Automatisation in Toolmaking: The Royal Road to Competitiveness

Dr. Welling reports, based on the market barometer conducted by the WBA together with Meusburger. This assessment is based on reliable data. The WBA has unique access to performance indicators from the Excellence in Production competition. In addition, consortium benchmarking in the EDM sector creates a new quality of transparency. It enables companies to compare their performance in electrical discharge machining with the market and to identify concrete potential.

These developments demonstrate how important a strong and well-connected community is for the future of the industry. The WBA works with over 90 member companies on innovative solutions and connects science and industry at the RWTH Aachen Campus. Insights from both worlds are rapidly transferred into practice. The WBA conducts pre-competitive research together with companies, develops practical solutions, tests them in its own demonstration toolmaking facility, and then transfers them directly into everyday operations. In this way, a network is created that shares challenges, learns from each other, and brings innovations into application without detours.

One of the key insights in this field is: The path to automation begins long before the machine and is created through consistent standardisation. In many conversations over recent years and today, it becomes clear that many companies want to take this step and clearly recognise the associated added value.

Dr. Welling becomes very specific in the context of wire EDM:

Such deviations often arise during the design phase and affect the entire process chain. EDM benchmarking clearly shows how directly the lack of standardisation influences throughput times, quality, and automation capability. Those who want to catch up technologically or differentiate themselves must therefore start much earlier. At the same time, Dr. Welling emphasises:

Standardisation must not become an end in itself. It must maintain degrees of freedom, especially in a time of very dynamic market changes.

Dr. Welling clarifies. This applies to both wire erosion and die sinking.

Particularly in wire erosion, technical challenges remain, such as handling scrap parts or positioning guide and flushing heads. Nevertheless, the WBA community demonstrates that automated wire erosion is feasible and has already been successfully implemented in many companies. Shared experiences and continuous exchange provide companies with orientation about where they stand in the market and which measures actually have an impact in practice.

Modern automation solutions such as CellCube technology enable toolmaking to achieve efficient and flexible production processes.

Automation does not solve process weaknesses; it amplifies them. Experience from numerous projects and from exchanges within the community and with partners shows that companies with a low maturity level derive only limited benefits from automation investments.

A central instrument is the specification sheet. "The specification sheet is the central link between customer and manufacturer," emphasises Dr. Welling. Too often, high investments are made without adequate preparation. Structured specification sheet development creates clarity, reduces risks, and improves result quality. Here, the WBA works closely with the Machine Tool Laboratory WZL of RWTH Aachen, which has comprehensive expertise in the development of complex machines and automation systems.

Automation must also always be conceived with a view to the future. It must not only reflect today's needs but must create a foundation for future developments. Forecasting plays an important role here. How will the demand for new tools and spare parts develop? What capacities will be needed in the future? In the current market situation, however, it is extremely challenging to create reliable forecasts. The WBA therefore works with data from research and industry as well as with assessments from experienced market analysts. These analyses make it possible to derive economically sensible measures and to align resources for the long term.

The WBA provides manufacturer-independent consulting. This advantage is central for Dr. Welling:

The combination of demonstration toolmaking, productive job shop production, and systematic data basis provides the WBA with an authentic and objective perspective. "We don't just know the theory. We also know the challenges of our customers. We experience them ourselves."

Companies that work with the WBA over two to three years achieve measurable improvements in costs, throughput times, and quality. The systematic analysis of processes and continuous professional exchange enable the identification of concrete starting points for improvements along the entire process chain. This allows companies to recognise which measures actually have an impact and how they can sustainably strengthen their position in the market.

Dr. Welling formulates a clear message:

Historically grown processes that are no longer questioned often cause considerable effort. What is decisive is to muster the courage for change and to promote the willingness to further develop.

Intelligent software agents open up new possibilities for toolmaking companies to significantly accelerate their order processing and noticeably relieve employees. "We develop agents that reduce non-value-adding activities, automatically prepare information, and noticeably accelerate processes," explains Dr. Welling.

Concretely, this means: Faster quotation creation, more efficient work preparation, and optimised workflows from customer inquiry to try-out. Especially in times of skilled labor shortage, existing resources can be used much more effectively. Throughput times are shortened, and employees gain time for demanding engineering tasks. The approach offers potential for the entire manufacturing industry. A central principle is data sovereignty. "The data remains in Germany. That is decisive for trust and acceptance," emphasises Dr. Welling. This enables companies to use innovative technologies without concerns about data protection.

The solutions are created in close collaboration between research, demonstration toolmaking, and industry. Through practical testing and direct feedback, agents are developed that solve real operational challenges. The technological implementation is carried out together with the partner HIQS.

Digital transformation through intelligent software agents offers toolmaking new opportunities for process optimisation.

Automation in electrical discharge machining offers considerable potential if the foundations are right. These include clear standards, stable processes, forward-looking planning, and neutral expertise. The WBA supports companies in gaining transparency about their processes, identifying potential, and deriving economically relevant improvement measures.

At the same time, with agentification, the WBA is developing another central building block for the future of the industry. Intelligent software agents are intended to help companies make their process chains faster, more flexible, and more efficient, thus creating an additional competitive advantage.

Dr. Welling describes the role of the WBA. The goal is to accompany companies in their transformation and to develop solutions that strengthen their competitiveness both today and in the long term.