The process of press hardening (also referred to as hot stamping in the metal-forming industry) depends on a number of factors, including the exact temperature of the red-hot blanks when they leave the furnace, the amount of time that passes before they are placed in the die and the press force applied.

German press manufacturer Schuler (www.schulergroup.com) says these parameters — and others — have a direct effect on the quality of the parts, which is why it should be possible to seamlessly document, track and trace these parts with pinpoint accuracy.

At the EuroBLECH trade fair in Hanover (23-26 October), the company will be presenting its Smart Press Shop.

The first installation that Schuler networked with this system’s software was its hot stamping line in the Hot Stamping TechCenter at the company’s headquarters in Göppingen.

Video and thermal imaging cameras provide a real-time overview of the blank feed, transfer and parts exit sections, all while the system continuously records and documents process data.

The information is collected by the numerous sensors installed in the press, die, furnace and cooling units to detect even the slightest changes in temperature, pressure, vibration characteristics and flow rate in just fractions of a second.

To ensure that the appropriate information is available at any given moment, algorithms analyse the data and keep the amount of memory used to a sensible size.

This makes it possible to visualise long-term trends for different types of process data, giving system operators a way to track and trace each hot-stamped part down to every last detail and — with the help of data histories — check whether blanks were heated to a high enough temperature, kept in the press long enough, and cooled for the optimum amount of time.

Moreover, the system’s software not only runs on-site in the line control but can also be used anywhere, as a stand-alone application on any Windows computer.

From these other computers, users can access data on the company’s secure network over a protected connection. Schuler also plans to incrementally expand the system to include additional functionality, such as predictive maintenance.