Mr. Gessmann, the future is digital – what does that mean for SCHUNK?
Timo Gessmann: We are classic mechanical engineers. But the topic of digitalization has driven us since the 1980s and we see it as a great opportunity, both for our customers and for ourselves.
On the one hand, our smart products and services increase the productivity of our customers, and on the other hand, we increase our efficiency and optimize our quality through digitalization. Digitalization secures our global competitiveness and future viability – and also those of our customers.
Which SCHUNK products are involved?
The iTENDO2 toolholder, for example, used to be a purely mechanical component. Now it has sensors that make it possible for the first time to obtain in-depth transparency from the manufacturing process. The sensors measure, for example, high frequency vibrations or accelerations in the manufacturing process, and the intelligent toolholder is able to provide the user with process feedback up to and including automatic optimization of the manufacturing parameters. This enables customers to increase their productivity in manufacturing and enhance process reliability. This is a prerequisite for a higher degree of automation.
“With our smart products & services, robots can see, feel, understand and learn.”
Timo Gessmann, CTO
An analogy might be a car that uses sensors to measure factors such as speed, distances, position, etc. when driving and navigating, and displays this information live on digital navigation maps. This detailed digital image makes it possible to identify and avoid traffic jams, so drivers can plan ahead and reach their destination faster. This information from the physical and digital worlds is also essential for the gradual implementation of autonomous driving.
What other advantages does the evaluation of this sensor data have?
A smart product supplemented by digital services such as the iTENDO2 can be used to predictively detect tool wear in automated manufacturing using the sensors. Timely tool changes help avoid rejects and increase productivity.
Another example are our smart gripper applications, which use a camera system and specially developed AI software to detect which workpieces are located where, and then use this information to automatically implement the appropriate gripper poses for handling the workpieces. As a result, customers no longer have to manually program all workpieces and gripping movements in advance. This means that automation solutions can be implemented quickly and easily.
To what extent have the requirements for products changed due to digitalization?
Digitalization adds new digital features and services to the functions of existing mechanical products. With our smart products and services, we enable our customers to further optimize existing applications and processes on the one hand, and to automate completely new process steps on the other. As a result, we are significantly expanding the scope of our products and services to enable automation in a wide range of applications and industries.
What digital services does SCHUNK offer?
With a free online configurator, we offer customers a tool to design grippers, gripper fingers or chuck jaws in real time and have a CAD model created directly. This saves a lot of effort. In addition, our customers online immediately receive the offer price for the configured product and the delivery time. Thanks to the consistent digitalization of our processes from the online configurator to our smart factory, which automatically manufactures the corresponding product, we are able to deliver in four days, for example.
Digitalization will continue to evolve in the future and physical products will merge increasingly with digital services. This leads to a steady increase in productivity while enhancing the user experience through the use of our smart products and services!