Renishaw to showcase ‘Factory of the Future’ technologies at CIMT 2019

Global precision engineering and manufacturing technologies company, Renishaw, announced that it will be showcasing its factory of the future technologies and intelligent process control solutions at the China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT) in Beijing, which is scheduled to take place from 15th-20th April 2019, at stand W3-A251 in the UK Pavilion of the New China International Exhibition Center.

Visitors to Renishaw’s stand – themed, ‘Benefit from the factory of the future, today’ – will be able to discover the benefits of Industry 4.0 in action such as process automation, data-driven technologies and process control through actionable feedback. There will be a demonstration cell of an aerospace blade being manufactured through several stages, across both traditional CNC machining and metal additive manufacturing (AM) – also known as ‘3D printing’.

To showcase Renishaw’s AM expertise, the aerospace blade will be built on Renishaw’s RenAM 500Q additive manufacturing system, featuring four high-power 500 W lasers, each able to access the whole powder bed surface simultaneously. It achieves significantly higher build rates, vastly improving productivity and lowering cost per part. The RenAM 500Q features automated powder and waste handling systems that enable consistent process quality, reduce operator intervention time and ensure high standards of system safety.

Progressing through the demonstration cell, there will then be a focus on machine calibration and optimisation through a demonstration of Renishaw’s new XK10 alignment laser, to enable a known and repeatable level of process capability. Then a robot will move the part to Renishaw’s Equator™ gauging system, which enables intelligent process control by delivering highly repeatable, thermally insensitive, versatile and reprogrammable shop-floor gauging. Due to the introduction of intelligent process control software, manufacturers can automate process control and tool offset correction directly to CNC machines from any Equator gauge.

Finally, in terms of post-process control, the part will be inspected on a co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) where Renishaw’s REVO® 5-axis measurement system offers a multi-sensor platform to provide high-speed tactile scanning and non-contact vision measurement. Renishaw’s SFP2 surface finish probe will also be demonstrated, 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.

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“Intelligent machining processes are critical to companies that want to exploit the full benefits of Industry 4.0,” explains Francesco Tivegna, Managing Director, Renishaw China. “CIMT provides Renishaw with a platform to showcase how we can help our global partners apply high levels of automation and connectivity to their production processes, so that they can benefit from the factory of the future, today.”

He continues, “For a manufacturer to remain competitive, they must satisfy the need for parts to be machined to closer tolerances and to very high repeatability, and adapt to rapidly changing customer demands. This, coupled with a need for increased factory automation, is where Renishaw can add real value to our global customers through our range of intelligent process control solutions throughout the factory and our deep experience in embedding intelligent solutions into real complex manufacturing processes.”