With the continuous development of CNC machine tools and difficult-to-machine materials, tools are under pressure to increase metal cutting efficiency. Tool materials play a decisive role in this process. Modern metal cutting tool materials have evolved from carbon tool steel and high-speed steel to today's hard alloys, coated carbides, ceramics, cubic boron nitride and other superhard tool materials. The cutting speed has also been greatly improved. However, the understanding of tool materials is not a breakthrough in a single day. Therefore, many tool manufacturers are beginning to change their roles, from simple tool production and supply, to the development of new cutting processes and corresponding sets of technologies and solutions. Development, providing users with comprehensive technical support and services. Convert tool usage to system engineering and calculate and analyze the impact of machining and tooling on product cost before machining begins.
Sandvik Coromant Application Support Manager Wang Lichun: Sandvik Coromant was originally based on the production of tool products, but with the changes in market demand, we are now committed to solution-based research and development. Of course, this does not mean that we do not pay attention to products, but only concentrate more on providing solutions for users. This trend will inevitably make us pay more attention to certain special industries, such as aerospace, molds, and automobiles.
At present, many manufacturers are still focusing on products, not like Sandvik Coromant. We focused on solutions two or three years ago, and the products exhibited at each exhibition are also carried out around it.
According to the different characteristics of the industry, we divide it into different categories, we will have the focus of processing, which allows us to go deeper in each field. For example, the titanium alloy processing in the aerospace industry is now very hot, and the proportion of titanium alloys in the new aircraft manufacturing is increasing sharply, and military aircraft account for a larger proportion. But the problem is that the customer is still not fully aware of how to process it efficiently, and it is not clear how the tool plays an important role in this. What we advocate is that we must walk on two legs, paying attention to products and solutions, working with users for a long time, and gaining their trust with facts. Just like our "focus on your success" concept, Sandvik Coromant is to provide users with the best way and method to help them improve their efficiency. We have to explain that the cooperation between users and us is "smart". of.
At present, many users need further development, and the change of ideas is very important to them. Even many companies have not raised the importance of efficiency, and many of them are heavy products and light crafts. Although the cost of the tool is small, the tool affects 60% to 70% of the cost, which means that if the tool is improved, the efficiency can be increased by 20%. So when users think about improving their productivity, don't think about adding new equipment first, but ignore the potential of existing equipment, or don't think how to get the maximum output value with the least amount of investment. Sometimes the improvement of efficiency can also be solved by the improvement of the process and the improvement of the processing method.
Stefan Bucher, Technical Director of Walter (Wuxi) Co., Ltd.: We have set up a technical center in a new factory in Wuxi, equipped with 4 machine tools, a large horizontal machining center, and a five-axis five-link machining center. A turning and milling center and an ordinary CNC lathe. WALTER provides such a platform for customer trials and training, which we call WPS (WALTER Productivity Service).
In the past, the customer's concept was to buy machine tools, fixtures and knives themselves, but they often waste a lot of manpower and material resources on the process, unfamiliarity with the products, and lack of understanding of advanced processes, so that users will have many in the system engineering support. problem. Especially for some small and medium-sized enterprises, system support services are even more important when there is no time and manpower and financial investment to equip all kinds of professionals. WALTER now provides a true “turnkey†service, which is involved in the initial stage of the client's investment. The customer only needs to hand over the drawings to us, and the requirements will be clearly stated. We will complete the processing of the machining process, the tooling and fixtures, And tell the customer the time required for processing to make the investment more purposeful.
In the early stage, the work was done finely and well, and the problems were discovered first, instead of the tool management in the later mass production of the customer, and it was not for the customer's existing products. Previously these jobs were all done by machine tool builders, and now it is up to the tool manufacturers to do it.
Wu Jiang, Technical Director of Iscar: At present, equipment, personnel and materials are issues that every tool manufacturer needs to consider, especially the provision of the overall solution, which is worthy of promotion. In the past, our view was that a tool manufacturer did not have to do a full product, but rather to make the product a top priority, which is worthwhile from the product and technology itself. However, with the development of the market, and from the development of the company's entire business, it is difficult to open the market with a single professional product. Although it can provide a top-level product, there is no way to provide a total solution, and customers will not get it. Satisfy. Of course, whether a tool manufacturer can provide a matching solution is also a question of whether his product can cover the entire product chain and have a full range of products. The tool needs to keep up with the development of the machine tool, but also let the development of the tool to promote the development of the machine tool. The two are complementary, but the goal is consistent, which is to help users improve efficiency and reduce costs.
He Jian, Sales Director of Nanjing Lanzi Metal Processing Co., Ltd.: With the rapid development of modern metal cutting technology and tool technology, the application of tools has become increasingly specialized. At present, many manufacturers have handed over their service modules such as tool preparation and tool management to tool manufacturers to increase productivity, reduce total tool costs and capital requirements, and reduce processing costs. Lattice Metal Processing Technology Group (LMT) is also playing a dual role as a tool manufacturer and a provider of tool management and tooling solutions.
LMT is a combination of six high-precision tool manufacturers, namely Behring, Bilzi, Beyond, Fett, Keninger and Ang, and the rich product line can provide users with all important cutting and chipless. A wide range of tooling solutions in the field of metalworking.
The development of tools is more targeted. The focus of tool manufacturers' research and development has begun to target users' complex and varied applications and processing conditions. Moreover, in order to improve the processing efficiency, the design and structure of the tool are also changing.
Iscar Technical Director Wu Jiang: Iscar is a leader in tool construction innovation. For example, in turning, our ISO heavy-duty turning series of blades are made of SUMO-based carbide coating for roughing. Different blade forms are available for different processing materials, which not only reduces cutting resistance and power consumption, but also greatly increases the feed rate. We also have a tool that can be used for grooving, as well as for turning, drilling and milling. The versatility of the tool is a special design of the blade structure and geometry. A knife can replace multiple knives, but the price has not improved much.
In addition, Iscar is prone to hot cracking and high surface tensile stress on conventional coatings. Recently, the concept of SUMO TEC technology has been introduced. SUMO TEC alloy grades use state-of-the-art coating technology, whether it is a CVD coating or a PVD coating. The special coating process effectively improves tool life, reduces blade surface stress and makes the rake face smoother. The flat front rake reduces the chip removal resistance, effectively reducing the cutting heat and reducing the friction. At the same time, the new coating improves blade toughness, chipping resistance, reduces friction and resistance to built-up edge, improves cutting conditions and improves tool life when machining a wide range of materials.
Stefan Bucher, Technical Director of Walter (Wuxi) Co., Ltd.: WALTER recently launched Xtra·tec technology, a tool that is more versatile in the automotive and aerospace industries and cost-effective. Among them, the F4033 face milling cutter has 8 spiral effective cutting edges, and the precise geometric design of the blade part maximizes the efficiency in soft cutting. The blade's new stable bevel design enhances the stability during machining and solves the traditional problem of debris damage to the cutting edge when machining high-hardness metal workpieces such as cast iron and hard steel. Service life. More than double the economics of the original 4-blade blade.
Tool systemization improves machining efficiency
The overall development speed of the cutting tool industry has been urgently related to the upgrading process of manufacturing processing technology. The two rely on each other and promote, and the tool manufacturers are constantly innovating and improving their products according to the needs of the development of the manufacturing industry. In this process, multi-functional composite tools, high-speed and high-efficiency tools have undoubtedly become the mainstream of tool development.