1st Machine Tool Accessories Ltd, Salisbury (
www.1mta.com), has revealed that all bar feeds produced by its principal Iemca can now be Industry 4.0-enabled.
Wireless data communication allows much more information to be transmitted than a hard-wired connection.
The company says that this solution is unlike those offered by competitors, in that it allows customers to integrate the equipment more conveniently.
Instead of requiring connection into a factory’s intranet to achieve wireless data flow, the Iemca bar feed and lathe communicate via ‘the cloud’. In Italy alone, there are already more than 300 Iemca Industry 4.0 bar-feed installations.
Reliance solely on an Internet link simplifies set-up. It also offers the advantage of the equipment status and performance being monitored by a PC, tablet or smartphone away from the factory.
In a further development, Iemca has launched what it says is the first bundle loader capable of being added to a bar feed that is already running in a factory.
Called the Caddy F (pictured), the device can accommodate a 250mm-diameter bundle of bars weighing up to 2.5 tonnes.
The loader is of open design, allowing it to be easily replenished with new stock.
Also available is the Caddy P version — a multi-rack system that can provide up to 2m of additional capacity.
Both the Caddy F and the Caddy P have been designed to allow access to the bar feed by means of a rail system mounted on the floor.