SPRING Technologies Wins Prize for Innovation

SPRING Technologies, vendor of solutions that enable manufacturers to get full value from their CNC machine tools, reducing production costs and speeding up their processes, has just won this year’s Innovation Trophies “Special Mention Prize” at the Industrie 2014 show in Paris.

In front of over 850 industry guests, the award, offered in partnership with Arkea Banque Entreprises et Institutionnels, went to WYSIWYC® (What You See Is What You Cut), a dedicated solution developed by SPRING Technologies for shopfloor stakeholders, based on NCSIMUL Machine technology.

Acknowledging a company with an innovative project that has enabled it to grow or diversify into new markets, the award fully reflects the technological leadership of SPRING Technologies, venturing into new market segments and territories outside France, including Germany, China and the U.S.

Remote Real-Time Machining Synchronization – NCSIMUL Machine based technology
To help companies get the full value from their NC machine tools, on the shop floor and through the extended enterprise, SPRING, in collaboration with FANUC and Panasonic, has developed a 100 percent mobile solution that synchronizes and monitors CNC machine tools. WYSIWYC® is implemented on a rugged, easily portable tablet PC, enabling simultaneous real-time supervision of several NC machine tools, and offering operators a clear, instant picture of where and what actions are needed.

WYSIWYC has built in four major innovations:

• Enriched 3D user experience: Multi-machine real-time synchronization of virtual CNC machine operation with true cutting on each real machine, regardless of the CNC controller (FANUC, Siemens, etc.).
• Automatic display of anti-collision radars in manual mode (JOG mode), along each axis. When the CNC switches to AUTO mode, the solution automatically analyses the tool path and detects potential collisions based on the current spindle, tool and rough positions
• Adaptive timers – displaying “time before completion”- for the next events (M0/M1 stops, tool changes as well as end of sub-program and machining)
• 100 percent tactile work sheet access; timeline showing the cutting parameters (spindle speed, feed rate, etc.).
• Digital work instruction sheets synchronized in real time with the real execution of the CNC program, displaying the right document at the right time. CNC operator is no longer wasting time for searching work sheets.
• Mobility dedicated to the shop floor environment with Panasonic’s rugged tactile Toughpad tablet, designed for use in hostile environments (waterproof, shockproof, readable in full sunlight, etc.), enabling a WYSIWYC® deployment throughout the workshop and interaction with the machines and work sheets via a multi-point tactile screen.

What They Said at the Ceremony
Philippe Solignac, the corporate marketing director of SPRING Technologies: “With WYSIWYC®, we are offering our customers the opportunity to synchronize the virtual 3D environment with the real world of the workshop. This is something completely new for production departments: a major technological breakthrough and a big step paving the way to flexible production. That would have been impossible if we had not been able to collaborate closely with the teams at FANUC, Panasonic, Intel, and Microsoft. Altogether, we’re looking forward to meeting the industrial challenges of the future – Industrie 4.0.”

Gilles Battier, the chief executive officer of SPRING Technologies: “I must thank the organisers of the Innovation Awards, the members of the jury, specialists and stakeholders in industry. We are delighted to have won this award in the “Special Mention” section, acknowledging our innovative WYSIWIC® solution. I’d like to share the trophy with all the teams at SPRING, notably our R&D people. They work hard, but always with the same enthusiasm, anticipating market needs and, above all, addressing those of our customers. I’d also like to thank our industrial partners: SAFRAN, AIRBUS, Dassault Aviation and their suppliers, with whom we work on collaborative projects, notably with the SYSTEMATIC and ASTECH Competitiveness Clusters.

“We have built our innovations around today’s technologies: mobility for flexibility, real-time for performance and a sophisticated user-friendly interface for a unique user’s experience,” continued Battier. “Our aim is to help our customers to attract Y generation talent, and work together to meet the upcoming challenges of the factory of the future and Workshop 4.0.  “Smart industry” is ushering in a. new era in manufacturing Manufacturers all over the world are on the same starting line and I am convinced that French industry has the innovative capability and expertise needed to be among the leaders in the race for performance and competitiveness. Long Live Industry.”

www.springplm.com/fr