Tell us about your company and its product range and solutions
Renishaw is one of the world’s leading engineering and scientific technology companies, with expertise in precision measurement and healthcare. The company supplies products and services used in applications as diverse as jet engine and wind turbine manufacture, through to dentistry and brain surgery. It is also a world leader in the field of additive manufacturing (also referred to as metal 3D printing), where it is the only UK business that designs and makes industrial machines which ‘print’ parts from metal powder.
Renishaw is a global company with core skills in measurement, motion control, spectroscopy and precision machining.
The Renishaw Group currently has more than 70 offices in 35 countries, with over 4,000 employees worldwide. Around 2,800 people are employed within the UK where the company carries out the majority of its research and development and its manufacturing.
Leading manufacturer of advanced metal additive manufacturing systems and expert provider of customer tailored solutions. We offer a total solution for metal additive manufacturing, from systems, metal powders, ancillaries and software through to an expert advice and support service. Advanced metal additive manufacturing systems are designed and built by Renishaw to fulfil a range of industry applications where durability, customised parts and precision are key. Industries include dental, medical, mould tooling, automotive, industrial tooling, aerospace, and creative.
Your views about the Indian Machine Tool Industry?
The Indian machine tool industry is growing at a steady pace. In terms of production, the Indian machine tool industry is globally ranked 12th and 8th in consumption as per the latest Gardner Research Survey 2017. Since last 2 years market has picked up and government’s initiative such as ‘Make in India’ has given a boost to lot of small and medium enterprises to grow.
What are the top trends you observe in the industry?
Industry 4.0 and additive manufacturing seems to be buzz word, getting positioned firmly in the market with the strong technological integration.
Intelligent machining processes are a critical element in advanced manufacturing technology. Widely publicised trends such as Industry 4.0, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud computing and data mobility provide manufacturers with an unparalleled opportunities to develop processes which deliver improved productivity and process capability. Automation, measurement and feedback can deliver process control throughout the stages of manufacturing. Optimised processes monitor not only the condition of parts, but also the performance of machines, process trends, interventions and environmental effects.
Renishaw provides the technologies required to measure and control many of the key process variables in CNC machining and other forms of manufacturing. A combination of preventative, pro-active, reactive & tailgate measurements for process control has been used in Renishaw’s machining facilities very successfully over the past 25 years. This approach has enabled highly automated manufacturing with low overall labour costs to be realised.
Automation + Accuracy + Data capture + Integration + Intelligence = Productivity + Capability
In fact at IMTEX, we are showcasing a Smart Factory set up, demonstrating to manufacturers how intelligent process control is key to the operation of a successful smart factory and to address the industry’s need for automated process control.
Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is already transforming the way many products are designed and manufactured, leading to improved in-service performance and new innovations. Broadening the adoption of metal AM depends on increasing processing speed, assuring consistent high product quality and improving process economics.
What are the new machine tool technologies that are gaining acceptance in manufacturing industry?Additive manufacturing is the technology that is poised to gain acceptance. By nearly every metric—unit sales, total manufacturing revenue, adoption levels—the technology has expanded rapidly in recent years. Additive manufacturing is a powerful force within digital manufacturing, bringing new applications and markets into focus. In the future, the additive manufacturing market is predicted to reach $55.8 billion by 2027, according to a recent report by Smithers Pira.
Developing a new production part can require multiple iterations and prototypes before the customer’s needs are met. 3D printing enables rapid prototyping, which can reduce the time it takes to build a prototype from weeks to just 48 hours. This rate helps new parts move more quickly through the design cycle to production. Producing a part on-demand with 3D printing enables manufacturers to print parts as needed instead of pulling the part from a supply warehouse. On demand production will help companies realize huge reductions in inventory and storage costs. In the automotive industry, for example, spare parts inventory could be reduced by 90 percent with 3D printing.
Tell us about what are you showcasing at the IMTEX 2019?
Global engineering company, Renishaw, returns to IMTEX for the show’s 50th anniversary, which is taking place at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore, India from January 24th to 30th, 2019. The show’s 50th anniversary will be marked by the introduction of an Industry 4.0 pavilion. In line with this, Renishaw will showcase a complete automation cell, demonstrating to manufacturers how intelligent process control is key to the operation of a successful smart factory. Additionally, the company will launch several new products to address the industry’s need for automated process control.
