS system – an AutoSet job preparation station, AutoLine for pallet and tool transfer as well as AutoFetch – a robot responsible for material transfer between processes -- pallet and individual tools between job preparation, grinding and tool measurement on ZOLLER measuring machine.
With AIMS, ANCA is responding to common challenges in the tool manufacturing sector, including labor cost and availability, as well as safety and production efficiencies. Access to skilled staff and the need for elimination of simple, repeatable tasks which could be easily automated – AIMS maximizes grinders’ productivity and, in general, improves Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Integration with ERP systems to streamline workflows is also one of the important AIMS features.
The principles of the AIMS system are flexibility and modularity. This means each system can be tailored to an individual customer’s needs using the right building blocks – or modules. It can scale from a purely software-based monitoring solution to a fully automated manufacturing cell.
AIMS is not a single product but rather a suite or ecosystem of interconnected building blocks that can be configured to satisfy individual customers’ requirements. Manufacturers can build their AIMS system gradually using standalone AIMS Ready components, which can be easily upgraded to fully automatic when required. Customers can tackle their most pressing issues first and stagger implementation over time. This staggered option makes AIMS a feasible solution for customers as they invest in this revolutionary technology and realize the potential for their business.
Jan Irzyk, AIMS Product Manager said: “We are delighted to present a physical, working model of AIMS for customers to understand the powerful potential of truly integrated manufacturing.
“AIMS can be configured in many ways, the IMTS cell demonstrates an unattended manufacturing workflow of two varieties of endmills on one ANCA MX7 machine,” Irzyk continued. “An important part of this workflow is closed-loop measurement and compensation process using ZOLLER Genius as a measurement station. Depending on an individual customer’s requirements, our system can automatically transfer a tool from the ground batch, clean it, measure required geometries and transfer the results to the respective grinder where grinding parameter compensation is taking place to achieve required dimensional tolerance of the batch.”
Get more information at machines.anca.com
