QASS Kolloquium 2015: Embedded Machines

QASS Kolloquium 2015: Embedded Machines​

Autonomous cars, thinking computers, factories which analyze themselves: The next stage of the development of the industry itself is already here. This is not only true in a global matter, but also in local areas like the Ennepe-Ruhr-area. About 50 experts out of science and industry (among others: Volkswagen, ThyssenKrupp, Fraunhofer Institute TU Dortmund) discussed the risks and chances of a production which becomes more and more complex at the QASS Colloquium 2015.

With Industry 4.0, the competition gets harder and quicker – but: „This is a huge chance to meet the challenges in the world market” said Professor Volker Lohweg, board member of the institute for industrial information technology at the university of Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Lohweg gave the keynote-speech at the QASS Colloquium 2015. The annual meeting is organized by the measuring-system-manufacturer QASS from Wetter (Ruhr), Germany. One of the objectives of the QASS Colloquium 2015: to discuss the current development and evolution of the industry.

Data – the groundwork for smart factory and Internet of things​

The first industrial revolution was made possible by steam engines, the second came with assembly lines and the third with computers – now, in times of Smart Factory and Internet of Things, the fourth industrial revolution is at the doorstep. Lohweg stated these keywords: „Growing competition, individualization of products, saving resources, energy efficiency, but also security, reliability, confidentiality.” This means a large bundle of new challenges which complement the existing challenges, like extremely high quality for an appropriate price. The target is the complete digitalization of the value-added chain. „More cognitive abilities for assistance systems” claimed Lohweg „such as self-diagnosis and self-configuration”

This is where the QASS company from Wetter (Ruhr) is positioned: “We manufacture measuring devices which are able to analyze the whole production process. Data are the basis for industry 4.0 and our devices get information from processes which are not analyzable or very hard to analyze at the moment” said QASS manageing director Ulrich Seuthe.

 
Hi-Tech made in Wetter

New qualifications are required to correspond to the modern production techniques, the complex machines and the fast development in communication and sensor technology. The need for specialized personnel will rise. These were some of the results of the discussions. After the discussion about Internet of Things, Ulrich Seuthe presented the QASS inventor workshop to the visitors and asked them to copy this concept to their companies. During the autumn holidays, children and youths participated at the QASS inventor workshop. In this workshop, the kids designed and built a moving robot nearly all by themselves.

 QASS inventor workshop​

New qualifications are required to correspond to the modern production techniques, the complex machines and the fast development in communication and sensor technology. The need for specialized personnel will rise. These were some of the results of the discussions. After the discussion about Internet of Things, Ulrich Seuthe presented the QASS inventor workshop to the visitors and asked them to copy this concept to their companies. During the autumn holidays, children and youths participated at the QASS inventor workshop. In this workshop, the kids designed and built a moving robot nearly all by themselves.

 Machine evaluates tools autonomous​

The measuring system Optimizer4D is able to analyze the several edges of a milling tool. Furthermore it can rate complicated processes with advanced software tools for frequency selective envelope surfaces. “One of the leading themes of QASS is the development of multisensory systems and with this we are a trendsetter in relation to sensor fusion”, said QASS development engineer Sören Barteldes.

Around 50 guests at the QASS Colloquium 2015 took a look at the measuring systems. Felix Loch, construction manager of the wire drawing machine manufacturer Koch from Hemer, said: “With this technology, we can offer our customers consistent production monitoring for producing wires. With the acoustic emission analysis you can clearly detect tendencies in the production process like leaks of lubricant or tool wear.” The company Koch uses QASS technology.

 Maintenance costs cut in halve​

Marc Alexander Popov, head of tool building department of the German company Vorwerk, reported a similar experience. The household appliances and consumer goods producer from Wuppertal managed to double the maintenance cycles of their plastic injection molding tools with the Optimizer4D. “This was a huge success”, said Popov.

The first QASS colloquium took place in 2014. QASS managing director Ulrich Seuthe: “The event turned out to be very successful. Numerous well known participants of industry and research showed that we struck a nerve with the colloquium.” The date and topics for the colloquium 2016 are already in planning.