Vollmer unveils digital roadmap for the future

THE VERY first GrindingHub exhibition saw 370 exhibitors from 23 countries fill three halls and 18,000sq/m of stand space at the Stuttgart Messe with more than 240 machines undertaking live demonstrations. This drew 9500 visitors (40% from overseas), making the exhibition a resounding success.

Vollmer managing director Jurgen Hauger characterised Vollmer's launch of a number of new machines at the show as a 'statement of intent'. "We have launched five new machines at the show and we also have a new booth concept. The new booth is how Vollmer is embracing a new perspective after the pandemic," he  stated.

"Following Covid, we are now really starting to show the five new machines and also show to the market our full line of leadership tools. We wanted to do this two years ago but unfortunately, it was not possible. Now, we have the full line with wire and disc erosion and we also have the grinding process and laser process. So, we really can offer the full range of technology with regard to the customer's needs - unlike some market companions that just have one or the other of the before mentioned technologies. This allows us to look at the customer application, then assess and provide the right process and technology for whatever the customer needs, we are ready."

The future Is digital

A key technology that Vollmer has been working on is the Industry 4.0 (IoT) gateway and its V@dison (digital solutions) platform. The V@dison suite is already enabling customers to reduce downtimes and identify faults before they occur with predictive maintenance. It is also maximising system availability and analysing and evaluating processes to deliver the utmost transparency throughout the manufacturing cycle – and this is just the start of the journey.

"With regards to our digital platform V@dison, it will take a long, long time before Vollmer will profit from this concept. We are making significant investments, but the issue is that in the future, you will not sell machines without digitalisation because this will be a ‘must have’. This is why we are investing significant resources in this area with our digitalisation department that is directly linked to the management team because it is so important for the future of our business," he explained.

"The V@dison platform will overlap all of our technologies such as connection with all of our ERP systems, so we have to have the main protocol languages such as UMATI, MT Connect, OPC UA and so on, as standardised interfaces. This will enable our gateway to effortlessly exchange data between machines, systems and customer applications. This encompasses not just primary machine processes but also all related servicing with Oculavis and Visual Instruct/Visual Support that will help the customer."

How the pandemic accelerated digitalisation

With the V@dison platform undergoing consistent evolution and growth since the concept's inception in 2019, the technology was fully implemented and introduced to the industry in the first quarter of 2020. Discussing how this positioned Vollmer upon entering the pandemic, Hauger observed that "digitalisation is a new tool for the customer and the pandemic situation was unforeseen".

"In my opinion, the pandemic boosted everything on the digital front as you couldn’t do anything else. You could not send service technicians to China, Australia or other countries where there was no possibility to travel. So, these high-end tools give customers a completely different approach and weight," he continued. 

"A very big benefit during the height of pandemic is that we were able to undertake final acceptance and commissioning of machines with customers via Visual Support and we have done direct training and demonstrations via visual instruct for the customer. Without the digital platform, we would not have been able to show the customers what was possible. Our digital suite was fully operational at the start of the pandemic and there is no doubt this gave Vollmer several advantages whilst also adding value for our customers. V@dison is not saving Vollmer money or resources, it is saving the customer money. Of course, if we have to send a service technician, the customer has to pay for this service unless the machine is under warranty."

Looking at the foundation of the V@dison platform and its evolution, Hauger noted: "we are 100% SAP-based as an ERP system and we have to ensure that we do not have too many different systems within our company. What is possible with SAP is that we can use this system, but we also need additional systems like Oculavis, which is part of our Visual Instruct/Visual Support system. We have to work out how to combine the technology from our machines and bring it to the customer’s side. A very important step forward is our IoT gateway, which is more or less a translator that is collecting data from the machine and converting this data to the right language and then providing it to the customer within their software structure."

"To achieve these tasks, we have restructured our IT and digitalisation department a few years ago and are now able to further optimise customer orientation. These experts are continually looking at how they can bring all these information structures together into a uniform structure for our customers. This will streamline and further simplify processes for the customer."

The digital roadmap for the future

Discussing the digital roadmap for the future, Hauger suggests that "V@dison will bring complete integration of different processes and enable the combination of different languages. At present, we have three different languages which are UMATI, MT Connect and OPC UA. These languages have to communicate with each other as well as other different systems, so it would be great if we can get to one system where you can communicate in a single language without repeating the work for different languages. At the moment the platform is giving us the flexibility to work closer with Asian or US customers where we can offer the possibility to talk with all systems through the primary or secondary platform.”

With all manufacturing industry sectors facing different challenges that range from geopolitical issues and technology evolution through to the management of circumstances created by the pandemic, material technology, automation, skills shortages, remote working and much more; Hauger commented on the particular issues faced by Vollmer customers and how the family-owned Biberach company is supporting its customers in the face of ever-increasing change. 

"When it comes to solving the key issues for our customers, the best machine for the customer will always be the one where you throw in a block of material, hit the big green button and everything will be done automatically. This will always remain the utopian dream. At Vollmer, what we have to ensure - and it is maybe why the development of laser technology took us longer than we planned, we have to have machines that are easy to use. Like all our machines, we need to develop and prove concepts where the customer can be confident that it is an easy machine to use, something that is operator friendly with a great HMI (human machine interface) that will help the customer take a step closer to this utopia.

"Another area we have to concentrate upon is the ‘complete solution’. So, if a customer has a particular tool they want to produce, we have to be able to provide a complete process," he stated. "This may include the complete programming for the tool, the grinding wheel selection, the machine parameters and even the automation – this is something that we have been providing some customers with for many years. This complete range of service support can help to take the skill out of the process for the customer. This is a very important point for many customers, as they may have a skills shortage, and at Vollmer, we have the skills in house to support our customers," Hauger concluded. 
 
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