Engel at Fakuma 2015

"More than a machine" – this is the motto chosen by Engel Austria for this year's presentation of system solution competency at Fakuma from October 13th to 17th in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Automation, process engineering, process optimisation and services are all an integral part of the system philosophy at Engel. Based on five innovative applications for the automotive, technical moulding, teletronics, packaging and medical industries, the machine maker, headquartered in Schwertberg, Austria, will be demonstrating at its trade fair stand how machines and production cells can be leveraged to maximum extent thanks to intelligent components and networking.

Efficiency, productivity, availability, quality and flexibility are decisive for a competitive edge. But to achieve optimal results, you need to do more than just deploy the best injection moulding equipment; it is all about leveraging its potential to the max. inject 4.0 – this is Engel's approach for facing these challenges. To this end, Engel already has numerous products in its portfolio today that support customers in these optimisations. Engel is showcasing these products at Fakuma 2015. For the first time, the entire trade fair stand has been designed as a smart factory, self-optimising production based on three core elements:

• smart machines that boost process capability and quality with self-adapting, decentralised systems,
• smart production to ensure high levels of productivity thanks to horizontal and vertical data integration, and
• smart services that improve availability thanks to proximity and the use of remote maintenance tools.

.During the trade fair, all the machine data will be collected on a central computer. The Engel e-factory MES solution running on the computer provides features for scheduling jobs, querying the injection moulding machines' states, and creating quality reports and documentation (smart production). At the same time, trade fair visitors can look forward to insights into using the Engel e‑connect online customer portal to identify and order spare parts, or issuing service requests without wasting time (smart services).

There can be no doubt that also the machines at the Engel trade fair stand work in a smart way. For example, software solutions from the iQ product family enhance process stability by continually analysing the plasticising and moulding process and automatically adjusting in case of deviations from targets, while Engel e-flomo autonomously ensures a constant supply of cooling water, thus contributing towards maximising process capability.

The inject 4.0 products that lead to optimal overall results differ for each injection moulding task, each company and each location – another fact that will become clear at the Engel trade fair stand. The smart factory in Friedrichshafen will be presenting five innovative applications from five different industries, each of which poses its individual challenges.