Desoutter Industrial Tools (www.desouttertools.com) has unveiled a new industrial ‘smart hub’ that the company predicts will allow a ‘step change’ in assembly line production.

Called Connect, it provides a single point of connection for communications between a factory network and up to 20 Desoutter tooling solutions, making customisation and line rebalancing extremely easy while also offering a high degree of traceability and data security.

The new smart hub is available in two models: Connect-W embeds a wireless access point and can accommodate up to 10 cordless Desoutter devices; Connect-X requires an external wireless access point and can accommodate up to 20 cordless Desoutter devices.

Each device is assigned a Tightening Unit on the Connect platform, which contains all items, actions and information related to it. It can therefore be customised, programmed, interrogated or reassigned without the need to reconfigure the whole system.

Moreover, a new cordless device can be added without disrupting others already running on the line. Desoutter says it takes just 10sec to pair up to Connect using RFID technology, which makes line rebalancing easy.

The entire family of Desoutter Wi-Fi solutions is compatible with Connect, and all new devices in development will also be compatible, thereby ensuring that the hub is ‘future-proof’.

A number of ‘error-proofing’ accessories are also available, including stack lights, socket trays, operator controls and remote-user interfaces.

The Connect hub also features a removable integrated memory that allows data and setting from one Connect to be quickly transferred to another, thereby allowing customers to reconfigure assembly lines within minutes.

With Connect, information is collected and stored in real time but is easily and securely accessible via a Web browser, offering total data traceability.

It is also possible to generate reports “at the click of a button”.