Trumpf standardizes on tool data system

END USER: Trumpf Inc., (860) 255-6000, www.us.trumpf.com.
CHALLENGE: Boost production efficiency while reducing time, waste and cost.
SOLUTION: A tool data management system.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: TDM Systems, (847) 605-1269, www.tdmsystems.com.

German machine tool builder Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG, Ditzingen, began implementing a production resource management system several years ago to handle aspects of its “Synchro” system. The system features single-item flow assembly, including programming, simulation, uniformly integrated plant resources and tool data management. However, the system wasn’t multilingual, a major drawback for a multinational manufacturer, nor was it capable of client data management. Therefore, Trumpf began searching for a standard, full-featured solution for its global operations.

Trumpf was drawn to TDM Systems, Tübingen, Germany, following the adoption of its tool data management software by the Trumpf plant in Baar, Switzerland. (TDM Systems’ U.S. headquarters is in Schaumburg, Ill.) The tool data management system creates an integrated and transparent central database of tools and production resources that gives users the ability to save tool or manufacturer catalog data in a unified format at the component level, according to Trumpf. This information travels along with the tools throughout the production process to wherever it is needed.

Courtesy of TDM Systems

Trumpf uses tool data management in building its machine tools, such as this TruPunch 3000 punch. The machine’s punching head is suitable for producing holes and making parts with 3D contours, such as threads.

The results of TDM software implementation at Baar were so convincing that the Trumpf plant in Grüsch, Switzerland, also implemented the system, followed a few weeks later by the Ditzingen, Hettingen and Neukirch plants in Germany. Rollout then proceeded for the rest of the company.

One key to the success of the rollout, according to Trumpf CAD/CAM Coordinator Axel Köhler, was TDM software’s ability to integrate with TopSolid’Cam, Trumpf’s CAM system.

“We generate tool data in TDM software, which gives all TopSolid’Cam users a uniform database for their programming and production simulation and the assurance of correct processing and technology data,” he said. In addition, TDM software’s data and graphic generator can create simulation-ready 3D graphic images, which are then imported directly into the CAM program, saving time and programming cost.