Renishaw can be found in Hall 3A on stall B103 and the company will also showcase how it has taken the lead in additive manufacturing (AM) on a separate stand, D102 in Hall 6.
Intelligent process control
By exhibiting a high-productivity machining cell, Renishaw will demonstrate how integrating smart factory process control can transform a machine shop’s production capabilities, improving speed, ease-of-use and flexibility. The cell highlights how CNC machining operations can benefit from high levels of automation and connectivity and demonstrates process control techniques that Renishaw uses in its own factories for automated precision manufacturing.
Renishaw will demonstrate intelligent process control for larger parts, by exhibiting the Equator™ 500. The new, larger system enables the accurate gauging of larger parts due to a working volume of 500 mm in diameter and up to 400 mm in height, increasing the flexibility and range of applications for the Equator system. Accurate between 5 ºC and 50 ºC at any rate of temperature change, the system can achieve scanning speeds above 200 mm/s.
The new Equator 500 system is suited to applications such as the manufacture of car and truck transmissions, engine housings and drive train parts. Due to the introduction of Intelligent Process Control (IPC) software, manufacturers can automate process control and tool offset correction directly to CNC machines from any Equator gauge.
Additive manufacturing productivity
Renishaw will have a separate additive manufacturing stand, where it will exhibit the four-laser RenAM 500Q. The machine significantly improves productivity, speeding up the process by up to four times in the most commonly used platform size, without any compromise on quality. Renishaw will also demonstrate its software for metal AM, including QuantAM build preparation software, remote process monitoring application, InfiniAM Central, and the InfiniAM Spectral application for the live feedback on energy input and emissions.
Increasing speed, without compromising on accuracy
The world’s fastest workpiece set-up cycles on CNC machines are enabled by SupaScan and the latest OSP60 scanning probe, which will be on display at IMTEX. Exclusive to SupaScan, the QuickPoint macro cycle delivers market leading measurement speed. Differing from normal touch-trigger cycles because it measures using the analogue deflection of the OSP60 probe, SupaScan means there is no requirement to wait for the machine tool’s trigger response – speeding up the process.
At IMTEX 2019, the company will also showcase a new version of SupaTouch, an intelligent optimisation routine as part of its Inspection Plus macro software for machine probing cycles, which leads to a cycle time reduction for CNC machine tools of up to 60 per cent. The updated software offers usability enhancements in the optimisation routing to give users full control of probing cycle feedrates.
Visitors to Renishaw’s stand can experience the multi-sensor capability of the REVO® 5-axis measurement system on co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs). The system offers a multi-sensor capability to provide touch-trigger, high-speed tactile scanning and non-contact vision measurement on a single CMM. Renishaw will also highlight the SFP2 surface finish probe, which increases the surface finish measurement ability of the REVO system, combining surface finish measurement and dimensional inspection into a single platform to give unrivalled advantages in time, part handling and return on investment.
Renishaw’s new ultra-compact, highly repeatable radio probe, RMP400 will make its debut in India at IMTEX. Perfect for small 5-axis machine tools, particularly in mould and die and aerospace applications, the strain-gauge probe gives a reliable touch-trigger solution for part setting, feature measurement and machine performance checking.
Software suites
At the show, Renishaw will demonstrate the benefits of its new CARTO 3.0 software, which supports the XR20-W rotary axis calibrator to quickly capture and analyse data from rotary axes. This provides an easy-to-use and intuitive software solution for all Renishaw laser calibration products, reducing the calibration time of a 5-axis machine tool to several hours.
Visitors can learn more about Renishaw’s popular smartphone apps including; GoProbe, which generates code for machine tool probing and the Trigger Logic™ app, which provides users with a simple way to customise their Renishaw probe settings.
Renishaw’s technology provides manufacturers with measurement data to enable intelligent decision making, a crucial part of Industry 4.0. By providing equipment for machine calibration, on machine measurement, off-machine gauging and verification, Renishaw enables manufacturers to improve their processes and quality, while reducing CNC machine stoppages.
