Interestingly, metal forming and cutting are some of the oldest technologies used by mankind. The applications of carving a hammer for the stone are evident. Tracing back to the present, the intricate parts of the daily-used machines are no less than a piece of craft, and we have seen the evolution of this technology. How far ahead we can take this technology with automation is what we tend to explore in this feature.
Metal-forming machine tools are essential for producing highly precise machines and components required by many industrial industries. The Indian metal forming sector is still developing to fulfil the demand for high-tech machinery and realise its full potential. As the IMTMA states, the domestic market share of metal forming constitutes around 45–50%, and the remaining is imported from countries like Japan, Germany, and China. Forging machines, bending and folding machines, shearing machines, punching machines, and presses form many imports.
India has initiated several reforms to improve the ease of doing business, making the country a preferred destination for setting up industrial units. To strengthen this sector, Indian reformers of the machine tool industry have initiated numerous expos and meet-ups.
Advancements in metal forming and cutting
Just a few years ago, laser power for cutting metal was stuck at 8 or 9 kilowatts. Now, it has reached levels as high as 60 or even 80 kilowatts. This has opened up significant opportunities for enhanced efficiency and productivity with minimal waste. Another emerging trend is the widespread adoption of full automation across shop floors, from raw material input to finished product output. Major manufacturers worldwide are embracing this trend.
Laser cutting technologies are advancing, with high-powered lasers, improved beam quality, and faster cutting speeds. Water jet cutting is also gaining traction because it can cut a wide range of materials, including metals, minimally heat-affected zones, etc. Electrochemical machining (ECM) is getting attention because it can cut intricate shapes and hard metals.
Daniel Raravi, Director of Marketing & Strategic Initiatives at Mastercam India, shares, “Metal cutting in the discrete manufacturing domain often focuses on the speed and how much metal is removed, particularly regarding material removal rate (MRR). A high MRR indicates an optimal process. In a similar vein, technologies like dynamic machining are used. It involves using a small portion of the tool at very high speeds, combined with non-linear CNC machine motions, to achieve controlled engagement. This approach uses solid carbide tools and is known to yield the highest MRR both theoretically and practically. This is commonly used by many for bulk material removal.
Automation
Automation is seeping into metalworking and bending processes. Machines are developed to be adaptable for automatic loading and unloading of bent tubes, a task that could be accomplished with standard loaders. Thus, robots can be used for this purpose, where they can manufacture cells that automate various processes, including forming, straightening, cutting, and bending. Vinayak Joshi, Laser Technology Group Member, BLM Group, citing a recent use of this technology, shared how they showcased a unique application where a laser tube cutting machine marked Datamatrix codes on the tubes, unloaded the cut parts onto an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV), which then transported them to a bending machine. The bending machine had a loader that read the Datamatrix code containing part programmes and data specifying which part to bend, enabling automatic bending of the parts. He noted that this level of automation is now in demand.
We are all aware that the future is automation. But how far people are accepting it is a big question. Large corporations are mainly investing in lean manufacturing and automation, though the high costs are a deterrent. The preferred options are storage and retrieval systems. While automatic storage and retrieval are common in many industries, their adoption in metal-forming is lagging. With hopeful foresight, automated systems will also become standard practice in this sector in the next few years.
Businesses need to look beyond immediate returns on investment and consider the broader advantages, such as increased productivity, to appreciate the benefits fully. Ravichandran Duraiswamy, senior manager of product management at Messer Cutting Systems India Pvt. Ltd., says this is an experiment we need to sign up for, and there’s a noticeable shift towards embracing automated material handling, as evidenced by the rising inquiries and openness to experimentation.
The term “industry 4.0” has been part of our discourse for quite a while now. Preetesh Singh, Senior Manager, Automotive Industry Consulting Group, NRI Consulting and Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., notes that there have been talks about the industry revolution since he started his career. What we require from this technology and what we have already identified is accuracy. The second is the time spent deploying these technologies. Machine learning, cloud computing, edge analytics, and digital twins are also events that are being implemented a lot.
There is an old question about tracing: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Mr. Raravi draws a similar analogy, asking whether CAD/CAM is leading in innovation in manufacturing or machine tools. Innovation can be attained by partnering with leading companies to develop solutions in cohesion. This same collaborative method applies to hybrid manufacturing, where CAD and CAM systems work with allied partners’ control systems and machine tools. It combines a very high thermal application within precise machines, joining these two in one system to try adding material and cutting material while maintaining tolerances. The CAD-CAM system provides feedback on motion and calibration, addressing various manufacturing complexities and managing CAD aspects effectively. This helps, as there are different substructures and many terminologies for manufacturing.
Material
Numerous materials are available for bending tools, particularly for tubes, including aerospace-grade materials like Inconel and Hastelloy, which have been around for several years. Mr. Joshi shares that, as a group, they supplied machines to aerospace manufacturers like Airbus, which have stringent quality requirements for bending. Also, they are currently experimenting with new techniques to manufacture bending tools more quickly with a medium lifespan, aiming to reduce costs. Thus, he notes that the approach varies depending on the industry sector. For instance, industries producing millions of parts have different automation cycle time requirements compared to the aerospace or furniture sectors. We need to adapt to these varying needs across various industries.
There is a growing demand for cutting non-standard tubes with unusual shapes used in various applications, such as tracking cabins, off-road vehicles, or door frames. Twenty years ago, cutting these materials on laser tube cutting machines seemed improbable. Now, advancements have led to capabilities like our largest laser cutting machine, H beams, which can now cut tubes up to 600 millimetres.
The new tools used for vertical cutting are in line with beveling. The secondary operations, like age formation, are also examined in greater detail. Beveling is now performed using both plasma and laser technologies, making it a sought-after tool for integration into machines across the board.
Upskilling initiatives
As the saying goes, a tool is as good as its user. While talking about upskilling, Mr. Raravi shares that they have collaborated with as many educational institutions as possible. This is to treat the root. This education goes from the developers of tools to the students, making it a circular approach. The primary way of transferring knowledge is through interaction and a highly organised learning management system. Corporations can have an online presence with personnel with experience in CNC and CAD/CAM technologies who can even curate video content.
He suggested scaling the user end with interaction between customers and trained application engineers. The training must be seamless—not an obstacle but an end. If your training does not enable people, your tool is useless. The end goal is to make sure that the person can apply to the best of their ability so it can translate into real-world savings for their organisations. This has to be the philosophy of scaling, training, and enabling end users to make the best of any tool.
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Ravichandran Duraiswamy, Sr. Manager, Product Management, Messer Cutting Systems India Pvt. Ltd. “Metal forming is experiencing a surge in technological advancements. Laser power has reached new potential, and full automation of the shop floor is becoming increasingly prevalent.”
Preetesh Singh, Senior Manager, Automotive Industry Consulting Group, NRI Consulting and Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. “Metal forming technologies like advanced laser cutting, water jet cutting, electrochemical machining, and additive manufacturing are advancing within the framework of Industry 4.0.”
Mr. Daniel Raravi, Director, Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, Mastercam India “Innovations in CAD/CAM systems in joint efforts with machine tools are to maintain precision and efficiency in hybrid manufacturing.”
Vinayak Joshi, Laser Technology Group Member, BLM Group “Automation has seeped into metal bending processes, with machines now equipped to handle different materials and configurations, from aerospace-grade alloys to non-standard tube profiles, meeting diverse industry requirements.”
