Industry 4.0 at Werner Schmid

The fourth industrial revolution is still in its infancy at WS. While different techniques – ranging from simple sensors to supervision by cameras – for the monitoring of processes are already in use, modern measuring devices offer far greater opportunities.

In the summer of 2014, the Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines of the Technical University Darmstadt, ConSenses GmbH and WS have started a research project that is supported by the state of Hessen. This project aims at the examination of a new technology and the practical applications in online process monitoring. The goal was to qualify a piezo micrometer screw gauge developed by ConSenses GmbH for daily use.

This new sensor screw is a conventional machine screw with DIN property class 8.8 that uses an integrated piezo element to transfer assembly and process forces into electronic signals. These electronic signals can easily be analyzed and allow for a consistent monitoring of the process as well as for a systematic improvement.

In the course of the project, the transformation process at WS were proven to be very consistent and stable. As the measuring system detects changes without ad hoc interpretation, even small deviations from the norm of the very stable processes at WS can be identified. By integration into the press controls, it is possible to influence the process even during the slightest of irregularities.

In 2015, this project will continue and might find its way into the intelligent process monitoring in our production.

Source: ConSenses GmbH